PAN Communications prSPEAK

Thought this was a good add-on given the nature of yesterday’s topic.  This morning I stumbled into this video from Electronic Recruiter Exchange, which interviewed number of HR/recruiter types at one of its conferences to get their thoughts on Gen Y.  There are some smart answers from people who tackle this issue on a daily business.  I particularly like the comparisons to my Gen X crowd.

I’m a proud Gen-Xer and semi-reformed slacker.  As such, It’s kinda fun to watch (and sometimes mediate) the debate over the role of Millennials in the office.  Where my group was pestered to get off our collective asses and be productive, Millennials are constantly looking for productive jobs to do.  There are exceptions but in general the phenomenon is well documented.  Compared to my X peers, the Millennial contrast is very stark.

The fundamental difference between the two groups (if measured at the same point in time–mid to late 20s) is we were prone to wasting time, Millennials complain there isn’t enough of it.  While I don’t regret for a moment most of my behavior, objectively I’d have to say I admire many of the Millennial traits.  In our defense, however,  I’d offer the lack of instant-and always-on tools we’re used to working and playing with now.  “In my day,” if you needed to write a report in college about the Pyramids you went to the library and opened an encyclopedia.  Now it’s a click and print function.  I guess that’s the modern analog to the “I used to walk to school uphill in the snow–both ways.”

I bring this up (and date myself) to eventually make a point: I don’t see the Millennials apting to and applying social media tools for work, even though they’re perhaps the best versed in the technology.  Again, there are notable exceptions but for the most part Millennials don’t translate their familiarity with these tools into a competitive differentiator in the office.  Not the way they should be, anyway. It’s a curious problem so I asked Megan Maquire Twitter: megan_maquire), who IS one of the notable exceptions why this was the case.   She’ tweeted back:

@xylem Why don’t Millennials see mrkg potential of social media? Probably b/c most don’t see a use for it beyond fun. I’ll blog a better ans soon

Looking forward to her post!

Update:  Megan came back at me with a well thought out and written piece here. She gets support in the comments, too.  I agree with her; dividing the workplace by generations doesn’t do anyone any good, but the original observation is probably being played out in workplaces all over by managers like me.

We’re entering into an economic period the Y’s haven’t seen before (or were shielded from because they were in school for the last one).  The next four or six quarters are going to be deadly serious times for many businesses.  People with the most marketable skills are going to survive while others who don’t pick themselves up or don’t quite get the seriousness of the situation are going to be left behind.  Now’s the time for Y’s to put their recreational skills to use, both for their employers and/or themselves.  You’re all invited to pitch in!  We’ll use our experience to get through this next rough patch; you show us what’s new and we’ll blend the two.

Thanks Megan!