How HR Leaders Should Adapt to Generation Y

HR leaders I speak with often express frustration about Generation Y - those in their mid-teens to mid-thirties today. Common questions and refrains I hear are:

• Why do they leave their employers with such startling frequency?
• Why do they expect a promotion every six months?
• Why do they want to go on a sabbatical?  They just started work!

Generation Y is indeed different. It can be challenging to motivate,  engage and retain this oft-misunderstood group.I should note that one cannot make sweeping statements that apply fully and equally to every individual within any demographic. Inevitably, in characterising groups, we must make generalisations. If these generalisations broadly help further to understand a population if not an individual, then they are helpful for how HR leaders might adapt organisational policies.Roots and trendsUnderstanding this complex Gen Y demographic starts with a look back at the crisis that rocked the global economy a decade ago. Gen Y grew up during the most traumatic economic convulsion of the past eighty years: the 2007-2009 Great Recession.Gen Y’s attitude toward economic security was formed by some tough life experiences in these years. Many from this generation observed their parents losing jobs and overheard their hushed conversations about finances. They saw banks closing their doors, pension plans decimated and houses foreclosed. A key lesson was learned in the midst of this: companies will not look after you, so you need to move on to different employers whenever you have gained everything necessary from a particular role.Gen Y also watched as terrorism became more prevalent, both in the West and globally. This contributed to a carpe diem philosophy. After all, we might not be here tomorrow.Against the backdrop of upheaval and change in Gen Y’s formative years, we can also see two related macro-trends that make the world of work fundamentally different for younger employees.First, significantly longer forecasted life spans offer young people an uncertain retirement, but more opportunity to explore and experience different jobs and even different careers.People born today in developed countries have a better than fifty percent chance of living beyond one hundred years, noted Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott in their 2016 book, The 100-Year Life. Today’s youngest employees know that they will live much longer and will enjoy a higher quality of life for more of their old age.As the reality of their likely longevity becomes apparent, Gen Ys take a much more flexible, evolutionary and personal approach to their careers than that of generations past. This means that the classic retirement age of 65 is quickly becoming anomalous. With the luxury of time, Gen Y doesn’t even have to be loyal to a single career. If graduates expect that they can and will work from, say, the ages of 22 to 82, they have huge scope to reinvent themselves professionally several times over. One could earn a degree, train and work as a doctor for 30 years, then earn a degree, train and work as a teacher for another 30 years.The second macro-trend is related to the first. Today’s typical pension plans contribute to an uncertain retirement and are dramatically less attractive in their ability to retain employees.  Companies moved away from ‘employment for life’ in the 1980s and the pension crisis that followed a decade later only exacerbated this trend. Because of longer life spans, companies have had to radically change their employee retirement plans over the last twenty-five years in order for both pension funds and corporate balance sheets to be sustainable.We’re facing a perfect storm of longevity, disintegrating pensions and social security (or ‘national insurance’ in some countries). This storm forces Gen Y to consider the unpalatable truth that their old age will be more uncertain and difficult than that of any previous generation in almost a century.Rebuilding loyaltyThere’s no point in blaming Gen Y for their lack of loyalty. They’re only responding to the world of work that older generations created.What, then, can HR leaders do to engage and retain their Gen Y employees? As tangible benefits like salary and pension are watered down, companies must turn to the intangible yet hugely powerful levers of personal and professional development, creating a strong culture, and helping their employees articulate their purpose and how it relates to the company purpose. In recruiting, this implies changing the classic job interview question, ‘Why do you want to work here?’ A better question for understanding applicants might be, ‘Why do you want to work in this function, in this industry, or for these particular customers?’HR leaders should also encourage career enrichment beyond traditional learning initiative, such as secondments, shadowing, mentoring and reverse mentoring.  What better way to understand and work across generations then (shudder) to ask for their views?This human-centric approach will help companies navigate turbulence in the employment market – and begin to demystify Gen Y.— Adam Kingl is Regional Managing Director, Europe for Duke Corporate Education (www.dukece.com). His new book, Next Generation Leadership, will be published by HarperCollins in February 2020.