I have been reading numerous articles (including CIO Magazine) tht provide advice on how to manage Generation Y. All of these articles describe the need to change the organization to please Generation Y.

Analysis: Every new generation thinks they know better. They enter the work force full of idealism and want to show the establishment the error of their ways. I entered the job market in 1976 and switched jobs 3 times in 5 years looking for a company where I could make a difference. This is not a new problem. Granted: I did not have my mother calling my employers to demand that I be promoted. In this situation, you should get rid of that individual as rapidly as possible.

As a senior consultant, I work with hundreds of IT organizations so I see trends across industries and technologies. Based on my analysis, there are three options.

1. Change your processes and management styles to cater to generation "Y".

Why would you do this? What value do they bring to justify such a massive culture shift? What impact will this have on the current management team ... do they want to be baby sitters? Finally, the failure to manage creativity results in many of the quality, cost and scheduling problems. In the construction industry... creativity is the job of the architect, not the plumber. Generation Y doesn't have the experience to make creative decisions about the use of technology. They need to take direction and grow their skills just like every other profession.

2. Orient Generation "Y" so they understand the benefits of working together with other professionals and define a career path where they can grow their skills and achieve a position of influence.

Most IT organizations do not have defined position descriptions, an orientation program, or a career path for IT. This is part of the reason for the chaos. When new people enter an organization without defined roles and a growth path, the younger ones create their own position description and cause chaos and the older ones give up and lose their enthusiasm to contribute. Defining position descriptions and a career path will provide structure, improve quality, and give people something to work for. Granted, it will impede the reactive management style of most organizations because it requires planning beyond the next quarter.

3. Re-train experienced professionals (who have proven their value) to utilize the new technologies.

There is no other profession that I can think of that devalues and dismisses their experienced employees like IT. Most IT organizations do not train their IT staff on new technologies. They hire new graduates or employ H1B resources. Unfortunately, their existing staff doesn't have time to learn these new skills on their own because they are fully utilized and they have a life outside of the office. This is one solution that is not given any consideration. Instead, the industry is trying to figure out how to deal with the cultural chaos that results from H1B visa candidates and Generation Y while complaining that the experienced staff is not learning new skills.

Am I wrong? I would be interested in reading an alternate opinion that justifies the "status quo".

You do not have flash or javascript support.

Average (1 vote)

Reply

Digg this
Slashdot
Reddit
LinkedIn