How to manage Generation Y?

by Humannext

You belong to one of four generations of workers. Do you know how to work effectively with the other three generations in the workplace? Many workplace experts have noted that for the first time in history there are four generations – different in many respects – present today in the workplace. The youngest of these generations is Generation Y, which comes to the workplace armed with technology and communication tools to an unprecedented degree. How can you communicate and work effectively with persons of these different generations? This is one of the hottest workplace issues in today’s organization. We will offer articles covering the various aspects of this issue. Below is one on the ways to manage Generation Y.

Capitalize on their Social Orientation and team- preference. Millennials like to be in constant touch with others, as they have been the key users of Instant Messaging, and sites like MySpace, Facebook, and other social media. So you need to create work opportunities that involve them in teams and collaborative work.

Capitalize on their technology-orientation. Millennials are adept at using the internet and computer programs, conducting Internet research using Google, and communicating with their BlackBerry, cell phones, and whatever other tools that might appear on the market. Managing them effectively means that their boss will at least be familiar with these tools and preferably use some of them.

Make use of their Multitasking. They also tend to be good at multitasking and can talk on the phone while checking e-mail and answering instant messages. Provide them with opportunities to do this to minimize their boredom on the one hand and increase productivity on the other.

Welcome their diversity. Millenials not just understand diversity but actually live it and practice it in a natural and almost automatic fashion. This is the generation that got excited about Barak Obama, an African American with a white mother, a Muslim black father from Kenya, who offered a vision of change and hope. Make sure your organization practices and values diversity and offers them a work culture that celebrates it in a natural way.

Give them interesting work. One of the key attributes of Gen Y is their need for constant stimulation. Their worst task for them is the boring one. What makes work boring is when the person doesn’t have a say in it. Give them opportunities to create themselves through their jobs. Give them as much freedom as possible and involve them in job design and decisions. Otherwise they might hop from one job to another searching for what stimulates them.

Listen to them. Millennials want to have their voices heard. They have grown used to provide comments on blogs and other social media. They expect to have opportunities to voice their opinion and not get punished for it if different or uncommon.

Conclusion: Millennials will increasingly become a larger segment of the workforce. With the right training and wise leadership, they can be great assets to the organization.