Recruiting the Class of 2011: Managing Their Expectations -- Any Yours!

Does this sound familiar?

• You're frustrated by what you call a "sense of entitlement" in todays youth and marvel at their lack of patience to master a skill or job thoroughly.
• You're horrified by the casual writing style of your younger staff and wonder what happened to spell check and punctuation.
• You've just spent thousands of dollars recruiting recent college graduates, only to find that six months later they've left you for greener pastures.

Welcome to the Millennial generation! Born into the world of the internet, cell phones and video games, these teens and twenty-somethings are tech savvy with short attention spans. Raised by "Helicopter" Baby Boomer parents who pushed them to excel, Millennials are natural multi-taskers brimming with confidence. This is the Harry Potter generation of team enthusiasts who want to make the world a better place. And they are ready to bypass any red tape that gets in their way!

In only four years, Millennials will represent over 40% of the American workforce. How will employers effectively recruit and manage a group of workers predicted to drastically change how companies organize and communicate? Join us for another popular Interchange Group webinar as we answer this question and share practical strategies for attracting and retaining the Millennials. Learning outcomes include:

• Expectations, motivations and behaviors of the Millennial generation
• Recruiting and interviewing tactics to attract top young talent
• Orientation and on-boarding practices for accelerating time to productivity
• Strategies for managing career pathing and development conversations
• Management and communication practices to increase performance and retention
  

Registration for this webinar is complimentary to Interchange Group clients. Contact your Interchange Group consultant for arrangements or email info@interchange-group.com. Registration for non-clients is available for a fee of $79.

Click here to register

Would You Hire Your Own Kid?

Written by Sarah Sladek, founder of XYZ University and author of Rock Stars Incorporated: Hiring the High Performance High Maintenance Hotshots Half Your Age.

I'm fascinated by the topic of workforce and leadership development, partly because I'm a parent and partly because I work with organizations grappling with generational issues. I know all too well that everyone has an opinion on "today's" generation and "tomorrow's" generation and how these differences challenge organizations. But one topic that remains to be explored is workforce readiness.

The Conference Board recently released a report which argues: "High school and college graduates are showing deficiencies in both basic and applied skills, and a real lack of preparedness for today's world of work." Unemployment among teens and young adults has been at an unprecedented rate for several years. Even before the economy took a nosedive, employers preferred to hire senior citizens or immigrant workers over Generation Y.

So, would you hire your own kid? Let's be honest. Probably not.

The Conference Board report explains there are seven survival skills that our new graduates must have but are not getting in our current educational environment. I'm going to take this a step further. I think parents are partially to blame. Not public or private education. Not government. We, the parents, made this mess.

Parenting has changed substantially in the past 20 years. I'm not proclaiming to be an exceptional parent by any means, but as a generational expert I have observed how the changes in parenting have created a generation that's lacking critical skills. Here are the seven skills new graduates lack and examples of where I believe parents are falling short:

1. Problem solving: "Mommy! Timmy hit me!" "Oh no, let me go right over to Mrs. Smith's house and she and I will have a conversation about this." Parents have become overly involved in their children's lives. As a result, children aren't learning to solve problems or resolve conflict on their own.
2. Collaboration: When I was a child, I played all day long without a parent ever being involved. Today's children are constantly shuttled between playdates and practices. They rarely play together without it being organized and/or supervised by adults.
3. Agility/Adaptability: Studies show children under the age of six influence more of the household purchasing decisions than the parents. (Yikes!) When the world revolves around them, children can't adapt to change or take the needs of others into consideration.
4. Entrepreneurialism: Children need the opportunity to take initiative and responsibility. Parents shouldn't be selling their children's Girl Scout cookies or setting up their lemonade stands for them.
5. Oral and Written Communication: Personal communication is a must. Great texting skills won't land anyone a job, yet children as young as eight are given smart phones and Facebook accounts.
6. Accessing and Analyzing information: Parents need to stop giving their children the answers. I personally know parents who do the majority of their kids homework just so they will get all "A's." The future of our workforce must be able to think for themselves.
7. Curiosity and Imagination: As a society, we are consumed with 'fitting in' and we squelch the arts and creativity in school. Let your children be unique. Encourage them to be unique. Employers need unique!
   

I predict that in the coming years we're going to see a growing demand for workforce development programs in the school system and leadership development programs in the workplace simply because the next generations aren't equipped to meet the needs and expectations of the workplace. As parents, be aware that we need to do a better job of preparing this generation for increase responsibility. As employers and executives, be prepared to introduce programs that will help young adults obtain the skills they need to work for your company.

By 2015, Baby Boomers will cede the majority of the workforce to Generation Y. Ready or not -- here they come.

To find out more about Sarah's great work and her views on the generations, visit her blog at http://xyzuniversity.com/blog/

To learn how to better recruit and manage the young people in your organization, join the Interchange Group for our May 19 webinar, "Recruiting The Class of 2011: Managing The Expectation Of Millennials -- And Yours!"

Man Up Gen X!

Recently, I was asked to counsel a group of angry 40-something managers on career advancement. These Generation Xers felt they were caught in between “greedy” Baby Boomers, who won't move over to give their generation a shot, and “entitled” Millennials, who won’t put in a decent day’s work. As a generational expert and specialist on today’s workplace issues, I gave the following advice.

MAN UP GEN X! If you wish Boomers would get out of your way then help them to retool. It’s not that they want to prevent younger generations from advancement. The problem is that many of them don’t know how to move on (to retirement or to more fulfilling careers) and still support themselves, their aging parents and their children. Teach Boomers time management and delegation skills that force them to work smarter instead of more and you will help them reach the other side of the mountain much quicker.

On the flipside, if you want Millennials to “toughen up” you will need to do a better job of managing their expectations. Invest your limited time in beefing up your company’s interviewing, orientation and career development initiatives. Millennials who know what is expected of them and what it takes to get to the next level will surprise you with their productivity and loyalty.

And lastly, Gen Xers, I know you value your autonomy but even you could use a little help. Seek out the training you deserve to boost your communication and leadership skills. And make just a little bit of effort to care at work. Otherwise, you’ll play right into the stereotypes associated with your own generation. Or as the lead Gen X character in the film, Office Space, remarks, “It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I just don’t care.”

- Amy Hirsh Robinson, Principal, Interchange Group

For strategic insight on recruiting, engaging and managing the different generations in your workplace, contact us at www.interchange-group.com.

A College-Educated Workforce

In the U.S., only 1/3 of high school students graduate on time and prepared for college-level work. 1/3 don’t even graduate at all. If current postsecondary graduation rates do not improve, our labor market will be short 3 million college-educated workers by 2018.

America’s education system is not preparing students for the demands of a knowledge-based economy and workplace. That’s why the Interchange Group supports Aspire Public Schools, a non-profit organization that operates public charter schools in urban areas across California. Aspire’s motto is “College for Certain,” and its growing school system boasts both record State performance and a 97% college acceptance rate. As our holiday gift to our clients and community, we have chosen to donate funds to Aspire. We encourage you to find ways to support educational improvements in your own communities!

Happy Holidays from the Interchange Group Team!