As I've traveled across the US speaking about collaborating with Generation Y team members, I am starting to see some common observations from data architects an project managers:
- Gen Y thinks they are entitled to everything....and right now
- Gen Y won't do any work
- Gen Y won't read anything
- Gen Y doesn't know how to dress
- Gen Y doesn't know how to get things done.
- .... and more.
Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D. has written an online article addressing many of these complaints.
Generation Y. The Millennials. The Tech/Net/Digital Generation. Boomlets. Echo Boomers. We've given this generation of people -- roughly those born between the late 1970's and the late 1990's and 72 million or so strong -- many names, but none so hurtful as the Entitlement Generation. They've also been called arrogant, self-centered, and possessing a short attention span.
This article, playing off the infamous Rolling Stone campaign, discusses 10 perceptions of Generation Y workers -- and then corrects or adjusts those perceptions with the reality behind each. Also included in each of the 10 misconceptions is advice for both employers and for Gen Y workers and job-seekers.
Perception: Spoiled/Entitled
Reality: To an extent, the folks in this generation do have a sense of entitlement, but it's not an entirely inherent personality flaw but partly the fault of Baby Boomer parents who coddled their children, constantly telling them how special they were and that anything they sought was possible, and rewarding them for every little thing, providing trophies and prizes simply for participating. These parents stunted their children's growth by proactively removing all obstacles and potentially negative experiences.
So, yes, on the surface Generation Y workers appear entitled.
The key for employers is approaching younger workers differently, providing constructive criticism that reflects confidence in them.
Generation Y workers must realize that their bosses are not going to be like theirr parents, and that part of growing as an employee is learning from past mistakes and accepting constructive criticism.
His thoughts mirror mine on this one issue and some of the others. Yes, the younger generation of team members I manage all seem to expect to be admitted to a Harvard MBA in the next 6 months or so. Or they expect to be the CEO of their own consulting company in the next 2-3 years. Maybe I thought that way when I was 23...I can't remember. See, that's why Gen Yers think I'm so old, because I can't remember for certain what my plans were more than two decades ago.
I do believe there is a lot of mis-information out there about Generational differences, but I keep seeing some trends that I believe are not just tied to being twenty-something, not being a new worker, not being coddled by parents. Namely:
- Gen Y is probably the first generation to have always had better PCs, better servers, and a faster Internet connection at home than they will ever have at work.
- Gen Y, due to having those great components at home, is the first generation to have always had system administrator access to the tools they use, even if they don't have access to those features at work.
- Gen Y, graduating from college/university starting around the year 2000, is the first generation to enter the market with a downward trend the number of graduates.
- Gen Y, having grown up with Google and other strong search technologies that actually work, doesn't think in terms of structuring data in order to find it later.
I hope to expand on these observations soon.