The smartest managers have discovered new ways to relate to Generation Y workers, to harness their technology skills, reduce their entitlement, and ultimately turn them into some of their most valuable and productive employees. Developing an understanding of the younger generation’s need to know “why” is one place to start.
If you were raised before the era of “free love” or even “disco,” you come from a generation of “do as you’re told” and “be seen and not heard.” You did your work without question, happy to be a cog in the wheel, and asking the boss “why?” was considered insolence.
But to Generation Y, “why?” isn’t a dirty word. The world that shaped this group was filled with messages like “you’re unique, important and worthy of being both seen and heard.”
These younger workers were taught that there’s learning value in everything they do – so that every job that must be done has a reason, meaning, or significance. They don’t want to be just a cog in the wheel, and they don’t ask “why?” to usurp authority or make life miserable. Most Gen Yers are just curious, inquisitive, and intelligent young workers who want to learn and grow.
Our research found there are two big reasons Generation Y asks “why? and both offer opportunities for reducing the annoyance of “why” while turning these younger workers into some of your most valuable and productive employees.
#1: The Big Picture “Why”: Gen Yers want meaningful and relevant lives, and that means a desire to understand how their contributions fit into the whole; how the tasks they do affect the department, organization, field or even the world. The best managers have a knack for making every job important. They set goals that challenge employees to learn and grow; which is exactly what Gen Yers want. They also assign clear tasks using tools like Word Pictures that paint a verbal picture of what good, great and unacceptable performance looks like so Gen Yers learn to self-assess and self-correct their own performance. And they give the big picture up front which means Gen Y workers typically don’t even need to ask “why?” in order to be their most productive.
#2: The Significance “Why”: Gen Y employees were taught that rules and instructions are important and good only if they make sense and fit the situation. So they are typically more enthusiastic towards their work when they know the reason behind why they need to do what they do. The Significance “Why?” often takes managers by surprise so it’s not easily pre-empted. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing as it forces managers to question the reasoning and significance behind what they want their workers to do and how they want it done. This can reveal procedures and policies that do more harm than good and can result in significant change and growth.
And when you’re addressing the “why” remember, this is a generation that grew up on information overload. Regardless of the knowledge they were after, all they had to do was text or Google it to get an immediate response. You can’t expect Gen Y employees to sit around and wait for a yearly message that answers all their “whys?” So look for the teachable moments and give supportive documentation as they happen.
For more tips on how to retain younger workers, join us Thursday November 1 at 1pm ET for our webinar “Managing Generation Y”.
