The Emperor’s Clothes and Generations in the Workforce
Every day I run into several blogs advising how to court and keep the Generation Y worker. I hear they are the ‘entitlement generation‘ requiring the latest and greatest IT solutions, constant excitement, instant gratification and a laundry list that honestly starts to feel a little high maintenance.
I observe this and I think: doesn’t anyone else notice? The emperor has no clothes!
The emperor is nekkid. I don’t wish to be unkind, but I don’t believe that Generation Y is any more special than anyone else who came before. (Okay, I’ve come out and said it; send your hate e-email! Akismet will catch it!)
At the same time, I’ve encountered several situations in which a Boomer excused the misconduct or poor performance of a Generation Y’er with an apologetic “He/she’s young.” Since when is age an excuse for failure in the workplace? We all make mistakes, and when anyone errs, they need to be held accountable, they need to fix it, and they need to learn from it and move on, not be excused with an apology about their category.
I’m wondering why I don’t see more “How to Manage Women” posts? More “How to Manage Your LGBT Workforce”? Or “How to Attract and Retain your Asian Employees?” Why not? Well, for starters, many of us in those categories would find such articles insulting and offensive. But for some reason, talking about generational differences feels safe and benign, while forays into gender, culture, and ethnic differences feels like shaky ground. Why is that? And does it make any sense?
But if you think about it, there’s not much difference; both approaches involve generalizations, lumping people together in large categories which may not fit the individual. So: I’m female, generation X, bi, foreign-born: do you have a category for all that? I imagine not, because I’m me, an individual, not a box or a category or a label.
Let’s all stop looking for a simplistic solution and start treating people as people rather than as categories, whatever those categories might be.
I love this! Just what I’ve been saying for a while now.
Ben Eubanks´s last blog ..The GPHR exam
You said exactly what I was thinking!
Great job Krista!
Krista,
“I’m wondering why I don’t see more “How to Manage Women” posts? More “How to Manage Your LGBT Workforce”? Or “How to Attract and Retain your Asian Employees?” Why not? Well, for starters, many of us in those categories would find such articles insulting and offensive. But for some reason, talking about generational differences feels safe and benign, while forays into gender, culture, and ethnic differences feels like shaky ground. Why is that? And does it make any sense?”
THANK YOU!!!
- Chris
Chris Ferdinandi – Renegade HR´s last blog ..Lance Haun on the Multigenerational Workforce
@Shennee, thanks as always for stopping in!
@Thanks, Chris! Hey, I just had a thought….
@Ben, you could write a “How to Manage Your Zombie Workplace” article!
It’s always hard NOT to stereotype, especially when examples of that stereotypical behavior keep slapping you in the face. Example: Yesterday there was a guest-poster on Punk Rock HR (http://punkrockhr.com/guest-post-unc-grad-seeks-non-lameass-job/)titled “UNC Grad Seeks Non-Lameass Job.” Hard not to call Gen Y/Millennials the “entitlement generation” in the face of this kind of example.
We should keep trying, though – and your post should serve as a reminder that this man, and others like him, does not speak for a entire generation. Just like I don’t “typify” the boomers. I’m just me.
Great to hear it, Krista!
Joan, Maybe we just feed into the phenomena by all these endless articles and blog posts? I don’t know.
It just seems that where I work, cultural and racial issues have much more impact from day to day then generational ones. We have an extremely diverse workforce with 40% foreign born from probably 15 or 20 different countries.
The same comments we are hearing about this current generation of new workers are surprisingly similar to the ones previous generations applied to us when we started working. The real issue that Krista addressed very well was the stereotyping that happens with any group of people. While Generation Y has been exposed to an entirely different “learning experience” as they were developing than Generation X, the same can be said about Generation X compared to the Boomers, or the Boomers compared to the Greatest Generation. While we might lament the current generation’s work ethic, if you look across the board this group is accomplishing so much, creating new jobs and becoming very wealthy – just like Generation X did when they were first coming into the workforce and the Boomer generation when they entered the workforce. Each generation has about an equal percentage of high, average and low performers – sometimes we forget we weren’t as good at our jobs or as focused as we are now. Perhaps the real problem in stereotyping is that we should turn the finger around and point it at ourselves instead of a specific group – maybe we need to do a better job of finding out what sparks new workers, how do they learn and what can they do that will positively influence our companies – all the things we wanted the Boomers to do with us. The only time age is an excuse for poor performance is when the older generation(s) doesn’t take the time to mentor the new generation(s) with true one-to-one, effective mentoring – not some 30 minute group training session that says “here, do it my way and if you didn’t understand it, here’s the manual.” Mentoring generations tend to skip this step in the name of profitability or “I’m too busy/important.”
Very thought provoking article, thanks Krista!!
Bob Myers´s last blog ..Day Eight – February 8, 2010
Bob, what’s that quote? Everything that comes around goes around?
It’s so refreshing to read this perspective. Yes, there are members of Gen-Y who are “entitled.” There are also members of Gen-Y who are hard-working and brilliant, and there are plenty of Gen-Xers and Boomers who don’t know what they’re doing. I read an abstract for a presentation once that promised to help employers (presumably Boomers) “get in touch with” their Gen Y employees who “think Facebook is social interaction and Guitar Hero is exercise.” I think I groaned out loud.
I was recently asked to speak as “an exception to the rule” of my generation for an AP wire story (here: http://www.jsonline.com/business/70161562.html). I basically told the reporter that I thought these assumptions about my generation were all wrong, and personally, I don’t know a single person my age who just assumes they can have it all now.
My comments were not included, but my former boss’s were, and though she claims they were taken out of context, they do illuminate some employers’ assumptions that Gen Yers are just not worth your time and effort.