The Positive Effect of Generation Y

On 5 December, APAC HR Leaders gathered at Mars in Singapore to discuss Generation Y and the challenges that face most organisations in attracting, retaining and most importantly engaging this new breed of talent. Clearly competition is fierce when appealing to the next wave of talent, and it’s important for organisations to differentiate and standout in order to draw in new employees. Attracting the right talent is only half the battle, as organisations must then address how to get the most out of their Gen Y workforce.

More Control — Stronger Bond

Gen Y now expects both flexibility and the ability to achieve a work-life balance in the current workplace. This group wants to be empowered and given more control over when and how they work. Most want to manage their own time and feel a degree of freedom from the confines of the traditional corporate structure. As personal and business lives become evermore intertwined, something as simple as letting employees bring in a personal mobile, which they can use for work, as opposed to having two phones, can have a positive effect. Some organisations are even introducing early career sabbaticals to allow their high potential Gen Y talent to pursue something different for a short period of time. Linking this to a CSR initiative can also be effective for both parties in cementing the bond between company and individual.

Social Responsibility

Social responsibility is an area that is becoming more important to the majority of the Gen Y group. They care about a higher purpose and want opportunities to give back to the larger community. Ideally, these opportunities should be relevant to their personal value set, but it’s also crucial to make these pertinent to the longstanding employees, so it is not exclusive to the Gen Y set. The ideal solution is a culture with values that are relevant to all, but which encapsulate the Gen Y motivators. Creating a connected environment can do this. Initiatives such as reverse mentoring to ensure two way sharing between young and old can be highly effective. Gen Y can educate on the technology piece, while at the same time learning a lot from their more experienced mentees.

Peter Hatt, HR Director Southeast Asia at Standard Chartered, commented, “Senior managers today are seeking guidance and training on how to best use and leverage the latest technologies and communication channels, including social media. One way is to get the Generation Y talent to reverse mentor and support senior managers on how to best leverage and use the latest technology. This has a number of advantages – it is a free resource for companies to benefit from, and it also creates opportunities for senior managers to spend more time, and to get to know the Gen Y talent better.”

Common Employee Value Proposition

In order to stand out, is a powerful and progressive Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that is targeted specifically at Gen Y required? One FMCG leader present argued not, “The EVP stays the same. The difference is the ‘how’ not the ‘what’. How do you deliver the EVP pillars to Gen Y? You can do this through a number of channels, such as flexing benefits creatively and innovating technology to increase connectivity. In our organisation you can walk into the cafeteria in Singapore and chat to colleagues in China through an in-built video conferencing system.” Creating this connection between the generations can be powerful.

Many Gen Y workers also respond well to recognition beyond reward. Benefits can indeed be tweaked for this group, as many value different things to the older generations. One organisation talked of involving an employee’s family in a promotion celebration, inviting them into the office — further connecting work and personal lives. One pharmaceutical company highlighted a fruitful partnership with the Operation Smile charity, where successful employees can take a family member away for a week on a CSR project. They fundraise for the project as a family, and the organisation gives them the time off with their families to go and make a difference.

Mars also shared their ‘people, planet and performance’ concept and various initiatives, which utilise the latest layers of technology. One such initiative encourages the workforce to nominate people who have gone the extra mile on the CSR front. Nominations are received via an app, with nominees receiving an e-notification, and the resulting awards ceremony is then broadcast via YouTube, so that family members and friends can watch. What started here in APAC is becoming more of a global initiative as the awareness builds.

Innovation

Training and development can be a powerful pull to Gen Y talent, and many organisations are changing their training strategies in order to increase engagement with younger generations. Some Gen Y’s want a career but have a very flexible and pragmatic approach to the choices that are open to them. They can have a thirst for knowledge, but when it comes to learning, they may respond better to an on-demand menu, as opposed to a traditional instructive classroom approach. Accenture have started creating iPad apps for training and digital learning boards. The company is also utilising connected classrooms, which allow multiple classroom training sessions in different locations connected by VC technology. Bringing people together using apps and technology to link those who are physically dispersed seems to be a good solution.

Holding innovation sessions with millennials, and investing in their ideas on a global level can also be effective, but there is a need to ensure a standalone budget for this so it isn’t consumed by other corporate requirements. These innovations need to be prioritised, or they will not be effectively harnessed. In addition structuring the interview process so that millennials are interviewing millennials can be effective. It’s important to move away from the traditional risk averse approach to a more risk taking approach. Organisations need to be more agile, encouraging the workforce to new try things, in spite of the possibility of failure. This is how innovation happens. Clearly this is a tough balance, especially in the more conservative industries such as banking and professional services, but if they fail to evolve, these industries are in danger of stifling a generation and how they work. Embracing social media channels can be powerful, but it does still have some risk for big corporates. However, as one leader from the professional services industry put it, “Either you choose to engage with it and open a conversation you have control over, or it will get out and you can’t deflect it.”

The Future

Some progressive organisations are now starting to define a competency around technological savviness, and are measuring their leaders on this. However, there is a danger that if you go too far, the core management capability may suffer — a balance is therefore needed. It will certainly be interesting to observe Gen Y progressing into senior management roles. They may start to demonstrate different management styles that migrate away from traditional management techniques. They may be strong at managing through various technology channels, but struggle in the other more traditional areas.

Sander Hubbers, Global HRD at Globalfoundries, shared her view; “It’s interesting to consider whether the needs and wants of the Generation Y talent will become less pertinent once they advance and progress in their careers. Are their approaches and attitudes traits that will stay with them, or is it just something that challenges us at this stage of their careers? The challenge is to get them to stick in the three to five to seven year period, but after that they may start to conform to the prevailing norms, as different things might become important to them. It will be interesting to track.”

We also need to be careful of becoming too generic when it comes to Generation Y. There is a lot of diversity within
this group, and we have to be cautious of catchall labels. Not all Gen Y’s are extroverted and outspoken on social media, and we must consider the more introverted types, or we risk alienating 50% of the Gen Y population. It will no doubt be interesting to see how this generation advances and evolves in the workplace, but more importantly, the Gen Y question is forcing organisations to self-reflect around how they use technology and social media. Furthermore, it is encouraging companies to think more about innovating, and is pushing them to question their cultures and Employee Value Propositions more than ever before.

Many thanks go to Mars for hosting this insightful discussion on Gen Y, and we look forward to bringing this group together again in 2015.