Leadership’s Future: Short-term Workforce Future
by Miki Saxon
Several years ago I read an article discussing what Gen Y wanted in their workplace. I found it somewhat amusing since the “unique” traits they wanted from work and management weren’t very original; I found the same thing earlier this year and they are the same traits I’ve heard from candidates for better than 30 years—long before Gen Y was thought of, let alone born.
But when I read a Talentbrew post about Gen Y’s attitude towards the recession I was floored—for at least 3 minutes.
While the capable of us have taken on the roles of Gen Xers and Boomers, we’ve likely done it without a raise, or at best, a minimal one. Put simply, this infuriates us. Gen Y was given constant positive reinforcement. We had piggy banks full of allowance earned just for making our bed or cleaning our own room. The worst player on the team was awarded a “Most Improved” trophy. When the economy changes for the better, we expect to be compensated, handsomely, for our efforts. Or we’ll leave.
How’s that for a sense of entitlement?
I know comments such as this are like waving a red flag in front of a bull, so I sent the link to Jim Gordon.
Jim graduated last June and is in his first job; he draws the Sunday comic mY generation and I often bounce stuff off him to be sure I’m not wildly out in left field.
After thinking it over for a few days, here is Jim’s response.
Alright, after picking through that article, I find it easy to sympathize with the author.
It’s very difficult for me to have any semblance of trust in my employer when I, and everyone around me, is being contracted.
It’s not that turnover is high either, but instead I have this air of uncertainty every day when I walk into work – will today be my last? Every month or two, I have a new neighbor, though my position has a bit more staying power.
I find it very hard to say I “deserve” something, though.
I feel the author of the article insinuates that he/she deserves much better. While I agree that often the scale from which our pay is currently derived is, well, off to say the least, I don’t think somehow the definition of “fair play” reflects the same way on society today.
I don’t mean to sound like an underachiever, but really the way one views the economic crisis depends upon how that person was raised.
I don’t agonize over short-term losses (4-5 years), but instead plan for the long-term (10-15). Build thick skin, know what it’s like to lose, accept denial, appreciate acceptance, and move on in a self-centered direction.
Vanity is one attribute I will defend, which is seen as a flaw of Gen Y. Assuming we learn from our mistakes, we know what it is like for a market to polarize. Why? That’s ALL some of us know.We were living the life in the 1990’s, but “not much compares to a recession like this.” That last bit was quoted from, well, everyone. People who have experienced deep recessions say this, people who haven’t—everyone goes back to the point that this is really one of the worst recessions on record.
You know what, though? I’m going to survive it and use it as a tool to build a road to where I want to be. I’m not going to expect 5-star treatment afterward.
I may find another job, but that’s because, like many who have done so before, I want to find something that adds more value to me and my life.
That means I wasn’t taught that the world is an oyster—I was taught that life is tough, and (to quote The Rolling Stones) you can’t always get what you want…
Read the final paragraph in the Talentbrew post to learn what it will take to hire Gen Y in the future.
The only cosmic justice I see here comes from knowing that it is Gen Y’s parents who will be hiring and managing the attitude they raised.
Image credit: KM Photography.. on flickr
February 11th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Reading some of these paragraphs it seems as though he is repeating what you have written for a while now. For instance: “Gen Y won’t settle next time: they’ll only accept a meaningful job, with flexibility, a decent salary and at a stable company that treats them with respect; allowing them to grow and advance in their career.”
It does not seem unreasonable to me. It is simply the law of demand and offer. Some companies will only retain their younger employees if they pay more than the better companies… that is what Wall Street is forced to do already. Other firms prefer cheap expandable labour: they don’t pay much, don’t give a lot of respect and know people will leave.
Did I read too little of the linked post ?
February 14th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Hi Denis, my apologies for being so slow responding.
You may need to read all the Talentbrew post. I probably should not have pointed to that final paragraph, since it unwittingly changed the focus. It’s what comes before it, especially the part I quoted (first quote in this post) that irks. It is that attitude that to which Jim also reacts.