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In conversations with my boss at work she’s not convinced you need to hand hold Gen Yers as much as Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y might be suggesting. She says that at some point Gen Yers just need to either figure it out on their own or have some freaking initiative.

I agree with her and I think what this book is trying to accomplish is give you the tools when dealing with a Gen Y workforce. Some Gen Yers are really motivated and won’t need nearly the amount of heavy usage of the tips in this book that others well. But some will need A LOT of you using the suggestions from this book with them.

What I’ve found since implementing some of the strategies is I’m getting better accountability from my Gen Y direct reports. At just way over half way through this book I can safely say I’m satisfied with it over all. Read More

This is the longest chapter in Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y so far, so I’ll be splitting chapter seven into three parts with this being part one.

Chapter seven focuses on helping Gen Yers learn to how to manage themselves at work. Bruce Tulgan says lots of Gen Yers come into the job having an advanced set of skills having developed their specialties at a young age. He cautions today’s managers who insist they didn’t have their hands held when it came to doing things like showing up on time, dressing appropriately or refraining from cussing on the job. Managers will have to do what they can to help Gen Yers fill in these gaps of maturity they also bring along.

Tulgan says managers need to teach them to care about the basics, teach them to be more aware of those gaps in their repertoires. and to fill those gaps one at a time. Read More

This chapter of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy is all about customer service and while the focus is on Gen Yers, this is a chapter we can all read and take away some great pointers.

Gen Yers have been bombarded by marketing from a much younger age and at a higher rate than generations before us, Bruce Tulgan says. Not only did the marketplace reach them in the malls but right into their homes via the Web. Gen Yers have had more buying power at a much younger age than anyone ever before so it’s only natural they begin their working life with a very consumer-oriented mind.

He says when Gen Yers arrive for their first day of work they look at their own time, dedication and best efforts as a kind of currency. They want to know what kinds of success and rewards it can buy them. They are excited and ready to work and put their efforts to good work so they can get great experiences. Read More

Part two of chapter five offers more great tips on helping Gen Yers navigate the workplace and basically helping them keep from making an idiot of themselves.

Teach Them How to Shine in Meetings and Presentations

Gen Yers feel if they participate in the production of a presentation or report they have full ownership over it. Bruce Tulgan reports several managers have told him about experiences where an assistant who helped prepare a presentation will cut in or answer questions without being asked to in a meeting.

You should approach bringing a Gen Yer into a meeting with the same rigour you would with preparing yourself for the meeting. Tulgan says the most important thing you can do is specifically tell them if this meeting or presentation is a time for them to shine or not. He has four other best practices he recommends you subscribe to as well: Read More

Chapter five has a lot of great information in it so I’ve decided to break it up over two posts.

I have two children in daycare and over the summer the daycare provider has been working out of our house. Some days it’s just our two children and one other, plus we have a nice backyard, plenty of space and lots of toys so when we offered, our daycare provider accepted.

Because of this I’ve gotten to know the other kids quite well. One in particular is a curious one and when I come home from work she’ll ask me a question, usually something like “was work fun today,” or “what is in your bag,” or something similar. With this particular child, whenever I give an answer she always follows up with “Why?”

More on this later. Read More

I worked from home on Friday and enjoyed the long-weekend off. I actually read another book, The Age of Speed that I’ll be discussing in a later post, but for now, back to Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How To Manage Generation Y.

The fourth chapter focused on how to treat, or interact, with Generation Y workers. The second half of the chapter specifically dealt with creating a reward system for Gen Yers.

Chapter four is titled “Practice In Loco Parentis Management,” which is Latin for in place of the parent. It has traditionally been used for a place where a school or a ward would be in charge of care for the child, but author Bruce Tulgan likens it to taking over the tutoring aspects of your Gen Y employees without taking over the emotional growth responsibility that is definitely reserved for the actual parent. Read More

Today I read chapter three of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How To Manage Generation Y titled “Get them up to speed quickly and turn them into knowledge workers.” Again, author Bruce Tulgan provides an easy to read, step-by-step plan on making Gen Yers great employees.

Day one for a Gen Yer is the most important day, Tulgan’s metaphor is to plan for a Gen Yer’s first day of work like you would plan for your child’s birthday party.

Gen Yers want to hit the ground running but they don’t want to be put in to sink or swim situations. They want to hit the ground running with lots of support and guidance every step of the way. Read More

Chapter two of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y is titled “Get them on board fast with the right messages,” and focuses on recruiting and hiring Gen Yers.

What I’m really enjoying about this book is the practical advice author Bruce Tulgan gives that you can put in to action right away. I’ll feature a few tips in this post Read More

I recently began reading Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y by author Bruce Tulgan. I picked up because in my job as the Communications Manager I regularly work with two full-time employees who are my direct reports and then upwards of 15 part-time student employees who are also direct reports and as many as 30 part-time students who work on the Student Association who are not my direct reports but who I am engaged with on a regular basis. Read More