Gen y Report_nov2012_summary No Fsc

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Sue Honor

Carina Paine Schofield

November 2012

CULTURE SHOCK

Generation Y and their

managers around the world

Executive Summary


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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank everyone who participated in this research, not only for generously giving

up their time but for their free and frank views on a topical subject.

Participating organisations are listed in the Appendix.

We would particularly like to acknowledge the interviewers and survey distributors: Rebecca Coatswith,

Rory Hendrikz, Pushpa Prashara, Trudi West, Linda Elomari (Emirates Foundation) and the team at

Petronas Leadership Centre in Malaysia. Also our colleagues: a special mention for Eileen Mullins; Judy Curd,

Ayiesha Russell, Helen Lockett, Emma Bradbury, Annette Weston, Khaldoon Al Doory and Jackie Carter, as

well as the Institute of Leadership and Management for their partnership in the UK survey in 2011.

The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the individuals who were interviewed in

compiling this report and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Ashridge.

Ashridge Business School

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part

of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Ashridge.


Berkhamsted

Hertfordshire

HP4 1NS

United Kingdom

www.ashridge.org.uk

ISBN 978-0-903542-87-6


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INTROD

UCTION

Who is Generation Y?Generation Y (Gen Y) is the group of people

under 30 years old. In recent years there has

been much publicity about how widely different

this generation is from those who have gone

before. Gen Y is often classied negatively

as consisting of disenfranchised, antisocial

technophiles with short attention spans and

poor communication skills. Media articles

therefore focus on character traits, motivating

young people and how older generations can

adapt to Gen Y. The reality for the workplace is

far more complex.

Overall, there is a consensus that Gen Y:

has grown up in a very different environment

to previous generations

comes to the workplace with different skills

is motivated by different things

thinks differently about learning and

development

approaches work relationships differently.

Gen Y is not a group of homogenous clones.

It is made up of individuals with a wide range of

skills and behaviours. Yet some common trends

are appearing in both this generation and theworkplace that require attention and analysis.

Gen Y is the same across the world. It is

the gap with their managers that creates the

differences

INTRODUCTION

1


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2

INTROD

UCTION

International perspective

The world has changed dramatically, so both

the global economy and local culture have had

an impact on Gen Y. As one of our interviewees

said: Each generation grows up with an

economy that inuences the perception of what

the world is and what the future will be. Rapid

changes in technology, communication, human

resourcing and business models, combined withshifting political and cultural norms provide a very

different background to Gen Ys workplace when

compared to that of their parents.

Although Ashridge research has found many

aspects of Gen Y that apply around the world,

such as their focus on self, peer orientation rather

than respect for hierarchy and a preference for a

strong work/life balance, there are other areas of

local emphasis (Fig. 1). In India, technology is a

strong driver of Gen Y in the work environment.

In the Middle East, the multi-national aspect of

business combined with an increasing numberof locals educated abroad and returning is

affecting how Gen Y approaches work. In China

the one child policy has created a very strong

view of a spoilt and cossetted generation. In the

UK a lack of career direction with frequent job

experimentation and orientation towards fun at

work is noticeable. In Malaysia, although moreloyal to their companies than elsewhere,

Gen Y seeks international experience and varied

careers. None of these characteristics is uniqueto a geographical region. They apply everywhere,

but have a stronger emphasis in different parts of

the world.

The economic and cultural changes in the last

forty years have in fact impacted more on themanagers of Gen Y who have had to live through

those changes. It has also meant that Gen Y is

dealing with bosses who struggle to adapt tothe approach to work that young people bring.

There is puzzlement and sometimes frustration

on both sides, who view the world of workthrough different lenses. As the Baby Boomers

and Generation X make way for the leaders of

the future, all generations need to review their

differences and nd new ways of working for thefuture.

As a manager in the UK National Health Service

put it: They are so energetic and refreshing. But

how do you harness it in a way that benets thecompany and Gen Y?

Intelligent

Questioning

Connected

Flexible

Ambitious

Gen Y

Experimenting

Multi-national

Technology

Mobility

Fig. 1: Shared and local cultural strengths in Gen Y

Four years ago I was quite sceptical about how

dramatic changes would be with Gen Y in the

workplace. Now I can see them, really see them

European HR executive


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3

INTROD

UCTION

Our current research behaviours andinternational comparisonsThis phase builds upon our previous Ashridge

research into Gen Y (see Appendix for earlier

reports). Based on our ndings to date, on

questions repeatedly asked by existing and

potential clients, and from open debate in the

media, we decided to:

1. explore the manager-graduate relationshipin the rst few years of work and

expectations of managers, graduates and

organisations for their future leaders

2. investigate Generation Y outside the

Western world, focusing on the Middle

East, India, Malaysia and China

in order to provide:

in-depth examples/case studies

international comparisons

recommendations and suggestions based

on experience.

Research method

The current research phase took place between

October 2011 and August 2012.

An online survey was sent to international

respondents and made available via the

Ashridge website. This survey mirrored the one

used in the UK and Western nations in early

2011. The only difference between the two

surveys is that the international version was

designed to be 100% multiple-choice ratherthan have open questions, in order to make

processing easier. The options for the questions

were based on the replies given in the 2011

survey. The international survey was available in

English and Arabic.

Interviews/focus groups were also conducted

with recent graduates with fewer than ve years

of full-time work experience, together with

managers/HR staff and senior executives who

have experience of working with Generation Y

employees. The interviews were mostly

face-to-face although some were conducted bytelephone.

An interview template was developed based

on the ndings from our previous research,

questions of interest expressed from existing

and potential clients and existing literature.

Topics for both the survey and interviews

included:

expectations of work

preparation for work and recruitment

induction and development including new

models/approaches

attitudes towards work

motivation and career progression

relationships between graduates and

managers

perceptions of managers or graduates

key graduate/manager behavioural

differences.

Research population anddemographics

A total of 96 people took part in the interviews/

focus groups, split evenly between recent

graduates and managers/senior executives.

They came from the UK, Middle East, India,

Malaysia and China.

The survey was completed by 2895

respondents of whom 1106 were managers

and 1789 were graduates. Please see the

note below about the actual countries

involved in this research. The survey

demographics are:

Age

The managers were mostly in Generation X

(aged 30-50 years) and most were under 40

(58% in Middle East; 62% in India and Malaysia

but only 43% in UK). From all four regions

85%-87% of the graduates were under 30.

Gender

Although the UK manager population showed

a balance of genders, the other managers weremostly male. Apart from India (73% male), the

graduate population was more evenly spread in

terms of gender.

Life experience sums it up. Gen Y are

intelligent but lack life skills

UK manager


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4

INTROD

UCTION

Business sector

In the Middle East, the respondents were

mostly in the public sector. The Indians and

Malaysians were strongly private sector

workers, but the UK had a more even

public/private split.

Complete demographic data is available in the

full report on this research.

To obtain a copy of the full research

report or for more information,

please contact:

[email protected]

Note that throughout this report, international

data is grouped into four core regions. The

first is the Middle East: mainly the UAE, but

also Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Middle

Eastern countries; the second is mostly India

but includes Sri Lanka, and the third largely

Malaysia but includes Singapore/Hong Kong.

The final region is labelled as UK, but also

includes North America and continental Europe.These regions are listed throughout this report

as Middle East, India, Malaysia and UKbut

are not exclusive to specific countries. The

Chinese data was not large enough to include

in the survey results so all Chinese information

is based on interviews.

Key themes

By combining the results from the survey and

the interviews, four key themes emerged from

this research. The content of the four sections

is explored in more depth in the full report and

includes:

Expectationsof work, employee turnover

and external inuences Work experience, development and

maturity

National and corporate culture

Attitudes and behaviour, relationships

and work/life balance.

This document is a summary of the research.

Each section of the full report contains a

commentary, case studies/real experience,

quotes from our interviewees, statistics from thesurvey and some summary recommendations.

Expectationsand turnover

Attitudesand

behaviourExperience

Culture

The worldof work

Upbr

inging

Technol

ogy

Worldeven

ts

S

oc

iety

The biggest disbelievers about the change in

working life are the Board, and they have the

power in this organisation

UK manager


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5

EXPECT

ATIONSANDTURNOVER

I dont know if it is Gen Ys expectations

that are wrong, or if it is the workplace

International business leader

EXPECTATIONS AND

TURNOVER


Attitudesand

behaviourExperience

Culture

The worldof work

Upbr

inging

Techno

logy

Worldeven

ts

S

ociety

The biggest concern for the worldwide

managers we interviewed is the issue of

retention of young people. Compared to

the past, they see that graduates have little

patience with a job and will leave quickly if

they feel it doesnt meet their own personal

ideals. As one UK manager notes: They dont

always deal well with the unexpected and revert

quickly to the plan as it relates to their own

personal expectations rather than the need of

the organisation.

There also appears to be less focus in young

graduates in what they want from a job and

where they are happiest. It may be due to the

rapid pace of change in todays world or to

less of an emphasis from young people on the

importance of work in their overall lives. The job

market has moved on from when the managers

started work. As an international business

leader comments: The world has changed.

Industries may become obsolete overnight,

which wasnt the case 20-40 years ago.

The graduates left us with the impression of

uncertainty in terms of work. A typical comment

from one young interviewee was: When I left

university I didnt have a clue. I just wanted to

save money and travel.

Managers feel strongly that todays graduates

lack work experience compared to previous

generations, although these comments are

probably translatable into life skills rather

than hands-on work tasks, as many managers

admitted having little experience of workwhen they started. The graduates have high

expectations of responsibility, progression

and challenging, interesting work where they

can make changes. The managers have

expectations of excellent skills, teamwork

and adaptation to the organisation. There is a

mismatch.

The picture is not all negative. There are

organisations and individuals that thrive with

graduates in their midst, who retain them and

where both experienced and new staff learn

from each other. There are other organisations

which have understood their value as excellent

developers of people even if those young

people move on. We had plenty of examples

of managers who have gone back to the roots


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7

EXPECT

ATIONSANDTURNOVER

There is an element of come in, get a bit

of experience, then Oh, Im going to follow

that shiny red balloon over thereInternational executive

Graduates do not aspire to the jobs of their

more mature colleagues.

Graduates have strong external peer

networks which managers should exploit

more. Graduates struggle however with

building internal work networks ofnon-peers.

Graduates cite university as most

inuential in preparing them for work.

Managers think universities do not develop

key skills for the workplace.

Organisations facing the reality of high

turnover are looking to gain reputationand brand as a great people developer

company.

100%

Percent

Foreign languages

Interpersonal and

communication skills

Technical and

professional

Leadership and

management

Experience of work

90%

80%

70%

50%

60%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Fig 3: Missing skills in graduates

Middle

East

grads mgrs

UK

mgrsgrads

Malaysia

grads mgrs

India

grads mgrs

Missing skills in graduates as seen by graduates and managers by country


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EXPE

RIENCE

One key issue that emerged from our research

was the lack of experience in young people,

possibly due to frequent job changes and lack

of life skills. Globally, managers are seriously

concerned that leaders of the future are not

gaining real experience, either rst hand or from

others, to allow them to judge risk and makebetter decisions.

Managers discussed a number of different

approaches to ensure that graduates gained

experience quickly. Many companies are

developing internal world of work courses

for new graduates. Others are looking at

improved methods of coaching and mentoring.

Knowledge management, particularly

with experienced Baby Boomers leaving

organisations, is gaining more attention. For

those organisations with the infrastructure

and people to manage such schemes, in at

the deep end programmes giving graduates

high levels of responsibility early on withfall-back support are successful. Fast-track

talent management initiatives are also being

reviewed to ensure that reection and learning

are sufcient to give depth as well as breadth

to leaders of the future. There is one question

that managers ask how do you get graduates

to realise that staying put to gain experience is

more valuable than constantly moving jobs?

If things do not work out at one

organisation, they will move on. They dont

feel a need to go through the pains of

rectifying the problemsIndian executive

EXPERIENCE


Attitudesand

behaviourExperience

Culture

The worldof work

Upbr

inging

Techno

logy

Worldeven

ts

S

o

ciety


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9

EXPERI

ENCE

Progression is based on competence and

performance, not on time

UAE manager

Key research findings on this theme

Graduates are missing out on in-depth

experience at work due to rapid job

changes and are not gaining the decision-

making skills needed as future leaders.

Gen Y needs development in soft skills,

particularly face-to-face behaviour.

Ofce etiquette, respect, teamwork and

political behaviour are important areas fordevelopment.

Graduates want and need coaching and

mentoring from other staff to improve these

people skills and to help them take more

ownership for their own development.

40% - 70% of graduates want their

managers as a coach or mentor, with the

Middle East being the lowest and Malaysia

the highest. It is important to provide on-boarding

education in expectations of behaviour at

work early on in a graduates employment.

Managers need to review the existing

behaviour norms in an organisation and

understand which are value-added and

which are just historical habits.

Graduates often intimidate managers by

their forthright behaviour and questioning

stance. In many cases graduates are not

as condent as they seem.

Thirty is the new Twenty. Graduates are

enjoying their twenties exploring jobs and

having a good work/life balance. They settle

at thirty and will end up working later in life

than their current managers.

100%

Percent

Peer

Invisible

Allocator of work

Friend

Coach/mentor

90%

80%

70%

50%

60%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Midd

leEast

India

Malaysia UK

Fig. 4: Cumulative percentage of graduates who want their managers in certain roles

Graduates ideal relationship with manager


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10

C

ULTURE

There are two aspects to culture the national

culture of the country or region, and the internal

culture of the organisation.

In the last 40 years or so there have been

enormous global changes in business, with the

rise of Asian manufacturing and back ofce

support capabilities and the worldwide criticality

of key resources such as oil and raw materials

for technology. Our international interviews

and survey showed that these changes were

having a major impact and challenging some of

the more traditional cultural behaviours as the

global business world shrinks. At the same time

national culture was seen as a core strength in

business success and in particular in respectful

conduct in todays fast-paced world. National

culture plays a strong part in the behaviour

of both the managers and graduates we

interviewed, but mostly the managers. In theMiddle East, India, Malaysia and China there is

a greater respect for the hierarchy than in the

US/UK/Europe. Decision-making processes are

therefore more likely to be restricted to a small

senior team and not transparent or accessible

to those lower down the organisation. This

behaviour causes frustration in younger

people, especially those who have worked in

multinational organisations or lived abroad.

Family ties for Gen Y are strong all over theworld, more so than for previous generations,

creating a reluctance for young people to

move abroad to gain additional experience,

but certain cultural aspects may make it more

of a challenge for some communities. Women

are beginning to make strong headway in parts

of the world where very recently they had not

been considered in more senior roles. Cultural

traditions also impact skills such as the verbal

culture in the Middle East and a strong written

culture in India. Historical views on state-owned

vs. capitalist business models affect careerchoices in young people in China and the

Middle East, where the public sector is seen as

more familiar and safe.

We can look out the window and see first

world infrastructure. It is very easy to change

buildings. It is very difficult to change people

UAE senior manager

CULTURE


Attitudesand

behaviourExperience

Culture

The worldof work

Upbr

inging

Techno

logy

Worldeven

ts

S

o

ciety


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CULTUR

E

I dont think we recruit young people who

fit the culture of this company

UK manager

In reviewing corporate culture, we found several

companies which had a strong culture and

clear view of the types of individual and the

behaviours required to make the organisation a

success. There were also extreme frustrations

from both graduates and managers in a variety

of organisations, in both public and private

sectors, where there was a mist between

the culture and the graduates, or between the

perceptions of the culture by different people.

Individual managers are questioning their

corporate approach to recruitment of young

people, especially in the UK. A number of

organisations are looking at novel ways of

engaging Gen Y and improving loyalty.

Key research findings on this theme A rapidly changing culture and society in the

Middle East and China have a major impact

on the relationship between Gen Y and their

managers. The cultural history impacts

Gen Ys expectation of promotion, of

women in management and of the business

sector in which to work in the Middle East.

Lack of management transparency in

decision-making is one of the major MiddleEast issues for Gen Y. It is also a challenge

in Malaysia.

Respect for elders is still strong in Eastern

cultures, where it is highly valued. Western

nations have more issues in this area

concerning Gen Y.

Similar cultural challenges may be found

throughout the world; they just have different

emphases in different countries.

When recruiting graduates it is better to

emphasise attitude to work and match tothe organisational culture than degree level

or university attended.

90%

Percent

80%

70%

60%

50%

Midd

le

East Ind

ia

Mala

ysia UK

Recommend thisorganisation as a

great place to work

I am proud to work

here

Fig. 5: Proud of organisation compared to recommending it as a great place to work

Graduates view of organisation


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12

C

ULTURE

Without eliminating the old practice we

need to blend in both old and new

Malaysian graduate

Worldwide, graduates are proud to work

for their organisations (72-87% agreeing/

strongly agreeing) but are less keen on

recommending their organisation to others.

Malaysia and India have the largest gaps

between pride and recommendation.

Gen Y craves public recognition for work

well done. Young people also react well

to motivational activities that embed them

in the culture and exploit their interest in

entrepreneurial activities.

Young people can act as a valuable asset in

detecting high quality people managers in

the organisation. They compete to work for

those key managers.


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ATTITUDESANDBEHAVIO

UR

There are a number of areas where young

people and managers have widely different

attitudes, and these differing approaches

impact both productivity and longevity in

graduate jobs. Key areas from this research

include:

Views on the graduate/manager relationship

Attitudes to progression

Respect and trust

Communication

Feedback both positive and negative

Work/life balance

Focus on self vs. focus on

team/organisation.

In general our graduates felt that they got on

well with their immediate managers, although

they struggled with more senior executivesdue to differing communication styles. Many

graduates found their immediate line managers

who were close in age to be easier

to communicate with, yet others found

younger managers more competitive with them

in terms of career progression. Graduates

felt that many leaders were more focused on

heading for retirement and unlikely to champion

change. The managers on the other hand

admired the intelligence and energy of theirgraduates but struggled on many other fronts

with them. They saw them as seeking

personal fame and recognition with less of

a focus on teamwork and less respect for

experience.

Work/life balance is in the minds of both

managers and graduates. Graduates do not

live to work and want both interesting work

and plenty of leisure time. Managers are now

seeking more leisure, having worked hard

since leaving school/university; some are

burning out with stress. Graduates do not wantthis lifestyle and that creates a challenge for

talent management and succession planning

initiatives.

I dont have experience of being brought

up in a different time period. I wish I did.

I could understand Gen Y better

UK scientific manager

ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR


Attitudesand

behaviourExperience

Culture

The worldof work

Upbr

inging

Technology

Worldeven

ts

S

o

ciety


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14

AT

TITUDES

AND

BEH

AVIOUR

It is obvious that the world of work has

changed considerably in the last 20 years,

particularly impacting human behaviour and

interaction. As a senior executive in India put

it: In our day the management approach was

paternalistic. We were taught how to behave

and we would follow orders. There is now a

new way of doing things. Good organisations

and individuals are nding the best ways to

move into this brave new world.

16%of graduates in the Middle East saytheir managers are invisible

Key research findings on this theme

Managers admire graduates for their

intelligence, new ways of viewing the world

and their energy. They want them to t into

the workplace and work hard.

Graduates admire managers for their

experience and support. They value people

who listen to them, operate an open-door

policy and are available when they needthem.

On the negative side, graduates see

managers as coasting towards retirement,

uninterested in pushing through change,

acting in a superior way, not communicating

decisions and information, and unavailable.

In some cases where managers are close in

age, new graduates nd that they may be

competitive in terms of advancement.

Managers dislike the self-focus of

graduates, their forceful communication,over-condence and lack of teamwork and

respect.

Graduates worldwide want a manager

as a coach/mentor. Managers do see

themselves as fullling this role, but their

graduates do not think they succeed.

Gen Y has grown up in an era of equality of

status and like their managers to be a peer

or a friend. Managers are less comfortable

with this status.

Gen Y sees their managers as a director/

allocator of work more than the managers

think they are. 26% of Middle East

graduates see their manager this way but

only 6% of their managers believe they act

as a directorial person.

Graduates, with the exception of Malaysia,

are less likely to do work at home than their

managers.


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ATTITUDESANDBEHAVIO

UR

Between 54% and 81% of all employees

do personal tasks at work, reecting a more

blended approach to the work day. 40% of

Indian gradates however claim never to doany personal tasks during work time.

Managers are seen as burning out through

heavy workload. Graduates are more likely

to value and ring-fence their leisure time

than their managers.

The biggest challenge for managers

is managing the expectations of their

graduates. 66% of Malaysian managers

claim this is the case. 33% of Indian

managers nd attracting and retaining

young people is their greatest challenge.

The best advice for young people worldwide

from previous graduates is get work

experience. Managers also recommend

developing emotional intelligence andpeople skills.

Both managers and Gen Y need to adapt to

the changing world of work. They view the

workplace through different lenses and both

sides need to focus on seeing the other

viewpoint.

70%

Percen

t

50%

60%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

M

anaging

expec

tatio

ns

Attra

cting/retaini

ng

youngp

eople

Unde

rstand

ingwork

approa

chofyo

ung

peo

ple

De

velop

ing

missin

gskills

Managin

gag

e

grou

pdiffe

renc

es

M

otiva

tion

Career

develo

pment

Middle East

India

Malaysia

Fig. 7: Biggest challenges for managers of young people

Biggest challenges for managers

Sometimes I think my manager feels

threatened by me

Graduate


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16

AT

TITUDES

AND

BEH

AVIOUR

Middle East Graduates Middle East Managers

India Graduates India Managers

Malaysia Graduates Malaysia Managers

Never Up to 1-2 times a week Usually/Always

UK Graduates UK Managers

Fig. 6: Doing personal tasks during work time


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17

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSIONThere is a key message from each of the four

themes explored in this report:

Expectations

Graduates expect responsibility and support

and believe they need development in technicalskills; managers expect them to t into the

culture, work hard and develop their emotional

intelligence and people skills.

Experience

For success in leadership decision-making

and risk-taking, graduates need to gain deeper

experience. Organisations need to support

graduates in gaining this experience, either rst

or second-hand. Graduates need to review their

desire for frequent job changes.

Culture

National culture does have an impact on the way

graduates and managers view the world of work,

but in a global economy it impacts managers

more than graduates. It is important to hire

those who t the corporate culture and to review

that culture to see what is fundamental to the

organisation and which practices are no longer

important.

Attitudes and behaviour

Managers and graduates view the world through

different lenses. Both managers and graduates

need to be aware that they may be focused too

much on their own view of the future and need

to understand how they are perceived, dene

common goals and work together.

The world is shrinking and the work environment

is changing. Businesses are appearing and

disappearing and job skill requirements are

evolving. The Gen Y workers may want to

explore many different types of job before they

reach 30 and organisations may want to employ

more temporary or contract labour. Loyalty to

organisations has been replaced by loyalty to

brands and to personal contacts or friends

gained through social media.

As one of our international business leaders

commented: When I grew up cell phones and

the internet didnt exist. Nokia were making

rubber boots and tyres for cars. I cant tell you

what the world will look like in 20 years time,

but if you are well equipped to participate in the

changes then that is the best advice I can give.

Work/life balance has become more important

for workers of all ages. Gen Y does not want to

end up as the burnt-out senior managers they

see today, and organisation leaders and HR

executives are noticing that there needs to be adifferent work model.

Gen Y members speak loudly and make their

voices heard. The leaders of organisations need

to have a hard think about what is essential in the

business and what is not, how new methods of

communication and behaviour can be adopted,

how recruitment and progression are designed to

t the organisational culture and future direction

and how they can mentor or coach young

people in the people skills needed to become

leaders of the future. Young graduates need to

think more carefully about how and when theycommunicate, how to t into the cultural and

standards of respect of the organisation and how

to become a team player. Most importantly they

need to consider how to gain valued experience

and emotional intelligence to make them more

employable and to have the patience to gain that

experience in depth.

There is a future and it is different. Gen Y, with

some help from their experienced colleagues,

can lead the way.

The difference between us is really a

matter of perspective and attitude

UK Manager


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18

CONC

LUSION

Hire, develop and retain thosewho fit

Manager recommendations

Recruit for culture and work ethic as priorities.

Set boundaries for behaviour and

expectations early on in career.

Develop those missing skills early mostly

soft skills but may also include those

missed from the education system such as

languages, budgeting, risk-assessment and

analysis.

Provide quality coaching and mentoring that

really works look at two-way mentoring to

support senior staff as well as young staff.

Volunteer if you have the skills.

Provide challenging work with scaffolding

to support young people if they look to be

making major mistakes. Mix boring tasks with

more interesting ones but explain the need for

the boring activities.

Provide public appreciation for excellent work

by Gen Y.

Have an open culture where the management

process and decisions are shared with the

company where feasible.

Reward managers for development of young

people but not for holding onto the rising

stars for too long.

Develop an HR brand of quality people

development where appropriate.

Reach out to universities/schools/clubs

to help young people understand and be

prepared for the world of work.

Have a hard look at your own behaviour and

prejudices and produce an action plan.

Conduct a strategic review for how best

to adapt the organisation for a multi-

generational, multi-cultural workforce in an

age of rapid change and changing attitudes

to work. Make sure it supports all age groups

and does not focus on just one.

Get work experience

Gen Y recommendations

Get as much work experience as possible

before starting your key rst job.

Develop those people/communication/soft

skills and work on developing emotional

intelligence. Review how others perceive you

and adapt where necessary.

Spend time watching and learning in yourearly roles. Dont be afraid to ask for help.

Respect experience and look to gain as much

as possible yourself.

Help support and develop managers where

you have key strengths they are missing.

Show a strong work ethic and commitment

to success; you will be appreciated.

Adapt to new work paradigmsFor both Managers and Gen Y

Look through the other lens try to see how

and why work colleagues behave the way

they do.

Change and compromise.

As a Malaysian manager says: Have an open

mind about other views and perspectives. At

the end of the day it is just about the difference

between people. It is not generation. Its just

people.

The leaders are not staying with the times

and many people are losing respect for them

Recent graduate


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APPENDIX

APPENDIX

Interview and focus group participants

In addition to the companies we have met

previously, and those who wish to remain

anonymous, we would like to thank the

following for contributing to our recentinterviews on Gen Y for this report:

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Afton Chemical Corporation

Aegis Media


Association of MBAs

BraveNewTalent

Centrica plc

Chiumento

CPB Group

CSC India

Cummins Inc.

Deloitte LLP

Department for Economic Development, Dubai

Emirates Foundation

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation

Ernst and Young

Federal Authority for Government Human

Resources, UAEForeign & Commonwealth Ofce

Google India Pvt Ltd.

London Borough of Bexley

London Fire Service

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

John Lewis Partnership

Malaysian Institute of Management

Mersey Care NHS Trust

(and individuals from other NHS trusts)Petronas Leadership Centre

Pyry Management Consulting

Reckitt Benckiser Group plc

SHL Group Ltd.

Sony Inc.

Statoil ASA

The Home Ofce

Time Warner Inc.

UK Border Agency

University of Warwick


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AP

PENDIX

Ashridge research into Generation Y

At Ashridge our research into Gen Y goes

beyond the media hype and stereotypes

and looks at any differences between the

generations in depth. Our research investigates:

Is Gen Y actually different from previous

generations? What has made them the waythey are?

What does Gen Y want from work and from

their managers?

Where are the conicts and issues between

generations?

What are the appropriate ways of working

with and developing this generation?

Our research programme has produced two

previous reports as well as the current one,

which can all be downloaded from

www.ashridge.org.uk/genyresearch

Great Expectations: Managing Generation Y

Research conducted in 2011 in partnership

with the Institute of Leadership & Management

(ILM) explored Gen Ys expectations of work

and the challenges of managing this generation.

Quantitative data were collected through an

online survey covering two groups of participants

graduate employees and the managers who

have day-to-day experience of working with and

supervising them.

Generation Y: Learning and Working

In 2009 we conducted a research project into

Gen Y learning and working. Qualitative

(focus groups and interviews) and quantitative

(online survey) methods were used to collect data

from participants of all generations (from Gen Y

to Baby Boomers), providing a multi-generational

view of Generation Y learning and working

including myths and realities about behaviour.

Culture Shock: Generation Y and their

managers around the world

This current document is a summary report of

the full ndings of Culture Shock: Generation Y

and their managers around the world.

To obtain a copy of the full report or for more

information please contact:

[email protected]


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About Ashridge Business School

Ashridge is a leading international business school based in Hertfordshire, England.Founded in 1959, Ashridge works with individuals and organisations from around the

world in its three core areas of executive education, research and consulting.

It is consistently highly placed in major business school rankings, including Business

Weekand the Financial Times. It is one of just a handful of business schools to be

accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB); The

European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA).

Ashridges activities and areas of expertise include:

Open and customised executive education programmes

MBA, MSc, and Doctorate degree programmes

Organisation development consultancy

Executive coaching

Applied research.

Visit www.ashridge.org.uk for more information

Research Department


Berkhamsted

HertfordshireHP4 1NS

United Kingdom

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byAshridgeDesignStudio11/12

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