Gen Yers Who Get It

crystal olig / oxiem marketing technology / [email protected] / @sparklegem / @oxiem

Gen Y-ers Who

GET IT


gen y features• 38% have tattoos

• 75% have a social profile

• 50% favor gay marriage

• 64% believe in God

• 37% are unemployed or out of the labor force

• 41% have a full time job

• 1/3 are receiving financial help from their families

• 13% of 22- to 29-year-olds have moved in with parents

after living on their own

Study of the 50 million millennials 18 and older by the Pew Research Center as

reported in Newsweek 3/5/10

http://www.newsweek.com/id/234584


gen y translator

ZOMG

Woot

ROFLCOPTER

Tomoz

Redonkulous

--Source: MarketingMag.com, The Gen Y Translator

http://www.marketingmag.com.au/blogs/view/the-gen-y-translator-1566




gen y overview

Generations Guide• Lost Generation – fought WWI

• Greatest Generation – fought WWII

• Silent Generation – children of the Depression

• Baby Boomers

• Generation X

• Generation Y (84 million)

• Generation Z

• Generation Alpha(?)

Gen Y: 60 – 70 million Americans

Names• Echo boomers

• Millennials

• Children of Baby Boomers

• Generation Y

gen y pop fun

PHOTO: Creative commons license: Stuck in Customs

gen y’slens

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/


gen y worldview


gen y features

“This is a reflexively optimistic cadre of graduates, feeling, if anything,

existentially freed up by this era of radical change. They’re nervous about the job

market but figure it’ll sort itself out. They describe their parents with shocking

regularity as their “best friends.” They’ve lived online for so long it’s a default

setting, one they believe lends them a more global-minded perspective than

that of their elders. Their tone overall was more bemused than outraged ”

– “Class of 09,” New York magazine, Emily Nussbaum ,June 15-22, 2009


gen y expects


gen y context



gen y myths

Bruce Tulgan’s Myths… and the Real Scoop

MYTH #1: Gen Yers are disloyal and unwilling to make real commitments to their employers.

REALITY: Gen Y sees work as a free market system, transactional

MYTH #2: We won’t do the grunt work.

REALITY: We will, but not if we don’t get credit for it.

MYTH #3: They don’t know very much and have short attention spans.

REALITY: Changing expectations for knowledge bases.

MYTH 4#: We want the top job day one.

REALITY: Want to hit the ground running , make an impact.


gen y myths


MYTH #5: We need work to be fun.

REALITY: It’s not fun, it’s engagement

MYTH #6: We want to be left alone.

REALITY: Not close to true. Want authority to manage selves, feedback & mentorship

MYTH #7: Gen Yers want managers to do their work for them.

REALITY: Want managers to teach how to do work well, fast.

MYTH #8: We don’t care about climbing the proverbial career ladder.

REALITY: Our career paths will be erratic and eclectic, but still progressive and developmental


gen y myths


MYTH #9: Money and traditional benefits don’t matter to Gen Yers.

REALITY: Yes, but are savvy about comparing between employers.

MYTH #10: Money is the only thing that matters to us.

REALITY: False. Gen Yers don’t demand $, we ask “What do I need to do to earn more?”

MYTH #11: They don’t respect their elders.REALITY: Sure we do. It’s an issue of mutual respect.

MYTH #12: They want to learn only form computersREALITY: Stuff that’s easy to learn from computers, ok. But Gen Y needs the human element, too.


gen y myths


MYTH #13: It’s impossible to turn us into long-term employees.

REALITY: No, but you’ll have to do it one day at a time.

MYTH #14: Gen Yers will never make good managers because we are self-focused.

REALITY: Of course we can, just have to learn the basics and then practice.

Source: Not Everyone Gets A Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y by Bruce Tulgan

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Everyone-Gets-Trophy-Generation/dp/0470256265

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Everyone-Gets-Trophy-Generation/dp/0470256265


gen y workin’ it



gen y on the job


gen y succeeds at work

Gen Y on the Job

Company Loyalty: New Definition for Gen Y Workers

“In this way, you are searching for a company that deserves

your loyalty. Its brand will be in line with your own values and

the image you have of yourself.”

Things to Get Good At

• Information management – online content, email,

• Setting priorities

• Understand your context

• Master the timeline

• Ask to be actively managed

Non-Monetary Considerations

• Performance-based compensation

• Flexible schedules, location

• Marketable skills – both formal and informal training

• Access to decision makers.

• Personal credit for results achieved

• Clear area of responsibility

• Chance for creative expression

“Gotta keep learning.

Gotta keep moving. All

the stuff you’ve

forgotten, I’ll never have

to know. Half the stuff

you remember, I’ll never

have to know. That just

means I’m way past

halfway to catching up

to you. It’s the

obsolescence curve

getting steeper and

steeper. It makes it a

whole lot easier for a guy

my age to catch up to

the more experienced

people.”[Tulgan]


gen y journey


our parents

Gen Y & the Parents

Issues:

• “Best friends”

• Trophy kids

• Helicopter parents

Fight Back:

• Learn autonomy, make your own choices

• Accept feedback & responsibility

• Practice self-directed work, setting priorities and timelines

• Deal directly with conflict

• Have a realistic sense of power, authority

• Assert your independence gently

• Selective dependence

-- Read all about my Gen Y helicopter parent

(sorry Mom, I love you)

http://whygeny.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/the-tale-of-the-horrible-helicopter-parent/


don’t get lost

Beware the Lost Generation

Issues:

• Atrophying of skills

• Scarring & cynicism

Fight Back:

• Be an entrepreneur

• Don’t burn bridges

• Keep working

• Don’t use school as a crutch.

• Make smart financial choices

• Be outstanding

- See the whole post at whY genY

http://whygeny.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/the-lost-generation/






getting real

Have a Plan A, B and probably C

Source: Grads' Backup Plans, BusinessWeek

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/09/0903_grad_backup_plans/index.htm




getting realWhat’s yours?

• Volunteer work

• Teach English

• Work at family business

• Keep college job

• Get several jobs & save like crazy

• Move somewhere

• Stay here

• Go back to school

• Live at home

Have a Plan A, B and probably C


gen y room to

grow



getting real

Financial literacy is lacking in Gen Y

Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial

Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties

and Thirties, says today's 20-somethings

grew up in a time when wealth across the

board appeared to be expanding and

"people had inflated expectations of

what living well means," she says.

"I see too many young people choosing

to live above their means and on credit,"

says Nancy Thomas McInnes, 46, a

teacher in Gainesville, Fla., who is also a

volunteer facilitator for a financial

education class.

Further reading: “Why Gen Y is Broke”

Manage Your Finances Well

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/HomeMortgageSavings/WhyGenerationYIsBroke.aspx

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-09-gen-y-cover_x.htm


be a real leader

5 traits of leadership in

the new millennium

1. Make yourself a source of information

2. Expect your ideas to resonate due to merit, not rank

3. Get good at following – peers not just supervisors

4. Get good at selling from the inside out“You cannot force an idea down peoples’ throats. That top-down sort of leadership

disappeared when the corporate ladder disappeared. This means that leadership is all

about sales: selling a vision, and a common goal, and making meaningful

connections.”

5. Be authentic in situations where authenticity is most difficult“Authenticity is the new way of selling –rather than using the force of BS. And the

leaders of the new millennium are judged by their ability to convey their true selves.”

- Penelope Trunk, “How to Lead In the New Millenium”

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/03/30/how-to-lead-in-the-new-millennium/




reading list

1. Books

• Not Everyone Gets A Trophy: How to Manage

Generation Y by Bruce Tulgan

• Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do

Before You Join the Real World by Lindsey Pollok

• The Trophy Kids Grow Up by Ron Alsop

2. Blogs

• Life After College, by Jenny Blake (link)

• Life Without Pants (link)

• Millenial Marketing, by Carol Phillips (link)

• whY genY, by Crystal Olig (link)

3. Online Community

• Brazen Careerist (link)

Fill Your Brain

http://www.lifeaftercollege.org/

http://www.lifewithoutpants.com/

http://millennialmarketing.com/

http://www.whygen-y.com/

http://www.brazencareerist.com/


thankyou

Crystal OligOxiem Marketing Technology

Columbus, OH

whYgen-Y.com

Connect

[email protected]

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Gen Yers Who Get It

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