If you don’t know what Gen Y wants … ask!

I’ve worked in and around the Accounting profession for more years than I care to remember. With my headhunting hat on I usually work at the Partner and Director level, across both big and small accounting firms. Amongst other topics of conversation, the subject of “those darn Gen Y staff” comes up on a regular basis. To remove any confusion – Gen Y refers (at least in my mind) to those people born between 1980 to 2000.

I’m sure you’ve heard the usual traits attached to Gen Y: self-absorbed, sense of entitlement, lack of loyalty, poor worth ethic and more. You get the idea.

The other day, in preparation for this post, I spoke with two Gen Y professionals, both employed in accounting firms. Both were women (I was hoping to speak to a bloke , but was up against a deadline!). Let’s call these women Hannah & Emma – not their real names so as to protect the innocent. Hannah works for a Big 4 firm employing a few thousand staff in Australia; Emma works in a suburban firm with ten staff.

I asked both Hannah & Emma two questions:

What is the most important thing(s) in your work life?
What is the smallest change that your employer can make that would have the biggest impact on you?

Space constraints prevent me from sharing everything I learned in my conversations with Hannah & Emma so here is a quick summary of their views.

Most important things:

Learning from others in the workplace (More is caught than what is taught).
Investment in their development (They welcome technical/work course but would appreciate input into their personal development. This will more often than not have a positive impact on their work anyway e.g. like learning a language).
Having the respect of their bosses, peers, staff & clients (Recognition is important but they want to earn the praise, not just be given it).

Small change with the biggest impact:

Interestingly both Hannah & Emma’s responses here centered on food.
Hannah would love her firm to provide a cafeteria that provided meals at a heavily subsidised rate or at zero cost. This would make her working life so much easier and would more likely than not result in her being more productive at work.
Emma likes the idea of a monthly lunch where the firm got together over a meal and shared ideas, war stories and had the opportunity to get to know each other better.

Hmmm … interestingly the above comments don’t really line up with the Gen Y stereotype do they? Believe me when I say this, I’ve met scores of Baby Boomers and Gen Xer’s who are more self-absorbed, have a deeper sense of entitlement, lack loyalty and have a poor worth ethic. Funnily enough, the older ones have been doing it a whole lot longer than the Gen Yer’s so these “bad traits” are much more ingrained.

The bottom line here is simply this: ignore the generational labels and focus on the person. If you want the best from them ask them how to do it.

The answer might just surprise you!