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31 August, 2008

Generation Y

I read with much interest on the report with regards to 'Generation Y'. These are typically refers to the cohort of individuals born, roughly, between 1982 and 1994. According to wikipedia, a 2008 survey by UK recruitment consultancy FreshMinds Talent in partnership with Management Today suggested that Generation Y are generally more ambitious, brand conscious and tend to move jobs more often than ever before.

Some generalistic observation on the ambitious Gen Y-ers, is that I think they are not quite willing to follow rules, but instead wants to write their own rules. They have much believe and confidence in their own abilities and prefers not to think too much about the consequences of their actions. An American survey have also found that they seem to have limited loyalty to any particular employer, and insist on working in a stimulating job environment. In this age, I think loyalty towards a particular employer is actually a dying culture, regardless of which generation you're from (perhaps with some exception of generations prior to gen X).

It is also quite interesting to note in the article found in today's Straits Times, about the 'anchors' in a company. Anchors are basically people who can unite/motivate the employees in the company. Typically they're suppose to be your bosses (if the company setup is small enough). Otherwise, employees who had been loyal or who had stayed for a long time in the company could be the anchors as well. And the report states that typically, these people would have come from the HR / admin dept.

I think it is interesting to note the trends as it provides useful information in how to manage the relationships in the workplace. It also made me think about whom can I hire to fit into the department. I can't hire all Gen-Ys because none of them would stay longer than 2 years. So I need to get at least one more Gen-X to balance things out. Haha.

1 comments:

Unknown

I think the role of these 'anchors' will be increasingly important as the workplace continues to evolve. Over the next few years, we can expect more Baby Boomers to begin to retire, leaving a huge void in their place for their successors. At the moment, Generations X and Y tend to sit less well alongside each other in the workplace, and it will be up to the 'anchors' to make the work environment a harmonious place to be. You can read more about these topics on the FreshMinds Talent Blog at http://blogs.freshminds.co.uk/talent.

Charlie Boss
Marketing Manager, FreshMinds Talent