Collaborating With Rising Generations

 Collaborating With Rising Generations

These young people have been dubbed a lot recently: Gen Y, The Plug-and-Play Generation, and the Gotta-Feel-Good Generation, among others. Our present youth, those in their twenties, are the new young generation to whom everyone is making reference. A generation always "deals" with the one after it. Every generation has its own unique set of values, norms, perspectives, and practices.

However, why is this new generation suddenly generating so much buzz? They have been progressing for a long time. They are, in fact, now in their twenties! We were unable to foretell their group traits until we seen them in action, and now they are beginning to influence the workforce. Their actions are altering the landscape in both positive and negative ways, depending on your perspective.

In spite of our longing for the "good old days," this generation is diving headfirst into the workforce, and they will have an effect on your company in the future. There's no point in attempting to resist it. Once a generation reaches its twenties, it no longer has the power to influence the following generation. Because these are the children we brought up in this manner, we need to find a method to help them. Getting to know them is the first step in cooperating with them.

In what ways does this generation thrive (or flounder) and how does this affect companies seeking to recruit from this group?

The Plug-and-Play Generation got its name for a reason, and that is the problem. The parents of this generation worked hard to provide for their families, while the children spent their childhood glued to television and video games. Because of this, a new generation of young adults is flooding the job market with an insatiable craving for rapid satisfaction. No matter if it's for fun or for work, you need a quick fix.

In order to solve this problem and attract and retain talented employees, business owners need be careful to provide employees work that they enjoy doing, or at least to ask them whether they would be pleased to perform it. This generation needs to be challenged in the way they choose to be challenged.

The problem is that nobody or nothing gets this generation's attention. Not tomorrow or next week, but right now if they don't enjoy the game, they'll find another game to play and new people to play it with. Easy peasy. Imagine taking the PS2 game out of the player and replacing it with one they might like more.

The solution is that it returns to its original pace. Their comfort zone is the lightning-fast pace of the web, not the leisurely pace of the horseless carriage. If you don't cater to this generation's needs, you can say goodbye to them. Keeping this generation content and engaged in their job for you requires regular one-on-one check-ins to assess their enthusiasm and interest.

Generation Y is demanding that they enjoy their work, which is a major issue. They won't do it if it makes them feel bad. It really is that easy, and no amount of money will ever change their minds. Do you remember how they saw their parents toil away at the family business, day in and day out, just to make ends meet? Wealthy parents who were away. Quality, not quantity, is what this generation is after.

In such cases, the answer is simple: the job isn't always fulfilling. But you may fight it by expressing your appreciation for the work that is being done. A lot of the time, all it takes for a worker to feel fulfilled is to assist other people and see their gratitude.

Confusion: The development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Here is where ADD first gained traction, I see. Gen Y won't be paying attention for much longer. Their information needs to be concise and delivered quickly.

The answer is to cut out the unnecessary paperwork and lengthy memos. Shoot quickly and accurately!

The problem is that a recent survey found that millennials only stay in their jobs for an average of 18 months. My goodness, even a few years have passed; what the hey? Regrettably, those were the days. There will be vacancies in our firms' workforces caused by the retirement and departure of older workers; therefore, we must rely on the generation we grew up with to fill these roles. Remind yourself that this generation saw their parents get lifelong careers, only to have the corporations and unions that promised to protect them spit them out just as they were about to cash in on their pensions. Never again will members of Generation Y stand idly by while that happens to them.

Answer: The stick skills of this generation will remain unchanged. So, here are your two choices as a business owner: Either(1) make working there fun or(2) get ready for the day when every single employee leaves. If you go with option 1, you'll have to discover a way to make your employees pleased. They require respect due to the unique persons that they are, complete with their own wants, requirements, and guidelines. Be ready to attend to those requirements, or go on to the second one: The single most important thing a business owner can do is to document all of their company's procedures. Save the worker's instructions somewhere secure so you may give them to their successor. When it comes to staffing, retraining the next person is a common gripe from clients. Apologies, but that's just how things are these days. We must be prepared to undergo training and retraining.

Office etiquette is a problem. Look at this story that came out recently on Yahoo! News about how people act (or don't act) in today's workplace: http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/40342. The younger generation might not even realize they are in violation of the guidelines, as the article implies. When compared to previous generations, their code of conduct is extremely different.

My business partner and husband always reminds me that "But wrong is still wrong and right is still right" when we disagree on something. Maybe this is the new "right" now that a whole new generation has access to the internet. Perhaps, perhaps not. The new "normal" would seem to be dysfunctional families if that's the case. I fear that the younger generation outnumbers us in terms of raw numbers, folks. There is, in this writer's view, little choice except to adapt.

Myth: "They won't play the face-time game." This is according to Penelope Trunk's article about Generation Y at http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/38889. So, they won't hang around the workplace doing nothing to make you happy. They are aware that working remotely (from a beach, for example) is just as effective as working in an office.

Method: Give them the option to work from the comfort of their own homes! Just say no! This generation's insatiable need for flexibility can be satisfied by allowing them to work from the comfort of their own home. This will go a long way toward retaining the services of this generation of workers.

Everything that you deal with on a daily basis is something that our virtual staffing service deals with as well. The cautions expressed by Generation Y can still affect us. We address the specific challenges faced by this generation by bolstering our back-end team, who routinely mentor and supervise our virtual assistants. We also go to considerable lengths to ensure that our clients and virtual assistants are a good fit, and we're quick to offer to switch tasks if the VA doesn't "feel right" with their current one.

A higher turnover rate of virtual assistants is a consequence of this (generational difficulties), although it's still lower than the rate in the physical world. By swiftly finding new personnel, interviewing, and screening for the correct attitude and abilities, we protect our clients from the effects of turnover in numerous ways. We can't stop the turnover as a virtual staffing service, but we can assist our clients in navigating it. Unfortunately, we can't change generations or their attitudes.

Virtual assistants and virtual employment still have a lot to offer, even for firms with a high-turnover generation. With remote workers, you can save money compared to hiring an in-office employee by the hour, avoid office politics, quickly bring on more help, enjoy the benefits of not having an employee physically present, avoid the start-up capital requirements (desks, computers, phone lines), and have complete freedom.

When it comes to dealing with the challenges that this generation presents to businesses, virtual recruiting is often the best option. More leeway is what this generation is after. The generation is content since working remotely provides the highest level of flexibility. One of the greatest ways to put this generation to work for you is through virtual staffing. They fit like a glove.

Visit our article at http://teamdoubleclick.com/news/free_articles/SetupYourVirtualOffice.html for additional details on how to establish a virtual office.

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