Mark Murphy, CEO of Leadership IQ, recently wrote an article about managing this new generation of employees that he titled, “Managing Generation “Why?”
As he notes:
Today thousands of managers are sitting at their desks both puzzled and annoyed at the three-letter-word that keeps getting thrown at them by their young workers. Baby Boomer and Traditionalist leaders describe this word as sounding, as one manager told us, “like nails on a chalkboard.” What, you might ask, is this word? And, if you’re a Generation Y-er, you might ask, “Why is it driving you crazy?”
He goes on to say that the word, “why” has different meanings for Gen Y people than it does for baby boomers. Baby boomers were taught to obey, not to question our elders, to do our homework or our job without questioning or complaining. Thus, to us being asked why is annoying and is seen as a challenge to our authority.
As Mark says:
However, for Generation Y workers, “why” is not a dirty word. They were raised in different times. These adults grew up in a period where parents not only focused on their children, but set them on a pedestal, told them they were unique and important, and fought for them to be not just seen, but heard as well. Generation Y children were also taught that there is learning value in everything they do – so that every job that must be done has a reason, meaning, or significance. They were taught to look at the “big picture” and how their contribution fits in with everything around them.
Generation Y workers want to know how they, as well as their work, fit into the whole. They want to know how the tasks they do affect the department, organization, field, or world as a whole. They’ve grown up wanting their lives and work to be meaningful, and they want to see how meaningful it will actually be. Generation Y workers have little patience for tasks that are rote and, as they see it, meaningless. So, as a manager, you need to make their work fit into the big picture. The clearer you make it, the more productive they will be. Pre-empting the “why?” question by assigning tasks AND giving the big picture up front is a trick that top managers have learned.
Second, understand that Generation Y workers want to know the Significance of what they are doing. If you can anticipate their questions, then certainly pre-empt them by providing the reason. But, because these are often unanticipated questions, give yourself time to respond or put the work back on them. If you don’t know the answer, it is fine to say, “I don’t know, but I can find out.” It is also more than OK to give them permission to search for the answer themselves, or to try to change things (with you guiding the process, of course).
Yesterday I taught a workshop for baby boomers on using social media as a business tool and not a single person asked why would they want to learn this. At the same time, I've given an assignment on researching how Twitter could be used by businesses and while the Gen Y students haven't asked me why, it's clear to me now that many of them do not see the big picture or the significance of the assignment. As professors (many of us baby boomers), I believe we need to help our students understand why we give them the assignments we do.
You can read Mark's entire article here:
