Gen Y Labs

Managing Millennials in the Workplace

Smart Money's Small Biz site just posted an article by Rachel Solomon on Learning to Manage Millennials.  The article integrates research found on our Small Business Labs sister site with other sources, culminating in four tips for successful millennial management:

(1)  Fully engage millennial workers

(2) Improve retention through incentives

(3) Meet regularly

(4) Be true to your culture.

Solomon's examples shed light on a number of issues our clients have raised in the past.  Nice article, and thanks for asking us to contribute.

GEN Y and the Power of Text Messages

Two articles brought my attention to the power of text messaging.  The first article, Text Generation Gap: U R 2 Old (JK) was released this morning in the NY Times and focuses on the frequency and agility of texting by Gen Yers. One of the phenomena raised is that teens text each other instead of just having a conversation, even though they're often right next to each other physically:

Cellphones, instant messaging, e-mail and the like have encouraged younger users to create their own inventive, quirky and very private written language. That has given them the opportunity to essentially hide in plain sight. They are more connected than ever, but also far more independent.

Texting is, in fact, used as a way to communicate around other people in the same room, excluding them from teens' conversations so that no explanations about conversation content are necessary.

The second article, the Wall Street Journal's  Malaysian Electoral Gains Offer Important Islamic Model,  mentions the powerful influence that the Internet and texting had on the recent election outcomes in Malaysia.  According to 2005 data reported by the UN, just over 50% of Malaysia's population is younger than 25.  Because landlines have historically taken longer to get installed, Malaysia is a strong adapter of cell phones,  Seeing people in the street working on several cell phones is not uncommon.  Yet, apparently, cell phones are being used for more than calls home to mom.  According to the article:

...the spread of uncensored new media, such as the Internet and cell-phone text messaging, helped opposition parties break the government's stranglehold on information flow, harnessing public anger over mounting inflation, widespread corruption and inept governance. Combined with rising resentment by ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities over long-standing affirmative-action policies designed to benefit the country's Muslim ethnic Malay majority, this anger coalesced into a perfect storm of protest against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government.

Clearly texting has become an important social and political tool.  Early adopters have been teens who now end up teaching their parents how to text.  As youth begins to take on social and political interests, we can expect increased transparency around the issues raised.  Youth, and adults mentored by their younger kin, will use real-time data transmission tools such as texting and the Internet to draw individual voices into more unified action, all the time "hiding in plain sight".  The Malaysia case is a quirky extension of our kids texting each other in the back seat of the minivan.

Gaming and College Options for Gen Y

The relevance of university education for digital gaming development is a point of ongoing debate.  Some traditional universities, such as USC and Georgia Tech, are now offering digital design majors as part of a standard 4-year college education.  Other schools, such as Ex'pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, CA and Full Sail in Orlando, FL teach specific development skills geared toward the gaming and digital arts without any requirements of Bio 101 or English Lit.  Which is the better way to go?

In an SF Chronicle article on Tough Competition in the Video-Gaming Jobs, Matthew Jeffrey, head of global talent for Redwood City's Electronic Arts, indicated he that prefers grads from the standard academic programs:

"I would strongly advise you to have a look at the quality of those courses," Jeffrey told a roomful of aspiring game developers. "The students - do they end up with a career in the game industry? More often than not the programs have not set up the students for success."

According to the article, some managers feel differently.  Susan Gold, chair of education for the International Game Developers Association, was quoted in the same article saying that:

"Game-focused programs give students some preparation for the industry that traditional computer science or art programs don't, notably the chance to work on teams and produce relevant portfolio materials."

Gen Yers interested in digital arts and gaming need to assess job opportunities and placement options from both types of programs.  Some Gen Yers will choose an alternate path and pursue gaming development through their own personal businesses and start-ups with friends.  The key is to figure out what skills you need and where you can get them.  Some key words in the quotes above were "teamwork" and "portfolio development".  It's not just how you develop your game, but how you work with others to enhance it and get it out to the market. 

More training resources are available than ever before for students interested in this area.  Educational institutions increasinly more amenable to having students customize their education programs.  It's up to Gen Y to work out their program interests and present them.  They may be pleasantly surprised at how colleges or specialty training institutes respond.

Gen Y as the Prematurely Affluent Generation

Parents are out shopping in force with their Gen Y kids, and they're loving it.  So are the Gen Yers.  They're convincing their parents to try trendier brands, making it easier to explain the need for those brands for themselves.   In return, the parents are nurturing an appetite for luxury goods that has never been so ravenous at such a young age.  An article in TIME Magazine's Global Millennials series states:

The millennials' appetite for luxury is good news for retailers because, as Harrison points out, "it wears off on the parents around them." One look at a college parking lot full of Audis, Saabs and BMWs demonstrates that this generation isn't waiting to "earn" its luxury products and services; it already feels entitled to them. "There's an expectation that they deserve luxury now—it's not something you wait for and earn," says James Chung, president of Reach Advisors, who is working on a survey of purchasing behavior of young women. "I call them the prematurely affluent generation."

The prematurely affluent generation might be the perpetually indebt generation, if parents don't teach money management skills. In a panel of Gen Y college students at the YPULSE College Mashup last month, most of the students indicated that they had significant credit card debt with no specific plan for paying it off.  Hope of  a high-paying job post-college was the most common solution presented.   However, another group conversation with employers of Gen Yers at the same conference indicated that Gen Yers are hopping jobs for even nominal salary increases because their salary expectations cannot be met. 

Sounds like some togetherness time around financial planning and budgeting might be a great activity before heading to the mall.  Otherwise, parents of Gen Yers should expect bill boomeranging:  The kids might not come back, but their bills will.

Millennials and the Jelly

Yesterday we had the pleasure of going to a Jelly. For those of you new to this concept, it's a casual drop-in work environment offering (1) a third-place for work;  (2) social interaction; and (3) a source of informal feedback on projects and ideas from people you may or may not know.  Jellies may be scheduled on a one-off basis, or they may have a regular schedule.  You'll find news about jellies with dates and locations on www.workatjelly.com and other coworking sites.

We talked with Jelly-ers, in this case Gen Yers, for about an hour on what they're doing. The hosts of this jelly are multipreneurs, juggling at least 3 businesses each, all of them well thought-out and with clear market potential.  None of the businesses have VC backing.  None of them required any real capital investment. Each multipreneur had at least one business venture that reflected interest in a social cause. The New Artisan Economy was alive and thriving at this Jelly.

What surprised me was that these millennials were working on both physical product and web businesses at the same time.  The co-host I spent most of my time with had figured out how to get an interesting product designed, built, distributed and sold in the marketplace, while also working on web-based service companies.  He and his colleagues were so open to opportunity and welcomed input, adjusting and refining their business concepts on a real-time basis.  A good reminder of how much information and input can be gained at meetups.

Interesting, and fun.  For you SF Bay folks, we walked along Folsom Street and found a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.  There was an organic wine store that sells sulfite-free, organic wines during the day and serves as a wine bar evenings.   Some new eateries are popping up.  It's worth an explore if you haven't been on Folsom lately.

Wish we'd had more time.  Many thanks to the Jelly hosts, Joe and Brian, for their warmth, enthusiasm and energy.  Good luck to both of you.