Not my words, but rather a quote from this Selling Power article: “If I had to use one word to describe Generation Y, it’s empowered,” says Ann Fishman, president of Generation Targeted Marketing Corporation, a specialized marketing firm providing insight into consumer preferences, trends, and buying habits affecting the six generations of Americans. “This is a generation who has a tremendous amount of self-confidence. They are civic minded, optimistic, and want to be involved in their futures. They are going to come on very strong. And now for some tips: Fishman notes a few things to keep in mind when going through the hiring process with this group. First, Generation… Read More
Continue ReadingGenerations 101
The Wall Street Journal provides an article that does a nice job of laying out the upcoming shortage of workers. The focus is upon the different generations and the general drive behind each. The article is rather rudimentary, but it provides a clean view of the problem. First: Americans of childbearing age simply are not producing enough kids to meet the economy’s future need for workers, notably in fast-growing fields such as medicine and engineering. The shortfall is coming largely because the fabled baby boom generation was so huge—75 million Americans born in the 18 years from 1946 to 1964—that no other generation can be expected to match it any… Read More
Continue ReadingA Different View Of The Video Game Generation
Last week I posted on an article that discussed generational trends and specifically Gen Y and the effect of video game playing on their work habits. Steven Rothberg from CollegeRecruiter.com added a comment to that post that I wanted to share. Steven provides the most insightful commentary on Gen Y that I have read so I always consider his expert-level commentary. I thought his comment on my post was as good or better than the original article: Some may argue that video games are ruining the minds of this generation, but I feel that they’re not ruining the minds but instead changing them. The mind of someone of Gen Y… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Video Game Generation
These definitions are from Selling Power’s Talkin’ about Different Generations: The Silent Generation Consisting of workers over the age of 60, these folks tend to follow traditional patterns; they take their work seriously, expect to do this job for the rest of their working life, and feel comfortable working alone, knowing that they are trusted to perform up to or beyond expectations. Baby Boomers Born between the years 1943 and 1964, Boomers currently comprise almost half the workforce in many organizations. They tend to be a bit more individualistic than their elders, and struggle with workaholism and work-life balance issues. Generation X Born from 1964 to 1981, Gen X-ers have… Read More
Continue ReadingWeb Commute
That is a term coined by Citrix and one I suspect we will see with some frequency. If gas goes to $4/gallon, I suspect these articles will publish daily. ManageSmarter.com offers up an article discussing the preference of today’s workers to have technological flexibility in their job. The key here is the demographics of the results (emphasis mine): …U.S. workers aged 18-34 prefer flexible working conditions two-to-one over other age groups. In fact, 70% of survey respondents agreed that working remotely would be a welcome opportunity. In an era where acquiring and retaining good employees is a challenge, and the workforce is becoming increasingly young and mobile, offering the ability… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Net Generation
I haven’t heard that description used for Gen Y until I read this BusinessWeek.com article – Netting the Net Generation. The article is a good read for managers who have Gen Y employees. Some of the information is fairly common, but I thought this point was well stated: However, don’t assume this technologically sophisticated generation is made up of solitary video game players. Generation Y is highly relationship-oriented and uses a wide range of media and technology to connect with others. They expect to experience this in the workplace as well. Give them opportunities to engage and share ideas and to work on new things. Traditional behaviors that define power… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Problem With Gen Y
BusinessWeek.com offers up a scathing discussion of Gen Y in Getting to Know Gen Why. I’m no expert on Gen Y, but this article takes them out to the woodshed (had to throw in an old school saying). What you hear is: “They don’t want to pay their dues, play by the rules, or give their best to any project unless they are sure it will get them a promotion, a raise, or some kind of recognition. And then if they aren’t totally happy, or if you look at them wrong, they’ll bolt for the next job!” And this: Today’s students memorize names, dates, and algebraic equations, but they graduate… Read More
Continue ReadingNo Way They Would Stay
From the Herman Trend Alert (sorry, no link): A global survey of 4,500 workers indicates that more people anticipate leaving their employers this year than last. In the 2006 BlessingWhite study, 65 percent said that they expected to “definitely” remain with their employers through the year. In the 2007 study, that number was down to 58 percent. Also of interest, more respondents in 2007 said that there is “no way” they would stay (eight percent up from six percent—a 33 percent increase). European employers face the greatest threat: eleven percent said there is “no way” they will stay. Moreover, employees in Europe and Asia appear less content with their current… Read More
Continue ReadingWork/Life Balance And Relocation
Work/life balance is a hot topic as the younger generations flood into the work world and Baby Boomers start checking out. One are that I haven’t considered is the effect this balance will have on relocation. Forbes.com’s Travel Sick? article does take up this topic (my editing): Throughout the country a growing number of executives are taking to the highways, railroads and even the skies to get to work instead of relocating closer to their job. This is hardly a newsflash to the nation’s executive recruiters. Of those surveyed 55% say it’s more difficult today than ever to convince job candidates to relocate for a professional opportunity, according to a… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Next Generation Is MORE Connected
And you thought Gen Y was the gadget-driven, totally connect generation. I was utterly shocked by this Online Media Daily story: The Nielsen Co. released the findings of an in-depth study on the mobile media and cross-media behavior of U.S. “tweens” (ages 8-12). The report estimates that: 35% of tweens own a mobile phone, 20% of tweens have used text messaging, and 21% of tweens have used ring & answer tones. While text-messaging and ringtones remain the most pervasive non-voice functions on the phone, other content such as downloaded wallpapers, music, games and Internet access also rank high among tweens. According to Nielsen, 5% of tweens access the Internet over… Read More
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