Diversity
What will Gen Y bring to the
workplace?
It is their belief that the social
attitudes and upbringing of
this next generation of workers
will force companies to change
how they do business, changes
which will somehow ensure that
we don’t repeat the mistakes
which brought forth the Great
Recession upon our economic
shores.
While it’s nice to view the next
generation of workers with this
sense of optimism in regards to
the contributions they can make
to our organisations, this is the
reality : such drastic changes
are unlikely to happen simply
because Millennials are joining
the workforce.
Indeed, it’s hard to imagine any
of us taking too well to having
a new team member coming
in and immediately tell ing us
what we’re doing wrong and
how we should be doing things.
Those in leadership positions
know only too well how
behaving in such a manner is
a sure way to encourage either
disengagement or the departure
of participants from your team.
Same ol’ same ol’
Of course, it’s not the first time
various business thinkers have
cautioned business owners
to brace for the coming tidal
wave brought forth by the
arrival of a new generation
18
November 2015
This increasing use of social
media by other demographic
groups demonstrates that
the drive for openness and
transparency is not exclusive
to the Millennials, but a trait
that all generational groups are
willing to embrace and utilise
on a regular basis.
into the workplace. When the
Gen X generation joined the
workforce, there were many
who were espousing the same
message that we now hear
about the Millennials – that
companies need to embrace
doing things differently in order
to engage a generation that’s
more interested in living their
lives than simply working on
it, a concept that often resulted
in the Gen X generation being
branded as lazy or lacking any
real work ethic.
Granted, in the case of the
Millennial generation, what’s
also being attributed to them
is a drive toward corporate
transparency and open-ended
collaboration as a result of their
affinity for social media sites
like Twitter and Facebook.
Ironically, in recent years,
these sites have undergone
their own transformation with
most of their growth and rising
popularity being credited to
users from the Gen X and Baby
Boomer generations. This
increasing use of social media
by other demographic groups
demonstrates that the drive for
openness and transparency is
not exclusive to the Millennials,
but a trait that all generational
groups are willing to embrace
and utilise on a regular basis.