Daily Lesson from Life 29 August 2008

"Fri, Aug 29, 2008 my paper Gen Y workers want flexi-time

BOSSES, the next time one of your fresh out-of-school employees asks for travel leave or a couple of hours off from a regular work day, think twice before saying no.


Employees between the ages of 19 and 30 - otherwise known as the 'Generation Y' demographic - are likely to demand more flexibility, have unrealistic goals in work and life, and would normally job-hop.


These are some of the findings from a recent survey conducted by the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI). The study, titled 'Harnessing the Potential of Generation Y Workforce in Singapore', was designed to uncover the general characteristics of Generation Y in Singapore.

Based on the results of this survey, SHRI has put forward suggestions for keeping the fickle pool of Gen Y talent happy in the workforce.

A total of 245 respondents were involved in the month-long survey which started in May. About 42 per cent of them are Gen Y workers, and the remaining, their non-Gen Y parents, bosses and colleagues.


Currently, Gen Y-ers make up 20 per cent of the population and those economically active.

A summary of the study's key findings: Gen Y-ers are confident, tech-savvy, innovative and ambitious, but are also individualistic, proud and disloyal.

However, Mr Alvin Lim, 28, an online marketing executive, disagreed with the last description. His current job is his fifth in three years, having entered the workforce as a graphic designer, then switching to become a freelance art director- cum-videographer, corporate communications executive and a portal manager.

He said: 'I like challenges, so if there are jobs that involve new targets and learning experiences, I will leave my old job.' "

Generation Y. Nice name. Generation X, then Y, and perhaps we will go to Z in the future.

Expectations are different. Responses have to be different too. At the same time, some fundamental and universal values need to be kept firmly in the sight of everyone.

They are:

1. everyone in the corporate has to be productive regardless of if you are Generation X, Y or Z;

2. if the market is good, you can be disloyal or as the 28-year old Alvin Lim said 'I like challenges'. Personally unless the job you are in is like the one he is in where positive contribution can be made in an instant like a creative spark, it will be difficult for any employer to happily accept that talented walked after a few months on the job and claimed that he or she had contributed a lot or paid for the compensation given;

3. wanting a 'travel leave' or even a 'do-good travel leave' is to be encouraged if that is the prevailing market norm. Of course you can be the trail blazing employer who are the 1st to provide some innovative solution to keeping productive Gen-Y employees on the job and contribute on a longer term. The Gen-Y will need to learn that not everyone will get to work on jobs that 100% or almost 100% what they like. If that is the case, who in their generation will do some so-called routine and boring but absolutely necessary jobs like maintenance job.

At the end of the days, the leaders will adapt to solve the high turnover of generation Y staffs, which is really an assumption at best and cannot be applicable generally. The key in my mind is still: find out why each generation Y staff leave his or her job. It may not be just because of what Alvin Lim said. It could be whole lot different! The old-fashion problems solving approach still apply. With a new twist, albeit, as the reasons may be new ones.