Social Connectivity

Gen Y is social connected. Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and similar mediums are Gen Y's playground. Unlike previous generations, who are learning and evolving with the increasing mobile connectivity of 3G, 4G and miniaturised devices that operate 24/7 anywhere at the speed of light – Gen Y's are wired for it already. Or is that Y'red?

They instantly leverage their networks with their likes, dislikes and sharing of events -like this tragic example http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8999910/Chaos-at-Facebook-open-invite-party

If you have a product, service or business you will be getting reviewed by Gen Y online. It is already happening to you now. Don't panic though - it can be a great thing! For example, if you have a Trademe account, you will have good/bad feedback from the way you manage your sales/purchases.
This is called Collaborative Consumption...but that is a whole new topic for another day.

Key Drivers of Change

Gen Y has fresh ideas – they are also your customers of the future.
Having Gen Y in your business (who can contribute to your business now with ideas, thoughts and prospective products/service and plans) may just future proof your business. It's a bit like "do you have an App for that?".

Did you ever think you would do your banking on your phone?

A quick Google search tells me ASB, BNZ, Westpac all have banking apps – Gen Y's will be driving those channels hard! Martina argues that Gen Y is "key in driving the transformation that the world – and your business – so desperately needs".

Entrepreneurship

Martina also says, "Gen Y-ers are naturally curious, dynamic and flexible. Instead of patiently waiting for their turn or resigning to things being done to them, Gen Y takes action and matters in their own hands".

When managing Gen Y, we need to consider their drive and the way they think – and carefully manage expectations on timeframes and the speed of the change.

For example, Gen Y is a generation not afraid to fail and fail fast – which can be the traits of successful entrepreneurs. We have all heard motivational speakers tell us to take action, and if it fails learn from the experience and try again.

Previous generations can be more considered in their approach to failing –so when working with Gen Y we need to communicate and flex so both sides feel valued and also able to communicate cross generational.

I believe if Gen Y cannot communicate well with Baby Boomers we are in for interesting times in NZ – consider who owns property, who rents property and who holds the balance of power at election time in future years.

Passion

We were all passionate and energetic when we were young – enthusiastic followers of causes and those sorts of things. But having children and/or mortgages changes perspectives and our views on risk-taking. But what is wrong with harnessing their passion and energy in our businesses?

Let's face it; McDonalds (the Big Macs, Fillet o' fish and would you like fries with that?!) business has made gazillions by harnessing the energy of teenagers and young adults who couldn't keep their own beds made and rooms tidy. How do we do the same when we hire Gen Y's?

Technology

Gen Y live on technology e.g. mobile, tablet and cloud based technology that can happen real-time. Let's embrace that technology and have our businesses run at that speed. I am just thinking how much more productive I can be if job-seekers apply to my job electronically and I never had to produce a hard-copy spiral bound report for a client, or type references that were recorded on speech to text tools, or if the client listened to the recorded reference check.

When will we have a one-click application process to capture the Gen Y market?

We already have swipe to pay credit cards, text to pay parking, parking apps, pay your mates on your cellphone apps...its already happening.

Martina say's "Hire Gen Y and boost your business productivity!" – I agree but also feel that early adopters of technology regardless of generation will boost productivity. In my humble opinion, of course.

Innovation

Process orientation, resilience and perserverance are not the strengths of Gen Y - who look for the fast food options when implementing...and that is largely because they generate ideas quickly and in high volumes. The challenge for us as managers and employers is to be able to channel the ideas and implementations to the benefit of our businesses.

Collaboration

Gen Y is made for collaboration – they expect to have access to their networks 24/7 and usually have them on their phones and in the cloud. And funnily enough if you asked them if they use the internet they often say "no I use my phone".

Think fun things like flash mobs (see this video as an example) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao4DkbGbxl0

Think self organised charity like the Student Army helping after the Christchurch earthquakes http://www.sva.org.nz/

Ultimately Gen Y is different to earlier generations they are exposed to fast-moving information, multiple media channels of communication, consumerism and mobile technology. We can embrace their difference and allow them to add value or we let our competitors hire them. We can embrace their rapid-fire feedback loops and allow our businesses to evolve quickly and grow our markets. As a member of Gen X, we had to make ourselves accessible to Baby Boomers and the flower power generations – should we expect Gen Y to flex to our style or should we proactively assimilate them into our businesses?

What do you think? As a Gen X, I am keen to know what U think and Y?