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I struggle to put what I believe is an extremely diverse group of individuals in one bucket and paint them with a single, broad brush. But because the common practice has become to call them “Gen Y” or the “Millennium Workforce,” we’ll address them as such in this article. Think about what defines this group. Most surveys suggest that they want to work faster and better than their peers. In particular, many seek assignments with clear set goals and manageable deadlines. But there are also some dangerous trends emerging such as the assumption that they are ready for a far greater level of responsibility than they realistically are on their first day on the job. 

As Rod Beckstrom writes in his book, The Starfish and the Spider, the traditional pre-WWI command and control organizational structure is simply too much of my grandfather’s mentality for this group. Many tend to have a very short attention span. They get restless quickly, and similar to the notion of “if they don’t like your movie, they can get up and leave,” they are likely to do the same with any job. Bruce Tulgan, author of Managing the Generation Mix, says Gen Y, “is like Gen X on steroids. They walk in with high expectations for themselves, their boss, and their employer. If you thought you saw a clash when Gen X came into the workforce, that was the fake punch. The haymaker is coming now. 

So how do you supervise, lead, and approach this next generation of high potentials? In our experience, many are particularly bright and ambitious, but also have a “spoiled brat” mentality. Technology is very much in their DNA. They seek instant gratification and thrive on challenging much of what their older peers believe to be best practices. A particularly unique characteristic of this group is their command of technology and the fundamental belief that anyone who doesn’t embrace the absolute bleeding edge of technology will simply be left behind.

This future fabric of the workforce is the fastest growing segment of the labor pool and, to many, they are clear trendsetters in the transformation of organizations of all types, size, industry and geographic presence. We believe their hardwiring is unique as evidenced by their ability to electronically multi-task via platforms such as Google, instant messaging, and texting. They possess multi-processing skills that even the generation before them could not envision. Our summer interns typically have 10-15 blogs open at a time. They text constantly and leverage multiple social networking sites. One could easily perceive all of this as wasting time and resources when, in fact, they are getting things done. They just happen to do it very differently than the rest of us. Many are developing a canny ability to solve problems quickly yet, in our experience, they struggle when faced with an interpersonal, face-to-face confrontational situation. They prefer distance in disagreement. Additionally, many view senior leaders as antiquated due largely to their inability to “speak the language.” This lack of communication ultimately creates an even bigger divide. 

So, what is the answer? Here are some helpful tips:

Reported by Patricia Fripp and spoken by Robert Fripp http://www.robertfrippspeaks.com

My brother, internationally acclaimed Rock and Roll guitarist, Robert Fripp, founding and on-going member of King Crimson spoke at the National Speakers Association conference in February. While we were there we attended the Jewish service. Although we are not Jewish we enjoyed the fellowship of wonderful friends. Brother said a few words that made a lasting impression on everyone in attendance. Enjoy…and learn how much you can say in a few words!

“In 1966-68, when I was 18-21, I paid my way through Bournemouth College, where I was studying economics, economic history, and political history with a special paper on social conditions 1850-1900, by playing at the Majestic Hotel in Bournemouth. The Majestic was a well-known Jewish hotel, run by Fay Schneider. The Majestic Dance Orchestra (a quintet) played 3 nights a week during the Winter and 4 nights in the Summer, accompanying visiting cabaret acts on Sundays. In addition to foxtrots, quicksteps, tangos, Jolsons fast and slow, from time to time we also played for weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. At one particular Bar Mitzvah, the Chief Rabbi addressed the congregation, and the directness of his advice and delivery continues resonating to this day. The Chief Rabbi spoke very little English, so he got to the point quickly.

He rose and spoke:

“When you go into your shop, say Hello God! and you will have good business.”

The Chief Rabbi might have said…

“May we open ourselves to the unconditioned world, that our wishing for what is real and true and moves from conscience, hope and faith, acceptance and love, moves into and permeates a world governed by fashion, advertising, taste, habit, inventions, prices of near substitutes, expectations of trends and changes in price, changes in the distribution of income and the quantity and quality of the money supply, that our professional lives might be mediated by the imperatives of necessity and sufficiency.”

But he didn’t say this: firstly, because his English wasn’t very good; and, secondly, because he wasn’t taking a course in economics at Bournemouth College.

What the Chief Rabbi did do was to convey a complex and difficult notion – the impossibility of an endless and benevolent Grace entering our ungrateful and uncaring world – in 15 words: 12 words of one syllable, 3 words of 2 syllables, and one word of three syllables but pronounced as if having two (business):

“When you go into your shop, say Hello God! and you will have good business.”

Here’s something I read that stuck with me this week. It’s from Ethics4Everyone – The Handbook for Integrity-Based Business Practices. It’s the 8-point Ethical Action Test:

1. Is it legal?
2. Does it comply with our rules and guidelines?
3. Is it in synch with our organization’s values?
4. Will I be comfortable and guilt free if I do it?
5. Does it match our stated commitments and guarantees?
6. Would I do it to my family or friends?
7. Would I be perfectly Ok with someone doing it to me?
8. Would the most ethical person I know do it?

How often do you find yourself taking this test?

Have you noticed that some meetings go much longer than they ever should? Do you ever wonder that there is a perception that everyone must speak? I often wonder, do some of these people feel that if they say nothing, they are not contributing, and that somehow, sitting in active silence is a sin punishable by death?

Say the topic of discussion is a marketing campaign. An employee can think of no legitimate criticism or valuable suggestion for improvement, so instead of saying nothing at all, he digs up an objection based on a single incident that occurred years ago at another job in a different company and sometimes, you think, on a different planet.

Another painful example to watch is the “all inclusive” types – those who deem it their fiduciary responsibility to add diversity, change management, process optimization, globalization, or in more recent trendy times, a green initiative, to every discussion.

Worse yet are those who feel compelled to ask vague questions. How do we take this to the next level? What are our best options? Think about it. Every one of these interactions adds 5-10 minutes and continued drag on endless points beyond the necessary duration. Meeting facilitators in our overly sensitive PC world have been brainwashed to say – even if they are not thinking it – that there are no stupid questions. And way too many are way too considerate to cut off the offensive parties. With each up-tick of the noise, the pressure on those who haven’t said anything increases. I know in democratic societies – not to mention our dreaded educational system, where teachers make participation 20% of the grade – “speak up and be counted” is often considered to be noble.

If you don’t become a faithful advocate of quality participation counting for more than quantity noise, you are contributing to gross negligence in the lack of candor in corporate America. Be a proponent of insightfulness, not more useless banter.

Publish agendas in advance and allow participants to prepare. End meetings early. Offer your open office door to anyone who didn’t have a chance to speak at the meeting. Never single out quiet employees with the jovial yet sarcastic, “Susan – we haven’t heard much from you today.” Don’t allow introduction of non-agenda items. And for a chance, try attending a meeting where you have nothing to add and, here is a novel idea, you add nothing! Because when the team sees that it is Ok to not add noise but instead aim to add value, they will follow suit.

Do your employees have a sense of the bigger picture?

There is a Persian story that goes something like this: A group of villagers is weaving a basket together. A wise man walks by and asks them what they are doing. The first says, “I am pushing one straw against another.” The second says, “I am making a basket.” The third answers, “I’m helping a man carry food to feed his family.”

Though they were all three working on the same project, they each saw their jobs very differently. How do your employees see their jobs? Is it as the same mundane pushing of one woven strip against another, or do they see a little bigger than that – which is the basket itself – or do they see a purpose for why they are doing what they are doing?

The difference is that the last villager was engaged. And similar to our notion of Corporate Relationship Deficit Disorder, for some reason, when we walk into our corporate offices, we leave behind many of the notions about personal relationships that we hold dear while we’re at home. Most people are more engaged in the Super Bowl than they are with their company’s results.

A very real sense of engagement is possible. We’ve seen several clients that have a very natural, sustainable, and incredibly magnetic manner in which they draw incredible talent. When employees feel engaged, they are captivated and mesmerized. They feel a strong sense of connection to not just what they are doing, but the purpose in which they are doing it.

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What are relationship savvy sales forces doing to get ahead and stay ahead in 2008? How are they not just creating, but commercializing their most valuable relationships that others can’t? How do you compare – especially if you are a publicly traded company with a looming monthly or quarterly quota expectation? Are you focused on transactions or transformations of your clients’ prospective businesses? Which relationship-centric strategies will you invest in in 2008 to improve your organization’s sales competency?

It is critical to focus on these and other fundamental questions in order to have a proactive understanding of the application of strategic relationships to sales performance. More importantly, is your organization willing and able to embrace that which it clearly understands is important – the value of relationships – as an asset that very few quantify?

In no other part of the organization than its revenue-generation engine should relationships be more intentional, strategic, and as such, quantifiable to the success of the organization. Here are our Top 10 Most Important Relationship-Centric Best Practices for Profitable Revenue Growth in 2008:

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