By Kristin Gissaro


TalentMash is a blog started by Gen Yer, Kristin GissaroGissaro, to provide an outlet for her thoughts on the rapidly changing Recruitment Communications industry.

With six years of experience in the Recruitment Communications Agency world, marketing experience and a journalism degree, TalentMash offers insight into the industry's leading trends mixed in with a little humor, common sense mentality and personal perspectives.

Conforming isn't all bad...June 13, 2008
Today, I had a great discussion with Bea Fields, who is a well respected Executive Coach, Author and Speaker. Sharing a similar passion of mine, Gen Y, we talked non-stop for an hour.I came out of the conversation feeling more empowered than before, if that’s possible for a Gen Y like myself. It’s evident that companies across the world are having trouble ‘dealing’ with Gen Ys and Gen Ys are having a hard time ‘dealing’ with their employers. It’s an issue boiling under the skin of Boomers and Gen Xers. Frustrations are building in the bellies of Gen Ys. Nobody wants to conform to the other. There are essentially two groups of people with such differing views of life and both are too stubborn to give in. Which group should conform and give in? As Boomers retire and Gen Ys enter the workforce, an inevitable shift will occur. It’s unfortunate that Gen Xers are stuck in the middle and aren’t large enough to change what’s happening. But it is fortunate for Gen Ys that strength comes in numbers. Because of their size, they will rule the workforce. They are quickly moving into leadership roles and will start to implement strategies and policies that are in line with their personal preferences, just as the generations before us had. The irony here is that Boomers are one for conformity, so shouldn’t they be used to having to do it? It’s what they currently foster in the workplace, it’s what they’ve had to do as technology changes, it’s what they’ve had to do when laws change so why is it so hard now?As Gen Ys enter the workforce, other generations will not have a choice but to conform to keep them happy, within reason of course. Bea posed the question of, “what are companies doing to accommodate change?” The bad news is the majority of companies aren’t doing anything. The good news is that some organizations are realizing if they want to keep the talent they have and attract more, they have to conform.I’ll share a few examples of what companies are doing:Offer Flexible Work Schedules- but not just letting employees pick their shifts. This company offers employees a choice between 7-3, 8-4, or 9-5 with half hour lunches. Or they could choose to work the normal 8-5 office hours that have been in place for 50 years. The point here is that this company who will remain nameless, has made something that was rigid, now flexible. They understood it was about offering choices. The employees loved it. Does it cost the company money? Nope. Did it improve productivity? Yup.Hold a Town Meeting - this is a CEO’s worst nightmare, or so I was told. When I worked in the marketing department of a logistics company, I asked our VP of Sales and Marketing why we didn’t have an internal meeting to discuss ideas, thoughts, concerns. His answer? “The CEO doesn’t have time to listen to a bitch session”. I took it for what was worth then, but now it infuriates me. However, another company here in Jacksonville, invites every employee to a monthly meeting in the cafeteria to discuss issues that have been brought up during the most recent four weeks. People have a chance to voice their opinions or concerns and then a final review board makes a decision. The employees feel like they have a voice. Things aren’t getting swept under the rug, they are making changes and providing feedback which is like gold to any Gen Y. Did it cost the company money? Not a cent. Did it improve productivity? You betcha.Create a Buddy System - (Formerly known as a Mentor Program.) This fantastic organization has figured it out. If their employees can’t get along on their own, then we’ll force them to. For the past five years they had a Mentoring Program, but because the word Mentor often comes across as one teacher and one student, it didn’t go over well with new hires, who were mostly Gen Ys. They hated their mentors, felt like they were just being bossed around and told how to do things the way they always did. Instead, this company changed the program so that each employee has a Buddy. When you are hired, you are able to choose between three individuals preselected for you. You can interview each potential Buddy to see which one you think can offer you the most. This gives the new hire (usually a Gen Y) power, choice, flexibility and gratification. Once the Buddy relationship is established, each is responsible for teaching the other. They are not limited to teaching each other about work stuff, but life in general. Each quarter, the pairs are encouraged to write a brief one page overview of how their relationship has helped each other and submits it to the Executive Leadership Team. One is picked as having the best outcome and the pair is awarded with publicity in the company, $250 gift cards and a personalized thank you note from the company leaders. Does this cost the company money? Yes a little. Did it improve productivity and foster better inter-generational relationships building stronger bonds between employees? Absolutely.So, conforming isn’t all bad. A lot can be gained.It’s time for organizations to open their minds, broaden their horizons and start accommodating and for Gen Y’s sake, change the way things have been done for the past 20 years. Nobody likes stale bread. If they don’t, they will only lose the war for talent.