‘Talkin’ ‘bout my generation!” Generation Y and the challenge of graduate employability.

Dr Paul RedmondGEES Conference 2008, Edinburgh

“Each generation is a new people.”

Alexis de Tocqueville

“The key question to ask is not how old people are, but when they were young.”

Putman, 2000

‘Boomers’

1943 – 63

Gen. X

1964 – 81

Gen. Y

1982 – 2001

‘Millennials’

2001 – 2222?

‘Idealist’ ‘Reactive’

‘Civic’ ‘Adaptive’

Why generations matter.

‘CORPORATE BRAIN DRAIN – arguably the single most concerning impediment to long-term sustainable growth ... The contributing forces are: an ageing talent pool combined with a diminished pipeline [plus] a changing market landscape that requires new perspectives and skill’.

Deloitte, Generational Talent Management

Demos, 2006

‘There is a damaging disconnect between young people and organisations. A disconnect between the training of today and the workplaces of tomorrow, and between the changing values of young people and the organisational cultures that they encounter. At the heart of this disconnect is a lack of understanding on both sides.’

The War for Talent

“In the boardroom bunkers and in the cubicle-filled trenches, the early skirmishes of the next war are being fought. For the moment, most of the action is guerrilla warfare - brief raids in which the companies under attack are often unaware that they've been hit. Ultimately, though, the war will be global, and for businesses, the stakes will be success and perhaps even survival.”

McKinsey, ‘The War for Talent’

“Demand has expanded, but the absolute amount of

top talent has remained static.”

Graduate Recruitment Manager, KPMG (FT, 14/3/07)

Boomers

• Largest gen. in history - 35% of workforce

• Defined by post-war optimism and values

• Ethos: hard work; loyalty; rewards

• Family-orientated.

Boomers

• Status and job titles matter.

• Time-served.• Currently comprise

87% of all CEOs and senior management.

• “Anything can happen when you turn up to work.”

Generation X – the Reactives

• Blurring of traditional boundaries.

• End of Cold-War certainties.

• Lack of clarity – at home, work and in the world.

• Loyal to profession, not necessarily to employer.

X - The Lost Generation

• Grew up during a time of strong political leadership.

• Largest group now in the workforce.

• Confident and independent, but concerned about work-life balance.

• ‘Digital Immigrants’.

Generation Y – characteristics

• Connected …24/7• Self-confident• Optimistic• Independent• Bored by routine• Entrepreneurial• Goal oriented• ‘Digital Natives’

Gen. Y – aspirations

• 3Cs: Change, Challenge and Choice.

• Sense of purpose and meaning.

• Access to mentors and other company champions.

• Open social networks that embrace open / honest communication.

Y Attributes.

#1. Attendance is always optional.

“They just don’t have any loyalty – what’s the point in bothering to recruit them if they are going to leave within two years?”

– Graduate Recruiter

Bibb, S., Walker, S., James, J. (2008).

“Contrary to assertions that Gen Y are flighty and don’t want to stick at a job, research shows that if they are getting what they want they will stay, and they will be loyal.”

Talent Smoothie, 2008

t

#2. Passionate about new challenges,

responsibilities and success.

#3. ‘Career’ means a cause.

72% of finalists said they would have to feel happy with an employer's ethical

record. GRADFACTS

#4. Über competitive and entrepreneurial.

Work = ‘The Apprentice’ x ‘Dragons’ Den’

#5. WLB is more than a buzz word: flexi-working,

part-time, gap years, home working.

#6. “I want feedback and I

want it

NOW!”

#8. Equality, transparency and

fairness are paramount.

(Ability & performance are the only

acceptable Gen. Y measures).

#9. Responds best to coaches

not bosses.

#10. “You cannot be

SERIOUS!”

Generation Y will challenge you frequently.

And they will quit.

Conclusion.

Gen Y wants ...

• Motivational leadership (i.e. McGregor’s ‘Y’ not ‘X’)

• To learn through coaching and mentoring• Opportunities for learning and developing• Flexibility• On-going development and support• Facilitated and experiential learning • Face-face rather than e-Learning!

(Bibb, James, Walker, 2008).

Bill’s Rules!

- In which a Boomer offers career advice to

an audience of Generation Y students …

Rule 1:

Life is not fair - get

used to it.

Rule 2: The world will not care about your self-esteem.

The world will expect you to accomplish something before

you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will not make

$40,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a CEO with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough,

wait until you get a boss.

Rule 5:

Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your

dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger-flipping -

they called it OPP-OR-TUN-ITY.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it

is not your parents' fault, so don't

whine about your mistakes, learn

from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your

parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that

way paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about

how cool you are. So, before you save the rain forest, try delousing the closet in your

own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done

away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have

abolished fail grades and they give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance

to anything in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into

semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are

interested in helping you find yourself. Do

that in your own time.

Rule 10:

Television is not real life. In real life

people actually have to leave the coffee

shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: “Be nice to

nerds. Chances are you'll end up

working for one.”

paul.redmond@liverpool.ac.uk