Generation "Y " — born 1980s to 2000
Born during a baby
bulge, this group is
more than
three times the size of Generation X. They're the biggest
thing to hit the North
American
scene since the gigantic cohort
of Baby
Boomers. Generation Yers make up 70 million of
the current population, they share everything online
through their blogs or their MySpace and/or Facebook
sites and they are easily influenced by their peers. A
challenging concept for not just customer service
organizations, but for every interaction with your
organization including recruitment and retention. If
they're annoyed or angered, they're going to talk. And
you don't want 70 million people badmouthing your
company!
Although this “echo boom”
rivals its parent's generation in size, in almost every other
way, it is very different. This generation is far more racially
diverse:
-
One in three
is not Caucasian.
-
One in four
lives in a single-parent household.
-
Three in four
have working mothers. While Boomers are still
mastering the internet, their kids are tapping away
at computers in nursery school.
Together, GenX and GenY
have produced the most important change in the
employer-employee relationship since the period immediately
following World War II. Four fundamental shifts are
continuing to transform workplaces in organizations of every
kind:
- Employment
relationships have become less hierarchical and more
transactional (What’s In
It For Me?).
- Employees have less
confidence in long-term rewards and greater expectations
for short-term rewards.
- Immediate supervisors
are now the most important people in the workplace. Studies
continue to prove that the day-to-day communication between
supervisors and direct reports has more impact than any
other single factor on employee productivity, quality,
morale and retention.
- Gen Yers want to
align with employers that care and do something for a
cause. They are the generation who have been most marketed
to. They like being part of a team that stands for
something. Your company is their brand. Your brand had
better have some name among their peers or at least within
the industry, if you want them to stay with you. They live
by brand recognition.
Your
biggest obstacle is keeping their attention. They are the
Internet generation and are extremely technologically savvy.
According to several studies:
- 97
percent either own or have access to a computer (at a
friend's house, school or
library);
- 94
percent own a cell phone;
- 76
percent use Instant Messaging;
- 15
percent of IM users are logged on
24/7;
- 34
percent use Web sites as their primary source of news (they
don't have time to wait for a scheduled newspaper or
television news report - they live by their own
schedule.);
- 28
percent own a blog, while 44 percent read
blogs;
- 75
percent of them are college/university students with
Facebook accounts;
- 60
percent own iPods or similar MP3 device (gone are the days
of Walkmans);
This
new wave of workers is both optimistic about the future and
realistic about the present. They combine the teamwork ethic of
the Boomers with
the can-do attitude of the Silents (also called Veterans) and
the technological savvy of the Xers … a formula for
greatness!
|
Some
Characteristics
|
At
Work
|
|
§
Globally
concerned
§
Fiercely
confident; been taught everything is possible
(they believe it)
§
Achievement,
choice & variety
§
Importance
of family
§
Sociability
& community matter
most
§
Shock-proof
§
Depression
& anxiety
|
Contributions
u
Passionate
about diversity
u
Optimistic
& energetic
u
Crave
career coaching & skills
training
u
Entrepreneurial
u
Multitaskers;
change is constant
u
Cyber
literate
Cautions
u
Need for
supervision & unvarnished
truth
u
Require
low stress, plus “Why” &
‘WIFM”
u
GenX
& GenY friction could make tension between
Boomers & Xers look tame. 66% of teens have
a negative view of
GenX.
|
|
Misconceptions About
GenY
|
|
Media Myths:
|
Reality:
|
|
No morality or
goals.
|
Values are most similar to
grandparents and great-grandparents. Stricter
moral code, care about manners, civic action.
88% of students have five years
goals.
|
|
Need to be “babied.”
|
Reconnection with family and
community. 90% of teens say they are
very close to their parents. In 1974, over 40%
of boomers said they would be better off
without their
parents.
|
|
Too much TV & video
games. Not
enough reading.
|
Annual sales of children's
books have quadrupled since 1990.
Video games cut
into TV time, not reading
time.
|
|
No work
ethic.
|
Seek skills and information
that make their working lives less stressful
and that will help them earn money; higher
priority on making money with this generation
than any before. 57% are willing to work more
than 40 hours per week to reach
goals.
|
|
Spend now.
Pay
later.
|
Although one in nine high
school students has a credit card co‑signed by
a parent, studies show half the teens in the
16-22 age bracket always save a portion of
their money.
|
|
when a
Silent collides, they think
…
u
Too much TV with crude language and
violence.
u
What is this world coming
to?
u
Too big for their
britches.
when a
Boomer collides, they think
…
u
Trying to grow up too
fast.
|
u
You’re not really going to wear
THAT!
u
Unrealistic
expectations.
when a
GenX collides, they think
…
u
Mall Rats.
u
Spoiled brats.
u
What do you mean, “what’s an
album?”
|
Generation
Y
Generation
X
Baby Boomer
Generation
The Silent or Veteran
Generation
| 
