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.

Teach Them How to Make a Plan

The assumption here is that Gen Yers already know how to take a project and break it into short-term goals and long-term deadlines. However, what author, Bruce Tulgan, has found through his research is that Gen Yers don’t really know how to make these plans and in fact their schedule for completing goals is really just best guesses.

Tulgan says you should teach Gen Yers how to start with a big project and then break it into manageable tasks. They need to set a realistic estimate regarding how much time each task will take and then set a timetable of short-term, definite deadlines for those tasks.

He says sometimes Gen Yers will resist making plans because in their opinion things change all the time anyway. The benefit of making a plan is that there will be real life interruptions to their best laid efforts and they need to know that they can deal with those interruptions and then get right back to their plan.

Teach Them to Take Notes and Use Checklists

Tulgan says in his research he’s heard many Gen Yers complain that they’ll ask for step-by-step directions how to do something only to be met with “I can’t do your job for you,” from managers. Of course the Gen Yer respond with “How am I supposed to do my job if you don’t show me how.”

This part particularly frustrates me because I learn by watching, reading, researching and of course asking people what to do but I don’t ask nearly as much as I find Gen Yers do.

The key here is to get Gen Yers to make detailed notes and be rigorous with checklist keeping in order to stay on task and do it with few errors.

Checklists are really useful tools. Pilots of airplanes, accounting firms and people responsible for launching nuclear missiles all use checklists for their job so why can’t you? Experienced managers suggest instructing Gen Yers to make very detailed checklists and to ensure they’re using them and actually putting checks beside their completed tasks.

If the Gen Yer isn’t completing tasks properly and using a checklist then that checklist needs to be more detailed.

Teach Them the Values of Good Workplace Citizenship

The author begins this portion of the chapter with the musings of an executive who says he used to be able to pick the good ones out of a crowd but not anymore. He says the clean cut one is just as likely to always show up late and bad mouth his coworkers as is the long-haried one with earphones in his ear is to always say “Yes sir,” and “No ma’am.”

Tulgan says the point of this is you shouldn’t be looking for what gives Gen Yers their deep down motivation, you shouldn’t try to figure out from an interview or a test what their values are. He also says it’s not your job to teach them values and you shouldn’t try anyways because their value system is none of your business.

I could be reading Tulgan wrong here but I think teaching them values – not by forcing them to go to church or attend etiquette classes – but by being the example is exactly what a boss should be doing in today’s age. However, Tulgan says you should focus on teaching them how to behave at work, not the values.

Define What It Means to be a Good Citizen in Your Company

Basically you need to set the rules what is and isn’t acceptable in your company and then live those rules. For example, Tulgan writes of one company who had a “no jerks” rule. Apparently the rule was a bit ambiguous but the premise was to do things like smile at people and be nice on the phone. Tulgan suggests you define what is really important to your company and then keep it simple. Then define what those important things look like. What does courtesy look like? How does honest sound? Finally you need to describe it, spell it out and break it down for the Gen Yers.

The hard part is navigating Gen Yers BS radar. While everyone can have an off day, Gen Yers will be watching closely to see if you live and breathe the rules you’ve laid out for them. So if you can’t avoid being a jerk on a regular basis – don’t have a no jerk rule.

Part 3 of Chapter 7

Yes, this is a long chapter so I’ve broken down into three parts. Next post I’ll discuss:

• You can’t teach good judgement but you can tach the habits of critical thinking
• Expose them to new experiences
• Teach them to be strategic
• Teach them to look at past experiences – there own and others’
• Self-evaluation is the begginging, middle and end of self-management

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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.

Teach Them to Make the Most of Their Time

Generation Y are always in a rush to get things done right away and why shouldn’t they? They have grown up in an on-demand culture. Instead of thinking in days and months they think in terms of minutes and hours and while this might help them get smaller tasks done quickly, it won’t help them work on projects with longer horizons. Where this will really trip up Gen Yers is when a project that needs to be approached with time and care will end up being completed quickly with many errors leading to even more work than was originally intended.

So how does a manager teach the make the most of their time?

Teach Them to Set Priorities

In many of today’s corporations, Gen Yers will have a few managers assigning them tasks. When a this happens, the Gen Yer is forced to decide what to work on. For people of generations past, setting priorities was the very first step in project management, Tulgan says but that isn’t so with today’s young workers. He suggests setting very clear priorities when giving Gen Yers projects to work on and giving them explicit instructions as to what priorities one and two are and that the lion’s share of their time be dedicated to those priorities.

When you tell them what the priorities are, tell them why. Tulgan suggests you break it down like so: “I want you to work on X first because … and then Y because … and finally Z for this reason …” Over time they will learn to set priorities for themselves but until they do he recommends setting them for them or at least with them.

Help Them Eliminate Time Wasters and Help Them Live by a Schedule

It’s important to differentiate between what is a time waster and what is a distraction. Tulgan insists distractions may not be a bad thing like time wasters are. He makes the point that Gen Yers are used to doing their homework with an ear phone plugged into an MP3 player in one ear while a cell phone buzzing with text messages is going off in the other. He cautions managers who might find this unbelievably annoying to relax when they see Gen Yers do it as they’re used to multi-tasking and it may be nothing for them.

A big step to eliminating time wasters is to insist Gen Yers keep a detailed schedule of their day. In the book Tulgan gives a sample that includes very detailed listings like “8:10 a.m., went to the bathroom, 8:15 a.m., returned to desk, began work on e-mail response to client X.” He says keeping a detailed journal three or four times a day will help Gen Yers realize where they are wasting their time. If they need help eliminating their time wasters, use the small reward strategy as a carrot.

As noted in an earlier blog post, Gen Yers relish freedom at work, especially when it comes to setting their own schedule. But truth be told, this generation is one of the most over scheduled in the history of the Earth. The difference being, their schedules were set to their lifestyle.

Tulgan points out that if a Gen Yer had to stay up all night working on a paper, no one would get upset if they missed the first class in the morning. Similarly their schedules were kept by other people – namely parents.

The author writes:

“They need a lot of help getting lots of work done very well, very fast while they are at work. The trick to doing that is teaching them how to use a schedule to better plan their hours, minutes and seconds around their priorities – inside and outside work.”

One strategy discussed in the book was helping Gen Yers develop a work-back schedule from when their day starts at the job. For example

• 9 a.m. arrive at work
• 8:50 a.m. leave coffee shop
• 8:30 a.m. leave home
• 8:20 a.m. return from walking the dog

And so on.

There is only one way to harmonize work and non-work life and that’s to keep one schedule. The first step is to block off 56 hours a week for sleeping, ideally in eight-hour increments with an hour each day for down time. That leaves them with 105 hours a week for everything else. If they block in work and then fill in the rest with social time the likeliness they’ll show up on time and be productive at work goes way up.

Part 2 of Chapter 7

In the next part of Chapter 7, I’ll discuss the following topics author Bruce Tulgan lays out:

1. Taking notes
2. Keeping checklists
3. Making a plan
4. The value of being a good workplace citizen
5. Defining what a good workplace citizen is at your place of business

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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.

Tulgan says people who have success with Gen Yers who are new to the workforce put their job in the context of a customer relationship. But instead of the Gen Yer being the customer, everyone else is. The company, their manager, their coworkers and yes, the actual customers. They tell them to treat everyone how you would want to be treated.

It’s important for Gen Yers to be taught great customer service skills, Tulgan says in the book. But not because Gen Yers will be spending a lot of time with the customers (they will be) but rather because entry-level positions are disproportionately represented by lower-tier positions, mostly filled by young workers and at this point in time, those young workers are Gen Yers. Tulgan says these six skills are key to teach Gen Yers:

1. Make Yourself Available
This is not about accosting every customer who walks in the door, but being visible, unobtrusive and paying close attention to what customers are doing, even if you’re on another task.

2. Say as Little as Possible
When you say less you have less of a chance of saying something confusing, distracting, wrong or offensive. Let the customer speak and use the time you’re not speaking to pay attention and not let your mind wander.

3. When You Do talk, Choose Your Words Very Carefully
Tulgan recommends Gen Yers are taught to ask open-ended questions until they’re confident they understand what the customer really wants. For example, “Please tell me more about that,” and only switch to a close-ended question when you’re sure you know they answer and present it like this, “Do you mean X?” or “Do I understand correctly that you are saying X?” He also suggests giving them a script, so they don’t have to think of what to say, treat each interaction with a customer like a performance.

4. Never Wing It
Don’t exaggerate or make anything up. If you don’t know, tell them “I’m not sure, but let me find out for you,” or if something is going to take ten minutes, tell the customer, do not simply say “This will only take a few minutes.”

5. Request Feedback
You don’t want to leave the customer with a feeling of dissatisfaction or an expectation that hasn’t been met. End every conversation with phrases like “Is this acceptable,” or “Are you happy with everything?”

6. Problem-Solve
When a Gen Yer encounters a problem, encourage them to identify the problem and then ask themselves if this is a problem they should solve or if an authority should handle it. If they decide it’s not for them, they need to gather basic information and then pass it along to the proper authority. However, they should stay in the loop for a few reasons: The customer may return to them to look for an update, they’ll learn how the situation was handled and what procedure was used.

Convincing Gen Yers to Care About Customer Service

Tulgan is careful to explain that not all Gen Yers deliver horrible customer service. On the contrary he says, plenty of Gen yers deliver acceptable and even outstanding customer service. But he says when mistakes do happen, turn them into teaching opportunities. Debrief the employee on what went wrong, review the steps they can take next time they’re in a similar situation.

Good customer service is a skill that will not become obsolete and providing good customer service is a great way for Gen Yers to enjoy their job more — a big concern for them. Also highlight that providing great customer service is an excellent way of networking with customers. Obviously you don’t want your employees handing out resumés but remind them that every customer is a potential contact, Tulgan says.

Finally, Gen Yers need to understand that a route to financial and nonfinancial rewards is to treat customers great. Tulgan points out that managers will take care of those who take care of the customers. This could mean the best shifts, best assignments, days off, cash and more. The key is to use small rewards and use them frequently and you use the rewards for specific instances of great performance.

Next Chapter

The 7th chapter is entitled “Teach Them How to Manage Themselves” and is the longest chapter in the book. It looks to be filled with some real great practical advice, it’s the first chapter that has charts and some q&a stuff. I should have at least part one up in a few days. So what do you think? Are Gen Yers worse at customer service than other generations? Would love to hear your opinion.

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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:

1. Before the meeting even happens, find out if it is appropriate or even acceptable to bring the Gen Yer along.
2. Prepare in advance and have a discussion with the Gen Yer. Is there anything they need to know, is there anything you need to know about this meeting.
3. Identify their role in the meeting. Will the be responsible for presenting any information, should they answer questions if they’re not specifically called upon? Encourage them to make a note if they feel they have something to add but not to stop listening, does their point still need to be raised? Does what they have to add need to be addressed with this group or can it be spoken about in a one-on-one meeting after the meeting?
4. If the Gen Yer is the one to be making a meeting, get them to write a script and rehearse, rehearse and rehearse it. Once they’ve got their presentation down pat, then and only then, should they prepare slides or handouts.

Teach The How to Deal with Your Boss’s Boss’s Boss and Other Big Shots

A common belief is Gen Yers have no respect for authority. It’s easy to understand why people think that way, Tuglan writes. Gen Yers will set their sites on the “big guy on campus” in order to help improve their career but they’ll still look at them as just any other person.

Tulgan relates a story from a senior official in a U.S. government agency. The official said “If they think you can help their career, they they want to know you. In fact, they will beat down your door to get your attention. But I say they have no respect for authority because they are not intimidated by titles at all. I want to tell them that if this person is impressive enough that you are trying to get her attention, then she is impressive enough that you should be deferent toward her.”

This is a result to Gen Yers being more attuned to the power of networking than generations past thanks to the close relationships they’ve had with their parents, teachers and counselors in all dimensions of their lives, Tulgan says. They recognize these relationships will help speed up their career more than anything else.

Tulgan lists some simple techniques you should teach Gen Yers about reaching out to and building relationships with the company big-shots.

1. Don’t waste the time of busy people, unless you have a reason to contact them, don’t. And don’t try to make up a reason to contact them as it will start the relationship off on a disingenuous foot.
2. Approach decision makers with what you can offer them and not what you want. If you don’t have anything of real value to offer this person then it isn’t the right time to contact them
3. Do homework before approaching a decision maker. Is this the right person you should be approaching? Is this the right time?
4. Win over the gatekeepers. Most decision makers will have someone else who checks their voicemail, monitors their e-mail and keeps their schedule. Take the time to get to know the gatekeeper and try sending them correspondence addressed directly to them thanking them for their time.
5. Once you are on the radar screen, don’t just be a one-time blip. Make sure what you say you’re going do actually materialize into results. Make those results valuable and look for ways to repeat them
6. Once you have established a relationship, determine its temperature. If it’s “hot,” like if you’ve just submitted a proposal, follow up once a week but if it’s “cool,” or there isn’t a project on the go, suggest getting in touch in a month or so but look for the decision maker’s lead on how often you should contact them.

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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.

This chapter focuses on what Bruce Tulgan calls giving the gift of context but I would liken it to setting the ground rules of behaviour when at work. Tulgan says a common myth of Gen Yers is they don’t respect their elders, but that’s not the case, he says.

He contends younger people today do not recognize instictively that people who have vested many years in a company have intuition and understanding about the company. They have less life experience and fewer points of reference.

For example, Tulgan tells a story in Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How To Manage Generation Y about a manager who setup a young employee in a cubicle with some paperwork. When the manager returned a few hours later the employee wasn’t there. He had moved across the hall to an office saying he liked this space better.

The manager said “Of course you like it better, it’s bigger, has a nice desk and a window, but it’s for someone who has been here longer than six hours.”

The actions of the young employee can be explained many ways but Tulgan argues Gen Yers have grown up where their feelings, wants and desires have been centric and have not been defined by teachings of authority.

Give Gen Yers the Gift of Context

It’s important to explain to Gen Yers that there are pre-existing independent factors that would be present even if the Gen Yer was not. These factors have an impact on every situation.

Explaining to them how it was when you were a new employee will not give them context. Explaining what their role is in the bigger picture of the company will, give them explicit boundaries, things you didn’t have to explain to previous generations of employees (like not taking any cubicle they please) have to be explained to Gen Yers.

Here are a few questions Tulgan asks Gen Yers to ask themselves before attempting to handle any situation in the workplace. Again, these are only a few of the many he lists, like many of the examples I give in these postings, if you’d like to see the whole list, check out the book.

• Where am I? Where is this place?
• What is the mission of the group
• When did all the people who are here, get here?
• Why am I here?
• When did I get here?
• What is my appropriate role in relation to the mission? Who am I in this context?

Teach Them to Play Work Well With Others

Their immediate manager must work hard at being their closest relationship at work. When the manager is consistently absent or a non-factor in the Gen Yers life at work, the Gen Yer will attach themselves to someone else. Often this someone else may not be a great mentor but someone with a strong personality that may lead them into a clique.

Tulgan says there are four issues that most often cause relationship conflicts for Gen Yers at work

Issue #1: The Multiple Boss Problem
When a Gen Yer has more than one manager assigning them work, both the manager and the Gen Yer need to ask some set questions each time a new task is sent their way:

1. The manager needs to ask and the Gen Yerer needs to tell what other assignments they’re working on at the moment
2. The priorities have to be discussed with the Gen Yer and the other manager has to be made aware of the new assignment that’s been handed to them, what potential conflicts may arise because of the new assignment and what steps should be taken if those conflicts to come about (i.e. who to speak with, where they can go for help, etc.)

Issue #2: The Chain of Command Problem
Tulgan says sometimes Gen Yers resist their immediate manager’s authority of find their immediate manager to be unhelpful or unresponsive to their requests.

I was recently told a story of a Gen Yer in the tourism industry who would e-mail or cc: the general manager and CEO of the organization with every minor complaint or problem they had. After a few months of this, the employee was walked.

Clearly when anyone, a Gen Yer included, end-runs their manager, problems will follow. To avoid this problem Tulgan suggests a two-step process:

1. Teach Gen Yers to deal with their immediate manager whenever possible. If they can’t get what they need (key word here is need, not want or like) from their immediate manager, teach them under what circumstances to request a meeting with their manager’s manager is appropriate
2. When a Gen Yer does end-run their immediate manager, whomever they try to deal with should immediately bring the Gen Yer’s manager in to the conversation. If it’s inappropriate to do so, an HR representative should be included

Issue #3: The Older, More Experienced Colleagues Problem
Older and more experienced coworkers can find themselves being rubbed the wrong way by Gen Y employees because of their eagerness to take on new responsibilities and desire to try things in new ways.

They also feel the sense of jealousy when they see the manager giving them special treatment or awards for completing tasks. Again, Tulgan suggests two steps for helping Gen Yers and managers avoid this problem:

1. Remind Gen Yers their older, more experienced colleagues are just that: older and more experienced. Consider pairing a Gen Yer and a company veteran to act as a peer advisor. Put thought behind the pairing so it truly is meaningful.
2. If you assign special awards or recognition, ensure it’s available to everyone in your department or company and not just the Gen Yer

Issue #4 Depending on Employees in Other Team, Departments, Divisions or Even Outside Vendors
When Gen Yers can’t get what they need because of these interdependencies it can cause conflict for the Gen Yer because they still have to get their work done on time.

1. Teach Gen Yers to focus on tasks they can accomplish on their own while waiting for whatever it is they need.
2. Give them good standard operating procedures for spelling out their needs and deliverables to their partners.
3. Teach them when and how to bring in the manager or another authority figure to put extra pressure on the other party.

Next Post

As I mentioned at the start of this entry, chapter five is jam-packed with lots of actionable information so in the next post (hopefully tomorrow) I’ll finish off this chapter which will include tips on “Teaching them how to shine in meetings and presentations,” and “Teach them how to deal with your boss’s boss’s boss and other big shots.”

As always, I welcome your thoughts on the pieces I’ve posted here – do you think Tulgan is off his rocker or does he make some good points? Let me know in the comments.

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1. Give Them the Gift of Context, pt.2 – chapter five of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy Part two of chapter five offers more great tips on...
2. Teach Them How to Manage Themselves, pt. 2 – chapter seven of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy In conversations with my boss at work she’s not convinced...
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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.Tulgan says this is an important practice for today’s managers of Gen Yers because of the extreme involvement parents have in their children’s lives today. He calls it “helicopter parenting.” In this chapter he relays several stories from managers telling of parents who called them to complain about their child’s compensation or to suggest new tasks for them.

He contends that every step of the way Gen Yers have been guided, directed, supported, coached and protected and unlike previous generations they don’t express much desire to break free as the reach adulthood.

His thoughts aren’t based on fantasy. Recent studies show that up to 80 per cent of parents are involved in their children’s orientation at college and university.

But don’t fear this trend, he says. Among today’s Gen Yers, those who are closest to their parents will probably turn out to be the most abole, most acheivment oriented and the hardest working.

I remember going to get my hair cut when I was younger. I really wanted a certain style but my hair has a natural growth pattern of moving from left to right. Try as I might it was hard for me to get my hair to go the other way or even stand straight up. The hairdresser listened to how I wanted my hair cut and my realized problem then said to me “Well if that’s what your hair wants to do (go from left to right) let’s work with it.”

The same philosophy will work well with managers of Gen Yers. Tulgan says there are four aspects to running with the over parenting phenomenon:

1. Show them you care
2. Give them boundaries and structure
3. Help them keep score
4. Negotiate special rewards in small increments

Show them you care

Tulgan suggests you get to know them, care enough to learn their names (he says they love their own name), but you don’t need to know about their personal life, but here are some things you should know:

1. How long has the Y been working here
2. What are their main tasks every day
3. What else are they working on
4. What is Y’s reputation among coworkers
5. Where does Y sit at work, does Y travel for work? Where?

Easy, right? Not so much. The only way to learn this type of information is to spend time with your direct reports, not an easy task if you have more than 10 people working under you. The author suggests choosing two people every day, one star and one problem and have a conversation with them making sure to include these three questions:

1. How are you?
2. What is your top-priority assignment right now
3. What can I do to help you?

Finally, wrap up every conversation with actionable advice

Give them boundaries

As discussed in my chapter two post, Gen Yers want both flexible time control and the ability to customize their space. However, that does not mean they want to waste their time. As a manager, you are responsible for spelling out their duties and responsibilities.

An important factor in helping Gen Yers succeed is giving them a safe area where they can try out new ideas, fail, and still be encouraged to try something else they might make a mistake in. But as manager you must ensure your parametres help them avoid mistakes that have been made before.

Help them keep score

Older generations where entangled in fierce competition against each other. Look at Glengarry Glen Ross for a snapshot of what working in an office from the 1960s through 1990s was like. Today’s Gen Yers compete as well, but not against each other. They compete against themselves, averages and benchmarks, Tulgan says.

The examples he uses in the book all end up with managers coming up with some sort of point scheme, the modern day equivalent of the gold star. The result of all these stories is that it helped the Gen Yers “focus like a laser,” on the task at hand.

Tulgan suggests you find something meaningful to attach points to, for example, if tardiness is a problem, take away points for every minute they’re late to work and give points for every minute they’re early. The reward could be “patio afternoons,” or something else meaningful to them.

Alternately, if coordinating an official point system is too daunting, consider an unofficial point system such as checklists, acction plans, deadlines, etc. to help them keep track of themselves.

Negotiate special rewards in very small increments

Gen Yers think of themselves as customers in every transaction, even at school they think of it as buying classes and learning.

Now that they’re in your office, they’re still thinking about buying and selling but they’re the ones who has something to sell. So stop thinking that you’re paying them to work and start thinking that you’re buying results from them because that’s exactly how Gen Yers see it, Tulgan says.

When you ask a Gen Yer what they need from you, tell them you can do whatever they need. The secret is to immediately follow-up with “And here’s what I need from you to do that.” If they need more money, more time off, more flexibility, figure out a way to get it for them in a way that it can get something for you (the royal you, the company, not you personally unless it’s appropriate in the given situation).

As discussed earlier, Gen Yers have a hard time swallowing the promise of long-term payoffs. Sure they would love a career that lasts their whole life with a great RRSP plan and long-term vested benefits. The problem is they don’t really believe that is possible in today’s world. Make their rewards short-term that will result in immediate results for the company.

Tulgan reminds the reader near the end of this chapter when a Gen yer asks for something, negotiate it in very small increments … the key is when they ask for it, promise it for them tomorrow if they can deliver what you want today.

Next chapter

Chapter five is titled “Give Them the Gift of Context,” and I should have time to read and blog about it tomorrow. I mentioned I have read The Age of Speed, which does have some correlation to this book, but I also have on my reading list The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance [Updated & Revised] which speaks directly to the concepts taught in this chapter. I’ll be sure to blog that book as well.

What do you think? Do we baby Gen Yers too much? Are these principles sound? I would love to read your comments.

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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.

Gen Yers are excited to show up for work

Gen Yers are probably going to show up excited and eager to contribute. It might be exhausting for managers but tap in to their excitement in order to keep your good hire from going bad

Liken a Gen Yer’s first introduction to a new job the way Marines have new recruits complete boot camp. This does not mean yelling in their ear and make them do push-ups but do provide solid training with someone who is totally connected to the company that will turn these new recruits in to well trained and ready-for-anything workers.

Replicate Marine Boot Camp’s intensity, the feeling of shared experience and belonging to a group, the steady learning and constant challenge.

When you invest in a great training program for Gen Yers, it’s no good to then deposit them in a low-morale, no-challenge, no-support workplace.

Connect a Gen Yer and a company veteran

Take on a Gen Yer as your protégé, teach them about the workplace and mentor them. They’ll probably return the investment by becoming a die-hard dedicated player on your team and will break their backs for you.

Gen Yers want to move into meaningful roles as quickly as possible but often times employers say these “meaningful roles” take two, three, four or more years of experience to be ready for. What to do? Tulgan suggests you break complex roles down and rebuild them giving Gen Yers one role at a time with training along the way.

Technology is important

Give Gen Yers the technology they want. The latest and greatest gadget isn’t a toy to them, it’s the way the live – it’s like breathing. Tulgan say for Gen Yers, the information technology imperatives are simple:

1. Constant connectivity with whomever they want

2. Immediate access to whatever information they want

3. Total customization of their information environment

4. The ability to learn from and collaborate with experts in real time

Web-based seach, online resources, social networking and wiki tools are just like the telephone and fax machine were to an older generation. When you tell Gen Yers you don’t use their technology it’s like telling them you live in the Stone Ages.

Knowledge is key

Everyone in a successful organization needs to be a knowledge worker. Knowledge work isn’t about what you do but how you do whatever it is you do.

When a Gen Yer comes to you with a new idea or a fresh perspective, help them channel that idea into the job they do. If you hire someone to move boxes around, you need to encourage them to come up with better ways for moving those boxes around, the same way you’d encourage a nuclear scientist to come up with better ways of doing their job.

Have them keep a journal

Consider getting new hires to keep a learning journal. Key parts of a learning journal include:

1. Map our their responsibilities

2. For each responsibility ask them to make a list of their learning resources

3. Require them to make learning goals for themselves that directly relate to their specific responsibilities

4. Journal their efforts

Encourage them to write down their good ideas, sit on it for a couple of weeks and revisit it, if it still seems like a good idea to them, ask them to think of what it might take to implement it and come up with a plan.

The key to keeping them motivated after they’re hired is to give them the technology and tools they need to do their job, help them focus their energy and ideas on the task at hand and then plug yourself in to their enthusiasm.

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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

Recruiting

There are several ways to advertise employment opportunities to Gen Yers. Tulgan suggests asking great Gen Y employees to suggest friends. Gen Yers like to feel powerful in their job and asking them for a reference makes them feel this way. They also want to bring personal connections into work and clearly working with a friend would do this. Finally, the adage that winners hang around winners is true, so if you have a winning Gen Y employee, they’ll likely recommend one.

On the downside, if the workplace begins to sour then you can be faced with a double-departure of employees. Also, if the employee doesn’t offer up a reference then that should be a warning sign the workplace is not great.

Once a Gen Yer has made the reference, be sure to keep them in the loop, let them know about the interview and job offers.

Another power and often highly successful recruiting technique for Gen yers is to ask parents, teachers and counsellors. This is what Tulgan calls the “Killer App,” (although I think the killer app is this). Explain to these people how this is a win-win situation. You’ll find potential great employees and they’ll get credibility and increased reputation amongst students and/or their children.

Advertising your recruitment efforts

Tulgan says many Gen Yers want to work for flashy companies like those in the sports and entertainment industries but are disheartened when they do because they find out it’s a lot of work. In the end Gen Yers leave these jobs three to 18 months later because the job wasn’t what they expected (more on this later too). It’s important to build your brand in the marketplace right alongside building your brand as an employer. Think of Starbucks that includes little things like a free bag of coffee each week through stock options or Google that famously let’s employees work on their own projects for up to 20% of their time and offers their employees free meals.

Traditional reward structures and long-term benefits that vest after a long period of time are threshold items now. Gen Yers want to know what’s in it for them today, tomorrow and next month.

This might sound greedy, but if a Gen Yer knows what’s expected of them from day one they’ll work hard for your company – but not every Gen Yer is built the same. Tulgan lists several types of Gen Y workers but says the best type of Gen Yer is the one who is looking to make an impact while growing themselves as they take advantage company resources.

8 factors to attracting the top Gen Y candidates

1. Performance-based compensation – Gen Yers want to know the only thing limiting their pay is their value they add to the company
2. Flexible schedules – As long as they are meeting deadlines and goals they want to have control over their schedule
3. Flexible locations – The physical location isn’t as important as their ability to personalize their work space, arrange furniture and the position of their desk
4. Marketable skills – Gen Yers want the chance to participate in formal and informal training
5. Access to decision makers – They don’t want to wait years to start building relationships
6. Personal credit for results acheived
7. Clear area of responsibility – They want an area of 100% responsibility so they can use that area as a proving ground
8. Chance for creative expression – They want to know what the parameters will be to work in so they can know what freedoms they have to things their own way

The hiring process

The first rule, make it quick. Try to have as few delays between stages and especially between the hire and the start date. Along with selling the job you also want to tell them the bad parts. For example, if it’s an accounting job and they’ll have to do repetitive paper work, let them know. The key is, you don’t want to sell Gen Yers a bill of goods and then not deliver on it or only tell half truths about the job. Two other tips Tulgan gives is to test them on a skill that is at the heart of the job. If the job is in a warehouse and requires moving lots of boxes and stacking them up, have the applicant do that.

He also suggests having behavioral interviews. That is, ask them to tell you a story and then listen to their story. Ask them if they’ve ever had a conflict at a previous job and what they did about it, for example. But at the end of the day, a realistic preview of the job is key to making them stick around and working hard.

If a long period of time is inevitable between the time the hire is made and the first day of work consider sending the Gen Yer background information on the company along with logo’d mugs, polos or hats. Have key people send them letters introducing themselves and invite them, but don’t require them to attend company meetings.

Next chapter

The book is well-written and lends itself to be easily digestable. Truth be told I’ve committed to reading one chapter each business day and I find that I look forward to it. So if everything goes as planned I’ll be reading the next chapter, “Get them up to speed quickly and turn them into knowledge workers,” tomorrow and will follow-up with a blog post shortly thereafter.

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The book features ten chapters that promise to teach you characteristics of Gen Yers and how to capitalize them in order to have strongest and hardest-working workforce in the ever to know the free market.

Today I read chapter one, “Meet Generation Y: the Most High-Maintenance Workforce in the History of the World.” In this introductory chapter, the author introduces the reader to some common complaints managers from a different era have about Gen Yers by relating stories from his research. The stories are great and a few made me laugh out loud.

Tulgan contends the common complaints are based on mis-information and isn’t conclusive with the research he’s been completing for over a decade. The myths include:

• Gen Yers are disloyal
• They won’t do the grunt work
• They need work to be fun
• Money is the only thing that matters to them
• They don’t respect their elders
• They want to learn only from computers

Some of the insights he shares made perfect sense to me when considering the Gen Yers I work with but I had never considered. For example, he noted that their parents spent more time with them than previous generations of parents had, they coached them and treated them as equals.

So it’s not a matter of Gen Yers disrespecting their elders, it’s just the expect respect in return. He did note that Gen Yers seem to moor to their parents through a significant part of their 20s, unlike those of generations past. I quite enjoyed his perspective: 12 seems to to be the new 19 and 30 is the new 20.

I will do my best to share some highlights as I read each chapter – but what are your thoughts? Have you had any experiences working with Gen Yers? Any good stories?

Related posts:

1. Teach Them How to Manage Themselves, pt. 1 – chapter seven of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy This is the longest chapter in Not Everyone Gets a...
2. Teach Them How to Manage Themselves, pt. 2 – chapter seven of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy In conversations with my boss at work she’s not convinced...
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