KEY POINTS:
Having grown up with almost everything handed to them on a plate, Gen Ys are generally thought of as being lazy, and don't see the value in paying their dues _ they know what they want and they want it all now.
But as the table turns and this generation moves into managerial positions, how will they fare?
Gen Y and employment commentator James Adonis is certain they'll make great bosses and business owners.
The Australian is a frequent visitor to New Zealand where he meets CEOs and managers to discuss such things as employee engagement and explain how firms can best deploy the fickle Gen Ys _ those born between 1980 and 1999.
He says when Gen Ys become managers they will have three main expectations of their staff.
"They will expect their employees to be more sociable than normal," he says. "Gen Ys like to interact with people so their employees will need to be comfortable with this.
"Gen Ys are impatient multi-taskers, so it's likely they'll expect employees to pick things up quickly and do multiple things at once. And they will be macro-managers. What this means for their staff is they will be required to be more independent than usual because they won't have a micro-manager breathing down their necks."
Gen Ys, says Adonis, will prefer to work with people that can work without close supervision. He is convinced that Gen Ys will be better at managing people than older Gen Xs and baby boomers.
"If we look at the two traits found in the world's best team leaders, we'll see that Gen Ys have the upper hand.
"Gen Ys are more focused on building quality relationships than other generations.
"When we take into account that employee loyalty to organisations is dead but employee loyalty to who they work with is high, then it's obvious that what comes naturally to most Gen Ys will be an essential management skill in the near future."
Adonis says that in about 10 years', managers will cease to exist, when they'll be known as "coaches".
"This suits Gen Ys well since they're the most coach-able generation. They are so restlessly ambitious. They constantly want to be learning, so they're likely to incorporate this trait in their management style."
But when this over-confident generation goes into business will they have more business failures than previous generations?
Adonis says "yes". "But only because the Gen Ys are
notorious for taking greater levels of risk than their predecessors. However, their inclination to take risks means a greater number of them will also experience significant business successes as a result."
Gen Ys are more entrepreneurial in nature when compared to other generations.
"When Gen Ys are asked about their intentions at work, about one-third say they'll be doing their own thing sometime soon, too.
"So when you combine an entrepreneurially-minded generation with the fact they are more highly educated than any other generation in history, what you get is a more calculated level of risk which often results in more success rather than failure."
Economic issues have hit Gen Ys hard because it is their first taste of a coping with recession, but their self-confidence means they have reacted differently to it than older people.
"I reckon their easy come, easy go attitude will actually help them to weather the storm better than most," he says.
"This is because they're unlikely to panic. Gen Ys are quite calm, measured, and optimistic. They're like that not because they're oblivious to the seriousness of the issue _ they know that after winter must come spring."
