Gen Y – and management
After working with the young people on the recent Space Unlimited project amongst the comments which have been made about their approach, findings and report was that their experience will stand them in good stead for understanding what management means – which in turn means that they should demand -and contribute to – good management in the future. Before the project started they completed a “management development” weekend and learned about their Belbin team roles. In their final report they referred to how that knowledge helped in their team development.
I was interested to read the findings of this recent report by Dr Alison McLeod included in a recent edition of Training zone. If you don’t have time to read the fulll article here are the key findings…
* Selfless, not selfish: far from the stereotypical view of Generation Y as self-indulgent, today’s younger managers are driven by ethics and a sense of purpose. Only 13% claimed they ‘would quit their job tomorrow’ if they won the lottery. 90% ‘want to work for an organisation that does something I believe in’ and 56% ‘would only work for organisations with strong values’.
* Committed to the cause: debunking the myth that Generation Y lacks commitment, the report shows that 63% of respondents have been in their current job for three years or more and only 4% strongly agreed with the statement that ‘there’s no point being excessively loyal to an organisation’. Almost two-fifths (38%) also work in the evenings, if necessary, 34% work at weekends and one-fifth (23%) also use ‘travel time’ for working.
* Long-term career planning: the idea that Generation Y is less committed to career planning has also been shattered by the study. Asked why they joined their current employer, many (75%) focused on the long-term career opportunities available. Almost two-thirds (62%) claim to have a personal development plan in place and a similar proportion (65%) suggest they ‘know what they
Anything surprise you there? Do you agree/ disagree?
I taught a large “entry level course” of around 1000 students for three years.
It took me a little while to get used to ‘new ways’ but I developed a deep appreciation of this generation.
This is not a feckless generation, at all. I tracked down the original presentations of the alternate reality game designer, Jane McDonigal, over the weekend. It kind of annoyed me that I hadn’t previously stumbled over her work linking the psychology of happiness and the psychology of game design – this is what my young students had been pointing me to. What I needed had been presented in Sydney over a year ago !!! Argh!!!
Still, found now. The point with this new generation is that growing up with new media has exposed them to collaboration. While the psychological principles have been available for 30-50 years, only the best companies have used them. Now we have a generation that expects work and politics to be organized as “best of class” because they have experienced those principles in play.
We have a lot to learn from them. The flip side of course is for older people to think about how they contribute to the 21st century. I turn to David Whyte and Rainer Marie Rilke for that!
I put the links to Jane’s work on my site. Did you see JK Rowlings commencement address to Harvard? Another great influencer of our age.
Hi Jo
Thanks for your comments. 1000 young people at one time. WOW!
Will follow up the links you mentioned.