Next Generation Next Destination

A GENERATION’S WORLDVIEW FROM THE CAMPUS

A new book based on surveys from 2006-2011 of undergraduates and student affairs officials on 270 U.S. college campuses, “Generation on a Tightrope: A Portrait of Today’s College Student,” fills in some new details and reinforces the presence of attributes we have recognized for a while regarding Gen Y/Millennials. Given the years cited, the data focuses on the younger half of this generation.

The book was written by Arthur Levine, former president of Columbia Teachers’ College and now president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, with Diane R. Deane. Dr. Levine related key findings of the surveys in an interview in the New York Times Book Review (November 4, 2012).

He mentioned the 4 most key events in this cohort’s lives in order of significance, some of which were surprising to him:

1. The advent of digital culture
2. The economy
3. 9/11
4. The election of President Obama

About the pervasive integration of digital culture, one student said, “It is only technology if it happened after you were born.”  But I think it’s important to note that it’s not a matter or tremendous tech savvy. Generation Y has been raised with technology and its members are referred to as “digital natives” or “tech dependant” (which is different from “tech-savvy”. Gen Y is not necessarily tech-savvy, as they tend to want their technology to be as simple and straightforward as possible). They want to integrate technology into all aspects of their lives, including work.

Here are the Gen Y/Millennial attributes Dr. Levine cites from the surveys.

• Pragmatic – They view the primary purpose of education as “to get a good job and make money” rather than following their passion or Milton Eisenhower’s (former president of Johns Hopkins) advice that an undergraduate major teaches you how to learn, and that’s most important.
• Diversity mindset – They strongly favor diversity, and they tend to favor the same celebrities and public figures as a group.
• Optimistic about themselves, but pessimistic about the future of the U.S. They were always told they were great and expect grade inflation and praise.
• A great fear of failure. They haven’t been taught to expect to fail, and resilience is lacking. They feel the pressure of expectations that they will succeed.
• In constant touch with their parents, and they call on parents to help with any difficulties and questions. Parents are heroes to many of them – and that would seem to put pressure on parents to overdo attention.
• Don’t know how to have intimate relationships or crucial personal conversations. Social life tends to be either in groups or a series of hook-ups.

Dr. Levine gives Gen Yers’ strengths as: digital skills; interest in global issues; and dealing better with diversity than generations before them.

In my follow up post, I will give some thoughts and questions on what this all means.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot    www.pdcounsel.com 

 

"GENERATION START-UP” VENTURES FOR AMERICA

A brilliant way for a Gen Y to get good training in an interesting job and provide small businesses the talent they need (if only it weren’t for student debt).

SITUATION ANALYSIS

• Gen Y/Millennials need jobs and training
• A large number of Gen Yers want to start a business, but have little or no knowledge and experience regarding what is needed to build a successful business.
• Small (under 500 employees) businesses need eager, smart, flexible, people concerned more with learning hard-to-find skills in entrepreneurial environments than earning top dollar.
• Many desirable college grads have student debt, which colors their career and job choices.

Note: The Gen Yers typically have a different mindset and way of operating from the “freelance mentality” of the Gen Xers of the dot-com era.

Challenge: How to connect the dots to benefit the aspiring but untrained entrepreneur and the businesses needing the talent, especially in struggling cities.

To meet this challenge, Venture for America, inspired by Teach for America, was started by Andrew Tang, former CEO of Manhattan GMAT, the test prep company.  As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the first 50 “fellows” will be placed in small businesses (under 500 employees) this summer for a 2-year stint. Tang’s goal is to help early stage businesses and start-ups take off, and he is targeting to create 100,000 jobs by 2025. At the same time, the young fellows will get the know-how and experience to start companies of their own if that’s their goal. According to a recent survey by the Young Invincibles (a group focusing on young entrepreneurship) 54% of 18-34 year-olds in the U.S. want to start a business or already have done so.

The companies employing the Venture for America fellows will pay them $32,000 to $38,000 a year plus health benefits, and the participants will receive a 5-week program at Brown University similar to training that consultants and investment bankers receive.  The companies get bright, eager young workers they can afford to hire and mentor. This certainly would seem to fill the bill, especially for recent grads not burdened by family financial obligations or heavy student debt.  Even so, it seems a good investment in their chosen career direction.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot    www.pdcounsel.com

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION: VISIONARY AND TIED TO REALITY

Consultant Alan Weiss wrote in his Monday Morning memo (1/9/12): “In corporate strategy, we paint a picture of the future and then "work backwards" to determine how to organize to reach it…. Why don't we start with a picture of future, productive work forces (knowledge-based, technical skills, globalized, working remotely, diverse stimuli, automated routine chores, etc.) and create both professional and trade education that will support it? Our current cookie-cutter concepts of curricula don't work now and aren't preparing students for the future. Organizations don't reach strategic goals by using techniques that led to old goals. They develop new techniques, resources, and ideas.”

Weiss was referring to education institutions, but what he wrote applies equally to most of the training provided by employers, even leadership and management education. With constant change in the marketplace and a disconnect between the skills of people looking for jobs and the types of skills in short supply, it is necessary for both employer-provided education/professional development and high school, college, graduate school and trade school education to be tied to future vision and global competitiveness needs. We need new definitions of “competence.”

What is being done in your workplace and in your profession to tie training to a strategic vision that will provide growth fueled by a workforce prepared to meet what the marketplace needs now and in the future, not in the past? Is your succession planning truly future oriented to meet the needs of rising generations?

 

 

BROAD IMPACT OF STUDENT/EDUCATION DEBT

Not only is the amount of student debt staggering, but also it continues to grow significantly. Increasing 5% from 2009, students graduating in 2010 had an average of $25,250 in student loan debt, as has been reported widely.

As stated in the Y Pulse newsletter  (11/14/11), “Students have been raised to believe that having a college degree improves their chances of getting a job, but graduating in a poor economy, a degree doesn’t guarantee employment. They’re facing a catch-22. What’s more, when they have a hard time finding work, some are going back to graduate school, hoping that biding their time and improving their knowledge will result in a job. But meanwhile, they’re racking up more debt in school. In many cases, they’ll enter the ‘real world’ buried in debt. During the years they would normally be setting up their households right after graduation, they’ll instead be living at home trying to save money, shifting the typical consumer cycle by several years….”

Economists have been weighing in on how this affects the broader economy. And it brings many questions to my mind.

• Of course, there are some young graduates whose parents were able to pay the education bill and are not weighed down by debt. How are they affected by the debt albatross hanging on their classmates?

• How do you think the economics of firms would change if education debt/student debt were not a serious problem?

-       Would organizations be able to reduce entry-level salaries and compete on the basis of good and plentiful training offerings?

-       Would new employees be willing to trade higher salaries for more training and less oppressive work time pressures?

-       Would the U.S. be more competitive with other countries?

-       Would corporate social responsibility increase

• How much are Gen Y/Millennials’ decisions about career choice, amount of education and lifestyle (whether they can afford the one they choose or not) being affected by student debt?

Please think about these questions and comment on this important issue. It deserves a healthy dialogue.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot   www.pdcounsel.com

 

NEXT GENERATION CAREERS: WHY THEY CHOOSE TECH

Perhaps it’s no surprise that men and women choose to major in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields for different reasons. A study released this month (September 2011) called “STEM Perceptions: Students and Parents Study” by Harris Interactive for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and Microsoft, has some interesting finding on the differences.

The women’s top reason for choosing a STEM major was intellectual stimulation, while men chose those fields for “a good salary out of school.” A huge gender gap was revealed in what led them to their interest. For 68% of the women in the study it was a particular high school class or teacher that they credited with turning them on to the subject. That was true for only 5% of the men. Their experience with related games, toys, books or clubs was a significant factor for 51% of the men but only 35% of the women.

These findings could influence the teaching of the different genders and suggest the importance of high school teaching to attracting more women to the STEM fields. A combination of intellectual stimulation, role models and a welcoming culture would be likely to attract and retain more women.

It is important that those role models and inspirational teachers be men as well as women. How do we make men more comfortable with “sponsoring” women in their field?

Your thoughts?

Phyllis Weiss Haserot   www.pdcounsel.com 

 

PROFESSIONALISM THREATENED: THE COST OF INCIVILITY

Courtesy, rudeness, incivility, and professionalism – the economic impact

Most of us have experienced or observed work-related rudeness, hostile behavior, obvious distractions when personal attention is needed, and worse. It’s annoying, no doubt, but there are significant costs to organizations from this aspect of unprofessional behavior as well as reported in “Incivility Can Have Costs Beyond Hurt Feelings” Shortcuts column by Alina Tugend, New York Times, Nov. 20, 2010]

Christine Pearson, a professor of management at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, has conducted research for a decade that documents that many workers left jobs because of continuing incivility – but they rarely say that on exit. Pearson is co-author with Christine Porath of “The Cost of Bad Behavior” (Penguin Portfolio, 2009). Their research covered 9,000 managers and workers and found that incivility was rampant in the workplace. Some examples are ignoring a colleague, gossiping behind colleagues’ backs, ignoring requests for help and borrowing supplies without asking – doing these things consistently, not a one-off. Interestingly, they found that 60% of bad behavior came from supervisors or levels above, 20% from people on the same level and 20% from people below.

Results of this behavior were: decreased effort on the job after experiencing ongoing rude behavior, slacking off or sticking only to the narrow definition of their tasks as well as exit of valuable talent. Apparently there is a sort of double-standard in many organizations. Employees are expected to treat clients/customers with respect, but there is little concern about how colleagues treat each other.

There are solutions; some are simple but not easy. Orientation meetings – when people first join an organization – can emphasize the importance and expectation of civility. Most important says Pearson is that top management model civil behavior and be willing to discipline all those who act badly or unprofessionally on a consistent basis, regardless of their success in other ways.

Other academics are researching incivility and taking up the cause of change. One is Pier M. Forni, a professor of Italian literature at Johns Hopkins University and co-founder of the university’s Civility Initiative. . Forni says “We are both ruder and more civil than in times gone by.” In referring to the latter, he says we are more accepting of diversity and have a higher ecological awareness. But classical courtesy is on the decline.

Professor Forni, author of  “The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude” (St. Martin’s Press, 2008) attributes the major causes of incivility to anonymity, stress, lack of time, lack of restraint and insecurity. Anonymity provided by the Internet and ability to easily shoot off rants by text has lowered the bar. One measure to counteract electronic incivility of note: growing economic power South Korea teaches “netiquette” to school children at an early age.

I would wager a guess that few firms and other organizations have been tracking and calculating the financial costs of the civility transgressions component of unprofessionalism. Perhaps they should be calculating those along with the social costs. That would make the business case for training, coaching and disincentives for negative behavior.

Please contribute your thoughts.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot      www.pdcounsel.com

 

TRANSITIONING: PROFESSIONALISM EDUCATION STARTS EARLY

A poll from the Center for Professional Excellence (CPE) at York College of Pennsylvania suggests the importance of professionalism to one’s career. Assessments of a new college grad candidate’s professionalism accounted for almost 60% of hiring decisions – of mega-importance in this languishing  period of scarce jobs, especially for young people with little experience.

Professionalism was defined by the business leaders and human resources professionals polled as having five primary characteristics: personal interaction skills, including respect and courtesy; communications skills, including listening; a great work ethic; being motivated and staying on task until the job is finished: and self-confidence, awareness, and professional appearance.

And the verdict from the poll as to whether professionalism has increased or declined in the past five years? One-third of the poll’s respondents believed than fewer than 50% of all new graduates exhibit professionalism in the workplace. The complaints will probably sound familiar; respondents pointed to a sense of entitlement for jobs, lack of work ethic and changes in culture and values.

We can argue the interpretation or severity of the problem, or why it exists – and I would, particularly about how work ethic is interpreted and whether all cultural changes are a bad thing. But perceptions are the beholder’s reality. What is being/can be done to resolve the problem?

ENGAGEMENT MAKES THE MARRIAGE SUCCEED

n      The concept behind the buzzword of the last several years will rise in significance. Focus on “Engagement” Will Replace the Focus on Retention.  That’s because we know that just having bodies in place is not the answer; the goal is increased productivity, which comes from sustained engagement and leads to greater profitability. Herman expects to see a new functional title: Directors of Employee Engagement morphing from Directors of Retention. It may be a new title, but my guess it will incorporate or collaborate with the professional development and employee benefits functions. Firms will increasingly recognize that to raise the quality of the client experience they have to improve the working experience of staff, professional personnel and managers.

 

      Time to go back to striving to be "the employer of choice" and identify what produces long-term engagement.

 

        Phyllis Weiss Haserot      www.pdcounsel.com

FORECAST: RE-HIRING IN RETIREMENT

n      The  counterpart to succession preparation as we experience an aging workplace is another forecast: Employers Will Accommodate Older Workers Like Never Before. Employers need to get the work done; many workers, including successful professionals and executives, want to keep going whether or not they really need the additional money to live comfortably. The Herman Group suggests that employers will see the benefit of avoiding recruiter fees and expensive contract help by bringing back their retired personnel on part-time, seasonal or temporary bases, even if the older workers can dictate their own terms. I can envision organizations hiring their former personnel with knowledge no one else would have to the same degree or dissuading them from going elsewhere for the typical “busy seasons” or employing them for training and coaching the next generation to continue top service to clients.

 

      This will require sensitivity in communication to younger workers about the benefits to them and facilitation of cross-generational dialogue within work teams and mentor partnerships. But it sounds like a win-win for many organizations seeking continuity  of client service and culture.

 

        Phyllis Weiss Haserot    www.pdcounsel.com

NEXT GENERATION SKILLS GAP: What Boomers Need to Teach Gen Y and X

The "Corner Office" column interview in the New York Times on September 20, 2009 featured Linda Hudson, president of the land and armaments groups at BAE Systems giving an important perspective on corporate culture and the deficiencies of business school education. When asked by the Times' Adam Bryant what she would like business schools to teach more of, she responded:

"Business school graduates come with a large amount of theoretical knowledge. "But they don't have a clue of what it's like from a people-skill point of view, or the coping skill perspective of learning to deal with disappointment and failure. They come in here thinking that, first of all, they're going to run the company overnight. Many of them are convinced they've never made a mistake. They're not accustomed to encountering road blocks or disappointments. We give them all the book smarts, but we don't tend to give them the other skills that go along with business."

We hear the same themes from many professions and industries - in business, law, medicine, engineering and so on. The education system is focused on data and theory rather than incorporating a healthy portion of how to communicate effectively and relate to people -  colleagues, clients, customers, suppliers. It is the latter set of skills that enables people to become leaders that others will follow and to achieve necessary change in a fast-paced world. And in that fast-paced, time pressured, billable hour-type world, few individuals in the more senior generations have financial incentives to train and mentor the new young, blood brought in supposedly to invigorate and perpetuate the organization. On the contrary, they may feel they are digging themselves an early grave.

While Generations Y and X may be extremely technologically literate, most of them don't measure up to the Boomers and Traditionalists in people skills. Through mutual mentoring each can learn from the other, but there has to be a greater value put on communication and inter-personal skills in schools to lay the foundation, and the organizations that hire the young candidates need to persuade and partner with educational institutions to make sure that happens.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot     www.pdounsel.com