I have questions, who's got answers?

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.


  

 

Reconsidering the differences... and fixing the problems.

Initially, and I mean as it relates to the inception of this blog, there seemed to be a white wash of anti-Millennial/Gen Y sentiment in the world. However, at present there seems to be substantial and growing opposition to the anti-millennial sentiment. More importantly the blog-o-sphere and Twitterverse are facing a deluge of blogs and articles making the claim that the generations aren't that different at all. Just this morning I read a blog post titled The Gen Y Myth and it got me thinking if this whole Gen Y being different is really real?

To answer my own question, I have to say No. Gen Y isn't that different from any previous generation. I mean when you sit down to read the general complaints about Gen Y, as the author of the Gen Y Myth did, you start to see commonality not uniqueness. More over when you look at the survey response from Pat S. that was the subject of my previous post and the incredibly data/information rich white paper by Millennial Inc it seems that the needs, wants, and motivators of Gen Y aren't really that ground breaking. Good jobs, stable jobs, and bosses who care about them sound less like generational issues and more like professional and managerial issues we all deal with, which clearly echoes the sentiments put down in the Gen Y Myth. Most importantly those are the very same issues that many in corporations have been reluctant to address because there hasn't been the level of disruption in the status quo that there is today. Thanks economy!

So what should happen next, how do you fix it?

When I was first asked that question on Twitter I was flippant in answering. I believe my exact response was, "If I knew I would have a job, or at least be rich." However what should happen next is that HR should take up the job. HR professionals should strip away the generational stereotypes and demographic grouping (which for a unit that is supposed to celebrate diversity, they seem to not handle this wrinkle very well) and get at the root of the problems. I argue that once they do they will find that the problems of the generations clashing, as I like to call it, are really problems of corporations not being sure how to handle: innovation, management, talent management, employee engagement, diversity, and the list goes on and on. However it isn't that HR can't handle these problems, and I am by no means suggesting that since academic HR has been tackling these very topics for decades. Where HR really has a problem is that now the academic theory of these topics has to be put into practice at EVERY corporation and not just at the limited few that have been progressive already(e.g. Google and Best Buy). Additionally even for the progressive HR companies, it is no longer functional to be progressive in one area, HR has to be progressive in all areas. Compound that with the idea that while the stereotyped differences between the generations may not exists, the technological and communication differences between them are real. Now also complicate it a little more and consider that HR is responsible for the least predictable type of corporate capital there is, the HUMAN BEING, and it is easy to see that this isn't going to be an easy climb.

Many companies will try and fail to blend these elements together, many more won't even try and will just fail (Big Finance Banks, I am looking right at you). However a select few will try, and fail. Then try again and fail again, and so on and so on until unbeknown to them they succeeded, but they will continue to try and continue to fail even after success. Why? because that is the mission of HR. In order to succeed, they have to constantly manage talent, be innovative, ignite and manage change, handle diversity and engage the workforce. However until everyone in the corporate world from the CEOs on down figures out that is how you ensure success, people will just keep blaming Generational differences!

Is a culture clash inevitable?

While the year of demarcation for who is a Millennial depends on the source, I like the years 1978-2001, so anyone born during this period is considered a Millennial in my book. What is more important than who is a Millennial is the laundry list of characteristics and stereotypes used to define this generation. Simple searches on-line will reveal that Millennials are considered, self centered, egocentric, over ambitious, immature, uncouth, and a whole long list of other "flattering" commentary. However, I don't think there are many in the Millennial generation who would deny those hash-tags as a group. They (we) are all of those things and more. They are proficient multi-taskers, they are quick thinkers (or Googlers maybe?), they are tech-literate, and they are uniquely creative in a world not quite ready to accept their creativity. Which is why the culture clash is coming/already happening.

To me the clash will unfold in many ways. Typical to anything where there is a clash between old and new, there will be conflict, there will be compromise, and there will be reformation. This big clash will be followed by smaller conflicts, less compromise, and less reformation until there is complete indoctrination and a total shift in thinking. The history of the world is littered with examples of this type of mind changing clash, the geocentric vs. the heliocentric, or the flat-Earthers vs. the round-Earthers, team Coco vs. team Leno. In all these cases both sides thought they were right, both sides claimed to have supporting evidence and both sides claimed to have support of the masses and their supporters ultimately did battle.

However no matter how hard fought the battle maybe sometimes the outcome is inevitable. Change is going to happen. Leno got his show back, the earth was proven to be round, and the Sun is the center of the solar system... for now...I still say Pluto is a planet! In any event, the main thing to remember if you find yourself set to clash along generational lines is to consider the opposite position in the debate.

In regards to the Millennials, those of older generations should think of and consider the way things are done now in terms of how they will be done in the future. A phone call today may still be important, but tomorrow it may be as useless as a telegraph. So instead of being upset the Millennials prefer electronic communication, think of it as inevitable that virtually all communication will eventually be electronic... until such time it becomes telepathic, come on Steve Jobs, get a move on it already, I want an APP for that!

In regards to dealing with older generations; Millennials, some things are set in stone, respect for others (especially those in authority) is one of them. If you think your boss is wrong, by all means, tell him, privately and respectfully. If he doesn't allow you to, then he is simply a poor manager. However going home and blogging or posting to FB and Twitter about how much of a Dbag your boss is not respectful, its cowardly. That is the behavior that leads to the stereotype of all Millennials being immature. Put his role into perspective, would you want someone posting to the world that you were awful at your job? I doubt it... and before you can say "so what", "it happens" or "get over it" think about how it may not have ever happened to your boss. You may be the first, and if he is like most bosses today, you may also be the last to criticize him on the world wide web.

Ultimately, while mutual perspective is important it won't stop the impending cultural clash, just make it a little less dramatic. The office and internet will become the Haight-Ashbury of the new generation. Too me though, the biggest reason for the inevitability of the clash is that too many people within the existing establishments will take defense of their viewpoint and begin to have pitched battle with the opposition. Let's face it silo mentality is definitely the hallmark of the older generation. The heretics may burn, some Millennials may not survive... but the world of business will change.