Gen Y: this is what you want from your boss
Memo to Generation Y â your future boss already knows what you want and taking home a bulging pay packet isnât a high priority.
Thatâs bad news for your boss because it means he or she canât just throw money around to keep you happy.
In fact, a 2015 study into managing Gen Y staff says neither âmonetary issues nor a desire for long-term contracts emerged clearly as important factorsâ for those quizzed about job satisfaction.
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â[Millennials] did not put a lot of emphasis on monetary issues. There was more interest in multitasking and job enrichment rather than formal roles and status symbols,â the report says.
You want your employer to actually make an effort to spend time teaching and challenging you in your role, according to the report.
The Journal of Managerial Psychology study by the University of Vaasa in Finland tells bosses you seek flexible shift hours, a coaching style of leadership, time to learn or make mistakes and challenging tasks from their superiors.
Youâre a realistic bunch too â you recognise job security and longevity arenât easily guaranteed nowadays.
Millennials get that âshort-term contracts and job insecurity are the new norm, especially in the early career stagesâ.
âYoung employees are ready to sacrifice their work-life balance in the short term,â the study says. âOr even relocate, in order to find a satisfying career.
âHR functions should consider Millennials as a special group in relation to human resource development activities.
âWhen society changes, generations also adopt a different mindset.â
Hereâs what Gen Y wants from bosses
1. Time away from the hot seat
Gen Y workers want to get out of the office and they want to work in homely environments.
âOpportunities to work remotely from their officeâ and âcompensation structures less determined by the monitoring of time spent at the workplaceâ.
2. Money not the only reward
Cash isnât the only path to happiness or gratitude they want from bosses.
âUsing time credits and days off in lieu instead of monetary compensation when exceptional work demands have been made of Millennials.
âThey appreciate instant bonuses and various perks moreâ than a higher salary.
3. Donât just want to do âtheirâ job
They desire ample opportunity to diversify skills, do challenging tasks and learn new roles.
Millennials want to be pushed to âexplore job rotation, personal coaching, mentoring, development discussions and development reviews, opportunities to learn in expert teams, special tasks, job enlargement, and job enrichmentâ.
If âprojects were interesting, they varied, were challenging and aided developmentâ, then Gen Y workers would do better.
4. Leadership that coaches and doesnât dictate
Just because Gen Y doesnât like to be bossed around it doesnât mean they donât want guidance.
Supervisors should try âdeveloping a coaching leadership style and by giving supervisors sufficient time to perform their supervisory rolesâ.
âRecruiting good supervisors, developing them, and offering ongoing support, is extremely important in organisations employing Millennials.â
But bosses should remember âŚ
âThere are many things which have to be managed the same for everyone,â University of Melbourne Professor of Management Bill Harley told The New Daily.
âBecause they are specified by organisational policy or by law, for example pay rates, equal opportunity.â
Professor Harley agrees with some aspects of the study, in particular when it suggests using âa different communication styleâ for Millennials.
He says he also understands why respondents say they accept jobs are less secure, given the economic climate of the world.
âA lot of Gen Ys will be struggling to get jobs soon and it and it may well be that they will have to take whatever is on offer,â he says.
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