Boomers to Gen Y: How the Times Have Changed!

By Steven Rothberg

Steven Rothberg, President & Founder, College Recruiter.com

Much has been written about the differences between Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, and Gen Y’ers (also known as Millennials) in the workplace. Some so-called experts confuse generational differences with behavioral differences typically seen between people of different age groups such as younger adults being more likely to be impulsive by saying or doing things that an older, more experienced worker would not. But whether the differences in your workplace are due to generational characteristics or age appropriate behavior, the fact remains that there are differences and it is a mistake to treat workers of drastically varying age and experience levels the same. Unfortunately, many organizations have so far failed to grasp this fact and if they don’t soon, they won’t be able to. The Baby Boomers are retiring and the next generation, Gen X, isn’t nearly large enough to replace the talent. So employers of all sizes, shapes, and colors will need to replace the bulk of their Baby Boomer employees with members of Gen Y, and any way that you compare those two generations you’re bound to see significant differences.

Before anyone had heard of a Millennial and the “new” generation to be concerned about was Gen X’ers, most organizations successfully recruited for the vast majority of their hiring needs by advertising their needs in the newspaper, putting a help wanted sign in the window, and running some job posting ads on sites such as Monster.com. While those tactics worked and continue to work in some cases, it is becoming increasingly apparent to the organizations we work with that they need to do more in order to successfully recruit Millennials because today’s young adults don’t read the newspaper, don’t apply to jobs simply because they exist, and increasingly are moving away from on-line classified sites such as Monster, which, let’s face it, are just an electronic version of the newspaper help wanted section.

All organizations want to recruit the best possible employees. But what makes for a great employee at one organization makes for a horrid employee at another. A car wash is not going to successfully recruit a graduate of Stanford, and – even if such a match is made, that car wash is not going to retain that graduate. Yet a Silicon Valley high tech company that puts together the right package will recruit and retain that same employee. It is about recruiting the best of this generation, and the best of this generation will vary considerably depending upon the organization doing the recruiting and the role that individual will play once employed by your organization.

That said, what characteristics are shared by the most sought after Millennial grads?

1. Education is important. A far higher percentage of Millennials than previous generations either stay in or go back to school to obtain a graduate degree and almost all relish and even insist on substantial training and mentoring from their employers. If your organization has the mindset that these young adults should accept your offer of employment because they’re qualified and you’re offering them a paycheck, well, this is a pretty good time for you to start looking for a new gig because your employer is not going to hire the talent it needs from this generation.

2. They prefer to IM and text. Not only do they multi-task and regularly use new communication tools like instant messaging and cell phone text messaging in their daily lives, they prefer it. If you want to win over these candidates then learn how to use your BlackBerry or cell phone, put up a quality MySpace page describing your organization’s career opportunities, network on Facebook, incorporate video into your job posting ads, and publish your instant messaging address. Otherwise, make it clear to these candidates that you understand that their needs and wants are different from those of their parents by communicating with them in the manner that they communicate with each other.

3. Remember the helicopter parents. The parents of Millennials are career-focused Baby Boomers who have sacrificed their personal lives in return for their careers, and all too often have been discarded by organizations far more concerned about their short-term profitability than in retaining their most important long-term asset: their top producing employees. Like it or not, these Boomers are incredibly involved in the lives of their Millennial children and never lose an opportunity to drill into their kids the lessons learned through layoffs and other corporate misdeeds. These are the helicopter parents – so named because they are always hovering over their children. Shake your head if you wish, but this Millennial generation listens to their parents, and so have learned the lessons inflicted upon their parents. Both generations have learned that employers have little to no loyalty to their employees so they respond by showing little to no loyalty back. We may grumble and complain about Millennials being job hoppers, but let’s be honest: most of us would lay them off the first chance we got if our profits took a substantial downturn. They know that and act accordingly. If they are not treated well and offered the opportunities that the employer across the street is willing to offer them, then they will leave you before you have the opportunity to lay them off. So treat them like we should have been treating our employees all along.

4. They want security and upside. The security they want comes with a good benefits package but they also want to be rewarded for their performance. Some complain that these young adults don’t consider a work week to be 40 hours long. Yet I’ve never met a Millennial who considers a work week to be anything other than the time it takes to get the job done. Give them menial work and deny them the opportunity to develop their skills and they will return the favor by not putting in even 40 hours. But give them the opportunity to contribute with meaningful work and invest in them by training and mentoring them and they will work far more hours and be happier for it.

5. They are who they are. Be prepared to see the Millennials putting in the long (hopefully) hours in casual clothes, including flip flops, because they know that their work performance is not dependent upon what shoes they’re wearing. If you want the work, then don’t sweat the sandals. By the same token, understand that they draw the same lines between their personal and professional lives. They believe that their personal lives are their business and completely unrelated to their work lives. They were three years old when the first reality TV show hit the airwaves and they spent 20 years of “quality time” watching these exhibitionist/voyeur shows with their Boomer parents.

6. They network but not like Boomers. It is very common for Millennials to have multiple, quality employment offers from which to choose. So, is it any wonder that they don’t post their resume to job boards and wait for the phone to ring? They don’t go to job fairs as they know they don’t need to put up with being treated like cattle, but they do network – and boy do they network. But unlike the phone calls to family friends that Boomers make when they’re out of work, Millennials network with their friends. So how do you tap into that network of friends? Remember the two most popular sites for this generation: MySpace and Facebook – both of which are social networking sites. It isn’t at all unusual to talk with Millennials who literally spend hours a day on these sites. How many Boomers can claim to ever have networked for hours in a day let alone day after day, year after year?

7. They are brand conscious. They care about what they wear but they also care about where they work. Perhaps the biggest factor separating the successful from unsuccessful targeted email campaigns that we deploy is the brand of the employer. Remember that it is no longer enough that you are hiring and they are qualified. They have multiple offers and they need to understand why they should choose to work for you rather than the employer across the street who is offering the same opportunity. And the easiest way for you to communicate that is through your brand: what does your organization stand for and, by extension, what will they stand for should they choose to join your team?

The Millennial generation is probably the most sought after, highly skilled, ready to hit the ground running generation ever to enter our workforce. We are counting on them despite their vastly smaller numbers to replace the productivity of the massive Baby Boomer generation. I believe that they stand an excellent chance of doing so because of the tools and talents they possess. But should they fail, I believe it will be due to the failure of Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers to adapt to the very different needs and wants of this remarkable generation.

– Steven Rothberg is the CEO of CollegeRecruiter.com, the leading job board for college students searching for internships and recent graduates hunting for entry-level jobs and other career opportunities. CollegeRecruiter.com features a database of 10 million students and recent graduates to which it delivers double opt-in targeted emails and cell phone text messaging campaigns on behalf of its employer clients.

Posted by Steven Rothberg on April 28, 2010. Filed under Recruiting, Thought Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry