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Image Source: Savour the Success
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Any business award or achievement in the current environment
represents the highest recognition of the ability to take advantage of change
in an extremely disruptive environment. The question is, how to inculcate this
flexibility into a corporate culture?
Flexibility must be
pervasive
Successful companies are those which embrace change, not
those which employ a few flexible people.
A fundamental requirement of corporate agility is that
decision making needs to be devolved to the lowest level possible. Only
companies that have a dynamic workforce can hope to keep up. This suggests that
those who directly interface with the client need to have both the skills and
the authority necessary to make decisions which satisfy both the client and the
company – not easy.
If flexibility decreases with age, then we live in times
where we must bring younger people into leadership positions.
In Africa we have an advantage -- over 500 million people under
the age of 35-- sponges of knowledge, vibrant, interconnected, tech savvy, family-centric, team oriented, and
attention craving.
Successful transformation is therefore less about handing
over to the previously disadvantaged than it is about handing over to the
younger generation, the Gen Ys.
Gen Ys in the
Workplace
There has never been a larger disconnect between two
generations than that which exists between Gen Ys and their parents.
A strong characteristic of Gen Y’s is their sense of
immediacy, that “want it now” attitude. They woke up to a world that was filled
with a succession of events that was completely life changing- Africa is
nothing if not a continent in transition. As a result, many of them have made a
decision that they need to live life now. They need to get on with the most
important parts of their life. And that sense of immediacy, of living life in
the current, is something that is very pervasive throughout Gen Y.
It’s not surprising that, in a recent survey, Gen Y’s put career
advancement and salary at the top of their list when it comes to factors that
influence where they decide to work.
Interestingly enough Gen Y’s ranked training and mentorship
in the top three things that will influence where they decide to work in the
same survey
The “want it now” attitude goes directly to Gen Y’s eagerness
to engage with their employer, drive immediate results and advance in their
careers.
It therefore should not be unexpected that, in the
workplace, those responsible for mentoring Gen Y’s often have the feeling that
they are sitting in a tornado.
Harnessing the tornado
Strong communication and leadership within an organisation
are factors that will positively impact Gen Y’s engagement in the workplace
Gen y’s have grown up in a peer-to-peer world, meaning that
communication is hugely important to them. So they are used to sending
information to peers based on their perception of who could use the
information, where it would provide the most value.
These young people come into a corporate environment with
that same set of assumptions. So if they have an idea that they think could
benefit you, it doesn’t matter who you are, CEO, head of marketing– they’ve got
an idea, chances are they’re going to share it with you. That’s the way they’ve
always operated and there’s no sign that this will change the corporate world.
This creates huge opportunities to harness these energies.
What is needed is a corporate learning culture which leverages technologies
that have disrupted the market. Such a culture has stands on three pillars:
- Harnessing the power of video learning;
- Creating a collaborative environment in which the Gen Ys assist in generating content;
- Driving engagement with targeted content based on objectively identified skills gaps.
What has your experience been in harnessing the Gen Y
tornado?
Are Gen Y’s worth expending the extra effort needed to
change them from good ideas and noble aspirations to value adding assets?
What specific mentoring programmes have you introduced for
Gen Y’s?
