Managing generation Y (How to manage my brother)

Managing generation Y (How to manage my brother) I realized that managing Genertion Y requires a huge shift in thinking when I was giving career advice to my twenty-three year-old brother, Erik. He is a top recruit at a top investment-banking firm and he just got a promotion ahead of everyone else in his year. And hes looking for a job. He fought very hard to get that promotion. I told him I thought he owed it to the guy who promoted him to stay for a bit. Heres the email response I got: I dont feel loyalty to the senior people here. I dont think they are treating me well at all. I asked the head of my group if I could change groups to get more experience in what Im interested in and he said no. Ive just been put on a time consuming project where I wont learn anything and its going to last six months. I told the head of my group that I thought it was a bad project for my development, and his response was that hes the one who controls if I get promoted, and he wants me to do it. I also was put on this project in lieu of doing something Ive never done before, which would be very good for my development. At first I was shocked to read the email. I have been grateful for every promotion Ive ever received. But you know what? My brother is right. He doesnt owe the guy anything for giving him a promotion because my brother isnt getting interesting work right now. My brother is not unique to his generation. He is the norm. Especially for high performers. Heres a list of ways to effectively manage young twentysomethings so that they will do good work for you. As you read it, instead of thinking critically of the new generation, think about yourself. I have found that as I challenge my own assumptions with my brothers way of thinking, I see more possibilities for myself. 1. When you are interviewing young people, dont ask them why they left their last job. Or their last three jobs in three years. Who cares? Instead ask about their commitment to doing good work for you right now. Dont bother thinking youre hiring someone to stay at your company longer than you can keep the learning curve steep. 2. Manage a young worker every single day. But think of yourself as a coach. Check in. Help prioritize, teach tricks, steer their path. Independence is definitely not what young people are all about. They want mentoring, teamwork and responsibility. Just be sure to give them work that is challenging enough to them to warrant daily input from a coach. 3. Make the work meaningful. They want to know how their work fits into the big picture. How does it help the company? How does it help the team? And dont even think of delegating those projects that involve five hours pushing papers through a copy machine: Outsource to Kinkos. 4. Forget about nine to five. No one needs it. Figure out the hours you need to be able to definitely see this persons face. The rest of the hours are up to her. If you tell her you need to see her face nine to five, you better be sitting next to her the whole day, saying things that could never be emailed. 5. Learn to use IM. When a whole generation is addicted to it, you cant ignore it. Baby boomer lifestyle is not going to dominate the office forever. Make the switch now before you are too slow to keep up with conversation. 6. Dont ask young people to be patient. Why should they be patient? Who does that serve? As long as they deliver something to you every day, and they are not rude, leave them alone. Let them dream that they can achieve in one year what took you ten. Maybe they can. Dont take it personally.