veD OF EACH GENERATION....A GENERATION IS PRODUCED BY PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS & COMMUNITY....WHAT ONE PLANTS AND NURTURES IS THE PRODUCE ONE GETS.....
Posted by Vishva News Reporter on March 11, 2005

CHARACTERISTICS OF
GENERATION "Y" IN NORTH AMERICA

  • DEFINITION OF Y-GENERATION:  those born to boomer parents since the 1980s. ('the' baby boom in the United States, namely the time after World War II, when the soldiers returned to their wives to start families (1946-1964).
  • OTHER NAMES OF Y-GENERATION:
    • "twixter generation" -- betwixt and between childhood and adulthood.
    • "what's-in-it-for-me generation,"
    • "never-ending adolescence generation"
    • "the generation that won't grow up."
    • "Millennials"
    • "echo generation"
  • THE PARENTS WHO MADE Y-GENERATION:
    • Y-generation children were raised by guilty, work-obsessed, hovering parents who made their kids' feelings and success their hobby.
    • The parents worshipped at the altar of promoting self-esteem and tried to make up for the lack of time spent with their kids by lavishing them with travel experiences, clothes and electronic toys.
    • The parents told the children that they were brilliant because they could program the VCR.
    • The parents gave their children the vote on almost everything, from where to go on vacation to the colour of the family car.
  • CHARACTERISTICS OF Y-GENERATION:
    • Having grown up in abundance, they are not hungry.
    • They haven't had to fight their way into good jobs.
    • And they are not so ambitious to get the big jobs and advancement if it interferes with their personal lives.

IF YOU LIVE IN NORTH AMERICA AND YOU THINK YOUR CHILD:

  • DOES NOT LISTEN TO YOU,
  • DOES NOT RESPECT YOU,
  • DOES NOT WANT TO DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, BUT WANTS EVERYTHING FROM YOU AS HIS/HER BIRTH RIGHT
  • DOES NOT WANT TO GO OUT WITH YOU,
  •  DOES NOT WANT TO MIX WITH THE SOCIAL CROWD YOU MIX WITH.....

WELL, IF YOU ANSWER YES..you are right in the majority of the parents.....

Interesting growing up phenomenon observed in Canada which is found by UN to be the best country to live in on this planet earth....so what is wrong and how do you manage this Y-generation....please click on the next page to read about that and more from Barbara Moses in Canadian Globe & Mail:

At PVAF it is an only mandate that by visiting this web site and studying the knowledge on this web site will empower YOU to make your own life and lives of YOU co-exist with harmonious, prosperous, progressive and most important HAPPIER THAN YOUR EVERY YESTERDAY...... And to make LIFE HAPPIER THAN YESTERDAY, knowledge is the only instrument...and sharing the knowledge is the biggest DHARm that YOU can practice....And sharing knowledge is what this PVAF web site is for....

And to do this sharing please click on the POST A COMMENT in the header of this news item and write away as much as you wish...

 




Coddled, confident and cocky:

The challenges of managing Gen Y Managers:
need to find new ways to influence these young workers
because they will vote with their feet if they are not treated well

By BARBARA MOSES
Canadian
Globe & Mail: Friday, March 11, 2005 Page C1
 

A friend's 21-year-old daughter recently accepted a part-time job on the understanding that she would only work on weekends.

When she arrived for her first day of work, her boss said, "I'll need you to work Thursday and Friday nights."

When the young woman protested, mentioning the agreement, her boss said, "We never discussed anything like that."

And with that, the young woman quit, saying, "I really don't appreciate you talking to me that way and questioning my honesty."

If you are a person of a certain age, you are probably thinking: Wow.

When I was her age, I never would have expected to be treated with dignity, nor would I have expressed my right to be treated respectfully so assertively.

But that's the way of a new generation entering the workplace.

Demographers call them Gen Y -- the so-called echo generation, sometimes known as Millennials, born to boomer parents since the 1980s.

If you Google a search on Gen Y, you'll find them labelled with many more -- and not necessarily complimentary -- monikers.

And these monikers tell a lot about how they are perceived by older people.

Time magazine calls them "the twixter generation" -- betwixt and between childhood and adulthood. Others have dubbed them the "what's-in-it-for-me generation," the "never-ending adolescence generation" and "the generation that won't grow up."

No matter how they are labelled, managers and human resources professionals everywhere are puzzling about how to handle them.

With massive skills shortages on the horizon as the huge baby boomer generation heads toward retirement, the attraction and retention of this new cohort has become a critical issue.

Every generation sees the world differently. Attitudes and expectations are influenced by what was extant during their formative years and when they entered the workplace.

Over the past few years, I have noticed a sea change in the attitudes and collective personality of the newest generation of young professionals I encounter.

Dare I say it: This is a true echo generation, whose values actually echo those of their parents and bosses -- not so much the values the boomers held growing up, but those they hold now.

Like their parents, they value comfort and the good life, and strive to balance work and personal life.

If I had to describe this new generation in one word, it would be: nice.

This is the first postwar generation that, on the whole, has not rebelled against their parents' or society's values, nor against a work environment they view as withholding opportunities.

Whether nice or not, Gen Yers are still a challenge to manage.

Like the young woman who quit her job because she didn't like the way she was spoken to, they expect to be treated with kindness and respect.

Blame it on their boomer parents.

Gen Yers were raised by guilty, work-obsessed, hovering parents who made their kids' feelings and success their hobby.

They worshipped at the altar of promoting self-esteem and tried to make up for the lack of time spent with their kids by lavishing them with travel experiences, clothes and electronic toys.

As kids, Gen Yers were told they were brilliant because they could program the VCR. They were given the vote on almost everything, from where to go on vacation to the colour of the family car. It's not surprising they believe their feelings matter, that they should feel good about their work and that they should be able express themselves.

People used to think about work only when it felt bad, if they thought about it at all.

Now, as a result of heightened work consciousness, this generation asks, "Does this feel good?"

They use a finely nuanced vocabulary to describe their work and are more thoughtful about their careers and work.

And when they are not happy, much to management's regret, they are vocal about it.

Managers will need to find new ways of influencing these young workers because they will vote with their feet if they are not treated well and given stimulating opportunities.

They are less responsive to traditional rewards, such as promotions, unless those rewards are part of a bigger package.

Here are some tips on managing and retaining Gen Yers:

  • Don't expect them to express ambition, at least not the way their parents did.

    Having grown up in abundance, they are not hungry. They haven't had to fight their way into good jobs. And they are not so ambitious to get the big jobs and advancement if it interferes with their personal lives.
     
  •  Provide a great workplace that promotes balance.

    Gen Yers want a different work-life balance. To their older counterparts, it meant time for self and family.

    To Gen Yers, it means work must offer fun and rewarding experiences. They see less of a line between work and personal lives.

    When they're at work, they want that time to also be personally rewarding, whether that means learning new skills, making work a vehicle for self-development, having opportunities to travel or developing great relationships with team members who can also be friends.
     

  • Don't be scared of them (even if you're scared of your own kid).

    Typically Gen Yers appear poised and self-confident.

    After all, they were protected from having bad feelings about themselves by parents and teachers allergic to the idea of little Johnny ever feeling as if he was a failure. Their self-assurance can grate on managers and supervisors.

    But beneath their poised, confident exterior, there often lies a mass of doubts about work.

    With so many options available to this generation -- work locally or abroad, go back to school, teach English internationally -- they can easily be paralyzed by choices.

    As a result, the most common question I hear from young workers embarking on a career is: "How do I know this is right for me?"

    They want to be reassured about their career choices, so provide them with plenty of advice and tips on specifics related to career management, defining what they want to do, networking and finding a mentor.

    And park your personal feelings. Don't project if you are fed up with your own kid because he or she can't commit to a career choice or is still living at home.
     
  • Don't assume they are adversarial or don't respect you.

    Actually, they like and are comfortable with adults and even see them as their friends.

    But they do expect to be treated as equals. Indeed, it may be their poise that makes managers feel these young staffers are so tough to influence.

    Avoid anything that smacks of authority or paternalism.

    Gen Yers are fiercely democratic and have no sense of authority. They called their teachers and parents' friends by their first names. They had access to any information they wanted on the Internet.

    Their lack of temerity can cause them to be seen as cocky by their superiors. Don't put limits on what they can and can't do. Give them the slack to manage their work.
     
  • Treat them with sensitivity.

    These coddled kids have been told their feelings are important, their boundaries should be respected and that they should honour what they are feeling. They are optimistic.

    They are entering a workplace where everyone is talking about the war for talent and attraction and retention. They understand their value and expect you to understand it as well.
     
  • Communicate in a vivid and compelling way to capture their jaded attention.

    Words like "good" won't cut it. with Gen Yers. After all, they've been raised on a steady diet of "amazing" and "awesome." And get to the point quickly -- the digital world has given them a short attention span.
     
  • Provide a compelling value proposition.

    Take a cue from one recruiting manager.

    He sold a young worker on a job at his company by taking the interviewee's résumé and scribbling on it the accomplishments and skills the worker would be able to boast about having after working at the company for a year.
     
  • Give them tons of feedback.

    Be specific and explicit. They've been programmed to expect immediate feedback from computer games, homework signed off by teachers and parents, and test marks posted on the Internet.

    They are not prepared to deal with feedback that is delayed or unlabelled as feedback. Abstractions don't cut it with this generation. If you like something they did, explain why.
     
  • Provide stimulating and novel learning experiences.

    Gen Yers are motivated by personal development and want to be stretched.

    A recent study by Sean Finn, a business professor at Carleton University, found that Gen Yers have greater desires for self-enhancement and hedonism in their work than do older workers.

    They also cited more values related to being stimulated and opportunities for self-direction than their older counterparts.
     
  • Understand their collegiality.

    Create strong, supportive team environments. Because Gen Yers have stronger allegiances to each other than to their employer, they all react if someone is treated badly around them.
     
  • Don't expect them to be like you when you were their age.

    Never, and I mean never, start a sentence with "when I was your age" -- unless, of course, you want to annoy them.

Barbara Moses, PhD, is an organizational career management consultant, speaker and author of What Next: The Complete Guide to Taking Control of Your Working Life.

bmoses@globeandmail.ca

 



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