Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

They have been dubbed “the Millennials,” the most socially conscious generation since the sixties, the most tech savvy, and a force to be reckoned with in the work place.

Generation Y are the youths of today born anytime between 1978 and 1998 and provide a significant chunk of the global workforce.

However, a common disconnect is felt between Generation Y and the three other generations which make up the workforce — the veterans, the boomers and Generation X — which is resulting in the inability for employers to both understand and retain their young employees.

In a reaction to a report released on these issues in 2005 called The Skilled Force Initiative, groups across the province have been encouraged to create workshops for employers and Generation Y potential employees, to help bridge the gap between them and create an understanding that will benefit both groups.

Community Futures in Nelson will be hosting a two-day workshop that will run on November 16 and 26 between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., specifically for employers who feel they are having similar problems and would like to learn more about this upcoming generation and how to understand and work with it.

The workshops are being sponsored by the federal government and so will be free to those that register.
“The workshops are not meant to reflect negatively on the youths of today — that’s not what it is about. We are simply trying to explain some of the misconceptions and the misperceptions that employers have of Generation Y and how to work with them,” said Pamela Clausen, a self-employment counsellor at Community Futures.

The 2005 report highlighted the issues faced by today’s employers by Generation Y. For example employers felt that the workers attitude towards work is not appropriate for the workplace, they don’t dress appropriately or have respect, they lack pride in their work, and they lack people skills.

“They are raised in an era where they were given lots of things to do on timely schedules. They are offered a lot of choices and are allowed to negotiate; they are encouraged to talk about their feelings and voice their opinions; and so now they are going into the workplace and some managers and owners are having difficulty dealing with these kind of things,” Clausen said.

At a time when the unemployment rate is at a 30 year low, employers are turning to Generation Y for numbers, but with the lack of understanding between past and present generations, employers are finding it increasingly difficult to retain young employees.

“It is such a high cost to deal with employee turnover. When an employer loses an employee, they have to go through the process of hiring again which cost money — it is much better and cheaper to retain staff,” said Clausen.

“The workshops will explain where the youths are coming from, and why they are the way they are. We will also be working to help employers in attracting youths, hiring them, retaining them, working with them, and managing them.”

Clausen commented that Generation Y would have witnessed their parents in recession and resultantly are less likely to be loyal to a company or business and more likely to be loyal to a person like a manager who gets on well with them and understands them.

“In previous generations we did what we were told to, it was hierarchical, it was commander control, and you did your job. Kids today see work as something to do between weekends off, whereas in previous generations you lived to work,” she said.

The workshops will contain a number of presentations by Clausen, who is the sole facilitator of the event, and there will also be a number of problem solving activities and opportunities to get in groups and come up with ideas to help each other out.

“Any manager or business owner who is working with Generation Y staff can benefit from the two upcoming workshops - they’ll be interactive, fun and they’ll take away a lot of tools and resources to help their business,” she said.

A further work shop will be organized before the end of the year that will be aimed at generation Y and helping them understand some of the issues that older generations have and how to deal with them.

Source: Nelson Daily News, Nov 16 2007