Generation Y Workers

How to motivate Generation Y workers have been plaguing the management consultants for a while, especially when Generation Y workers enter the workforce and having significantly different characteristics from the the Generation X workers. Generation Yers are defined as those who are between the age of 19 to 30 this year. Many of you who are reading the blog now could be falling under this category.

In the latest HR study conducted to determine what motivates the Generation Yers, the responses highlighted some of the key differences that corporate culture has to be shifted with the influx of these workers. Generation Yers are motivated more by intrinsic factors such as career development and job satisfaction. Most of them are more willing to job hop to find their ideal job. They also want more work-life balance.

How do you feel as a Generation Yer? Do you agree with them? What do you think as a Generation Xer? Do you agree with the findings?

By being more open about what they want and chasing after what they want, Generation Yer can change some of the corporate practices when they take up a greater and greater proportion of the current workforce. Yet, many companies are advised not to undertake drastic measures to accomodate the needs of the Generation Yers yet. This may be the advice given by the HR consultants. On second thoughts, is this plausible?

When the Generation Yers are not motivated, they can easily pack their bags and make a dash for the door at the sniff of a greener pasture. For those of us who have worked long enough, we can fully understand the cost to an organisation with every turnover. Cost comes not just in terms of the apparent recruitment cost (from hiring headhunters to setting time for recruitment) or increasing the compensation package to retain or attract new staff. Cost also comes in the form of disruption to existing work processes, demoralising of remaining workers (from increased workload to starting a turnover trend) and retraining of new staff. The situation is execerbated when the hired staff leaves only after a year as most workers can start contributing and adding value to their work only in the second year.

Am I criticising the Generation Yers then? The answer is no. In fact, Generation Yers can cause a shift in the corporate paradigm if their 'wishes' are fulfilled. To motivate and retain Generation Yers, some of the key factors are career advancement and work-life balance. This means that companies will need to take a more serious commitment to helping employees develop themselves and to communicate and fine-tune the employees' training and development plans constantly. Where this important aspect used to be side-stepped and kept hush-hush to among HR and the management, employees now can have a more direct influence over their progression. This means that career opportunities can be more customised to enable a better job fit.

Work-life balance is essential to inculcating a healthy culture and promotes a happier and efficient workforce. Work-life balance is greater emphasised with the increasing sophistication of the Singapore workforce as many are more aware of being more personally and professionally satisfied. How many used to forgo their personal time in pursuit of their career goals. This belief that work and life are mutually exclusive are being shattered. With advancement in technology, telecommuting and flexi-working hours can support a highly responsive workforce and yet allow them to enjoy time with family and friends.

I hope companies will move towards a more open and supportive culture as more and more Generation Yers join the workforce. In fact, these changes are essential in preparation of the Generation Zers for the Generation Zers are certainly more sophisticated and confident than the Yers, don't you think so?