Page | 1

HR Conclave

Managing Generation-Y employee

expectations

Under the guidance of :

Prof. Amaresh Nayak

Soumya Kotha

MBA 2nd

year

Vitthal Dhingra

MBA 1st year

Page | 2

INDEX

1. Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………… 3

2. Research Methodology…………………………………………………………………… 4

3. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. 4

a. Veterans………………………………………………………………………….. 4

b. Baby Boomers……………………………………………………………………. 4

c. Gen X…………………………………………………………………………….. 5

d. Gen Y…………………………………………………………………………….. 5

4. Why the focus on Gen Y………………………………………………………………….. 8

5. Gen Y’s employee expectations…………………………………………………………… 8

a. What’s on their mind?…………………………………………………………….. 9

6. Methodologies already implemented……………………………………………………… 9

7. Scenario in India…………………………………………………………………………… 11

8. Suggestions………………………………………………………………………………… 12

9. Sources…………………………………………………………………………………….. 13

Page | 3

1. Abstract

With the ethos of time the attitude of people has been changing, who are a major asset to any

organization. To ensure that organizations take care of their valuable asset, it is becoming important for

organization’s to adapt according to their workforce. An estimated population of 70 million across the

world constitutes of millennial (Gen Y) and nearly 50% of Indian population constitutes Gen Y.

With the Gen Y rapidly taking over in organizations, traditional methods have become obsolete. More

than a necessity it has become inevitable for organization’s to change. Companies are putting in effort to

evolve through considerable changes in the workplace on how they function. A clear understanding of

this generation’s perceptions and expectations about work and career-related issues will assist the

organization’s to make necessary changes.

The paper constitutes a thorough research about Gen Y and their expectations from a work place. The

methodologies that the companies/organizations have adopted to bring in change and the challenges faced

in doing so are studied. It also gives a brief about the advantages of making such changes. It concludes

with some practical suggestions for organization’s that can be adapted to manage Gen Y more effectively.

Page | 4

2. Research Methodology:

The research methodology used for gathering information has been both primary and secondary. An

initial research about Gen y, their attitudes, expectations and the changes that organizations brought in to

support Gen Y are studied in detail through a secondary data. Followed by it there is a primary research

done through personal interviews to find out what interests employees to stay back in an organization.

3. Introduction:

This is the time when maximum generations working together in a workspace. With growing rates of Gen

y in any organization it becomes important to meet their expectations. Employee expectations are a tricky

thing to deal with. Too much will probably ruin a company’s profitability while too less could result in

high employee turnover. So how should the organizations deal with it is researched and discussed in

detail over here.

General characteristics of each generation

Generation timeline

1922-1945 Veterans

1946-1964 Baby Boomers

1964-1980 Generation X

1981-2000 Generation Y/Millennial

2.a. Veterans

The generation born in the middle of 1925-45, was brought up in a more challenging time that included

World War II. The economic and political uncertainty that they experienced led them to be hard working,

financially conservative, and cautious. Organizational loyalty is of an essence and they have advanced

with the premises that the seniority is important to advance in one's career. They do not like the change,

they are not very risk tolerant, and have a respect for authority and hard work. This leads to a command

and control style of leadership. This generation set and obeys the rules.

2.b. The Baby Boomers

The Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, were brought up in an abundant, healthy post-war economy,

becoming an egocentric generation. They saw the world revolving around them. More than anything,

work has been a de-fining part of both, their self-worth and their evaluation of others. Their life style

revolves around the fact that they live to work. Balance is a quaint idea but not really a possibility. As

such, they see the workday at least 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is a significant tension point between them and

the newer generations, as they expect others to have the same work ethic and work the same hours.

Page | 5

2.c. Generation X

The generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, was the first generation raised on “to do lists” and grew

up with high rate of blended families. They were also brought up in the shadow of the influential boomer

generation. They witnessed their parents sacrifice greatly for their companies. As a consequence, they

developed behaviors (not values) of independence, resilience and adaptability more strongly than

previous generations. In opposition to the hard driving Boomers who live to work, they work to live and

view the world with a little cynicism and distrust.

2.d. Generation Y

The Y generation, born between 1981 and 2000, the next big generation, an enormously powerful group

that has the sheer numbers to transform every life stage it enters. They were brought up during the

‘empowerment’ years where everyone won and everyone got a medal.

Generation Y was raised with a different perspective, their Boomer parents taught them that their opinions

are important. So they have an expectation to have a stake in outcomes. This is a generation that came of

age amidst a global war on terrorism, a global financial crisis, and a global revolution in virtual

connectivity it makes sense that Millennials would see themselves as part of the bigger picture. This can

lead to an idealistic leadership that dares to address our biggest problems.

Millennials are focused on making meaning to their life, they want to find purpose in their toil and not

just making money. They are unstructured and nonlinear. They are motivated by autonomy. They’re not

clock-watching pencil-pushers, and they’re not lazy; they fully expect to be available to work 24/7, but

they also expect the ability to leave the desk behind and take a walk.

Page | 6

Millennials are

Diverse, Expressive and Optimistic: Millennials are characterized by more than just their age. As

a group, they’re more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation. They value

self-expression and artistic pursuits. They’ve been hard hit by the recent turbulence in the

economy, but their high education levels and optimism foreshadow their potential future success.

Driving a Social Movement Back to the Cities: If they’re not still living with mom and dad,

Millennials are fueling an urban revolution looking for the vibrant, creative energy cities offering

a mix of housing, shopping and offices right outside their doorstep.

They Have an Entrepreneurial Spirit: Millennials have hit it big by investing in startups and

following their own entrepreneurial pursuits.

Deal Shoppers and Desire Authenticity: They are savvy shoppers always on the lookout for a

good deal. Millennials put a premium on authentic, handmade, locally produced goods and

they’re willing to pay more for products from companies with social impact programs. Getting a

Page | 7

good deal is a priority, but they won’t compromise on quality. They want to feel good about what

they buy.

Connected and Want the Personal Touch: Technology defines Millennials. They sleep with their

mobiles and post status updates from the bathroom. When interacting with companies via social

media, they value authenticity they want to feel like they have a personal, direct interaction with

the brand–and in return, they’ll advocate and endorse that brand

Millennials care about self-expression, but they aren’t totally self-absorbed. They put importance

on taking care of their parents in old age and making a social impact.

“Pampered” and “high maintenance” are the words used for Gen Y by USA today.

Generation Y was raised during the period when “follow your passion” became pervasive career advice.

The chart below, generated using Google’s N-Gram Viewer, Shows the occurrences of this phrase in

printed English over time.

The phrase begins its rise in the 1990s and skyrockets in the 2000s, the period when

Generation Y was in its formative schooling years.

This simple phrase, “follow your passion,” made lot of difference. It means start by

identifying a passion and then match this to a job. Because the passion precedes the job, it

stands to reason that one should love their work from the very first day.

Gen Y is ambitious and ready to work hard, but they need the right direction for investing

this energy. Steve Jobs, for example, in his oft-cited Stanford Commencement address,

told the crowd to not “settle” for anything less than work they loved.

Page | 8

4. Why is the focus on Gen- Y?

Recent years, many have focused on the challenges of Gen Y, the latest generation of workers to arrive in

and begin to reshape the workplace. India is the country where Gen Y represents nearly 50% of the

population. In HCL average age of the 87,000 employees is 28. Gen Y is not just as a challenge but a

great opportunity.

Companies today depend mostly on the frontline client experiences. Gen Y will be employed in all areas

of a workplace so, it’s important to understand its needs, demands, problems and solutions.

When an organization is as large as HCL, and depends so much on frontline client experience, it’s

impossible to put all the consequential decisions in the hands of veteran executives. Somehow, the

organization must be managed such that young, customer-facing employees are

(a) Committed to the company’s mission and

(b) Smart enough to be trusted to take decisions and initiative, not just direction.

Traditionally, employers could count on their fresh-faced hires to bring more zeal than skill. With Gen Y,

that changes. This cohort is surely “smart” enough: Today’s young people are able to lay hands on

volumes of relevant information, irrespective of experience or position. What’s more, Gen Y workers

raised on social media have special skills in pulling together solutions, and they know how to mobilize

their networks. In today’s world, this ability to quickly collect and make sense of information and respond

in real time often trumps experience.

5. Gen-Y’s expectations:

High expectations among Gen Y started in childhood with constant commentary from parents about how

to do everything better. This daily personal interaction during drive time to games, concerts, and other

activities established the need for feedback and clear direction. Additionally, they were instructed in

sports and personally guided to play any position with ongoing instruction and recognition from coaches.

Between parents and coaches, this generation heard the phrase “good job” on a regular basis, which

provided ongoing recognition.

They performed well in groups because they valued and leveraged different perspectives and learned how

to solve problems and be creative collectively. This fed into the need for “connectedness” and a sense of

community that includes “in the moment” experiences, virtual networks of friends, and other social

activities such as community service.

They want to know, how close would they be to executives they can hear and learn from.” They need a

vivid picture in their head of how working for you would make their lives and their world better. They

want to sense what the larger company is about in terms of its mission and its values and they want to see

it modeled by its leaders.

It shouldn’t be surprising that members of Generation Y demand a lot from their working life right away

and are frequently disappointed about what they experience instead.

Page | 9

5.a. What’s on their mind?

50 percent of Millennials surveyed want to work for a business with ethical practices

Across the globe 70 percent of tomorrow’s future leaders might ‘reject’ what business as

traditionally organizational has to offer, preferring to work independently by digital means in the

long term.

Businesses could do more than just providing jobs and increasing prosperity of the country by

resource scarcity (56 percent), climate change (55 percent) and income equality (49 percent)

Organizations must foster innovative thinking

6. Methodologies already implemented to satisfy the Gen Y expectations

“To attract and retain talent business needs to show Millennials it is innovative and in tune with their

world-view,” said Barry Salzberg, CEO, DTTL.

The key to driving ROI is, understanding and leveraging Gen Y behaviors focused on business goals and

measured by metrics. An on-boarding model, combined with a culture of recognition and connection,

provides new insights on how to translate Gen Y behaviors learned in childhood and fostered in college

into productive behaviors. Another on-boarding model was developed specifically for engaging new sales

reps, but the practices are applicable for new employees of all job functions and ages. There are frequent

touch points, starting before the employee’s first day, and condensed timelines for career path discussion

and progression.

Many educators stopped assigning prescriptive projects. Rather, they discovered the need to modify their

approach to accommodate how Gen Y-ers like to learn. They offered frameworks and goals, rather than

telling students how to complete projects. They waited for students to ask questions until clarification was

achieved, and all knew they were going in the right direction. The result is more motivation and creativity

as students apply their own way of learning via technology and social connections. Another goal-oriented

approach that many colleges use is based on team competition. Many managers lack understanding of

how to harness and energize their Gen Y workers. And Baby Boomer and Gen X managers are frustrated

by these workers’ demands; the need for constant guidance and support; an unwillingness to be told how

to do the job; and an overwhelming sense of urgency to succeed quickly.

The research establishes the foundation for developing a proactive approach that goes beyond yesterday’s

company orientations. Valpak’s on-boarding program has the essential ingredients for reaching out to

today’s generation with a proactive, conscious process geared to new talent retention.

Valpak’s training and development department launched the program with a one-and-half-day training for

selected managers, which included role playing and a handbook. Meanwhile, Valpak’s recruiting

department developed an intranet-based dashboard for new sales reps that included a welcome video from

Valpak’s president; a dashboard showing sales reps what they would learn the first year; and a knowledge

network that combines LinkedIn and Facebook sites what’s more, sales managers and reps who

participated in the pilot program held separate monthly phone calls with sales trainers. The process

proved very valuable as managers received feedback from new hires.

Page | 10

The first essential element of on-boarding is feedback with recognition the most powerful way to help the

“good job” generation to know they are doing well. Yet just any recognition won’t do when it comes to

Gen Y-ers. It must reward the right behaviors in a timely fashion and be publicized before their peers.

From their team coaching days, these employees want to know how they are doing and how to be more

successful faster.

A workplace that aims to create a workspace which would support Gen Y should be

considering the following:

Gen Ys are the offspring of the Boomer parents who spent their formative adult years questioning

authority. Managers thus need to understand the benefit of shifting from “a command and control

style to a more inclusive management philosophy

Gen Ys view having strong friendships with co-workers and bosses as extremely important to

them. There is much anecdotal support of workers staying longer in jobs simply because they

loved the people they worked with and did not want to leave them. Management styles must be

Theory Y for Gen Y.

Gen Ys not only want flexible hours and schedules, but remote work options because of their

perception of the never-ending intersection of work and life. They see themselves doing work

everywhere except in a cubicle. Jobs must be designed to accommodate these workers personal

lives not the other way around.

Gen Ys, more than any previous college grads, are graduating college with a dynamic mix of

academic and work experiences that have them positioned to contribute from day one. They are

not interested in "grunt" jobs, or jobs in which they have to "pay their dues" they seek challenging

work from the start.

Gen Ys value lifelong learning. They also tend to get bored easily and seek out new things. They

want employers that offer tuition reimbursement, sabbaticals, and other growth opportunities.

Gen Ys have been involved in service most of their lives and have a true commitment to bettering

the world around them. Employers should develop organizational volunteering programs and

options that allow workers to continue these efforts. Having an organizational culture that

supports these values is essential.

Gen Ys especially younger ones fresh out of college have more debt (student loans) than any

previous generation, and they demand a salary that not only recognizes their contributions, but

also helps them pay down the debt. Some employers even have programs in place to help these

workers pay off student loans which should be considered by a larger number of organizations.

While Gen Ys are certainly not the most loyal bunch they do seek out employers that have a plan

for their success. Employers should examine and create new ladders to guide younger workers

through a steady progression in the organization.

Gen Ys were raised in a bubble of constant praise and recognition from their families, and so this

kind of constant reinforcement and recognition is something they expect..

Gen Ys, as a whole, have more tattoos and piercings than any previous worker cohort and that

personal style also applies to how they dress and how they want to dress for work. While they can

Page | 11

look great in business suits, many prefer a work environment in which they can wear comfortable

clothing that expresses their individuality.

Study after study show that Gen Ys have an extremely strong entrepreneurial focus, with many

planning to start their own businesses (partly so that they can control their own fate). Employers

can retain workers longer while leveraging that entrepreneurial spirit by developing incubator and

intrapreneurship programs and opportunities.

7. Scenario in India

Google’s offices in India where offices and other campus facilities boast of cutting edge technology,

recreational facilities and a healthy work environment that seems to promote creativeness and thinking

that is out of the box, literally. Google has some of the best perks in the country free five-star food, five

months of paid maternity leave, great insurance, free yoga - but its employees only last about a year.

Despite being rated one of the best companies to work for and an 84 percent satisfaction rate, its

employees on average leave just after a year.

This behavior is explained by saying that generation Y is loyal to their jobs not to their organizations.

On the other hand Kerala based Foradian Technologies a start-up which is 6 years old has only 8%

attrition rate which they believe is pretty good for startups. Few HR policies adopted by them are

Flexible timings.

Non filtered internet available full-time.

Multiplayer game in the office after lunch.

Non-compromising Leadership

Saturdays as Innovative Day

There are benefits that come up for working with a start-up. Namely

You'll have more responsibility.

You'll be given more opportunities.

You will learn from true innovators.

You'll be able to do a lot of different things.

Your work will be recognized (as will your failures).

You'll learn to be frugal.

You'll be instilled with the value of hard work, ownership, and self-sustainability

The interesting fact to be seen here is in established companies like Google where there is 84%

satisfaction rate, employees leave the organisation with in an year. But in companies like Foradian

Technologies where there are very few benefits attrition rate is only 8%. The Gen Y employees are not

leaving the organisations so early here.

Page | 12

8. Suggestions and findings:

There are examples of organizations where the employee satisfaction is as high as 84% however the

turnover rate is high and there are small startups where the employees do not get all the privileges of

bigger organizations but they stay back and strive for the smaller organizations.

This explains the tendency of Gen Y which is not so just focused on high pay and comforts but

determined to make a difference in every place they step in.

From the primary research it is found that Gen Y links passion with work. Professional commitment

comes from truly engaging experience. They are booming with entrepreneurial skills. The reason for high

turnover rate in bigger organisations with favourable workplaces is that they are failing to leverage on the

entrepreneurial skills of their employees. If these skills can be fostered in large companies there are high

chances of bringing down the attrition rate.

Regarding smaller organisations and start-ups the retention rates are high as long as basic requirements of

Gen Y are fulfilled and employees are given freedom to innovate, create and take responsibility.

Conclusion

Real engagement in the work itself comes as a result of the trust you place in employees to take the right

action using the resources at their disposal. When decisions are made by senior executives far from the

front line, it is little wonder that Gen Y workers are unenthusiastic about implementing them! Give them

the power to quickly initiate and implement innovative ideas, and engagement will follow.

Managers should exist to support the energetic efforts of young workers, enabling and coaching rather

than deciding and directing. They should provide greater access to knowledge and collaborative networks.

They should make it easy for employees to build horizontal networks that span organizational boundaries

and tap diverse areas of expertise. They should enable employees to temporarily step out of formal lines

of management and join forces fluidly to respond to market opportunities. Management could be held

accountable in that inverted role.

Page | 13

9. Sources of information:

http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-downloads/2014%20Reports/nielsen-

millennial-report-feb-2014.pdf

https://hbr.org/2012/09/solving-gen-ys-passion-problem

https://hbr.org/2013/05/handing-the-keys-to-gen-y

http://voices.mckinseyonsociety.com/patrick-dowd-millennial-trains-project/

http://yourstory.com/2012/02/5-hr-policies-that-worked-for-my-startup/

http://trak.in/tags/business/2012/03/09/top-companies-india-managing-employee-expectation/

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/blogs/press-here/Despite-Employee-Perks-Google-Has-High-Turnover-

217417931.html

http://yourstory.com/2012/02/5-hr-policies-that-worked-for-my-startup/

http://www.fastcompany.com/1824235/8-reasons-choose-startup-over-corporate-job

http://www.sunlife.ca/static/canada/Sponsor/Bright%20papers/GenY%20BrightPaper%20E.pdf

http://www.princetonone.com/news/PrincetonOne%20White%20Paper2.pdf

http://www.andersonperformance.com/naeeEngageGenY.php

http://www.techworld.com/news/startups/generation-y-lead-digital-innovation-but-are-failed-by-firms-

3595044/

http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/small-business/hiring-process/gen-y-small-business.aspx

http://www.quintcareers.com/recruit_retain_Gen-Y.html