As the youngest members of the workforce make their presence felt in organizations, managers feel tremendous pressure to accommodate the needs and wants of Generation Y employees. In order to meet staffing needs in the face of a serious labour crunch, many managers are compelled to satisfy the demands of members of this new generation to reduce turnover.
However, fully obliging the desires of Gen Y employees in the hopes of improving retention can have potentially negative consequences. As a group, members of Gen Y (or Millenials, as they’re sometimes called) have characteristics that distinguish them from their Generation X and Boomer predecessors. Dr. Sean Lyons, a professor at the University of Guelph, and expert on the demographic group, says Gen Y tends to have high self-esteem that borders on narcissism, with a strong sense of entitlement, because they believe they have special skills and may even be gifted.
They have also grown up in a networked, wired environment, full of instant gratification.
This constellation of personality traits and experiences makes them keen to advance very quickly and frustrated when promotions aren’t forthcoming. Managers facing retirement of senior staff, and fearful of turnover among valuable Gen Y employees, may decide to placate members of this group by promoting them to supervisory or management positions. However, these employees often may not be ready to assume such roles.
As a result, circumvented turnover problems may be supplanted by multiple other problems with potentially damaging consequences. A successful transition to supervisory and management positions requires experience and a certain level of maturity. Such qualities are often lacking in current Gen Y employees who — although eager to take on new roles — may lack the knowledge, skills and seasoning to effectively assume greater responsibilities. This is particularly true given, as Dr. Lyons notes, members of Gen Y have typically remained in emergent adulthood roles for longer periods than members of previous generations. They’ve lived at home longer than prior generations, and have been supported by helicopter parents who’ve prolonged the period in which members of this generation have had to take on adult responsibilities.
To avoid disillusionment and reduce the potential turnover of Gen Y organizational members, new employees should be socialized into expecting promotions only when they are sufficiently prepared, and be made aware of when it’s realistic to expect such a reward. To address issues of potential frustration, and in line with best practices in leadership development, this realistic promotion preview should be coupled with targeted developmental assignments to groom employees for the next organizational role, or level of responsibility. Not only will such assignments build needed competencies among the youngest members of your workforce, but they should allow the Gen Y employee to appreciate first-hand that there may be more to learn before they’re ready to successfully assume the responsibilities of management.
Jamie Gruman, Ph D. is assistant professor of Organizational Behaviour in the College of Management and Economics at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Guelph.
This article appeared in the November/December 2008 issue of HOTELIER magazine and is reprinted with the permission of Kostuch Publications Ltd.
