Generation Y workforce - who are they and what makes them tick?

I'm not from Generation Y and having to deal with this specific generation, I sometimes find myself dealing with a generation gap issue here - a gap issue similar to dealing with my parents - the baby boomers. So, who are in this Generation Y and how do employers deal with them?

It was said Generation Y workforce are those born between 1978 and 2000. Sometimes, they are also called the Millennials. So basically, we are dealing with people who are in their 20s now. As in every generation, Gen Y has its own unique characteristics. This is the generation that is familiar with internet, mobile phone and digital cameras. Due to such background, they often exhibit these following traits:-

• Tech-savvy. Technology is part of their lives and they have to be plugged-in 24 hours. Their first preference of communication is through email, text messaging and online chat, rather than face-to-face contacts.

• Higher expectations. They live in a digital age and therefore, a sense of immediacy is expected. Their expectations of services and relationships are higher.

• Not afraid to challenge authority. With easy access to information, they know their rights better and therefore not fearful of asking questions and questioning authority.

• Attention-craving. They crave for praises and assurances for their accomplishments.

• Multi-channelers but restless. They are able to focus on a few variables at one time and would find concentrating on one object for too long rather boring.

• Care about what their community says. They get information from one another, not so much from the media, and they take their network’s recommendations seriously.

• Value “experience” more than anything else. They do not want to be told what to or not to do. They want to experience the world for themselves and make their own judgments.

• Start their career or family later. They are not in a hurry to settle down in a long-term career or start a family and have kids. Some of them would not even mind staying with their parents/family until their early 30s. And talking about giving allowance to parents? Oh, they don’t have to because their parents usually have no problem fending for themselves.

Knowing these traits will require employers to deal with them differently.

• As they have high expectations of their employers, watch out for the type of managers on top of them. They would need managers that are fair and get engaged/involved in their career development. They prefer you talking “with” them, and not “at” them.

• As they are multi-channelers, they are able to multi-task well.

• Employers should create challenging tasks for them in order to prevent boredom. Bear in mind, they are not the type that would just take orders and not ask question. They want ownership and control of what they are doing. Get them engaged in projects, set goals for them but leave it to them on how to get it done. They perform better that way.

• As they seek meaning in whatever that they do, giving them immediate responsibility would engage them as they are always looking out for opportunity to excel.

• And flexi hours would appeal to the Generation Y’ers, so include that in your recruiting strategy.