Thoughts on the Future Workforce

Do we need weekends?

2008-08-27T14:38:00.002+01:00

Asks Tammy Erikson on her Harvard Review post, which makes for an interesting read.

Most workers follow a Monday to Friday pattern, relax at the weekends. Erickson believes that the declining need for synchronous tasks and the development of Web 2.0 tools means that the idea of a corporation telling us which days to work (and when to “rest”) can become outdated. She points out that the key driver for syncronous presence (or perhaps rationalisation?) is meetings. She makes reference to Best Buy and how with their shift from a time-based to a task-based management approach, soon found many meetings being canceled and people decided that it wasn’t really necessary to get together physically – at least not nearly as often – to get things done. That of course would be totally no surprise to Gen Y's who grow up using networking tools and can tell you how much easier and faster it is to do this with Web 2.0 tools.

So would you prefer to name the days, hours, and location of when you work? If you could set your own schedule, what would you choose?

Finding, hiring and keeping Gen Y talent – An insiders view

2008-06-30T16:21:00.003+01:00

As someone who is a very young Baby Boomer - or an ancient Gen X - it's great to share with you an article written by a colleague of mine from Atos Consulting. Tasha How describes herself as a typical "80's child" who pretty much follows the Gen Y blueprint. What is interesting, however, are Tasha's thoughts and reflections of a new generation building their - and her career. She concludes with some top tips. Over to you Tasha...

I faced a disappointing realisation today…. All this time I’d thought I was individual and unique but, it turns out, perhaps I am just a typical ’Gen Y.’

Born in 1983, I have grown up with a PC at home, various games consoles and a mobile phone since I was about 15. I check my Facebook account every couple of days and I’m more likely to plan my social life by text or email than on the phone or in person. I can’t tell you the last time I thought to look at a map – if the Sat Nav isn’t working then at the very least the online Route Finder will get me to where I need to be! I expect convenience and to be able to access services when it suits me – after all, I barely really remember the days before Sunday trading, my local supermarket is open 24 hours a day and I do all my banking online.

So what does all this mean for my career, my expectations in the workplace and how my employer can best retain me?

Recruiting Gen Y
For a start a prospective employer needs to find me (note, they need to find me at least as much as I need to find them! I genuinely believe I have power in this relationship).

So, how to recruit a Gen Y?
I secured my current job simply by putting my CV online - then the job found me! My CV was picked up by an agent and within a week I had a couple of interviews lined up and had accepted my role within a month.

Gen Y will undoubtedly look online as their first (and sometimes only) port of call, so at the bare minimum the position needs to be readily available online and the company would definitely benefit from appearing using the common search engines. But to recruit people like me, that probably isn’t enough. The onus becomes on the recruiting employer to be the active party – searching for candidates on business networking sites, getting referrals from your current employees and using a good recruitment agent will be much more likely to put us in touch than waiting for me to reply to a well hidden advert! Mind you, that’s not to say I’m lazy; if I know of a top company in the industry I want to work in, I’ll get in touch with them irrespective of whether their advertising for jobs – after all, I’m confident I can add value for them.

It’s also worth remembering that if you’re trying to recruit a recent graduate, they may well be out of the country – Gen Y’s have grown up with foreign travel and think nothing of taking 12 months out to find themselves. It’s worth thinking about whether someone sat in an internet café in Australia could easily find, apply and be screened for the job you’re advertising.

Retaining Gen Y
Apparently, the fact that I get bored easily is just another part of being a ‘Gen Y.’ Perhaps it’s down to having so many options available to keep me entertained as a kid, or perhaps its not; but whatever the reason, the fact is I need variety and challenge to keep me interested in my job.

My first job was on a grad scheme that promised 3 different placements over a 2 year period plus studying for a professional qualification; Impatient as I am, I decided to compress my 3 placements into 18 months and then moved on to a new role in the organisation with its own series of new challenges! I now work as a consultant, the main attraction of the job being the opportunity to change projects, roles, teams and even companies (clients) virtually every 6 months.

The most important factor to retain me in a job is to keep me challenged and I have friends who have left their jobs with nothing lined up to go to, simply because they were bored at work. If the work isn’t challenging in itself, then at the very least I need a tight deadline to give me a push! So job design and line management are both massively important to make sure the challenge is lasting and the job is richly varied. While Gen Y aren’t known for their corporate loyalty or ‘job for life’ attitude, variety within a career can still be an option within a single organisation for a reasonable amount of time.

Going back to believing that I can add value to organisations, it’s important to me that I can see how my employer is helping to add value to my CV. On the job learning and investing in personal development are like hygiene factors for Gen Y – if they can’t see how their gaining transferable skills then they may well leave before their CV is too heavily eroded.

In terms of reward, money is important to the extent that living is expensive – joining the property ladder in recent years with a 100% mortgage plus a student loan, often a car loan and an active social life means that a Gen Y, undoubtedly like many generations before, will have certain needs and expectations about their basic salary. But equally the concept of ‘total reward’ is fitting for retaining Gen Y. Work like balance is important and the ability to fit work around life in general – perhaps it’s a reflection of the levels of convenience we’ve grown used to.

When I think of my friends, money is a big motivator for some, but the one who is the most motivated in their job doesn’t earn the most money, or have the best pension (many of us aren’t thinking that far ahead and, to be honest, question whether a pension will even be worth the paper it’s written on by the time we’re eventually able to retire), or even have the most holiday allowance… it’s the one who has fun at work, socialises regularly with her team and her boss, and who recently won a trip to an exotic island with other top performing team mates. It may be a coincidence that she also happens to live close the office so has minimal travel time, cost or hassle, but there’s no denying that having time to go to the gym after work and still be home in time for Eastenders is a plus point!

So what?
That’s the burning question. So what?

The reality is Gen Y are joining the workforce now and will continue to be an important part of your employee base for the next 40 years or more. In the UK we have an ageing workforce and so organisations must find effective ways to balance the hugely different needs of the various different generations on which they rely as employees and current and future leaders.

As a Gen Y myself, these are my top five tips for recruiting and retaining Gen Y talent:

Make sure jobs are well designed to be challenging and varied
Ensure line managers are given adequate training to be capable of keeping their top performers motivated and stretched
Offer opportunities for individuals to hold a variety of roles within the company over a number of years
Make sure you provide developmental support that the employee values for their long term career plans and not just to meet the needs of their current role
Remember that Gen Y’s believe they can move on at any time: become complacent at your peril – they won’t necessarily be loyal enough to wait for the organisation to turn around the next corner!

Is your organisation doing this in 2008?

2008-06-17T13:35:00.005+01:00

As we approach the mid-way point of 2008 - it set me thinking. January of every year always sees a glut of writing around trends and "must dos". Here are three trends that I thought would make an impact in 2008.

Paperless Colleges and Universities: Today’s college students — part of the “net generation” that was born between 1980 and 1994 — have grown up with technology. They were born around the time the first PC was introduced, and approximately 20 percent were using computers by the time they were 6 years old. Today, as they enter the university classroom, they are experiencing a brave new world of learning without textbooks. Case in point: Assistant Professor Jerry Kane at Boston College teaches a class titled “Computers in Management,” which uses no textbooks. Instead, Kane has replaced books with wikis as the primary learning tool. This allows for improved collaboration among students, as well as a way to integrate RSS news feeds directly into class, making learning more relevant. As a corporate learning professional, you should take note and think about how learning can be similarly redesigned for the net generation.

Web 2.0 Tools for Corporate Learning: According to a recent ComScore Media Metrix report, teen usage of Web-based e-mail dropped 8 percent in 2007, and IM usage is expected to reach 46 billion messages by 2009. Members of the net generation are almost exclusively using an arsenal of Web 2.0 tools, such as instant messaging, blogs, wikis, Facebook posts, and podcasts, to network, learn and communicate.
One company using Web 2.0 tools for learning in an innovative way is Intel Corp. They have created an in-house wiki called Intelpedia. This is a way for Intel employees to share knowledge, collaborate with employees and post need-to-know company information in a safe, behind-the-firewall space. Within the first six months, more than 10,000 page lookups were tracked and Intelpedia has quickly become the go-to place for new recruits who need to know what an Intel acronym means or want the latest update on a project.
In the UK, BT have made full use of tools such as wikis, blogs, social media and tagging behind their firewall to enhance collaboration and networking amongst their employees.

Free Offerings in Corporate Learning Portals: There is a plethora of free learning your organization can link to on the Web. One of the most comprehensive of these is MIT Open Courseware Consortium. (You can find this at http://ocw.mit.edu.) MIT Open Courseware has thrived by sharing free lecture notes, exams and other resources for its more than 1,800 courses in areas such as engineering, computer software, economics and health sciences, to name just a few. There also are more than 100 universities around the globe that have added their content in local languages to form the MIT Open Courseware Consortium. While MIT originally designed this for faculty usage, it turns out more than 50 percent of users are corporate “self learners.”
Another free resource is the Free Management Library, http://www.managementhelp.org/. This is a free online resource of 650 topics, spanning 5,000 links. Topics include areas such as leadership development, change management, marketing, finance, training and development, performance management and crisis management. In addition, each topic has recommended books and related library links contributed by community members.

Groundswell - the power of Social Networking

2008-05-20T17:34:00.010+01:00

Groundswell is a fascinating book from Harvard Business Press and written by two Forrester researchers - Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li.

It is essentially a treatise about the power of social networking technologies when successfully applied in a business setting. For me - the cornerstone the book is Li and Bernoff's research and application of what they term Social Technographics. It identifies people as ranging from Inactives (in terms of social technologies) to Creators.

Their research spans several countries and demographic ranges and provides some great case studies and anecdotes showcasing organisations who have exploited this trend. For example - BMW in the USA studied the Social Technographic profile of their Mini owners and found they were well above the norm in terms of their participation as Creators and Critics. They used this to create and harness an online community buzz and organise car rallies. Over 2,100 images were placed on Flickr and several Mini videos appeared on YouTube. Online monitoring organisations were able to show that when online community activity increased - so did sales the following month.

_______________________________________________

Me and my colleagues at Atos Consulting are actively looking at the issues of workforce demographics; the ageing workforce and Generation Y recruitment. The research in this book caused several light bubs to come on all at once. According to Forrester - 59% of Gen Y join networking sites; 38% create content and 41% are critics. There's your marketing and engagement strategy in a nutshell. Organisations must create platforms and vehicles for connecting with Gen Y where they hang out online. But that's not enough. You must let them create and content, swap stories, offer critique.

How about the issue of all that tacit knowledge that will walk out the door of your organisation as many baby boomers retire? Easy say my KM experts at Atos; "We just need to provide them with the systems to capture, codify and share their knowledge". Trouble is - only 8% of that group are creators and only 8% are joiners of communities of any sort. So the problem shifts to "how am I going to engage and encourage these guys to participate in activities that are new and strange to them?"

As you may have guessed - I love this book!

http://www.groundswell.forrester.com/

Student's Facebook Study Group Falls Foul With Academics

2008-04-28T14:09:00.005+01:00

Here's an interesting dilema reported by the Totonto Financial Post:

"Students at Ryerson University in Toronto were outraged when first-year student Chris Avenir was accused of cheating for running an online chemistry study group on Facebook.

More than 140 Generation Yers had joined the group to ask questions about homework assignments and simply could not understand why school administrators had a problem with that. Their only concern was for the group's administrator, who faced expulsion. The 18-year-old denied the academic misconduct allegation and took his fight before the engineering faculty's appeals committee, telling the media "this isn't any different from any library study group or peer tutoring."

But Ryerson's administration thought otherwise. Academic integrity was at stake, they said, and any threat to it -- even in the form of online tools -- is a risk that must be addressed and rightfully preserved.

In the end, the appeals committee ruled against expulsion but gave the student a zero on the assignments that were discussed on Facebook. But the story didn't end there. Instead, it has sparked a debate on the differences between Baby Boomer and Gen-Yers brains and the way they interact in the workplace."

Mmmm. So what are we to make of this? What is the difference between discussing coursework over the table at lunch - or on Facebook?

Challenging Assumptions at The Shopping Centre

2008-04-22T08:59:00.007+01:00

Last Saturday at my local shopping centre my wife and I witnessed an incident. There was a commotion and panicked voices near the bottom of an escalator. People were shouting and looking at a scuffle halfway up. Three youths dressed in trackies and hoodies ran up the escalator, shouting as they did so - one of them pressed the stop button.

I'm rather ashamed to say that my initial thought was of some sort of fight or scuffle was taking place. After all, all the ingredients seemed to be there.

The reality was somewhat different. As I drew closer, I could see an elderly man was in difficulty and was close to collapsing or loosing his balance and falling backwards down the entire length of the escalator. His companion had cried out for help - unable to take the weight of the man herself. Hearing this - the three "hoodies" immediately ran up the escalator. Two held the man from the side and the third held him from behind. Without doubt the actions of these young men saved the man from serious injury. After the stop button was pressed they were able to calmly walk him to safety and sat him down before checking he and his companion were able to seek further help. They then slopped off in that familiar "Hip-Hop" strut.

Reflecting on this incident later in the evening, I felt heartened that a group of young people who are increasingly being branded as the root of all evil responded to an emergency almost instinctively. The incident was fleeting and transient. The did not know the elderly man; they did not seek praise - they just helped someone who was in a bit of trouble.

Student numbers are at risk as UK demographics shift

2008-03-26T12:03:00.000Z

Universities face a shortfall of 70,000 students by the end of the next decade, as a result of a drop in the number of young people in the UK.

On current demographic trends, the full-time undergraduate student population of UK higher education institutions will fall by 4.6 per cent by 2020, or 70,000 full-time undergraduate places, according to an analysis for Universities UK.

One of the authors of the report, The Future Size and Shape of the HE Sector in the UK, says universities will have to “seize new markets” for older, part-time, work-based and overseas students.

The report also predicts stiffer competition for students between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as demographic changes vary between regions. The report forms part of a series of seven reviews, commissioned last month by Universities Secretary John Denham, into the long-term future of higher education in Britain.

It predicts that the 2020 UK dip will have reversed by 2027, by which time total student numbers will be up by 2.1 per cent, with the biggest growth in part-time undergraduates and full-time postgraduates. But this recovery masks long-term prob-lems in Scotland, which may see full-time undergraduate numbers drop 8.4 per cent by 2027, as well as in Wales (down 4.9 per cent) and Northern Ireland (down 13.1 per cent) – compared with a 2.9 per cent rise in England.

Gen Y Workforce Helps eLearning Take-up in USA

2008-03-26T11:32:00.003Z

Despite some differing numbers, two widely regarded and independent reports on the US training market conclude that 30 percent of employee learning last year occurred online.

After years of investing in content and integrated delivery infrastructure, organisations are beginning to see those investments pay off in a dramatic increase in the use of technology enabled learning. As more and more employees use online tools, organisations are seeing costs rise slightly.

These are the key findings from two pieces of reaseach that guage the state of the US training market. The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and Bersin & Associates carried out the reasearch in 2007 and released their reports in January 2008.

Both reports highlight the part played by shifting demographics in corporate America. The younger and more tech-savvy Gen Y-ers are filtering into the workforce and are comfortable and eager to use online tools and platforms to to aid their professional growth and development.

Gen Y Issues will impact UK Defence Sector

2008-03-12T11:57:00.004Z

At a recent conference - over 200 senior engineers from the UK Defence sector received a presentation from Atos Consulting on how changing demographics and the future generation of employees may shape their plans and strategy over the next 5-10 years. Using electronic voting machines - 73% of delegates felt the issues discussed will have a sigificant impact on their future plans.

Atos Consulting's Marc Humphries commented, "I was impressed by the increasing awareness some of the audience had about the issues they are facing. Some organisations already have research teams looking into this area - and others were already experimenting with Web 2.0 collaboration technologies and serious, immersive games."

Use of Web2.0 technologies in the work place

2008-01-10T15:40:00.001Z

The debate on Web2.0 technologies and whether they are a useful tool or a distraction and a waste of valuable working time is on-going. Marc and I have talked in the past about the importance of integrating these types of approaches into the workplace, considering the preferences of the 2012 generation. After all, facebook and wikis are part of their day to day life anyway. My colleague Scott McArthur http://mcarthursrant.blogspot.com/ contributes his views to this interesting article from Personnel Today on the topic. http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/article.aspx?liarticleid=43764&printerfriendly=true

What do you do? Ban it? Use it? T-mobile opted for the second route, incorporating Facebook and recruitment successfully. The publishing company Informa use their 'Transformed Careers Island' to allow employees access information about job functions, competencies, skills gap - as well as play football. Whichever camp you belong to, one thing is for sure: blanket approaches are unlikely to provide the answer, so what could these technologies can do for your organisation now and in the future?

Wikinomics in Action at MIT

2008-01-09T09:37:00.000Z

Last night I attended a post graduate lecture given by Professor Eric von Hippel at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He was talking about the challenge of breakthrough innovation compared to that of incremental improvement. It was fascinating and engaging stuff. He talked about new models of user co-creation. Later on, I decided to revisit my roots and attend some under grad lectures on Electrical and Mechanical engineering. Professor Lester Walker of MIT gave a great performance explaining why I am lighter when travelling down in an elevator and heavier when the elevator takes me up a few floors.

Okay - so what's the deal? You've probably guessed that I was attending these lectures remotely. I was in the UK watching videos of these MIT guys in action. I also downloaded all the lecture notes, mid term papers and model answers. So what...

What stopped my in my tracks is that since 2002, MIT has published 1,800 courses from its under graduate and post graduate programmes absolutely free of charge on the internet.

MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) programme appears to be a living embodiment of Don Tapscott's ideas in his 2004 book Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. One of the finest educational establisments in the world is happily sharing the content of nearly all of it's faculties courses. All of that intellectual capital is now available free of charge to every citizen in the world who can access the internet. MIT actively encourage other establishments to use their material to assist and shape their curriculum. Individuals can self teach or enrich their current studies. High schools can create lesson plans that prepare students for college.

And that, of course, is what Wikinomics is all about. What you share and give out for free - you will get back more in the long run. MIT will no doubt get more applications from potential students because of this initiative. OCW will extend their academic network and get all sorts of people collaborating together. MIT are also attracting sponsorship for OCW thus creating a new income stream.

But don't take my word for it - look at the site on http://ocw.mit.edu/

Young entrepreneurs - the new 'cool'

2007-10-30T14:20:00.000Z

Recent research from Barclays Bank shows there has been a 15% rise in business start-ups among those under the age of 25.

"Young people can bring sky high levels of ambition and 'out-of-the box' creative thinking. And these are characteristics we have found to be perceived as critical to entrepreneurial success," said John Davis, marketing director for local business at Barclays.

This MSN article by by Emma-Lou Montgomery, talks about 5 hot UK entrepreneurs.

First Baby Boomer to Retire in USA

2007-10-29T13:37:00.001Z

On a recent trip to the US a front page article on the complimentary hotel newspaper caught my eye. Kathleen "Kathy" Casey-Kirschling - described as the nation's first baby boomer is retiring and has filed to collect her Social Security (state pension) early at the age of 62. School teacher Kathy was born at 00:01am on January 1st 1946. She is on the leading edge of what the Social Security administration refers to as a "silver tsunami," nearly 80 million Americans born from 1946 to 1964 who will qualify for Social Security over the next two decades. The first ripple of that tsunami, more than 3 million Americans, turns 62 next year. Like Casey-Kirschling, about half are projected to choose early retirement. Those who remain in the work force will qualify for full benefits when they turn 66 in 2012. The article contained some interesting facts:

When US Social Security was created in 1935 - for every retirement benificiery there were 42 working people paying in
In 2007 - this ratio had reduced to 3:1
By 2020 - it is estimated that the ratio will be 2:1. Each couple will in effect be responsible for supporting one senior citizen

Interesting stuff - but what does this mean for the world of work? Well, it's impact will be increasingly felt in both public and private sectors. Research by Bersin Associates reveals that in the US, 50% of senior managers will retire from the top Fortune 500 companies within the next 5 years. Other research shows that NASA could loose up to 50% of its workforce to retirement. If organisations are not prepared for this then thousands of man-years of experience, expertise and knowledge will walk out the door. Organisations need to start thinking about this issue now.

I wrote about this here in a previous posting http://Generationxynext.blogspot.com/2007/09/when-is-your-organisations-next-dec.html

The Baby Boomer Generation - Old, Smart, Productive

2007-09-28T11:08:00.000+01:00

There is a popular assumption that we slow down as we get older. Medics used to believe that once muscle strength was lost for example, there was little chance of regaining it. Later research by Walter Frontera and Maria Fiatarone proved that this is not true. They have established that age doesn't matter and you don't have to loose muscle strength as you grow older. Furthermore, even if you have lost it, you can regain it through simple resistance training.

We've been focusing a lot on generation Y and I felt the need to re-address the balance a bit. Are we saying that we need to focus totally on the young, bright things? No, definitely not. The most important thing is to play to individuals' strengths - no matter what their age. Mature employees bring experience, maturity, energy and focus.

I found this article most interesting. It describes how rather than being an economic deadweight, the next generation of older Americans is likely to make a much bigger contribution to the economy than many of today's forecasts predict. An analysis by BusinessWeek finds that increased productivity of older Americans and higher labor-force participation could add 9% to gross domestic product by 2045, on top of what it otherwise would have been. (This assumes, for example, that over the next 40 years better health and technology reduce the productivity gap between older workers and their younger counterparts.) This 9% increase in gross domestic product would add more than $3 trillion a year, in today's dollars, to economic output.

Much like the muscle strength, research suggests that boomers will have the ability - and the desire - to work productively and innovatively well beyond today's normal retirement age.

Tips to get rich young from the young rich!

2007-09-28T10:09:00.000+01:00

Marc and I have been talking about generation Y and the different approach they have to life, work and the future. There is this a video we used in the preparation for a recent conference workshop, which shows a group of young employees talking about their expectations for the future. 'We want to be rich by the age of 40' a girl says ... 'by the age of 30!' another adds.

A survey carried out by City & Guilds, the vocational training group, found that 49% of 16 to 24-year-olds have a "strong desire" to set up their own business. The main reason being they want to be their own boss. One in 10 wants to get started in the next year and 35% plan to launch their businesses in the next five years.

"Owning your own business is no longer the preserve of older employees with decades of work experience," pointed out Chris Humphries, director general of City & Guilds. "Starting a business is highly appealing to today's youth who long to be their own boss and set their own agenda."

Young people who have already made their mark are providing the biggest inspiration for the next generation. Nearly half of the young wannabe entrepreneurs said they know someone under the age of 30 who has already gone it alone. The following article contains the advise, tips and insights about starting up in business from five young, and highly successful, entrepreneurs.

Fries with your laptop? - Digital Natives in the kitchen.

2007-09-13T11:36:00.000+01:00

In 2001, Marc Prensky coined the term "Digital Natives" to describe the generation of young people who:

Have grown up with the Internet and email always being there

Turn to online sources of information as their first call

Thrive on being connected and multitask with ease

Prefer branching and hypertext instead of linear, didactic flow

See graphics and games as vehicles for learning

To some extent, the older generation of technology user has adapted - some have become complete converts. But most of us "Digital Immigrants" retain our accent to some degree.

These concepts were really brought home to me by my daughter, who is 19 and back home for her summer break from university. In an attempt to boost her funds (and reduce her overdraft) she took a summer job at an HR Shared Services centre. Her team decided that each Friday, they will take it in turns to bake some cakes and bring them into the office. Becky was first up and decided to make some Carrot Cake. Now, our kitchen has a bookcase in it with around thirty cook and recipe books. I reckon she could have found at least 5 Carrot Cake recipes in that collection. But no. In true Digital Native style she brought her wireless laptop into the kichen and searched for a recipe from Google. Having found one that suited, she kept the laptop on the butcher's block island unit for reference, covered the keyboard with some cling film and produced a great cake. She didn't even feel the need to print the recipe out.

I consider myself to be a pretty savvy Digital Immigrant - but this stopped me in my tracks. Becky didn't even THINK of using a book. Her first call was on technology - WiFi, laptop and internet - something she did intuitively and almost instinctively.

Europe's Young Entrepreneurs

2007-09-07T10:47:00.000+01:00

Facebook was founded by a 23 year old, Mark Zuckerberg. Last year he turned down an offer of $1 Billion from Yahoo. Facebook is Social networking tool with has 30 Million active users. If it were a country, it would have roughly the same population as Canada!
Mark Zuckerman is not alone; I was watching in the BBC Breakfast news an item about Peasy.com earlier in the week. Peazy is an online marketplace for parking spaces, enabling users to search for and book parking spaces before they leave, and homeowners to add their home parking spaces to the Peasy network and begin earning instantly. Rental prices can be considerably cheaper than comparable season ticket, contract parking, or local storage companies. A great offering for long suffering commuters (I'm sure you'll agree), a nice little earner for homeowners with parking spaces. And yes ... you guessed it right! Charles Cridland, the CEO of the company is another twenty something.
Follow the link for further stories on some of Europe's youngest entrepreneurs.
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/youngentrepreneursarticle.html

What Gen Y Really wants

2007-09-07T10:42:00.000+01:00

With 85 million baby boomers and 50 million Gen Xers, there is already a yawning generation gap among American workers--particularly in their ideas of work-life balance. For baby boomers, it's the juggling act between job and family. For Gen X, it means moving in and out of the workforce to accommodate kids and outside interests. Now along come the 76 million members of Generation Y. For these new 20-something workers, the line between work and home doesn't really exist. They just want to spend their time in meaningful and useful ways, no matter where they are.

See full article

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640395,00.html

Meaningful Work Helps Keep Gen Y Workers

2007-09-06T09:35:00.000+01:00

For many employees, it's a bad thing to be summoned to the boss' office.

But the young professionals who comprise the so-called Generation Y want to be invited to stop in and converse regularly about their assignments and how their jobs fit into the company's strategic goals. Encouraging input can help stem the staff turnover rate that is common among workers in their 20s.

Click link for full story.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07249/814953-28.stm

Five ways to deal with Gen Y technology in the workplace

2007-09-04T12:25:00.000+01:00

I can remember when I got my first laptop and mobile phone at the ripe age of 35. Both were provided by my company. Then we got internet access at work - it took me four years to get it at home. Compare and contrast this experience with my 19 year old daughter. She had her first mobile when she was ten years old - and is now on her 10th handset. She has her own wireless laptop giving her almost universal connectivity at home, college and in Cafe Nero. The 2012 generation will have wide experience of technology ownership - and may be ahead of the game compared to many workplace organisations. Naturally this may cause concern - and IT secutity issues are often at the top of the list. Here's some advice around this area:

"The fundamental part of all of this is setting expectations," says Daniel Gingras, a partner at Tatum Partners, a consulting and executive staffing firm.
Gingras recommends that IT executives take the following steps:

Understand the culture of the organization. While it's not typically found in an IT professional's job description, understanding the corporate culture is essential to setting and implementing acceptable use policies related to technology, says Gingras. For help, look to HR, upper management, and the compliance and legal departments.
Craft (or update) a policy that fits with the culture. If the corporate culture disallows iPods in the workplace, the policy must state that clearly. On the other hand, if the organization allows iPods in the workplace but doesn't let employees download music or videos to iTunes, that must be specified, too.
Communicate the policy repeatedly. A written policy that sits on a bookshelf in the HR director's office won't serve the needs of the company. IT can play a role in communicating policy by asking new hires to sign a document that says they have read the portions of the handbook related to technology, and by setting up logon screens that contain pertinent policy information.
Create a level of expectation that workers will conform to the policy, and make sure you have the technology in place to enforce the rules. "You have to build in the audit trails so that you trust, but verify," Gingras says. "Everybody [should know] you trust them, until they give you reason not to." There are many data-leak prevention, content-monitoring, and compliance products on the market that create audit trails of employees' actions related to sensitive data.
Constantly weigh the advantages of a flexible work environment against network security. If policies are being abused -- for example, an employee continues to use his personal Web mail account for business communication, therefore potentially putting sensitive information at risk and circumventing audit trails -- consider blocking the use of personal mail accounts at work.

I feel this advice is spoken like a true techie - and is heavy on "banning" and "conforming" to procedures. In reality - this is a difficult balancing act. I like the idea that you trust everyone until you have a reason not to.

When is your organisation's next Dec 31st 1999?

2007-09-04T11:02:00.000+01:00

My colleague, Maria, talks about the "Human Capital Millenium Point" - that is - when is your organisation's December 31st 1999? Trouble is, it won't have a clearly defined date. You know that you'll face some kind of people challenge that's sort of connected to the changing demographics of the population. Here's a few things to think about:

Which segments of your workforce create the most value for you?

Which areas of your organisation will be most impacted by impending waves of retirement?

What skills do you need over the next five years that you don’t currently possess?

In what areas is the talent market heating up?

What is your turnover in critical areas? How much is it costing you?

Are you actively developing talent portfolios that will help us understand the consequences of talent decisions?

Generation Next In Action

2007-08-02T10:04:00.000+01:00

This video clip highlights some of the differences between the 20 somethings working in your organisation and their older bosses. It's interesting to reflect on their desire for instant rewards and the fact they're not willing to spend ten years earning average rewards.