Generation Y. Nexters. Millennials. They are the future of IT. But some argue that these folks, born more or less between 1980 and 2000, are one of the top management challenges facing IT execs today. It’s not that they are bad workers; far from it. But as one member of the Northeast Human Resources Association noted in an article appearing on boston.com last year, older individuals who work with or manage millennials face a challenge not unlike that of cross-cultural communication because they have a different take on things like work-life balance and diversity.
Here are just a few things to keep in mind. First, teamwork is often highly valued by the Gen Y crowd, so they like meetings and team efforts. Also, millennials often don’t feel they should have to “pay their dues,” so you may have to rely on mentoring to help cultivate patience and to encourage retention. Another thing: millennials tend to like to have clear directions to follow and clarity on processes within a company. And above all, focus on making the most of the skills they are good at, such as multitasking, rather than trying to make them fit into more traditional molds or complain about their differences.
Action Item:
Footnotes: Reprinted with permission © 2008 TreeTop Technologies
From "View from the TreeTop" Volume 2 Issue 2 February 2008
