Brett March 23rd, 2009
“I just want to have fun.”
You would’ve thought that nuclear Armageddon had come from the way my dad’s jaw dropped as we drove around the winding streets of San Diego.
“What did you just say??” he exclaimed.
I knew that signal…it looked like it was going to be long drive home as the lecture on hard work began…
I’m sure a few of you have found yourself in a similar situation when you gave the ‘wrong’ response to the “What do you want to do with your life?” question. While I was only a junior in high school at the time, the discussion has always stuck in my head (which as I recall quickly turned from a dialogue into a monologue), and the question of what to do with my life after school has always plagued me. I think the same question faces many young professionals when they begin their careers. The thought of entering the job world (for me) has always been associated with a loss of self, like you no longer have control over your own life, and that idea frightened me. Continue Reading »
Brett February 9th, 2009
Many people have wrongly classified Millennials and other young professionals as lazy and self-centered, but I believe this stereotype results from this generation defining success differently than previous generations. Unlike their predecessors, this group has been taught to push the envelope and not simply define success as receiving the golden watch after 25 plus years of service at a company. Millennials have watched their parents work 9-5 each day, only to be later downsized and out of work 20 years into their careers, and as a result, young professionals have expanded their definition of success to places outside of work. A young professional’s accomplishments in their career are only a small piece of the total picture, which now encompasses personal growth, constant learning, a strong family life, and a sense of accomplishment when everything is said and done. Millennials want to blaze their own path and most especially control their own destiny. As Mr. Michael Malone writes in his article “The Next American Frontier” (Wall Street Journal, May 19, 2008), the Millennials have become a generation of entrepreneurs. Continue Reading »
Brett February 2nd, 2009
We have all heard the sayings:
“We have flextime for senior positions,”
“We don’t have a starting time for work.”
“We have summer hours.”
Well as I’m sure most of you know these office ‘policies’ rarely translate to all employees, and are mainly used to attract recruits. In many cases, workers cannot use all their vacation time let alone their ‘flex’ time for fear they’ll be labeled lazy and ‘not a team player’. Even going to an appointment can be a hassle with some people having to use sick days to cover these everyday events, leading me to wonder why people assume work has to be like this. Why is the movie Office Space our model for corporate America? Few people enjoy work, and yet no one has attempted to change the system or its basic premises. Even with the advent of tools like the internet or email, people still fail to question whether employees need to sit in their seats from 9-5 in order to be productive. Although many people like the comfort and predictability of the current workplace, this new economy of terabytes and efficiency forces us to reexamine the entire idea of work and how it affects both our professional and personal lives. Continue Reading »
Brett December 19th, 2008
I thought that Top Trends blog had an interesting take on Millennials in the workplace. The author’s viewpoint about the future of work is spot on I think, and goes into why Gen Ys appear to be less loyal than previous generations. Check out the link below if you would like to read:
Top Trends Blog on Millennials
Brett December 10th, 2008
Corporations have had an incredible reluctance to embrace Web 2.0 technology, especially programs employees download on their own. In most cases these decisions to limit the technology affect the organization’s Millennials and other young professionals who typically use these tools. In some regards their fears are well founded: they do not want sensitive data migrating outside their intranet (an opening for hackers) or a loss of worker productivity from using these applications such as Facebook, AIM, etc.
Unfortunately, times have changed. In a global work environment where technology, news, and information move so quickly, employees need many of the tools to keep up with the massive amounts of data. In the emerging real-time corporate world, employees must have access to these applications in order to be part of the 24/7 public opinion conversation. The impenetrable firewall; however, many corporations institute stifles and restricts employee movement on the internet, and prevents employees from exercising flexibility or judgment about what is and is not appropriate. Continue Reading »
Brett November 18th, 2008
Today, young professionals view their jobs within an industry as little more than a commodity. During the shift from the Information Age to the Talent Age, companies have done little to differentiate themselves from their competitors. This commoditization has had a direct affect on allowing Gen Ys to change their jobs so often. Companies offer few compelling reasons for a young professional to show loyalty to the corporation, and many companies view their employees as static and undifferentiated assets, even if they say otherwise. It is assumed that a worker only has X utility and that they will not stay for long, and the whole goal of the corporation is to maximize that utility before they decide to move on to another job. The reasoning goes that since employees will not stay long, there is no value in creating a compelling employer value proposition to the employee. This thinking is a self fulfilling prophecy that makes young professionals feel unappreciated, and thus enables them to leave companies without a second thought.
Continue Reading »
Brett November 17th, 2008
I found an interesting article detailing how ESPN manages its marketing
workforce. The marketing department at ESPN is almost 70% Gen Y, so they have
had to quickly adapt to this generation’s attitudes towards work. The managers
at ESPN use an interesting technique that I believe could be applied to many
companies called clearing. Clearing focuses on having a team come together
every so often and air grievances and compliments from both employees and
managers. For any identified problem, the team should make an action plan to
deal with the grievance.
I think this works ideally with a group of young professionals because they
are so accustomed to being able to speak their minds. Instead of having
problems boil under the surface, clearings offer young people a chance to give
their opinions, feel like they have been heard, and that their manager respects
their views. The whole key will be to balance this technique, and make sure
managers do not overuse it does not go overboard, making everyone feel like
‘clearing’ is another worthless meeting.
For the full article please click the link below:
How ESPN Manages Their Gen Y Employees
Brett November 4th, 2008
When it comes to retaining young workers Google has it right. While almost every magazine and article points out the various perks workers enjoy like a cafeteria, filtered air, day care, etc., I think they are missing the point. It is not just these perks that young professionals respond to, but rather the atmosphere all of these things create. And that atmosphere starts from a single idea that Google is not just a place to work, but a college. In fact in some their promotional material they even refer to Googleplex as a college.
Obviously, Page, Brin and Schmidt do not mean it in the Van Wilder type way that so many people take college to mean today. Instead, they used the definition of a college as being a place where peers can interact, feel comfortable, and share ideas. Creating such a community where information and knowledge is readily shared and passed is quite unique in corporate America today.
Continue Reading »
Brett April 3rd, 2008
I recently talked to a friend, who graduated with me from Notre Dame, who works in consulting. After the normal exchange of ‘what’s up’, ‘nothing’, I asked what he had been doing at work. He casually (and I almost didn’t notice) said he spent the week carrying boxes.
“What???” I exclaimed confused, “why would you be doing that.”
He responded that his company had sent him to Cincinnati for the week to ‘consult’ (and I use that with extreme generosity) with a company there. When he reported for work on Tuesday morning, the company informed him they had nothing for him to do. After sitting around for a few hours, the company finally found a task for him: move boxes in storage up to their top floor because no one else wanted to do it. Continue Reading »
