During the planning process the conversation about Gen Y came up as a strategic initiative. Our client realizes that in order to grow they will need to attack some aggressive recruiting and retention strategies. This is really the first time that we had a client who made this a stand alone initiative. Over the years we have had many clients focus on talent acquisition, but this is the first time a client is focusing solely on Gen Y. In the past this was usually buried under a broader goal.

A recent article written by Business 24/7 stated that by 2025 over 75% of the global workforce will be Gen Y! The last of the baby boomers (1964) will be 61 in 2025. While Gen X will fill in the leadership and experience gap, there simply are not enough of them to make up for the retiring baby boomers. Gen Y will be called upon to fill in, even in locations and positions where they may not be ready or have the requisite experience.

Our client seemed to deeply understand this demographic reality. Not only are they focused on recruiting the right talent, they are also focusing on TRAINING their talent for this eventuality. ALSO, our client realizes how CRITICAL it will be to give the proper time and attention to their Gen X leaders. In a very short time experienced Gen X talent will be in HIGH DEMAND. If an organization wants to retain their best performers, the time to start is now.

Fortunately, these two initiatives do not have to be separate. The right performance management tools for Gen Y are also the right tools for Gen X (and Boomers!). Gen Y only wants what every generation of work wants. The good news is that Gen Y will force this positive change.

While it is true that time is a finite resource, it is also true that how we INVEST out time is critical. We had our client talk to her managers and discuss these two points.

1. Do you believe “being flexible” shows a lack of discipline?

2. Do you believe that being accessible will cause you lost productivity?

We then asked her and her team to track, for one week, the amount of time they spent fixing issues due to miscommunications, lack of clarity, missed hand offs, etc. What we found was astounding. An enormous amount of time was wasted, not only by her and the team, but by all of the employees due to rework, etc.

For the next week we had her team be TRULY accessible to the employees. Their job was to offer clarification and guidance on a REAL TIME basis. We wanted them to have the opportunity to offer input while the project was moving forward, versus after completion.

The final result…..her team spent nearly 30% LESS overall time than before. Also, we did a quick survey of the employee before and after our experiment. There was a measurable positive shift in attitude and morale. Folks appreciated receiving course corrections DURING the journey, and not finding out they arrived in the wrong place after an unproductive trip!!

One final comment, our client’s workforce is mostly Baby Boomers and Gen X, with only about 25% Gen Y. Our survey did not show any difference between the groups…everyone appreciated it equally. Conclusion…..Gen Y demands what everyone wants. There is no need to treat them “special”. A good performance management process for everyone is special enough.