Learning to manage Gen Yers
Mathieu | Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
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.
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:
- 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...
- 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...
- How to treat and inspire them – chapter four of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy I worked from home on Friday and enjoyed the long-weekend...
- Get Them To Care About Great Customer Service – Chapter 6 of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy This chapter of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy is all...
- Give Them the Gift of Context, pt.1 – chapter five of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy Chapter five has a lot of great information in it...
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