Roundtable with Business Chicks March 2015
Answers – Sophia Demetriades Toftdahl
This morning began with an interesting discussion at the Tea Salon with Samantha Lopez from Business Chicks, Genevieve George from OneShift, Michelle Cox from Bastian and Shari Cosgriff from Commonwealth Bank. Article will be released in Latte Magazine in April. Here is my feedback.
1. Gen Y has been identified as the ‘fickle’ generation with no job loyalty. In your experiences, is this true?
- First, I’d like to highlight that people should not be defined by their age/generation or the stereotypes of their culture.
- Second, it’s not great leadership to raise a generation on negative words, blaming them for the fortune they were born into. Isn’t it a timeless thing to say that ‘things used to be so much better’ or ‘young people these days know nothing’?
- Third, in the global international market I find myself, a ‘fickle’ generation is not what I see. Born and raised by trailblazing women (and men) in Scandinavia, I never had to sit at the kids table. People were treated as equals and when responsibility is given to you at a young age you grow faster. Scandinavia is a culture built on trust and people don’t have to be micromanaged when their capability is trusted. I have recruited internationally for more than 10 years now and there are distinct differences between millennials in India, Korea, China, Italy, America and Australia, but thats a whole other discussion.
2. How have you dealt with and managed millennials? And if you’re a Gen Y yourself, what do you want from an employer? (I’m borderline Gen Y)
- Millennials should not be managed, they should be lead.
- And I have been doing both for 16 years. It’s been really interesting and I’ve learnt a lot about what makes people tick. Often, people don’t even know what motivates them. Often, people don’t know how to lead.
- When you help others discover their talents, and give them credit for it, they will be very productive.
What I want from my employer? well I am one. But if I was going to ever have one again, leadership is what I’d expect. I’m smart, well travelled, well educated and well behaved. I’d expect my employer to trust me and expect a lot from me because I have proved that I can deliver again and again. For that, I’d like to see some proper leadership.
- Someone who could take advantage of my talents and not me.
- Someone that could help me learn new things about myself, challenge me and lightly point me in the right direction if I went too astray.
- Someone who could admit their own shortcomings and softly make me aware of mine.
- Someone who could teach me about responsibility by walking the walk.
Want me to take ownership? Take ownership for your own doings. If you have been part of raising generation Y, take responsibility, learn how to lead them, and if you don’t, wait patiently, because they will do it themselves, their own way.
3. What are your tips for fostering young talent?
- Throw them in at the deep end & they will learn how to swim, and shine
- Teach them etiquette, not technology
- Focus on the individual, not the stereotype
- Place them in diverse teams, they are experts on cohesion
- Incentivize them with learning opportunities and mentoring
- Be flexible and let them manage their own schedules
- Give them big picture context (‘why’)
- Communicate with them through technology as an extension of your relationship
- Break tasks down into milestones and encourage on each step
- All people like to be heard – hear them.
Overnight successes actually take years and years, so we need to teach them grit by doing and re-doing tasks with breaks in between. Seeing their own improvement over time will teach them about excellence in a non-stress situation. Young people also put high expectations on themselves trying to please others and may crack under the pressure when things aren’t perfect. It’s not easy to know what someone else think is perfect though, so it’s important to find excellence together. This way they also learn problem solving, team work and responsibility.
4. What are the advantages/disadvantages of working with Gen Y?
Advantages: Millennial employees work well with diverse co-workers. Diversity encourages creativity.
Disadvantages: they don’t have experience and many lack self-efficacy, so you better polish your leadership skills if you want it to work.
5. What can we, as professionals, learn from Gen Y?
- Teamwork
- How to embrace rapid change and newness
- Willingness to learn
- Self trust over authority trust
- Social entrepreneurship
- Confidence
Were constantly moving towards a better future and generation Y will help us see it. Intelligent, confident, creative and open-minded, they will foster positive change in our personal and professional lives. Man and corporation will have to take responsibility for who they are and what they do because generation Y won’t let them get away with anything less!
