Gen Y in the Workforce

Facts about the case

Josh Lewis is a young staIIer at Rising Entertainment. He is Irustrated because oI his boss,
Sarah Bennett, marketing chieI. He thinks that Sarah doesn`t listen to his ideas oI using new
media to promote Iilms like making the movie theme song available Ior download Ior Guitar
hero or making one or more oI the 'Fire Force Five movies available online and embedding
teasers Ior the latest sequels within them. He thinks that she is trapped in the 1990`s when
people actually watched network TV. Rushing through his assignment Ior a team
presentation, he works up a plan and pitches it to the CEO in the hallway. The CEO loves it,
but Sarah is upset with Josh Ior going over her head - and submitting subpar work on the
presentation.

Issues involved in the case
O Josh being a Gen Y employee expects to move up the ladder quickly. This causes
some Iriction as he is not shy about telling his boss what he actually wants Irom his
job.

O t is a diIIicult attitude Ior Sarah to accept as she being a Gen X employee, grew up
valuing seniority.

O lso, Sarah didn`t give much appreciation to the new ideas oI promotion by Josh.

O She didn`t try to understand the reason behind the subpar work submitted by Josh.
Josh was Irustrated and to he did that intentionally.


O Though Josh and his Iriends were at good positions but jobs at Rising Entertainment
were not challenging enough to give job satisIaction to Gen Y employees.

O Josh didn`t try to understand the reasons behind not considering his ideas by Sarah.


O Josh didn`t respect the authority oI Sarah and passed on his ideas to CEO without
completing the work on presentation properly.


$arah and 1osh can work more effectively
Clashes between impatient Generation Y and pay-your-dues Generation X are inevitable but
certainly manageable.
O Sarah should reprimand Josh Ior bypassing her; he should respect her authority and
work with her, not around her.
O But Sarah must address Josh's Irustrations. Like many Gen Yers, he wants to know
that his work is meaningIul, and he needs constructive Ieedback on suggestions.
O Given the CEO's enthusiasm, Sarah should commend Josh's initiative but remind him
to keep her in the loop.
O Sarah and Josh also might be able to Iorge a more productive relationship iI Rising
Entertainment set up training and Ieedback programs to help integrate Gen Yers into
the workIorce, as Enterprise has.
O Josh may put his team in jeopardy by doing his assigned tasks poorly. Sarah needs to
coach him on being a team player and set clear expectations about perIormance and
communication.
O Sarah can do a much better job oI validating his good idea - perhaps by asking him to
spearhead some experiments Ior the group.


#ecommendations
O ew Attitude and Work Habit-
ith shiIting in the workIorce culture Irom Gen X to Gen Y, rising Entertainment should
Iind diIIerent attitudes and work habits that need to be incorporated into the existing
culture.
O 1ob $atisfaction-
ewer, younger employees are less committed to staying with the same company,
whether they have a loyalty problem, see better opportunities elsewhere, or just get bored
with their jobs. So jobs should be challenging enough to hold the interest oI the Gen Y
employees.
O $ocial Events-
Rising Entertainment can arrange group lunches and social events so that communication
among the employees can be increased and this can Iill up the gap between Gen X and
Gen Y employees.
O Frequent ongoing coaching-
The traditional perIormance reviews should be replaced by daily ongoing contact with
managers who know the work and who can become coaches. This can nourish the new
ideas introduced by Gen Y employees like Josh, such that they can be converted into
Iunctional aspects.
O %ech $avvy-
Technology has allowed this generation to multitask and Iind shortcuts in achieving tasks.
Texting, instant messaging, social networking, and eb surIing have all made Generation
Y workers more competent, eIIicient, and productive. Short hand text messages on Josh
Lewis`s iPhone clearly show that. The key Ior employers is to accept that there may be
multiple ways Ior workers to accomplish their tasks.
Gen Y workers may need to demonstrate that they are working just as hard as everyone
else, but perhaps simply perIorming the job more eIIiciently.