Attracting Generation Y to the workplace

Dr Linda Ronnie, senior lecturer in organisational behaviour and people management at GSB supervised the study conducted last year by MBA student Gigliola Russo. It sought to discover exactly what attracts Generation Y workers - or those born between 1980 and 1994 - to a particular organisation and what their career and employment expectations are once they there.

Changing HR policies

According to Ronnie, the research has shed light on how Generation Y could impact traditional HR policies and practices.

"The MBA students surveyed in Russo's study represent the very best that Generation Y has to offer. They are young and tech-savvy, educated and informed, ambitious and determined to succeed. This research is therefore applicable to the pool of highly sought-after Generation Y workers - or as Russo calls them, 'Generation Y Knowledge Workers'," she said.

The study illustrates that these talented young employees have much to offer the modern workplace. Russo, for example, points to the work of generational expert Bruce Tulgan, who predicts that Generation Y will become "the most high-performing workforce in the history of the world."

"They walk in with more information in their heads, more information at their fingertips - and sure, they have high expectations, but they have the highest expectations first and foremost for themselves," writes Tulgan.

Russo argues that organisations that are willing to be innovative and flexible with their employment terms will be front in line to take advantage of what Generation Y has to offer.

Pertinent themes, exciting work

"Flexibility, work-life balance, mobility, career developmental opportunities and giving back to society are themes pertinent to Generation Y's workplace needs," said Russo. So too is the ethical record of accomplishment and corporate culture of an organisation.

Sixty-three MBA students, diverse in terms of gender, race and nationality, responded to Russo's survey, with 62% rating the opportunity to do work that is exciting as "very important" - the highest measurement. Other areas that were signalled out as "very important" to the majority of those surveyed included having a chance to learn and develop; alignment between jobs and talents; and the ethical record of their employer.

That said, Generation Y candidates are not determined to skew working conditions unfairly in their favour - much of what they demand will ultimately help them to be more productive and valuable employees, they believe.

"For example, one student responded in the survey saying 'when you choose an employer you need to base your choice on how long am I going to work there, what am I going to learn, how are they going to teach me, what can I do for them?'. This statement perfectly captures the Generation Y attitude," related Ronnie.

Why the shift?

A compelling case has been made in the literature on Generation Y that these workers are simply a product of the world they have grown up in. There is more diversity available now than ever before in terms of what media is consumed, the products bought and the choices available - so these expectations are naturally extending to the workplace as well.

"There is also more opportunity for these workers to negotiate the terms of their employment due to the global demand for knowledge workers and much-publicised skills shortages," added Ronnie.

Asked how organisations should respond to these shifting expectations, Ronnie advised that those companies that are the most flexible would come out as winners.

"A one-size-fits-all approach to attracting and retaining talent will not work for Generation Y. They have much to offer and recognising this fact - and rewarding it - is the first step to harnessing their massive potential," she said.