I was reading an article on the Colorado Business Magazine website this morning and was awestruck by the blatant "Gen X/Gen Y" profiling being discussed by the distinguished members of the ColoradoBiz Economic Roundtable.
In the November issue, the aforementioned panel was chronicled discussing their concerns over the declining talent-base due to the lack of engineering and business majors. A valid concern and one I share. Unfortunately, the esteemed panel took the argument one step further by critiquing the younger generation's work ethic.
The CEO a technology consulting firm, said even a 45-hour work week appears to be too much for some young workers, compared with the 60- to 65-hour work weeks once typical for professional careers as little at four or five years ago.
The context of this statement, while a smite condescending, really shows a gap in understanding between older management and the younger workforce.
The people of Generations X & Y have grown up in an increasingly connected world where technology enables workflows that could only have been dreamed of even five years ago. Utilizing these new tools, young workers are finding they can work smarter, not harder. Unfortunately, because this can translate to less time in the office, others often misinterpret the worker as a slacker.
Maybe the Generation Y workers don’t appreciate their good fortune, that jobs have been relatively plentiful in their lifetimes. They haven’t been through the pain of massive layoffs, roundtable members pondered. "We haven’t had in our economy a grinding, just a hard grinding, recession for 25 years. Maybe that’s what we need," said jokingly, prompting laughter from the group.
I would argue that no participant of this group have actually experienced a recession of the magnitude suggested. This comment reeks of parental condescension and little constructive content. Though not all on this panel are stuck in their own ideals:
"They aren’t eight to five. They don’t mind working late hours if they have the flexibility," he said. "We have to plan better, have to think differently, in how we approach it."
This person grasps the key to motivating the younger workforce, even if not articulated well. While flexibility is definitely necessary, the phrase "have to think differently, in how we approach it" gives this member of Generation X hope. Because the worker of the future is looking for one thing above their paycheck, value.
I firmly believe that nearly every member of the Generations X & Y workforce would gladly put in extra hours for a good reason. And this is where I think today's current management practices break down. Where a traditional manger will use scare tactics and strong-arming to gain extra work from an employee, the younger workforce could be had for simply providing meaning.
If an employee can see and understand the intrinsic value to their own career of putting in the extra work on a team initiative, or "putting their nose to the grindstone" on a project deadline, stretching the work week when necessary should come without complaint.
I've only scratched the surface on this topic, and plan to write future posts (real work-life balance, tips on motivating Gen ?) to continue this discussion, but I would like to leave any manager looking at this with a singular thought: quality is not only a better metric of productivity than quantity, it is a better motivator for the new workforce.
