Perhaps you’re familiar with this scenario: You or a manager presents a 20-something employee with a task. Knowing the employee hasn’t done this task before, you begin explaining the process, but are waved off. The employee analyzes the task with the seeming intention of showing you he can find an easier way to accomplish it. But time passes and the task goes uncompleted.
Wanting to figure things out without being taught is a common trait of Generation Y – those born around 1980 and later. And it doesn’t go over well in many businesses. “You can’t have that attitude in the truck parts industry,” says Bryan Hansen, president of Salt Lake City-based Page Brake Warehouse. “If you try to sell a technician something and you don’t know about it, you’re going to get chewed up and spit out.”
With Generation Y entering the workforce, 60 percent of employers are reporting generational tension, according to a survey by talent management firm Lee Hecht Harrison. Bridging the generation gap is tougher than ever, says Hansen, who’s been in the industry 40 years.
Other Generation Y characteristics causing friction with older employees include lack of respect and what managers often perceive as an “entitled” mindset, laziness and an absence of common sense. While much information is available about Generation Y (just do a Google search), here are some tips for effectively managing these employees:
Be patient. Hansen encourages his older employees to do their best to train the young workers, even if they do think they know it all already. He encourages taking a break when a young worker gets on their nerves and returning when they can handle the situation calmly.
Take advantage of their technology skills. Growing up with computers, cell phones and other electronic gadgets, Ys have an aptitude for the programs and systems your business increasingly depends upon. “These kids can surf through the Internet and find information it would take us forever to find,” Hansen says.
Sift and retain. Not all Ys exhibit the negative behavior sometimes associated with their generation, but in most cases, retaining them can be difficult. Today’s young adults will have had approximately eight jobs by the time they’re 32, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. They often cite boredom as the reason for leaving a job. Hansen retains young employees by providing fresh challenges and helping them reach career goals.
Hansen puts forth the extra effort to lay a foundation for the future. The Labor Department projects a shortage of 10 million workers by 2010, largely because there won’t be enough people entering the workforce to replace the 78 million baby boomers becoming eligible to leave it. Only 48 million people make up Generation X, but Generation Y – now between ages 14 and 28 – is 72 million strong.
Like it or not, the future of your business rests with them. Hansen sums it up: “If we don’t teach these kids, our industry is going to die.”
