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Preparing Your Workplace for Generation Y

Leadership Preferences of a Generation Y Cohort
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Generation Y, generally born between 1977 and 1997, are now entering a workforce where their leaders are primarily members of the baby-boomer generation. If today's workforce wants to benefit from the talents of Gen Y now and in the future, leaders must be willing to gain a better understanding of the needs, desires, and preferences of this emerging generation.

"The importance of leader-subordinate relationships in the workplace has been confirmed. In recognizing this, leaders must identify and adapt to the era-shaped needs of employees, who cannot fully participate in organizational life if their most urgent needs are not being met (p. 43). "This study's primary goal was to determine leadership preferences of a Gen Y cohort group. Therefore, by understanding Gen Y's preferences, today leaders can more intentionally address generational issues in their respective workplaces. The study utilized a mixed-methods study that initially included focus-group interviews with members of the Gen Y cohort and based on these themes, an instrument was developed to test these themes.

The focus groups identified five themes that described the leadership preferences of a Gen Y cohort. They were:

• Competence - leader's ability to take the organization in the right direction (e.g., knowledgeable, goal & future oriented, professional, committed through completion).
• Interpersonal Relations - leader's ability to work well with others (e.g. effective listener, treats others with respect, manages conflict effectively, fosters fun, approachable) .
• Management of others - leader's ability to create a positive work environment for employees (e.g., cultivates diversity, seeks employee input, being family-centered, provides mentors, provides professional development, encourages creativity).
• Self-management - one's own behavior and thoughts (e.g., sets a positive example, is ethical, maintains emotional control, is trustworthy).
• Communication - one who uses language to project credibility and confidence (e.g., speaks clearly, speaks with passion, speaking with confidence).
  

There are certainly similarities from generation to generation and the above themes could appear to be the same as the baby-boomers or generation X. However, effective leader recognize that each generation has uniqueness's that if ignored by today's organizations and companies will find them losing the great talents of this segment of our population.

To gain greater insights and assess these themes the researchers followed the focus groups with a 44-item, 5-point Likert scale questionnaire administered to 413 Gen Y business students from three higher education institutions in Texas. Study findings included the following:

Gen Y employees -

• May be very high tech, but they want high touch in their relationships.
• Prefer leaders who are mentors willing to guide them, listen to them, teach them the ropes, and give them opportunities for growth.
• View learning as a life-long endeavor. Learning is not only about advancement it is an avenue to keep them interested in their chosen profession.
• Believe they have a great deal to offer.
• Bring a strong sense of self to the organization; they have been included in family decisions and the negotiation of their home lives...this generation has gone from feeling wanted and important in the home to expecting the same in the workplace.
• Believe that their young age is not a reason to disregard their ideas and opinions.
• Do not want to move slowly up the career ladder.
• Believe employees should be judged by contributions rather than position.
• May not thrive under a heavy, formal bureaucracy where it may be tougher to corroborate, share ideas, and communicate.
  

Dulin, L. (2008). Leadership preferences of a generation y cohort. Journal of Leadership Studies, 2(1), 43 - 59.

OSU Leadership Center offers the following workshops:

• Managing Multiple Generations - IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM SHOWDOWN AT GENERATION GAP?
• How are you managing the multi-generational workplace? For the first time in American history, there are four generations in the workforce. Each generation has its own unique values and behaviors which can sometimes cause misunderstanding in the workplace.
  

A few of the generational related books available to leadership center members include:

• Deal, J.J. (2007). Retiring the Generation Gap: How Employees Young & Old Can Find Common Ground. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
• Carucci, R. A. (2006). Leadership Divided: What Emerging Leaders Need and What You Might be Missing. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
• Marston, C. (2007). Motivating The "What's in It for Me?" Workforce: Manage Across the Generational Divide and Increase Profits. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons
• Trunk, Penelope (2007). Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success. New York: Warner Business Books
• To check out one of these resources or one of the other 2,000+ resources go to http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/resources.htm.

Contact the Leadership Center today about scheduling a workshop or becoming a member.

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Created: 2008-09-29, Updated: 2009-09-25