coed Soar pele ae eee ee IT Ti(--Sgenerations The generation gap he war for talent is no longer about recrult- ing the ‘best and brightest’ To win the war So says author and human capi Henry, She says that anyone who dou! need to caurt the younger gene! sider labour supply projections. According to Federal Government figures 178,000 people joined the workforce for the ist time last year. However, by 2020, the yearly average number of ‘new! workers in Australia could have dropped as low as 12,500. Ms Henry is @ Boomer who worked for a string of blue chips including Westpac, UBS Wahlberg Clayton Utz. After years heading finance iments, Ms Henry crossed to human fesources and now runs her own company, AH Revelations. Ms Henry says that 59% of the available workers today are Gen X and Y. Therefore the big challenge for organisations ~ both large and small ~ is to develop management styles that attract and retain Gen X and ¥. So what are Gen X and ¥ all about? Ms Henry describes Gen X as the first of the atch key’ kids who came home to an empty house while both parents worked. They are what suspicious of management. If they value their job, they wil stay ‘or between two and five years, Gen X da not define themselves by work. They think nothing of asking foramonth or two of unpaid leave to climb a mountain or work in an overse orphanage. I professional Gen X women choose to have children, they are likely to have their frst baby somewhere between 38 and 4) Y will have up to five careers and more 20 employers. Many will have obtained two degrees by age 30 - most probably in two Unrelated disciplines. Happy Gen Ys will stay for as long as two years. Unhappy cones will eave as quickly as six days after they start a new role, Many Gen Ys e parents divorced. In 2 also from homes whe want to marry and have thelr first child while in their 20s and Gen Y dads want to be hands on parents, Ms Henry points out that many G er Gen X saw their parent the mass redundancies ofthe late “They made up their minds then that organisations feel! Ms Henty ssid. As a Y are loyal to themseWves 1d, Loyalty to don’ care hove pas ult both Gen X ar rst anda good ma organisations was ancient history. Gen X and Y want feedb: access to learning and de. ties, Gen X want Y enjoy collaborative work environments. and eet respect from managers. coaching and pment opportuni= ptions’ and ‘challenge’. Gen Ms Henry said this means great change for Australian organisations managed by people schooled in command and control She said managers were stil reluctant to provide feedback on poor performance for fear upsetting staff. However, they were equally uncomfortable with providing positive feedback big heads! 9 develop conflict resolution to manage poor performance and in how to coach staff” Ms Henry said. “We invest in technical development and produc it not management development” Color de Xouy 1. Veterans were bon prior io 1946, They typically stuck with one organ sation, profession or industry all their ‘working life. 2. Baby boomers were bon between 4946 and 1964, Rebels in their youth, they settled down in their 305 and 40s to become faitly conservative, 8. Generation X, born between 1965 and 1979, are independent yet want lots of feedback so they can be better ‘managers than their managers. 4, Generation Y, born from 1980, want to work in an atmosphere of mutual respect and enjoy collaborative work environments.