Gen Y is calling the shots

They are derided as fickle, self-focussed and transient but you know Generation Y is being taken seriously when its Baby Boomer elders flock to learn about these 'stimulus junkies' as employees.

Gen Y, the generation born between 1978 and 1994, sometimes known as Millennials, is described as lifestyle-centred, impatient, and socially aware. They're demanding of their employers and hugely confident in their own abilities - some think excessively so - and they're beginning to enter the workforce in large numbers.

New Zealand has around 787,000 Gen Ys - 21 per cent of the population. Earlier this year, the thought of this emerging workforce coming to a job near them, or walking in the door as prospective clients, galvanised the Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) into holding a series of nationwide seminars.

They are also the subject of a research report released this week by recruitment firm Drake International.

"In a time of skills shortages, and particularly with global shortages of chartered accountants, we cannot afford to ignore this generation," said NZICA chief executive Garry Muriwai before the February seminars led by leading Australian authority on Gen Y, Peter Sheahan.

Gen Y had enormous potential if the accounting profession could harness its talent, creativity and energy, Muriwai said.

Accountants throughout the country agreed, making the seminars in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch a sell-out and turning out again last month for one-on-one coaching sessions with Sheahan. "They are forcing management practices to be reinvented across all industries," says Sheahan.

NZICA president Keith Wedlock said his organisation was keen to hear Sheahan's message because it wanted to remain relevant to its members.

"It opened my eyes to what Gen Y wants, which is flexibility, immediacy, and clarity. And they want things fast but still want quality."

While Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) might have expected to have around three career changes in their lives Sheahan told the NZICA that Gen Ys might have 29 different careers across five different industries.

Wedlock said he found such revelations fascinating for their impact on accountancy firms and the NZICA, which has 28,000 members, 22 per cent of them overseas.

"We need to understand what's going to work for them. They have different pathways to achieving goals. Gen Ys like to travel and we need to know how to get Gen Y members to be advocates for our interests overseas, and how to attract good, young accountants back again."

One of Sheahan's illustrations of Gen Y thinking stunned the elder accountants. In one firm, two Gen Ys challenged to get information out to clients did so by text message. It was a highly successful tactic that would never have occurred to their techno-challenged seniors.

"It's not about highlighting what the differences are between the generations," Wedlock said, "but learning how to harness those differences."

Gay Barton, general manager of Drake International, says similar thinking motivated her firm to conduct its own research into Gen Y earlier this year.

"Over the past year or two, the realities of massive generational change have become increasingly clear to New Zealand business leaders even though the issues of an ageing population and new attitudes to work have been emerging for a generation. Dealing with these demographic changes and attracting, engaging and leading Generation Y are issues that businesses need to address," she said in a report released this week.

In what Barton said was one of the largest and most up-to-date studies of New Zealand's Gen Y, Drake surveyed more than 3150 New Zealanders and Australians, followed with a series of focus groups, benchmarked the findings against those for older generations, and included other New Zealand statistics.

The study suggested that getting the most from Gen Y was one of the greatest challenges businesses face, she said.

Report author, Dr Danica Hooper, Drake's in-house organisational psychologist, used an old adage to describe the new workforce - people resemble their times more than their parents.

Gen Ys are on average better educated than previous generations, more questioning about the way things are done and have different work attitudes, working styles and expectations of their leaders, she said.

Managers needed to understand how to engage with them, recruit them at a time of full employment, get them relating to older workers and retain their services.

Prospects of good times are high on Gen Ys' priority list, Hooper found.

"Indeed, our research shows that Gen Ys respond best to job advertisements that convey a sense of fun, interest and variety. Salary alone is not a strong attraction for Gen Y job hunters."

They also like a simple straight-forward application process. According to one Gen Y job hunter, "Unless you can find it (the job vacancy) in a few clicks you move on."

Once they're on the hook how do you tell if they are worth having?

"Common selection practices are not effective at weeding out those applicants who say they can do the job from those that actually can and will do the job," Hooper said. "Through repeated coaching at schools and tertiary institutions, some Gen Ys have become increasingly interview savvy, they know how to razzle-dazzle employers, even if they do not have the knowledge, skills, aptitude or personality to be successful in the given position."

She suggested using a clearly defined job description, followed up by selection activities including objective ability testing, assessment of cultural and personality fit, structured behavioural interviews and reference checks.

Employers also needed to ensure that they managed the expectations of their new staff. Gen Ys are renowned for having unrealistic expectations about salary, promotions and job requirements. As one chief executive said, "They walk in the door and expect to own a Ferrari and be running the place within 12 months. When I take on 12 new graduates every year, that's a lot of CEO positions I need to create."

Retaining Gen Y is just as challenging.

"Many young people leave jobs not because there is a compelling reason to leave but because there is no compelling reason to stay," Hooper said.

The key features Gen Ys look for in a job are professional growth and development, work-life balance, variety, social interaction, responsibility and input, reward and recognition.

Gen Ys often question why work schedules have to be so rigid. Said one: "If the work gets done, why does it matter how, when or where it is done?"

The report found Gen Ys are demanding greater access to unpaid leave, work from home options, time in lieu, and flexible work hours.

Sometimes described as 'stimulus junkies', Gen Ys become easily bored with routine activities. In response, some graduate programmes now include job rotation in order to maintain a multi-skilled and stimulated Gen Y workforce and use project work to break up the monotony of a daily routine.

Gen Ys are also collaborative learners, enjoy working in teams, and thrive in a relaxed consensus-driven group. To feel valued and content they need to be given meaningful responsibilities and a voice in decision making processes.

They yearn for recognition and can feel they are doing a bad job if they don't get it, which lowers their motivation and morale.

Gen Ys dislike "command and control" leadership, responding better to a "consensus and collaborative" style.

"Indeed, 97 per cent of Gen Ys surveyed valued a leadership style that involved empowerment, consultation and partnership, and would leave if they did not get it," Hooper said.

She concluded that "Gen Y brings different values and attitudes to the workplace than of the generation before it."

Or as Sheahan puts it, "You say you want passionate, creative and innovative people but not impatient, manipulative and demanding. Sorry, they only come in a package! Generation Y."