A survey of more than 2,500 employers and managers by recruitment website CareerBuilder.com has identified huge generational differences between Generation Y and their managers. This isn’t anything new to readers of this blog site, but ongoing research is now validating what we have been saying for many years. A lot of generational differences relate simply to expectations and perceptions.
The survey found that there was a particular gulf when it came job expectations, between Gen Y and older generations.
Nearly 90% of hiring managers and HR professionals said some or most Generation Y workers felt “entitled” to demand greater compensation, benefits and promotion than older generations.
Nearly 75% said younger generation workers expect to be paid more, with 60% demanding more flexible working hours and structures. More than 50% of employers believed Generation Y workers had a more difficult time taking direction or responding to authority than other generations of workers.
“Generation Y workers are an important segment of the workforce and literally the future of companies and organisations,” pointed out Rosemary Haefner, vice president of HR for CareerBuilder.com. “They grew up in a technology-driven world where standards and norms have changed and often operate under different perspectives than older co-workers.â€?
Having said this, I think that a lot of these comments reflect what managers perceive, rather than reality. Gen Y workers are likely to be as committed and prepared to work for a good work-value exchange as older generations. But they are generally misunderstood. The key here is not only to make some adjusts in the workplace, job descriptions, conditions of employment and remuneration packages of younger workers, but to also help older managers adjust their mindsets, management styles and attitudes.
Probably the best one article introduction to the Millennial generation was written by Fortune magazine earlier this year. Get it here.
Karin Wellman, co-founder and director of TomorrowTraining, asks, “Who is training your trainers?” Trainers and those in charge of the development of other staff members are often neglected as recipients of training and development themselves. Karin highlights this as a critical problem for businesses today, and suggests a solution.
What is talent, and do you really want it? If so, how much talent do you want, where will you find it and what are you going to do with the talented people you manage to attract to your company? Barrie Bramley turns his attention to these and similar questions, as he helps companies to see talent as their most important competitive differentiator.
Not many people think about maternity benefits when applying for a job, and yet organisations differ hugely in what they provide for parents. Some offer the bare legal minimum, others offer a year’s maternity leave on full pay. In an era of increased awareness of the importance of work-life integration, The Guardian argues, following a study of 250 organisations, that it is the smart organisations that take maternity benefits seriously who will attract and retain talented staff.
I heard on the news today that Sprint-Nextel, America’s third largest mobile phone service provider this week terminated the accounts of its 1,000 most annoying customers. It said in the notification to these clients that they were being terminated because they phoned the customer care centers too often - on average about once a day - often the same issues, and mainly with dumb ones (this isn’t what they actually said, but it’s what they meant). They have waived the termination fees, and given the people a month to change service provider. Read the 
Buppies - Black yuppies. Black young upwardly mobile professionals. Research shows that this is one of the fastest growing demographic groups in South Africa, but many companies and leaders have no idea how to manage them. Aloysias Maimane, a new member of the TomorrowToday team and a top South African presenter and facilitator, provides some insights into this important group.
I spend much of my time helping companies to create corporate cultures that will attract and retain talented young people. This involves looking at everything from terms and conditions of employment, remuneration policies and bonus schemes, to office layout, use of technology, management styles and team dynamics. One of my biggest frustrations is that very often those within an organisation who understand what needs to be done to get top talent to work there are overruled by those who are focused on saving money, efficiencies and creating “lean and mean” environments.
Leadership in today’s world is not easy. I suspect it has never ‘been easy’ but with the contemporary levels of complexity, connectedness and ubiquitous change these are indeed unique times in which to live and lead. The twin challenges that leaders face, that of leading diversity and understanding the inherent paradoxes, demands from leaders new mindsets that lead to new behaviours. All of this converges, like the Leader’s personal perfect storm, when it comes to leading Talent, or those we refer to as the, ‘Bright Young Things’. This article article explores six keys to understanding and leading Talent. It may even shed some light on those ‘Bright Young Things’ who inhabit your household! 
Boomers (in their 40s and 50s) and Xers (in their 20s and 30s) have very different communication styles and needs. In the workplace, they can drive each other crazy. Barrie Bramley provides some excellent insights into why this communication gap exists, and gives some great practical solutions for Boomers and Xers.
In sessions that we conduct on Talent management with both those who lead talent and those who are considered talent everything goes brilliantly until the end of the day when we ask: “So, what are you going to do now?” At this point there is generally a throwing up of hands into the air and a frustrated whining sessions begins. What it basically boils down is the passing of the talent ‘hot potato’ from one person or group to the next. Executives say HR has strategies in place, HR says it is the role of line management, line management says that they are disempowered by top-down processes or too busy with operational delivery to do anything differently…
This is too good to be true… It was reported in London newspapers last week, and is just unbelievable. It’s an anti-talent story. The story of a young web designer looking for a job in Dubai. He applies by email, and gets a favourable response. And, then… well, its hard to describe, but the guy has a complete mental breakdown.
Listen to Dr Graeme Codrington’s 25 minute interview on Sunday, 10 December 2006, on SAFm’s Media programme - 
It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between competitors in almost every industry in the world. New innovations are quickly copied and improvements in quality, service and price are easily matched. In this globalised world, you can no longer differentiate yourself simply on the basis of your product or service. What you do is becoming increasingly less and less important, and who you are is growing in significance.
In 1975, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally won a court case against the 
Aloysias Maimane, TomorrowToday’s resident expert on young talent, especially young black South African talent, questions whether companies truly understand what these young people see as perks and what they just expect to receive by default. Knowing the difference is a key component to talent retention.
The Economist recently had a Survey of Global Talent. It was superb. At the end of the survey, they gave a list of sources and recommended reading. Here it is for your reference purposes (PS - purchase the Economist survey 
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