futuro lavoro internet social network azienda generazione Y Young people and employment: from onboarding to Generation Mix management.
futuro
lavoro
internet social network
azienda
generazione Y
Young people and employment:from onboarding to GenerationMix management.
Abstract from 2011 Research
"Does this kid want to teach us how to run our business?"
In spite of many highly principled statements and pronouncements to the effect that young people
should be valued for the innovation potential they bear, the harsh corporate reality is that the way
ahead for young resources is strewn with difficulties and survival trials.
Young hires are often prone to showing somewhat reckless expectations and behaviours. Their
outlandish requests for cutting-edge hardware and applications are seldom understood by
employers. Likewise, the flair with which they seamlessly cross boundaries between business and
private life, between the company intranet and the social networks (often revealing sensitive
information), makes security-conscious employers cringe.
While it may be a cliché, companies are often still entangled in very stringent and formalistic
organisational processes. Their very infrastructure and the restrictions placed on the use of certain
applications hardly offer a fostering environment for "digital natives" to reach the potential they are
capable of. Young people indeed seem to show a certain degree of intolerance for the constraints
placed on their creativity and initiative within the organisation.
Businesses, in turn, while they still do not appear mature enough to radically change their nature
(with the possible exception of high-tech companies), are nonetheless wondering what would be the
most fertile ground for promoting dialogue with today's new hires and those of the coming years.
This will inevitably open doors to the knowledge workers' entire web social culture.
The current research project was developed on these premises and falls within the framework of
Fondazione ISTUD's permanent monitoring of the relationship between young people and the
employment world. Over the past four years (2008-2011) the latter has placed its focus squarely on
the Generation Y segment, young people born in the Eighties who are now in a transition phase
between college and employment, or who just joined the workforce.
In keeping with the findings of recent years, our research set out to investigate two specific
dimensions of the relationship between young people and companies that pose complex challenges
for both actors in their attempt to reconcile each other's expectations:
- the logics and policies supporting the socialisation of young people in the organisation
- the dynamics associated with managing the generation mix.
Our research investigated, on the one hand, the company onboarding processes for young hires in
order to identify their strengths, critical points and areas for improvement, and to engineer specific
organisational policies.
On the other hand, a special focus was placed on the dynamics associated with the presence in the
organisation of employees belonging to different generational groups. This had the aim of
identifying the main critical areas and friction points, and to recommend concrete action steps to
minimize conflicts and grow the potential inherent in each group.
In line with Fondazione ISTUD's well-established approach, the investigation of such themes has
been conducted with three distinct, yet complementary, group perspectives in mind: the young
college students about to enter the employment world; the young hires who just joined an
organisation, and the company managers who must work with the latter.
To compare the different perspectives, an assortment of activities was devised combining different
research tools and methodologies:
- an extensive survey conducted through the administration of a questionnaire
o to a population of 1,600 university students coming from different geographical
areas and enrolled in various degree programmes;
o to a population made up by members of the Prospera community –– one of the
project partners –– which comprises around 1,000 executives and professionals;
- a cycle of focus groups
o with students from four Italian universities;
o with about one hundred young employees of project partner companies;
o with some sixty senior managers from project partner companies.
A longitudinal view of the data resulting from the extensive phase of our survey not only serves the
purpose of capturing Gen Y's orientations, values and professional choices, but also allows to
identify any variances with the evidence of previous surveys.
It may appear unusual to mention "variances" and "trend reversals" in the orientations of young
people, especially because of the limited timeframe between data acquisitions, but one must
consider two fundamental variables influencing the investigative setting:
- the first consideration involves the strong short-term focus, which is a trademark of
Generation Y. The young people's concentration on the pursuit of short-term goals may lead
to frequent priority shifts on their part, either when the wanted goals have been achieved,
or when the young choose to desist and move on to new, more interesting objectives;
- the second consideration relates to the socio-economic context in which this survey was
conducted. The last four years have been marked by a vacillating trend shared by the job
market and the economy, Italian and worldwide. Moments of tranquillity and occupational
growth (our first survey was conducted in early 2008, i.e. before the first wave of the global
crisis) were followed by stages of recession and partial growth (the slight recovery in
employment of the second half of 2009), all the way to the fears for a national economy
default. Such uncertain climate is bound to affect young people's orientations and may
therefore cause suddenly shifting priorities in their professional choices.
Some partially new findings of this year's research need to be analysed in just this perspective.
We are mainly referring to the growing need for security expressed by a part of the population. It
was predominantly young people from Southern Italy who underscored this need by showing a
growing interest in public service competitions, a time-honoured symbol of job security.
Compared to previous years, students from other geographical areas meanwhile expressed a waning
propensity for rewarding –– albeit potentially risky –– opportunities, such as starting a business or
becoming self-employed. It is also extremely likely that the current climate of uncertainty is pushing
young people to make career choices that do not really reflect their inclinations and abilities. Should
this be the case, it would amount to a partially reversed trend in comparison with studies from
previous years, which highlighted the young people's tendency to shy away from work environments
that did not conform to their aspirations. It would also send a warning sign to the extent that
surrendering their dreams and aspirations –– albeit temporarily, one would hope –– could dampen
this generation's potential for enthusiasm, creativity and initiative.
As regards the policies for young employee socialization, evidence brought to light by our research
would suggest that formal induction plans currently in place show ample space for improvement .
In particular, interviews with new hires and line managers have emphasised the central role played
by informal socialisation processes. Both actors and practices operate here in parallel with the
formal processes and prove crucial in promoting the new entrants' socialisation, while however
conditioning it in ways that are not always consistent. Informal channels do indeed manifest
themselves as being more individualised, more directly related to the daily work routine and better
suited to effectively convey the unwritten rules of organisational life. By way of summary, it appears
increasingly essential to explore ways in which formal and informal practices of socialisation may be
more effectively integrated by exploring new forms of cooperation between HR specialists and line
management. On a more general level, partially conflicting interests should be reconciled. On the
one hand, there is the need to harmonise and systematise the socialisation processes in light of the
organisation's general goals, On the other, there's the need to make such processes more effective
through individualisation and by grounding them in the daily work experience.
Finally, as for managing the generation mix, there has been a confirmation of the postulated
differences in orientations, attitudes, expectations, and outlooks among the various generations
now coexisting in the workforce: Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. It has also been
observed how deep and complex were the management implications of such diversity in
perspectives and perceptions of the professional and organisational experience. They involved
communication processes, compensation and career plans, leadership styles and the utilisation of
new technologies. To identify and experiment with new ways of achieving better intergenerational
integration –– thus allowing to overcome what has often proved to be mutual prejudice –– now
stands as a top priority for any organization wishing to enhance its human capital.