‘Generation Y’
(De-)Mystified
Ivo Wetsels, Partner Human Capital
Deloitte Consulting
October 14, 2008
Living Tomorrow
Agenda
Generation Y “Defined”
Generation Y and New Media
Gen Y Talent Management Challenges
Business Relevance
Beyond Gen Y
Panel Discussion
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A (Wiki) Definition
Generation Y, sometimes referred to as
"Millennials" or "Echo Boomers“, is a cohort
of individuals born in possible starting years
ranging anywhere from 1976 to 1982 to
possible ending years anywhere from 1990 to
2001, that grew up in the 1990s and 2000s.
•Cold Y Generation 1981-1987 - those early 'Y'ers who
remember before the end of the Cold War in 1991 and
have a direct memory of 1980s culture.
•Post-Echo Generation 1991-2000 - the end of
Generation Y and the transition into Generation Z - these
people faintly remember the 1990s and immediate PostCold War era.
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3
Generation Y: Demographics
t
Generation Y
Before 1946
1965-1981
1946-1964
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1997-…
1982-1997
4
The Demographic Evolution
Projected Change in Working Age Population
(15-64) 2010-2050
200%
180%
1970-2010
160%
2010-2050
140%
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
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Source: Deloitte Research/UN Population Division (http://esa.un.org/unpp/)
India
US
Mexico
Brazil
Australia
Canada
UK
South
Africa
France
Netherlands
China
Germany
South
Korea
Spain
Japan
-60%
Italy
-40%
Russa
-20%
5
Characteristics of Generation Y
Social
networking
Entrepreneurial
Multitasking
Peer Oriented
Demanding &
challenging
Global-minded
Job hopping?
Persistent
Extravert
New IT skills
Consumer
generation
Family
Seeking instant
gratification
Question authority
Technology
Flexible
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Work-life balance
6
Gen Y Expectations / Traits
Flexibility
Total
rewards
Expectations
Gen Y
Personal
development
Positive
respectful
environment
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Generation Y in a nutshell
They are your next generation leaders
They live and breathe technology
The world is flat and boundaryless for them
High skill level in social networking activities*
They want to feel connected to the mission* and
have fun with whatever they do
Strong affinity for community service* and
volunteering for a good cause
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*Source: “Decoding Generational Differences” by W. Stanton Smith, Principal, Next Generation Initiatives - Deloitte
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The New Face of Talent
Me,
Inc.
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Gen Y grew up with technology
Dad, how did
everyone email
each other before
the internet was
around?
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Source picture:http://coheda.typepad.com/israel/2008/06/generation-y-ge.html
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Tech Savvy ID Card
 Do you broadcast your status daily?
 Do you regularly read or write to a blog?
 Do you subscribe to news feeds or stories?
 Do you share your videos online?
 Do you maintain your professional network?
 Do you wiki your documents with others?
 Do you tag content and share your bookmarks?
 Do you digg news on the go?
 Do you search for directions everywhere you go?
 Do you rate movies?
 Do you share photos on flickr?
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New Media For A Purpose
Four common concepts can be observed on the internet today - Social Networking, Collaboration, Broadcasting and
Rich User Experience
Social Networking
Collaboration
InstantMessaging
Connect with people
Work with others
Share with everyone
Be more productive
Broadcasting
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Rich User Experience
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Social Networking
Large online communities are emerging as like-minded people connect on the web.
Online network of more than 12 million
experienced professionals from around
the world, representing 150 industries.
Social utility that connects people with
friends and others who work, study and live
around them. 34 million users use
Facebook to keep up with friends, share
links, photos, and videos, and learn more
about the people they meet.
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Online community that lets you meet
your friends' friends. 100 million users
share photos, journals and interests
with your growing network of mutual
friends.
3-D virtual world entirely built and
owned by 9 million residents.
Discover a vast digital continent,
teeming with people, entertainment,
experiences and opportunity. Buy, sell
and trade with other residents.
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Do you speak Gen Y?
Source picture: http://randomstuffihate.com/page/2/
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Generation Y communicates in its own language
 SMS language: language slang used in mobile phone sms can be confusing or
completely unreadable to other generations
Cld u w8 4
me @ the
g8?
Y
Y
I’ll have to get
back to you on
that!
X
What is he
talking
about?
X
What a
strange
answer!
Y
K, C U 2mro
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Collaboration
People are voluntarily participating in discussions, contributing ideas, and sharing content of common interest.
Wikipedia is a free content encyclopedia
collaboratively written by volunteers from all
around the world. 211 million unique visitors,
8.3 million articles mainly from 75K active
contributors.
del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website
that allows you to store, organize, and share
your bookmarks (favorite links to articles,
music, recipes, etc.)
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Blogger.com is a free blog hosting website
where bloggers can create, manage, and
publish blogs.
Digg.com allows users to share links to news,
videos, and images with everyone on the web.
Readers can vote and comment on the
contribution. 10 million unique visitors.
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Collaboration – Wiki
‘Wiki’ allows
collaborative
publishing
Discuss
content
online with
others
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Multi-user
content
editing
View
previous
versions of
this wiki
page
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 Mont Ventoux weblog
 4.524 hits in a week time!
 Recruiting – chatting with
candidates
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Jim’s BLOG
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Broadcasting
Online distribution of text, audio, and visual content to the general masses.
YouTube.com allows users to upload, share,
and watch video clips on the web. 206 million
unique global visitors.
Twitter.com allows users to let everyone know
what they are currently doing, i.e. broadcast
their current activities on the web.
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iTunes.com allows users to broadcast and
subscribe to audio content.
Video.google.com allows users to upload, search,
and watch TV shows, music videos, movie clips, and
other visual content from all over the web.
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Broadcasting - Podcasting
Subscribe to
‘Podcasts’
using iTunes
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Rich User Experience
Web sites are becoming more user friendly. It’s easier to personalize, organize, and navigate through content on
the web.
Flickr.com’s rich user interface allows users to
quickly upload, share, and organize pictures.
Netflix.com uses ratings and rental habits to
pick movies to watch and allows you to quickly
add movies to your queue.
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Housingmaps.com combines Google Maps
and Craigslist.com to display apartments for
rental or for sale in major US cities.
iGoogle.com allows users to quickly customize a
homepage by providing capabilities to add news,
podcasts, and other public feeds. with different
themes.
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Rich User Experience – Mashups
A ‘Mashup’
combines two data
sources to create a
new service
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Your Hiring Targets (Gen Y) Thrive on Web 2.0 tools
Percent of each generation in each Social Technographics® category
Youth
(12-17)
Youth
(18-21)
Gen Y
(18-26)
Gen X
(27-40)
Younger
Boomers
(41-50)
Older
Boomer
(51-61)
Seniors
(62+)
Creators
34%
37%
30%
19%
12%
7%
5%
Critics
24%
37%
34%
25%
18%
15%
11%
Collectors
11%
16%
18%
16%
15%
16%
11%
Joiners
51%
70%
57%
29%
15%
8%
6%
Spectators
49%
59%
54%
41%
31%
26%
19%
Inactives
34%
17%
21%
42%
54%
61%
70%
Base: US online consumers
Source: NACTAS Q4 2006 North American Devices & Access Online Survey
NACTAS Q4 2006 Youth Media & Marketing And Finance Online Survey
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IT decision-makers estimate that many employees currently use Web 2.0 tools for
business purposes
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Source: May 2007 North American Enterprise Web 2.0 Online Survey
NOTE: These are preliminary findings and subject to revision
29
RSS shows the largest perceived benefit from firms using the technology
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Source: May 2007 North American Enterprise Web 2.0 Online Survey
NOTE: These are preliminary findings and subject to revision
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The economic value of Web 2.0
Sources of
economic value
Community
Firms that do not support
Web 2.0
No user content or
interaction
No follow up to user
Customer Service suggestions
Sales
Lower loyalty erodes
prices
Firms that adopt Web 2.0
Industries most affected
User content, forums Media, Retail,
add value to brand
Telecom
Community self-help
reduces service
costs
High-Tech,
Automotive
Community loyalty
reduces
commissions
Retail, Finance,
Telecom, Travel
Retail, Automotive
Marketing
Bad targeting and no WOM and better
use of WOM (word of targeting raise ROI
mouth)
Production
Products don’t meet
user demand
Co-design reduces
waste
Retail, Media, HighTech
No use of user
intelligence
Community input
raises success rate
Health Care, HighTech
R&D
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Based on Forrester Research
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Back To The Future ?
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Source picture:http://blog.sitemost.com.au/2007/11/26/how-to-sell-seo-to-generation-y/
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Your social media strategy : 10 important issues
1. Assess your organization’s cultural readiness (are you ready for more
democracy?)
2. Focus on the people, not the technology
3. Think about the business purpose of the tools (do not get caught up in
the hype!)
4. Make sure you grasp the difference between traditional and social
media
5. Prepare to relinquish control and share the process
6. Be experimental and involve employees
7. Clarify what employees can and can’t do
8. Take a hands-off approach to marketing the tools
9. Work with what you’ve got and integrate the new tools
10.Don’t obsess about the numbers
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Gen Y Talent Management Challenges :
 Performance management for Generation Y requires
performance expectations designed to meet their need for
various work experiences in a diverse work environment.
 Leadership and culture must drive an evolution in the
organization to support work-life flexibility, open
communication, and sense of purpose.
 Attracting & retaining Generation Y will require proving that
your organization is serious about meeting their
expectations.
 Workforce planning is required to support this group to
develop alternative and divergent paths for career
progression.
 Rewards and recognition will require fully understanding the
needs of Gen Y to understand their values and motivators.
 Knowledge management should enable Gen Y to tap into vast
knowledge resources of the Aging group, helping to foster
continuity of knowledge and experience.
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Source picture:http://workempowermentfoundation.typepad.com/fff_at_work/2007/08/gen-ywork-5---h.html
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Management of Generation Y
 Provide engaging experiences that develop transferable skills. By making them
more employable, we actually increase the odds that they will stay.
 Provide a rationale for the work you’ve asked them to do and the value it adds.
 Provide variety.
 Grow teams and networks with great care: develop the tools and processes to
support faster response and more innovative solutions.
 Provide a work environment that rewards extra effort and excellence.
 Pay close attention to helping them navigate work and family issues.
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Targeting Gen Y – must haves
 LT career development and multiple experiences
within a single organization
 Sense of purpose and meaning in the work
 Availability and access to mentors and other
company champions
 Work/Life flexibility
 Tech-savvy environment
 Open social networks that embrace open/honest
communication
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A New Perspective on Talent
Provide the
opportunities for
Growing Gen Y
Develop
Commitment
Capability
Manage
Performance
Acquire
Retain
Alignment
Deploy
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Connect
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The Future of Classroom Training
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Strategic Workforce Segmentation
Specialists:
Flexible
Workforce:
Reflects
alternatives
companies can use
to meet periods of
high demand for
employees or the
need to lower costs
5
Difficult to replace skills
Reflect alignments
formed where
companies do not
have the existing
skills and cannot
develop them inhouse cost
effectively
Critical
Workforce
Segments:
4
Consist of highly
skilled, highly
trained individuals
who drive a
disproportionate
percentage of
revenue growth
Critical
Workforce
Segments
Specialists
3
Core
Workforce:
2
Flexible Workforce
Core Workforce
1
1
2
3
4
5
Reflects the
backbone of the
company who are
well-trained on
firm processes
but knowledge
and skills are
easily replaced
Impact on value chain
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From Monologue …
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To Megalogue
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Four Generations in the Workplace
 Four generations work side by side in today’s workforce – Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen X, and
Gen Y, and each has different values and expectations about their jobs and careers. Fueled by
innovations in technology, workplace boundaries are being redefined allowing people to work in
new and different ways.
Veterans
Baby Boomers
Gen-X
Gen-Y
(born 1925-1942)
(born 1943-1960)
(born 1961-1981)
(born 1982-2005)
Veterans
(born 1925-1942)
Baby Boomers
(born 1943-1960)
Gen-X
(born 1961-1981)
Gen-Y
(born 1982-2001)
 Employer loyalty, respect
for authority, WWII, stay-athome moms, stock-market
crash
 Sacrifice, conformity
 60-hour work week,
cautiously loyal, strong
work-ethic
 Dependability and
commitment
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 Work/life balance,
professional development
 Performance-driven, familycentric, the “me” generation
 Real-time performance
feedback
 Multicultural, multitasking,
team-oriented
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Careers will look different
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Mass Career Customization
A Customized Model for Building Careers and Developing Talent
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Careers Ebb and Flow over Time
Career Years: 0-3
Phase: Post MBA
Career Years: 4-7
Phase: Changed industries
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Career Years: 8-14
Phase: Personal Needs
Career Years: 15+
Phase: Mid-Career
45
Beyond Gen Y :
Get ready for Generation Z
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Source picture:http://www.mbcglobal.org/labels/Gen-Y.html
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Mobile
Community
Program
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Deloitte Research Findings
Four Myths that Keep Government from
Delivering a Better Customer Experience
Myth 1: Technology is the solution
Myth 2: We know what customers want
Myth 3: If you build it, they will come
Myth 4: Government should treat everyone the
same
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www.deloitte.com
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