When people speak about Gen Y, I typically have 2 reactions. First I wonder how some
40-50 year old can even claim to be an expert in how to deal with Gen Y. Second I think, GREAT just what the world needs another Gen Y "sucks" or Gen Y is "great" expert. Now this is not to say that any of the people are wrong for saying what they are saying or speaking their minds and floating opinions like gospel... I am definitely one of those people. However today I would like to take the first step to stop being one of those people. Today I won't post attributes or reasons why Gen Y is great or why other Generations think we suck. I won't even give explanations on how to help "deal" with Gen Y. I think those bases are covered pretty well. Instead today I will create a blog post comprised entirely (except for this intro bit) of questions and short explanatory notes. The reason I want to do this is to move the discussion forward... I think it is high time we got off the what's and started dealing with the why's and the how's. So without further ado... 5 questions which I hope will help move the Gen Y conversation forward...
1) Who are we talking about when we refer to Gen Y? Read this by
Josip Petrusa and you might see that there are several sub groups and clear distinctions in the 20+year span of Gen Y. We are not a very uniform generation...
2) Why do you think we feel so freaking entitled? Everyone seems to say it and give examples of our entitlement, but no one explains WHY we are entitled.
3) Why do you think that we aren't so entitled? The opposite question for the GEN Y activists out there, we provide description but no method...
4) Why does everyone think communication is the key? Elaborate... E-mail is communication, texting is communication, Tweets are communication, phone calls are communication... we get communication, so that clearly can't be the key.
5) Why are we talking about this? If all roads lead to employee engagement then Gen Y is either a distraction or a mirror.
