Generation Y Employees Are Different
Companies that continue to invest in employee training find it pays off in retention, improved management and bottom-line savings.
Workforce training is even more important today, because with so many workers being laid off, developing new skills helps people find new jobs if necessary . Organizations really need to maximize their efforts and get people where they need to be.
Implementing a program that matches new employees with experienced workers as mentors and guides is a great labor saver, the program helps keep workers on the job. Having a great support system takes all the pressure off. The experienced mentor can give useful tips on multi-tasking and organization.
Budgeting for training programs may be a hard sell in this economy, but one winning argument is how the company can save money. With the cost per hire up, the savings from lower turnover can be substantial.
Created training programs in-house instead of using outside consultants can save your firm thousands of dollars for the year. Having the versatility of holding classes on topics including management skills, generational differences, negotiation etc. in the workplace saves money and time.
People leaving because of "the supervisor" can be significantly reduced. Thus leaving the reason for leaving, more for economic factors or housing issues.
Having intergenerational training, employers soon realize that, how older workers feel about something, is different than their younger counterparts. And they need to challenge them more and to give them more opportunities to grow. They don't want to wait a long time for it.
Generation Y is known for rolling into work late while wearing headphones, and dressing as if every day were casual Friday. They're often seen TXTing in cubicles, taking breaks, and instant messaging. While these images don't exactly encourage others to view them as bastions of uber-productivity, they feel that they are often a lot more productive than previous generations.
Here are several reasons why their generation (Generation Y) is often more productive than others:
Reason 1: They use the best tools
Generation Y is more than comfortable doing the experimentation necessary to find the right tools and technologies for most effectively completing a task. They understand the company's project management software better than you do because they are comfortable playing with it. And they can probably recommend 2-3 other tools that would work better in the situation because they're not afraid to rely on nearly-free, online productivity tools from unknown companies. Their to-do lists are carefully maintained, prioritized daily and synced with our PDAs and iPODs.
Reason 2. They're good at automating
Generation Y has grown up with technology and they believe that computers can do just about anything (or that they will someday). So when they receive a task, the first question they ask themselves is: "how can technology make this task go faster?" Sometimes they're efforts to employ technology make things more complicated, but quite often they end up successfully automating a repetitive task, saving ourselves and your companies thousands of dollars.
Reason 3. They get better sleep
Previous generations have lived by Ben Franklin's aphorism: "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Generational Y intuitively knows what psychologists have confirmed: that a significant percentage of the population is much more productive when they go to bed late and get up late. Simply put, you're more productive when you follow your biologically determined circadian rhythms and get up when your body tells you to.
Reason 4: They're much more likely to love our jobs
Since Generation Y switches jobs much more frequently than previous generations, they're much more likely to be doing things that (1) they're good at, and (2) they actually like. All the job switching and repositioning they do means they're much more likely to end up with professions that are actually suited to their passions and talents. And every productivity guru knows you're most productive when you're doing things you actually care about.
Reason 5: They stay up to date in our fields
Another upshot of changing jobs so frequently is the need to stay on top of the latest developments in our fields. Because job searching is a somewhat continual process for Generation Y, they're likely to teach themselves new skills, or pay for training, even if their employers don't because they want to stay competitive. They see training and skill-building as their own responsibility – not something that their employer will necessarily do for them. And their lifestyle choices reflect a passion for constant learning and development .
Reason 6: They're experimental
Generation Y is continually doing research and development at the individual level. And because Generation Y cares more about getting new experiences and learning new skills than about not making mistakes , they're willing to try new things, be creative, and take new angles. While this experimental approach might not result in quantifiable productivity, it leads to the kind of shifts in thinking that save time and money over the long haul.
Reason 7: They don't "go through the motions"
They've seen their washed up parents work bad jobs they hate, and they won't go through the motions for the sake of job security. If you're an old-school boss, then this won't be comfortable. However, not going through the motions for the sake of going through the motions actually makes them more productive in the long run.
Help new and experienced supervisors make the transition from individual contributor to a leader by creating in-house training programs with ready-made training tools and materials in ModernManagers’ practical, hands-on guide. Everything you need to quickly administer a new supervisor training program is included.
ModernManagers.com Pre-written course ware saves you time and money and helps you better prepare for classroom training with well-researched and proven course materials. (HR in a Box)!
Supervisor Trainer - A practical application to the real world of supervisor training.
For more information, please see our website: www.modernmanagers.com