Mayrhofer

Beyond Generation Y? Expectations of future leaders entering the labour market – a European-wide survey

Wolfgang Mayrhofer, WU, AustriaCarlos Obeso, ESADE, SpainOdd Nordhaug, Norwegian School of Economics and Business, Norway

Point of departure

Recruiting experience: potential new employees seem to ‘tick’ in a different wayo Changing career landscapeo Changes in the relationship between individual and organisation

• Less long-term relationships

• More careers outside/alongside organisations

Global players compete for scarce human resources, especially ‘high potentials’

It is comparatively easy to find ‘spectacular’ examples of individuals where new developments are concentrated, but…

Do we see anything ‘significant’ in individuals following a quite traditional path of professional development?

ivm@Athens 20102 W. MAYRHOFER/C. OBESO/O. NORDHAUG

The study

CEMS-L’Oreal fellowship o takes a closer look at CEMS-students from the CEMS

Master‘s International management program as part of the pool for future leaders

o Paints a portrait of these students

Quantitative analysis o questionnaire: 339 studentso Response rate 26% from 37 countries; 53% male, 47%

female; average age 24; 37 countries

Qualitative worko 34 interviews at ESADE and WU campus (15 men, 19

women, 16 different countries, average age 23)o Categorical content analysis


Identity

Identity

Nationalityo Own nationality plays a roleo On deeper reflection and after exposure to other national cultures a

broad supranational identity can be developingo Being European no strong category for their identityo But used as a label by people from other parts of the worldo Local identification (Bavarians, Catalans etc.) very rare

Collective identities are very weak (class structure, religious groups, political party, Ideology…)

Show little interest in “grand concepts”: the definition of man as a “political animal” does not apply

Background and personal history allows them to pick from many sources to build an identity


Expectations towards organisations and work

C. Obeso/W. Mayrhofer/O. Nordhaug7

Role of work in one‘s life

Work is important and plays a major roleo Prepared to work a lot: if inheriting enough money

• 12% would do other things than work• 20% would still choose to work for an employer• 68% would prefer to run a business

o Work has a moral meaning

Work-life balance is important but aware of a trade-off between the spheres


Characteristics of first job and employer – ranking of importance

More than 9 Mean SD(JP) Interesting work 9,37 0,981(JP) Good opportunities to develop competence 9,16 1.085(JP) Opportunities for personal development 9,13 1,273

Between 8 and 8.99(WP) Good social relations among colleagues 8,93 1,260(WP) Opportunities to work abroad in periods 8,69 1,535(JP) A lot of variety in work tasks 8,60 1,341(WP) The employer has a good reputation 8,31 1,297(WP) High annual earning salary 8,21 1,452

Between 7 and 7.99(WP) Good personnel policy 7.86 1,569(JP) Opportunities for getting fast promotion 7,83 1,778(JP) A lot of freedom in the job 7,68 1,592(WP) Pay based on individual performance 7,53 2,018(WP) Systematic career planning 7,41 1,955

Between 6 and 6.99(JP) The position has a high status 6,93 1,961(WP) High job security 6,88 2,050(JP) Flexible working hours 6,82 2,208(JP) Large amount of project work 6,30 2,063

Low(JP) Opportunities to work at home 4,81 2,717

Scale from 1-low to 10-highivm@Athens 20108 W. MAYRHOFER/C. OBESO/O. NORDHAUG

Expectations towards work

Give-and-take relationship with a more short-term focus

Work has a meaning if it’s related to individual competence development

Varied work content is of paramount importance

Work must be “meaningful” in term of results

Action and results must be perceived as “morally clean”

Individual responsibility highly valued


Expectations towards work

Less emphasis to freedom in the jog: Structured freedom

Don’t react negatively to leadership: being managed through trust and empowerment

A good place to work is not just a nice place but a challenging, positive and results oriented environment: To have fun just for the sake of it is not an issue

To gain recognition and admiration on the immediate work environment (family-like reward system)

Status and job security ranked low

Transactional and not relational relationship


Views on careers

View on careers

Associated with progression, e.g. learning as a life-long process and hierarchical advancement or improved responsibilities

Career takes also place outside organizations

See themselves in a management position and often predetermined to become CEO

Internal locus of controlo faith in competencies o recognition of efforts to achieve goalso great degree of self-confidence

Little emphasis on networks o assumption: we have it o family ties matter greatly


Career aspirationsconfiguration of actors

coupling toorganisation

tight

loose

stable unstable

Company World

Self-employed ChronicFlexibility

Free-floatingprofessionalismwant to be under contract to one or a few organisations for special and challenging tasks, staying with the same organisation only for a limited

time

aspire to a “freelancer” career with different projects for various clients and ever-

changing work contents

seek “traditional“ self-employment, i.e. offering a range of quite standardized products and/or services to a

relatively stable clientele

strive for a position of responsibility and influence and a long-term career within

one organisation

49.5% 34.1%

4.8% 11.6%Iellatchitch et al. 2003


Career aspirations

Only half of the respondents opt for company worldo Recruitment crisis?o Still a solid part of the overall population

Other half opts for career outside/alongside companieso Temporary relationships, “Staying for a brief period in time – then I

wouldn’t exclude any places”, RJo It seems difficult to ‚bind‘ these people long-term to the companyo Corroborates with the emphasis on job/position and not so much on

workplace/employer

Free-floating professionalism very attractiveo Building elements of this into classic organisations?o Are organisations able at all to get these people long-term?

W. MAYRHOFER/C. OBESO/O. NORDHAUG14 ivm@Athens 2010

Implications for the corporate world

Finding your USP in recruiting

What do you “sell” as an organisation when trying to attract highly-qualified individuals who are in high demand in their early career? Possible approacheso Emphasise the capacity of your organisation to emulate

a setting characterised by a concrete series of projects and short-term career episodes compatible with different career aspirations;

o Refrain from primarily selling the organisation, instead focusing on the tasks and projects you can offer.


An illustration

The Economist, March 6, 2010ivm@Athens 201017 W. MAYRHOFER/C. OBESO/O. NORDHAUG

Relationship building

How do you mould the relationship between the organisation and these individuals? Possible approacheso As a starting point, acknowledge that they are highly

mobile at least in the beginning of their careerso They are constantly looking for a better deal where

they can get out the most for their future career – don’t necessarily expect them to be with you in the long run

o Enter into a relaxed quid-pro-quo relationship where both sides – for the time being – enter a rewarding relationship by investing what they can offer


Rewarding and incentives

How do you reward these individuals with a high demand of feedback and recognition?Possible approacheso Provide a sound material basis as well as ways of

making them feel like a member of the family, e.g. by emphasising work-related personal relationships

o Give them the spotlight they need, e.g. by explicit social recognition of performance

o Offer clear benefits in terms of development of career capitals, e.g. technical and social competences, contacts and networks and future career opportunities


Leadership issues

How do you lead this generation of future leaders?Possible approacheso Refrain from “talking the talk” before you are not able to

“walk the walk”• sparse use of grand concepts, career plans, mission statements• emphasis on leading by example;

o Make honest (“no bullshit”) and constant as well as thorough feedback (e.g. 360-degree appraisals) an integral part of your organisation’s leadership style

o Use the readiness of these individuals to work hard by providing them with the opportunity to make a difference which is important to the organisation and to them

o Try to build a strong sense of joint mission for the tasks or projects at hand


Performance – the project ‚Me‘

Readiness to work hardTaking into account organisational goals Primary importance: personal and competency development through o interesting work and o embeddedness in a peer network at work

Nevertheless, high income and hierarchical advancement important as expression of recognition Private life has high value


o. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Mayrhofer Interdisziplinäre Abteilung für Verhaltenswissenschaftlich Orientiertes Management WUWirtschaftsuniversität WienVienna, Austria, Europe [email protected] www.wu-wien.ac.at/ivm/team/wiss_ma/w_mayrhofer

tel. ++43-1-313 36-4553, fax ++43-1-313 36-724

Postal address: Althanstrasse 51, A-1090 Wien, Austria, Europe


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.wu-wien.ac.at/ivm/team/wiss_ma/w_mayrhofer