BusinessWeek.com’s How to Keep Your Team Talking is a bit of a how-to guide on running a brainstorming meeting. That, to me, is not as intriguing as looking at the management implications of properly handling Gen Y workers.
The younger generations crave involvement in their work roles. They crave a purpose, a meaning, a mission more so than any generation before them. This mission goes beyond monetary rewards. They long to make a difference in the world through their work. This distinction is important because it points to the fact that they long to be engaged (to borrow a buzzword from the article).
The idea behind engagement-mania is that when employees truly care about what they’re doing, beyond the simple need to pay the rent or the mortgage, everybody wins. The work is more fulfilling for employees, and the company gets the best part of its workers’ brains and creative juices deployed on its projects.
The only downside to having engaged employees is that once you’ve asked for the full use of your team members’ intellects, you have to also let them go to town. It’s no good to say, “We want all of your brain cells put to work on this project and all of your creative ideas,” and then squash those ideas like bedbugs.
So engagement is a two-way street for managers. If you ask for your employees’ passion and brains, you have to actually make use of them. That’s one of the reasons why managing knowledge workers is a complicated task. Obviously, not every idea from every employee will win the day, but it’s important to keep asking for input and to keep incorporating it whenever doing so makes sense. And when employees’ well-intentioned contributions aren’t exactly what’s called for, it’s important to say so – and say why.
One thing I have noticed in our limited interaction with younger workers is that they truly do desire to have a voice within the company. The younger generation enjoys sharing ideas and crafting unique solutions. They view the corporate structure with a more horizontal perspective as opposed to the classic baby boomer hierarchy.
I think this author is accurate in laying out techniques for encouraging and incorporating employees’ brainstorming ideas. This managerial task will become increasingly more important as the younger generation assumes a greater role within the workforce.