I do not reference the link between this blog and my company and I don’t want to start now. However, I will reference one of the brand ambassadors we have working for us.
He is a 23 year old DJ from Sydney who recently landed himself a new job. We threw him the task as an ambassador (providing research into Generation-Y) to give us an update on how he was settling in to the new role. To paint you a quick picture, this kid is educated, good looking and very smart. He is also a very stereo-typical Gen-Y.
On Monday last week he started the new role for a marketing firm. We asked him to report back to us each day on how the week was tracking. Our questions were specific and detailed and our Gen-Y DJ played the game perfectly. In a nut shell he was up for the challenge. We will not send you the answers to the questions however I thought you might enjoy his emails attached:
Here is an “extract” from the end of day 1:
” I turned up on the dot at 9. They asked me to arrive at 9 or just after and I was totally amped to dive straight in. I was so psyched I was actually in the car park 30 minutes early. My new Manager (53 year old BB) gave me a look of amazement when I arrived as if he had almost forgotten I was starting today. I can assume he had by his lack of preparation. I asked him some early questions which he couldn’t answer or didn’t have the energy to. Oh well… I was still psyched.
What happened next? Yep, disaster struck Rennie and he sat me in room with binders, folders and no soul for 2 hours. The energy I had brought had certainly been replaced by what the f*#k am I doing here. Just after 10-am he brought in an orientation agenda and some notes on my week. Dude, I read like 6 spelling mistakes and I would auction my left nut on ebay if he didn’t write it that morning. At 10.30 I went for a stroll to get see my new abode. I found the boss so I reminded him I was ready to get stuck in. He quickly reminded me to hang out and wait. Basically wasting my time and his own time”…
Quite frustrating day learning nothing”.
Lets skip forward to Wednesday’s email:
“Rennie I love that line you use every-time something goes slightly wrong. How does it go, God Save the Queen. Its cool Rennie, did you invent that or did the Queens mum start it. I think of it everyday here. I have chucked my new Boss’s name in to replace the queen as A) he has as much energy as she does and B) His thought process is not too dissimilar (f*#king archaic). Basically has no idea what to do with me.
We had a project arrive and it is right up my alley, I know the brand, I know the people and it is in a nut shell why they hired me (will send you a photo of me in a nut shell later as I have some time to kill, can probably build a life size nut shell, dress myself up and do the photo shoot in the time this bloke takes to write an email) . Anyway the Queen (new Boss) has decided he is going to run it himself until I find me feet. WTF does that mean. It is Wednesday and we’ve done Shiite. When he deices to flow some rope I am going to cut loose so this guy can get a view from a diff perspective. Anyway, I am probably off track, will update you tomorrow. God save the Queen”.
Thursdays email:
“Can you call me, I have no credit on my phone and I think he is reading my emails. God save the queen. Killing it though mate. Surf was 16-cm this morning. Measured it with my *&^%”
Friday:
“God save the Queen. Nothing to report. First line says it all. I need more. Speak monday”.
We have spent a lot of time researching Gen-Y and this is quite a common theme. Gen-Y turning up to new jobs, new projects, “work” feeling enthusiastic about the challengers ahead only for that energy to be cruelled by managers in the jobs ahead.
We could write about this topic for hours so I am going to leave the discussion for debate however I will conclude by saying. Have a plan for Gen-Y. We all know the importance of belonging to a group, take Gen-Y seriously, they are powerful and tomorrows leaders.
Share the experience and replicate the intensity. Deliver on the need to connect to a mission and acquire an early purpose.
In regards to the boss. This is a clear indication that Management is “not” leadership and leadership is “not” management. Managers manage processes they have seen before. They are reactive. They refine process and look at ways of making things faster or cheaper.
A leader is about creating a change that you believe in. You can be both and I know a lot of them.
If you have a spare minute, have a quick look at Chris’s attempt to make friends in New York city thanks to The UrbanPrankster
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i just searched on time.com, but not surprisingly the obvious search terms yielded alot of hits. i’d never considered Y & BB to have similar work ethic or needs before – i’d be interested to read the argument behind it if you could dig it up. generational differences fascinate me.
tho i did find this mildly interesting take on GenX:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html
just the difference in the numbers (in the USA) is staggering:
BB = 80M
X = 47M
Y = 78M
somehow i’d missed out on that simple stat all this time. *now* i understand why, in the USA at least (& presumably most western/WW2-involved countries), GenY is so coveted by business. follow the money/numbers…
you’re definitely right about GenY being ‘digital natives’. whilst GenX pioneered & now run the technologies we now take for granted, they did so from their teens & onwards, simultaneously leaving vast tracts of their peers in the digital dust (they’re the ones i see every day struggling with the difference between a pull-down menu and a pop-up blocker). whereas Y came along to soak it up virtually from birth & every day ask “what’s next?”
the excruciating inability of Boomer-lead old-media (newspapers, radio, tv, movies) to deal with – and embrace – the unavoidable realities of modern tech, interconnectedness, and as you say, globalisation (still clinging desperately (or locked in) to their regional licensing & middleman schemes, for example, which usually don’t work in a digitally delivered world) is largely about Boomers either not “getting it” &/or paralysed by fear of the boardroom/shareholders to try new things. (and i think you have another great article somewhere about that?)
i wouldn’t call GenY disenchanted either (that’d be X
, & as The Bull says, everyone at every level can benefit from leadership that’s engaged and provides challenges and opportunities. The Bull threw several my way & i likely wouldn’t be having this conversation here/now if he hadn’t.
but the way the pace of life continues to increase, the exponential development of technology, and its impact on our culture & norms overall, and the vastly different rates of adoption of new things, has amplified these classic generational differences moreso than ever before.
at this epoch in time, Boomers have (or at least until recent years have had to) face their Y children at the dinner table every night. every new generation entering the work force has to “harden up”, but i don’t think the Y-meets-Boomer-at-work clash has ever been so difficult for either side, nor the need to tackle it so urgent for so many businesses & industries struggling to remain relevant to Yers.
and marginal Xers like me get to take pot shots at both sides
so where’s Part 2 ?
Hi Techydude. Nice comment mate and thanks for the input. Says a lot for the standard of our readers. Pretty smart cats. In regards to the Bull, he is a frequent reader of UWS and I am no doubt will make a comment in relation to your post.
In relation to Gen Y and your comments, its interesting. Gen Y is a great topic and we can talk about them for a long time. The synergies between Gen Y and Boomers however according to TIME magazine are very similar based on their work ethic and needs. I find that interesting and if I can find the article, I will post a link for you.
My view is globalization and even more so technology have been shaping the world since… well the world began but more recently, during the lifespan of Gen Y, globalization and tech have undergone a transformation. The world is totally interconnected and in “real-time”. The Gen Yers have grown up with this “shrinking planet”. Business and organizations remain in a constant flux to survive with authority questioned as almost routine by Y, X and Boomers. Gen Y are comfortable in an ever changing interconnected world of thousands of variables. They have not known it any other way. Globalization can make many CEO or Senior management Boomers feel small (rough generalisation but lets think Social Media and the late adopters are mostly BB’s)… Gen Y feels worldly and connected.
Basically, they feel liberated to abandon what bores them and embrace new things whilst reinventing themselves all the time. We just think they are little shits… in the case of the post in topic (Gen Y Part 1)… it seems to me to be more of a case of poor management than over excited or disenchanted youth. The kids in question is bloody smart, no doubt though, he just needs to be managed. As we all did at 18 -23.
i reckon The Bull is the founder & former MD of Australia & NZs largest seasonal retailer of calendars
this is a classic GenY story. you have to wonder what the Boomer hired him for in the first place, besides as a slab of (eager) meat to be bludgeoned into compliance with Boomer MO. and what did the GenY dude expect would happen, having – presumably – been interviewed by the Boomer & given some idea of what the company does & what his role would be & who he’d be working for? who knows – you’re not sayin…
in the last century we’ve created this ever rising disconnect between adolescence & adulthood, including the legal distinctions between 17 & 18. in the 19th century you went out and milked the cows when mum asked you, no matter what your age. 100 years later we’ve raised a generation we currently call Y (and soon Z? omg, can we get a little more imaginitive!?) with such heightened sense of entitlement that is more often than not, NOT going to be fulfilled.
at the same time, we have many industries – ruled largely by a massive generation of Boomers – who are struggling to navigate the connected world and its frantic pace, but whose egos, directors & shareholders prevent them from letting the generation they now most prize & are losing, give their input to the problem. classic catch22.
Interesting discussion. I try to avoid making generalisations about Gen X,Y and baby boomers. Probably don’t understand the differences well enough to comment. Essentially, the average person wants to achieve something every day (whether that is just getting out of bed or changing the world). To get the most out of them you need to constantly inspire them and provide opportunities for them to maximise their potential. People respond to good, enagaged leadership that doesn’t put self-interest first. This is human nature and crosses all generations. The difficulty here is one of capability – ie. this stuff is hard to do and most people can’t do it. Hence you end up with the experience of the GYer above.In this case the GYer bleats and moans about the manager (but maybe that’s all the mgr is capable of doing). The road to success and fulfillment is unfortunately not linear and there is no roadmap to get there. The journey is marked with potholes and forks. The key is to navigate through the obstacles and accept them for what they are (ie. obstacles). As Lambchopper points out you need to “harden up” or every obstacle will become an impassible mountain. The manager in the above example is just one obstacle, but there will be many more ahead. Go around, through, over or under them. Take a bag of concrete with you if need be.Life ain’t easy, but the other option is decidely unattractive.
Hi Guys, nice comments and such an interesting topic.
Rest assured I am not The Bull and certainly not Max. I can already picture the Bulls response.
We have 2 more parts to this post which will roll out over the next 2 weeks.
Get a bag of concrete is a classic. Lambchoppa, where the hell do I get a bag and why? Love the Office call. David Brent is all time. We should have a section dedicated to Brent quotes. Actually… that gave me an idea.
Cheers
Rennie
Lambchoppa, nice comments. How do you know the kid had not already bought himself a bag of concrete and hardened the fuck up 3 years ago. Your airless window rooms sounds like it left a few scars. I am in New York so not overly familiar with Double Bay but I bet its nice. The interesting insight brought forward here is not the generalization that all GY’ers are spoilt, but they are keen.
We do a lot of work with GY and they are actually very similar to baby boomers in regards to commitment to work and loyalty to a role. They are however short sited and don’t really care where “they could be in 3 years” but only where they are now. I imagine his boss in the text has achieved his where he wanted to be plan and that is enough for him (by the sounds of things).
One of the fundamental problems is the lack of knowledge on not only how to manage, but how to manage GY.
I am interested in what the Bull and Max have to say about this if in fact Max and Bull are not Rennie. JBomb (Gen X)
Thought I would pump some vitriol your way. Appreciate the insight in Gen-Y, and just as I thought they are spoilt, don’t take responsibility for themselves (no credit on the phone) and all think they are special. What a surprise, the grad or new recruit gets to work for the old rubbish manager, who has only managed to get 1 level above where grads start in 30 years of work. The reason he is there is because he struggles to even manage a grad.
Once I did a job called coding when I was 23. “Coding” is getting forms people have filled in by hand and typing them into the computer into pre-determined fields. It was in an airless, windowless room, with chairs designed to ensure chiropractors live in Double Bay. Just me and one other bloke in this room, for 8 hours a day. We averaged 60 – 100 forms per day. There is no worse work you can do sitting down. But I needed the money so I did it. Tell your mate to get a bag of concrete and harden the f… up.
Or buy a box set of ‘The Office’.