Generation Y: Tips for Taking on the New Year

With the new year approaching I am focusing the next few blog entries on potential "Resolutions" that any of us can proclaim. As a Generational Enthusiast (I have no idea what that means but some people like titles), I will focus this entry on Generation Y. Like a previous blog entry, "Tips for Managing Generation Y", I will once again stress that if you are looking for rampant proclamations about negative perceptions about this generation or any for that matter, you are reading the wrong blog. I want to help build the bridge connecting the generational gaps, not push them further apart.

Tips for Managing Gen Y focused on how we (older generations) can create a culture conducive to productive and happy Gen Y employees. I'd like to change perspectives here and make suggestions on how Gen Y can become a productive asset to today's modern business. For my Gen Y readers, this isn't about assimilation (so don't click to another site). To the contrary, this is about getting your way. It's about proving you are as valuable as you say. It's about priming and setting the right amount of powder to catapult you perhaps even beyond your career trajectory. These are tips to make you successful.

The following are 10 ways you (Generation Y) can increase your value to your organization and employer:

1. LEARN TO LOSE: What the heck is he talking about? Some of you may be reading that and saying I am a winner. That is where I should focus. My response to that is I have never met a person in my life who didn't lose. However, the truly great ones, are the ones that lose well. You won't win every battle you fight. Life guarantees that. If you lose poorly, your value is diminished but if you lose like a pro, you may even increase your value beyond the winners. Look at the Jamaican Bob Sled team. Who won the gold, silver, or bronze Olympic medals that year?

2. LEARN HOW TO EMPATHIZE: The Greeks designed the communication model, Ethos, Pathos, Logos. Pathos helps us to understand the other person. To often we try to understand the other person from our perspective. That couldn't be more selfish. Understand them from their perspective. Hold off judgement until you can do that. To judge before you achieve Pathos is not a reflection of the other person. It is a reflection of you and a poor one at that.

3. LISTEN: This couldn't be place any more strategically behind empathy. I once read an author (who's name escapes me) define listening as the act of existing solely for the person speaking. What a powerful statement. To me it means my mind is clear from assumptions and open to facts and perspective. Listening is not an agreement of terms but a tactic to help you understand and gain position. Listening is also a play of offense not defense as it is often mistaken.

4. VALUE EXPERIENCE: I had a conversation with a Gen Y employee who was struggling with this. She was 23 at the time and I asked her if experience doesn't matter would it be okay with you if I replace you with a 13 year old. She was insulted and said how could you think a 13 year old could do a better job than me. I made my point by explaining how do you think an employee who is 45 sees you. Experience is extremely valuable and usually that is a lesson learned once you get the experience.

5. PRACTICE POWERFUL PERSUASION: If no one agrees with you, it doesn't mean their naive, it simply means, you did a poor job of persuading them. The Power of Persuasion is a skill that is up there at the top for leaders and managers. Without it, you may find yourself leading a party of one, you.

6. MANAGER YOUR TIME: Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize. Time management is about decision making. You are deciding what should be your priority at any given time. Make no mistake, the time slot of NOW can only be occupied by one priority and cannot be shared. You are judged by your decision of what priority you place in the NOW time slot. Read my post "Multi-Tasking: Manager's Beware" to gain further insight.

7. KEEP THE CUSTOMER IN MIND: First, do you know who your (direct internal or external) customer is? If not that is the first question you need to answer. Everything you do, every task and decision should have the customer in mind. Keep the customer at the center of your work and it is unlikely you can go wrong.

8. BALANCE YOUR TECH BIAS: This is one of the greatest strengths of Gen Y but can also become your biggest obstacle. Your attraction to technology can isolate you from older generations who don't integrate it so willingly into their methodology. Its not right or wrong, its choice. You have to respect that to influence them. There could very well be a legitimate reason why tech may be the wrong option. Look at the film "Up in the Air" with George Clooney to open a great debate on this point.

9. BUILD YOUR REPUTATION: The accomplishments of your peers or predecessors don't belong to you. Your employers are judging you based on what you accomplish. This also holds true to the weakness of any generation as well. You should not be grounded or propelled by anonymity but by the thrust of your accomplishments. Build them and boast them to your employer.

10. INCORPORATE AGE DIVERSITY INTO YOUR NETWORK: What's the average age of your network? How many members do you have over 60, 50, 40, etc.? Gen Y seems to have an amazing tolerance for some traditional issues of inclusion (race, gender, religion, etc.). A need is for Gen Y to increase their tolerance of Age Diversity. Look to include the talent of these groups into your network.

11. ASK FOR HELP: (Here's a bonus point beyond the usually list of ten.) What I am not referring to here is asking Google, Yahoo, or Bing for help. Gen Y does an amazing job at that. Ask your fellow co-workers for help. This is an expression of the value you see in them. One person can instigate a difference but it takes a community to make a difference.

This list contains common themes of relationship, trust, collaboration, respect, etc. As I look back on it (despite being designed for Gen Y), I realize that these are tips for each of the generations. It makes me realize not how different we are but how similar.

You can follow me on Twitter @TerrenceWing or @LiquidLearn

TIPS FOR MANAGING GEN Y

This isn’t an article or even a blog site where someone else is complaining about Gen Y or any generation for that matter. I refuse to be that unproductive. I look for the solutions to channeling the talent of all generations into productive and profitable workplaces. We all are a piece of a puzzle whose image is only seen when we are all placed together in the right way. That being said, how do we welcome Generation Y into the workforce with eagerness to incorporate their talent and potential?

Like every generation, there is a distinct yet common dynamic to Generation Y. They are not lazy but simply don’t like wasting time. They are not disloyal but loyal to the right cause. They aren’t addicted to technology but believe in its power to make life more enriched. They aren’t selfish but are simply looking for their place in the world. They aren’t oblivious but are looking for the answers. Essentially, they really aren’t that different but they are misunderstood. Their place in the world and workplace is yet to be determined but make no mistake they are here to stay. So let’s address how to channel their talent.

The following are 10 ways to manage Generation Y.

1. Be Sincere – They can spot a fake a mile away, whether it is within their ranks or outside. You are not one of them and they will never see you as such. What they will see is your value if you prove it.
   


2. Be Part of their Network – They hate to fail and will lose trust in you if you put them in a “sink or swim” situation. They don’t think they know it all. What they feel is that they can get the answers to it all through their networks. Be present in that network.
   


3. Provide Technology – Pen and paper is as antiquated as the horse and buggy to them. They express themselves through technology. This isn’t an addiction to the technology. What it is, a strong drive to find the most efficient way of doing a task.
   


4. Allow them to Explore – Tell them what you want, provide recommendations and let them explore their options. They may find a better way of doing something that was hidden by the malaise of routine that perhaps blinds the rest of us.
   


5. Communicate Standards – Sure they want to explore and innovate. More importantly, they want to succeed. You hold the key to that. Coach them so they understand what is needed to succeed. Don’t take their questions as insubordinate or arrogant but as their methodology for discovering truth and meaning. Which is what they are looking for.
   


6. Provide them with Feedback – They are accustomed to hearing this and frequently. There is a need to depart from the type of feedback they are use to hearing. They are not perfect and capable of anything they put their minds to, which is what they have heard from their Helicopter Parents. The truth is they aren’t perfect and there are many things they are not capable of doing (just like all of us). When the feedback is negative it needs to contain a message of hope. They don’t want to feel the discussion is going to change their career trajectory but instead helps them to achieve it.
   


7. Listen to them – They have innovative and even curious ways of seeing the world. Sure sometimes curiosity kills the cat but at other times it cures a disease or changes a life. The next great idea could come from the mouths of Babes.
   


8. Trust Them – Give them exciting projects and assignments that clearly demonstrate you see their value. Provide them the needed support through the process. The exposure and meaning you help them discover in their work will create an advocate in them.
   


9. Take the Time to Explain – “Do it because I said so” is a management strategy that is as useful as a square wheel. Even if you were victimized by this strategy when you were trenching your way through the labor force to management, realize today that it is extremely ineffective with Generation Y.
   


10. Don’t Contribute to the Gap – Everyone is out there talking about how lazy this generation is. Opinions are a dime a dozen. One’s like that are only going to create adversaries and not allies. How successful have you been in the past working with a group of adversaries?
    Generation Y is misunderstood by many managers. The evidence of this is in the turnover numbers. Millennials have the ability to instantly reshift their loyalties and change employers instantly. Be careful not to blink. You may discover as your eyes open that you have another vacancy to fill. You don’t have to fear this because solutions are available.
    

This is not a conclusive list in any way, shape, or form. We haven’t even discussed encouraging their desire to change the world and the use of social networks (as well as so many more). With the exception of a few tweeks specific to Generation Y, my recommendations are a strong management strategy despite its application to Generation Y. Managers should adopt these tactics to encourage all four generations too reach their potential.

Follow me on Twitter @TerrenceWing