Blake: Work Priorities

Gen Next discussion at National UniServ Managers conference...

[view presentation]

or

[view "How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics; A PORTRAIT OF “GENERATION NEXT” A Survey Conducted in Association with: The Generation Next Initiative and Documentary produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions]

By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
Tue Mar 20, 8:23 AM ET

Eager to connect with teen and twentysomething shoppers, retailers are focusing on the mobile devices that are never far from their hands - or ears.

"They are the early adopters and the influencers," Roman Tsunder says of teens targeted by cellphone marketing campaigns from his company, Access 360 Media. "The youth markets will show adults how it's done."

GenYers—that oh-so-threatening mob that’s invading the work force—are “inherently conservative.”
[excerpt from Penelope Trunk’s blog]

Conservative? Here are four reasons (thanks Penelope!) :

1. They love their parents. Not only do they love their parents, but they want their parents to help them figure out adult life. There is no rebellion. Instead there is helicopter parenting. And there is a near-perfect implementation by GenY of the values their parents told them were important. GenY are hard workers, achievers and rule followers. ...
2. They operate in teams. This is not a generation of mavericks. This is not about self-reliance, it’s about teamwork. But teamwork is inherently conservative because there’s consensus. For example, prom is a group event. And there is not infighting—GenY hates conflict. ...
3. They are not complainers. Baby boomers got their start as people who bucked the system to protect their own interests by protesting Vietnam. Who was fighting the war? Baby boomers. But they hated the war. So they argued against it. Who is fighting today’s war? GenY. And they hate it. But they almost never complain in a large, public way.
4. They are not asking for anything crazy. GenY are really hard workers. They have been working harder in school than any preceding generation. And the pace that they sift and synthesize information puts the skills of their elders to shame. So why complain about the demands of this generation? They are great at work and they want to have work that is meaningful and challenging. …