Home » Opinion » Book review
Manage, don't mollycoddle your savvy 'millennials'
By Ni Tao |
November 28, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S a harsh time for job-hunting.
Although the trauma caused by massive layoffs in the wake of the financial meltdown may have abated somewhat, the specter of unemployment still haunts the global business community.
As companies worldwide limit head counts or down-size to stay afloat, the situation is grim for countless college graduates.
In this chilly economic climate, it would seem counter intuitive to ask why employers would worry about losing staff, especially greenhorn hires.
But this is a question they should worry about. How to retain and stimulate bright young staff is a prospect employers should seriously consider if they are to avoid losing billions to unwanted turnover, according to Joanne G. Sujansky and Jan Ferri-Reed.
In "Keeping the Millennials," Sujansky and Ferri-Reed shed light on the changing demographic landscape in US workplaces.
As they note, this generation of millennial workers, born between 1980 and 1999, are vastly different from previous generations in various dimensions, including work ethic, working style and perception of the relationship between life and work.
Although millennials do inherit many of the good traits -- hard work and dedication, for instance -- from baby boomers, that's where the similarities end. Whereas boomers devote most of their time and energy to work, millennials try to juggle life and work in a more balanced way.
Seeing their workaholic parents deflated after being fired by companies they have served for decades, they learn the hard way that being a model worker doesn't ensure lifetime employment.
For them work is more than just a source of livelihood. As the most educated and technology-savvy generation in history, their outlook on work naturally assumes more elements of youthful exuberance -- or even playfulness -- than their parents.
Work has to be fun to arrest and keep their attention. That's why employers, the authors argue, ought to provide a working environment hip and congenial enough to keep their millennial employees constantly concentrated and motivated.
Among aspects of a working environment that appeal to millennials, one that stands out is unfettered access to technology, their computers, the Internet.
"Technology is at the heart of the millennial generation's work ethic," the authors observe.
Apart from researching and gathering information online, millennials do most of their talking and discussions via instant message software, and some feel more comfortable with these indirect links than face-to-face communication.
In this era of conspicuous individualism, employers expect to see more office computer screens flickering with Twitter threads during work hours.
Instead of vehemently reprimanding young colleagues caught micro-blogging, bosses might do well to adopt softer countermeasures and engage them their way. That is: visit the offenders' Facebook or Twitter pages and post comments appreciating their healthy pastime of keeping a blog while gently proposing doing so after work.
Strong-arming go-slow millennials back into line may end up alienating some real talented minds.
And rules that curtail the use of high-tech gadgets at office may backfire in the form of uninspired work, low productivity or even a brain drain.
Employers should also keep their fingers on the pulse of millennial workers. Millennials sometimes do fit into the stereotyped image of pampered kids, outwardly brimming with confidence yet inwardly tormented by insecurity and anxiety that they may not be taken seriously.
Regular feedback and encouragement for their contributions therefore are indispensable to keep up their morale. This also helps groom for possible leadership by demonstrating that their managers and superiors do care and interact.
Millennials also embrace an anti-cubicle culture. So putting them together in an open, spacious office is likely to work better than assigning them each a cell in a beehive-like workplace.
In the hierarchical business world, it's hard to imagine many CEOs (at least those obsessed with their own status) loosening their shirt collars and consulting ordinary employees about strategic decisions.
Some visionary leaders do just that, from time to time, but the steady arrival of millenials in the labor force is turning this kind of two-way communication into a reality.
Millennials can help companies detect which way the wind is blowing, if there are fresh breezes and where are the likely areas of robust growth.
So don't be surprised if you receive an "ORZ" (online posture emotion) from your superior on MSN in the future. That orz pictogram shows a prostrated figure -- a sign of admiration popular with Chinese Internet users -- it signifies recognition for services rendered to companies, more meaningful perhaps than material reward.
Although the trauma caused by massive layoffs in the wake of the financial meltdown may have abated somewhat, the specter of unemployment still haunts the global business community.
As companies worldwide limit head counts or down-size to stay afloat, the situation is grim for countless college graduates.
In this chilly economic climate, it would seem counter intuitive to ask why employers would worry about losing staff, especially greenhorn hires.
But this is a question they should worry about. How to retain and stimulate bright young staff is a prospect employers should seriously consider if they are to avoid losing billions to unwanted turnover, according to Joanne G. Sujansky and Jan Ferri-Reed.
In "Keeping the Millennials," Sujansky and Ferri-Reed shed light on the changing demographic landscape in US workplaces.
As they note, this generation of millennial workers, born between 1980 and 1999, are vastly different from previous generations in various dimensions, including work ethic, working style and perception of the relationship between life and work.
Although millennials do inherit many of the good traits -- hard work and dedication, for instance -- from baby boomers, that's where the similarities end. Whereas boomers devote most of their time and energy to work, millennials try to juggle life and work in a more balanced way.
Seeing their workaholic parents deflated after being fired by companies they have served for decades, they learn the hard way that being a model worker doesn't ensure lifetime employment.
For them work is more than just a source of livelihood. As the most educated and technology-savvy generation in history, their outlook on work naturally assumes more elements of youthful exuberance -- or even playfulness -- than their parents.
Work has to be fun to arrest and keep their attention. That's why employers, the authors argue, ought to provide a working environment hip and congenial enough to keep their millennial employees constantly concentrated and motivated.
Among aspects of a working environment that appeal to millennials, one that stands out is unfettered access to technology, their computers, the Internet.
"Technology is at the heart of the millennial generation's work ethic," the authors observe.
Apart from researching and gathering information online, millennials do most of their talking and discussions via instant message software, and some feel more comfortable with these indirect links than face-to-face communication.
In this era of conspicuous individualism, employers expect to see more office computer screens flickering with Twitter threads during work hours.
Instead of vehemently reprimanding young colleagues caught micro-blogging, bosses might do well to adopt softer countermeasures and engage them their way. That is: visit the offenders' Facebook or Twitter pages and post comments appreciating their healthy pastime of keeping a blog while gently proposing doing so after work.
Strong-arming go-slow millennials back into line may end up alienating some real talented minds.
And rules that curtail the use of high-tech gadgets at office may backfire in the form of uninspired work, low productivity or even a brain drain.
Employers should also keep their fingers on the pulse of millennial workers. Millennials sometimes do fit into the stereotyped image of pampered kids, outwardly brimming with confidence yet inwardly tormented by insecurity and anxiety that they may not be taken seriously.
Regular feedback and encouragement for their contributions therefore are indispensable to keep up their morale. This also helps groom for possible leadership by demonstrating that their managers and superiors do care and interact.
Millennials also embrace an anti-cubicle culture. So putting them together in an open, spacious office is likely to work better than assigning them each a cell in a beehive-like workplace.
In the hierarchical business world, it's hard to imagine many CEOs (at least those obsessed with their own status) loosening their shirt collars and consulting ordinary employees about strategic decisions.
Some visionary leaders do just that, from time to time, but the steady arrival of millenials in the labor force is turning this kind of two-way communication into a reality.
Millennials can help companies detect which way the wind is blowing, if there are fresh breezes and where are the likely areas of robust growth.
So don't be surprised if you receive an "ORZ" (online posture emotion) from your superior on MSN in the future. That orz pictogram shows a prostrated figure -- a sign of admiration popular with Chinese Internet users -- it signifies recognition for services rendered to companies, more meaningful perhaps than material reward.
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