Strategies for Retaining Generation X and Y Workers
Generation X and Y workers are not company loyal but they are innovative, creative and tech savvy. To retain them, offer them the benefits that they see as valuable to maintaining their lifestyle, and adjust your management style to get the most from them. Here are some suggestions:
Offer flextime, telecommuting and other benefits
Offering a variable work schedule–flexible hours or working from home–goes a long way toward attracting and retaining Gen X and Y talent. Flex time lets employees avoid rush hour traffic, attend a child’s event, or go surfing. Many Xers and Ys feel flex time and telecommuting make their lives better.
“Anecdotal evidence shows that cars, cell phones, laptops and signing bonuses are becoming common benefits,” says Philippe Cesson, President of San Diego marketing firm, CESSON. “It’s a competitive market for employers, and they are challenged like never before to hire and retain younger generations. They have to be creative.”
Gen X and Y are highly proficient with e-mail, SMS messaging, Skype video calling, blogs, forums and virtual online workrooms, they don’t see a need to be physically present in the same office to collaborate, solve problems or produce products.
“Employers must stay ahead of the technology curve,” says Cesson, “investment in these technologies pay off with increased productivity and a dedicated workforce.”
Know how to manage Gen X and Gen Y
Gen X workers are highly creative, productive and independent. They work best when handed a task and given little oversight, which can be unnerving to executives used to micromanaging. Companies can motivate and retain Gen Xers by offering career growth or advancement opportunities and personal acknowledgement, not necessarily a bigger salary.
While Gen X values change, Gen Y is addicted to it. Progressive companies keep Gen Y in the workplace by offering them ongoing training, consistent feedback, and immediate rewards for jobs well done.
“Gen Y is totally unresponsive to ‘do-this-or-else’ motivational tactics, and they do not suck up to bosses,” says Carol Verret, an employment consultant based in Colorado. “They tell their bosses, and even their CEOs, exactly what they think of a situation.”
“Generation Y is much less likely to respond to the traditional command-and-control type of management,” says Jordan Kaplan, an associate managerial science professor at Long Island University-Brooklyn in New York. “They’ve grown up questioning their parents, and now they’re questioning their employers. They don’t know how to shut up, which is great, but that’s aggravating to the 50-year-old manager who says, ‘Do it and do it now.’”
Here are Carol Verret’s tips for managing Gen Y employees:
- Tell them the truth; don’t try to pull the wool over their eyes.
- Explain why you’re asking them to do something and tell them what’s in it for them.
- Reward them for a jobs and assignments well done.
- Praise them in public, make them a star.
- Give them regular feedback and recognition; they will quickly resent a boss who doesn’t.
- Make the workplace fun.
Employers who recognize and adapt to Gen X and Y’s needs will retain them longer and get more and better work from them.
Create a “fun” work environment
Employers who embrace a fun, rather than traditional or conventional, company culture create a higher rate of job satisfaction with younger employees. What does fun mean? To Gen X and Y, it means converting the break room to a game room with video games and foosball. It means periodically bringing in a massage therapist for chair massages, an ice cream cart for sundaes, or a rolling barista for onsite lattes. It means setting up “work vacations” where a team gets to work on a project from a vacation house by the beach. Relax the dress code while you’re at it.
As Baby Boomers leave the work force in great numbers, employers will be forced to shift habits, compromise and appreciate the values that Gen X and Y embrace. It’s time to take seriously employees who say, “I get more work done when I work from home.”
