Boom, Dot, Net, Y
Exploding the Boomer Organizational
Myths about Millennials
An RCI White Paper
Amitai Givertz
Anna Kassulke
May 29, 2007
RCI Center of Excellence 550 Heritage Dr., Ste. 200, Jupiter, FL 33458 Ph: 561.686-6800 Fax: 561.686.8043 Web: rcirs.comAn RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y








Contents Page
Boom, Dot, Net, Y 3
Pigeonholing Diverging Interests 6
Paradigm Shift, It Happens 10
The Digital Generation: On-demand, In Real-time 11
Ctrl, Alt, Delete 12
Gen Yred 15
About the Authors 18
About the RCI Center of Excellence 19












Copyright RCI Center of Excellence, All Rights Reserved.

This white paper may be distributed in its entirety with appropriate copyrights attached. Any reproduction,
reference, republishing or other use without the written consent and credit to the authors is strictly prohibited.
Page 2 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


Boom, Dot, Net, Y Boomers ¼ like the authors here ¼ are talking amongst
Exploding the Boomer themselves whilst clinging to traditional, established
Organizational Myths about management and organizational structures. And they do so at
Millennials their peril. To ignore the voice and wishes of the so-called Gen
Y will result in a future organizational landscape that is totally
alien to our newest employees. Being mutually exclusive means
organizations understand very little about the reality and
culture of young people, so they hold fast onto established
directions and fail to pave the way for the Millennials.




1
People born between 1977 and 1998 have been called the
The lessons of the past are
Nexters, the Echo Boomers; they are members of the
ignored and obliterated in a
Dot.Gen, or Generation Y. They also have a host of other
contemporary antagonism
concept-based labels include, 9-11er, Millennial or
known as the generation gap.
NetGener. Who is making up these labels and how useful
Spiro T Agnew
are they for building the future structure of organizations?

Baby boomers very much like to pigeonhole people into
categories, just as we do with star signs and intellectual and
psychological propensities.

Consider a teen magazine quiz that offers multiple choice
questions to determine the type of person you are.

1. What do you look for first, when searching for a job?

" Cultural fit/workplace flexibility/work-like balance
" Work hard, play hard environment
" Opportunity for promotion
" Excellent compensation

2. Which word sums up your attitude to work?

" Work to play
" I like the money, but hate the work
" Personal satisfaction
" I find it boring






1
Others set the dates as widely as 19782002, which means anyone aged between 30 and five years.
Page 3 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


3. Whats your favorite pastime?

" Networking with my friends
" Reading the newspaper
" Listening to music
" Campaigning for environmental change

4. If you had $1,000 bucks, youd spend it on

" iPod
" The kids
" Retro clothes
" New cell phone

5. The person you most admire is

" Jessica Simpson
" George Harrison
" Al Gore
" My mentor

If you answered mostly (a), (c), or (d) then you are definitely
Genre labels are useful only
Gen Y. You might want to stop reading here and go to page
insofar as they help you find
17. Alternatively, you can listen in on the conversation, and if
an audience.
you like, let us have your comments so we can start a
Walter J. Williams conversation.

If all your answers were (b) then, guess what? You are a Baby
Boomer. And the person who wrote this was a boomer,
because no one else could be so blinkered or
condescending. This type of profiling, to be frank, deserves
2
the three-fingered salute: Ctrl, alt, delete .

Make no mistake: labeling is a boomer strategy and is in
significant ways, a means of holding onto power. Look at it
another way, through a different lens, and you will come to
see that Generation Yers do not perceive themselves as we
do.

The myriad of labels that exist for the 30 million so-called
Gen Yers in the US workforce today reflects the importance
of scrutinizing those categorizations and ascertaining their
usefulness for setting up our organizations so that they meet
the expectations and profiles of the people who will inhabit

2
From Bernstein D & Marshall C, 2006, A Generation Serves Notice: It's a Moving Target, New York Times, Jan 22.
Page 4 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


them in the future. How homogenous is the group with
many names? And what is this generation looking for?

We should by now be familiar with the washed-out idea that
the boomers are either departing, or are about to depart,
leaving a talent black hole in their wake. Youre probably
chanting some mantra about it in your sleep.

Now lets think; convert that black hole into your house. You
bought it a while back, furnished it to your taste and
decorated it in your own inimitable style. It is cozy,
comfortable. Now, for whatever reason, you vacate the
house and a Gen Yer moves in. What will that person do?
Luxuriate and appreciate the style, layout and your extra
special recliner? Of course not! They will gut the place,
refurbish it and put their own gear in there.
This is precisely what we are doing with our organizational
I drove Sheryl by the
structures: we will be leaving behind the storied structures
governor's mansion last night
(top-down, bottom-up hierarchy), recliners (to relax in after
on the way home from dinner.
excessively long hours) and wallpaper (lack of pertinent,
It's a nice mansion. Nice place,
speak-to-me values). In short, our organizations are totally
nice house - I hate the word
unsuited to the needs of those who will inhabit them in the
mansion, but it's a nice house.
future.
Lance Armstrong
Perhaps that is why Jet Blue is so popular amongst twenty-
somethings. When they discuss their culture, they ask,
Imagine how you would create an airline if you were
building it from scratch!
Can generations co-exist successfully within organizations
and what experiences and expectations can they share? Do
we speak to Gen Y in meaningful ways, so that they can
respond? As Kate Crawford points out, Not to have a
narrative of your own is to become susceptible to those
3
imposed upon you by the forces around you .

According to the OPEN Ages survey from American Express,
boomers and Gen Yers share a belief that both generations in
4
the US are now worse off than when they were kids .
Furthermore, passion, rather than money, fuels the success
5
anddrive of both generations .


3
2006 Adult Themes, Macmillan.
4 OPEN (American Express), 2007, First Major Survey on Gen Y and Boomer Entrepreneurs Shows Business Confidence and
Different Appetites for Risk, April.
5
OPEN (American Express).
Page 5 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y



Pigeonholing But in many ways, the commonalities stop there.

Diverging Interests
When asked to describe their own generations, both
boomers and Gen Yers struggle to define it. The former,
described themselves rather unimaginatively as boomers
(so they believe what they read in the papers), whereas Gen
Yers used terms such as lazy, crazy and fun, according to a
6
recent survey . Gen Yers, in turn labeled boomers,
7
hardworking, conservative and hippie . So how useful are
these categories when it comes to attracting and
refurbishing for the new generation of talent? Not at all.

My generation's apathy, I'm Co-founder of Life Course Associates, William Strauss, has
disgusted with it. I'm disgusted suggested that Gen Y are in fact anti-boomers. They see the
with my own apathy too, for problems of the world as being associated with the
being spineless and not always downside that they perceive in their own older parents, and
standing up against racism, so they want to fix that. And the things that the boomers
sexism and all those other - have been associated with, like individualism, things that
isms the counterculture has Xers have been associated with, like taking things to the
8
been whining about for years. edge, Gen Yers are pushing back from .

Kurt Cobain
Undoubtedly, the introduction of Generation Y into the
workplace will raise the possibility of both intergenerational
cooperation and intergenerational conflict, according to
9
Workplace Visions . And one aspect of that conflict is with
the values held by each. Sheahan points out: The old
paradigm: Pay your dues, work hard and then you will be
rewarded has been replaced with: Reward me now and
then I will work hard. It is this attitude that gives rise to the
10
Baby Boomer mantra: Gen Y has no work ethic .

Have you noticed what is happening here? The conflict
It's true: hard work never
begins with us boomers; we are resistant to change and
killed anybody, but I figure
alternative perspectives to work (such as establishing
why take the chance?
flexible, virtual workplaces). The material out there in the
Ronald Reagan
media and in the research, time and time again reiterates a
specific notion of laziness as a unique characteristic of Gen Y.
That notion is premised on the Protestant Work Ethic, a term
coined by Max Weber in 1904-1905. How ancient is that? But
wait, who determines that laziness is all bad?


6
Pew Research Center, 2007, How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics, January, the People & the Press.
7
Pew Research Center.
8Wikipedia.
9
Workplace Visions, nd, Generation Ys Impact on the Workplace, Workplace Visions. Available online at SHRM.org.
10
Sheahan P, nd, Understanding Generation Y, PeterSheahan.com.
Page 6 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


Way back in 1932, Bertrand Russell wrote an essay called, In
Praise of Idleness. The first lines read:

Like most of my generation, I was brought up on the saying:
Satan finds some mischief for idle hands to do. Being a
highly virtuous child, I believed all that I was told, and
acquired a conscience which has kept me working hard down
to the present moment. But although my conscience has
controlled my actions, my opinions have undergone a
revolution. I think that there is far too much work done in the
world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is
virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern
industrial countries is quite different from what always has
been preached [our emphasis].

Russells generation resembles Gen Y here, because his
parents (like the boomers) stressed the importance of
working hard as if it was a virtue. His opinions since
underwent a revolution, perhaps due to the context of
modern industrialization. There are profound similarities
here with our current situation, so in some ways, plus ca
change, plus cest la meme chose.

Crawford again: it is about who gets taken seriously, who
It's been a hard day's night contributes, who gets to speak11. Citizenship even.
And I've been working like a
dog Labeling people as lazy Gen Yers, is an erroneous act of
pigeonholing on the part of those who have established the
But when I get home to you,
terms of operation. This results in an intergenerational
I find the things that you do
fracture relating to communication. What we have here is a
Will make me feel all right.
decisive shift in expectations, and an alternative perspective
The Beatles
brought about by context.

Gen Yers in fact do love to work hard. However, they work to
live, rather than live to work (as us boomers do). The
life/work balance is important to Gen Y employees and any
organization that is unwilling to adapt to this will expect high
turnovers in their Gen Y workforce. It is not about laziness
(although some would say technology makes them lazier) it
is simply that work is not central to Gen Yers lives.

So how are Gen Yers attracted into positions which suit their
dispositions and outlook? Consider this posted by a leading
restaurant concept known to target recent college grads and
Gen Yers. Here they are looking for people with 23 years of

11
Crawford.
Page 7 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


managerial experience (arguably a reasonable expectation in
these times of mobility). Towards the end of their posting we
read:

Basic Requirements

1) Withstand temperatures of 0 degrees Fahrenheit or less
The quickly shifting and 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more, 2) move throughout
preferences of the new the restaurant for extended periods of time (up to 10-12
generations of workers and hours per day), 3) move 50 lbs. for distances of up to 10 ft., 4)
the shifting needs of the baby balance and move up to 25 lbs. for distances of up to 50 ft., 5)
boomers make [recruiting/ understand and respond to Crew Members and guests
hiring] more complex than just requests in a loud environment, and 6) perform basic math
understanding where the and understand finances and cost management.
good people are.
How appealing is that? One wonders how they would profile
SystematicHR
for this position

As the boomers slink away, organizations today are
neglecting to incorporate attitudinal differences and new
social and demographical factors into their job and
candidate profiling. Gen Yers pick and choose organizations
that are upfront, honest, responsive and those that know
how to speak to them on their terms. And organizations that
do this are few and far between.

Ads that do not speak to Gen Yers on their own terms are like
the following, which contains a veiled inference to that
thorny work ethic. One organization, targets potential Gen Y
painters:

Do you have what it takes to be a successfulpainter?

We are looking for young people who are:
Responsible enough to be on time and put in a real effort
every day.

So do most not put in the effort, and are most consistently
tardy? Is that what this particular organization is suggesting?

Gen Yers are acutely aware of marketing, corporate fluff and
pretentiousness; they have been bombarded with our hard
sell for the whole of their lives and are capable of reading
between the lines. Research recently conducted by Outlaw
Consulting, out of San Francisco, concluded that Generation
Y is drawn to brands that speak to them in a straightforward
and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid
Page 8 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


12
excess . 'The bottom line, concluded the survey, is that any
company that is inconvenient or confusing, or that used
over-designed imagery, is seen as out of touch and too
13
corporate . Lets not forget that this applies to job and
employer branding too.

A posting off CollegeRecruiter.coms begins:

For starters, were one of the largest financial customer
Quality website? Simple
institutions on Earth. We reinvest nearly $1 trillion every year
application mechanism?
back into the US economy. We are the financial guru to
Immediate recruiter interface?
Fortune 500 companies. And, our repeat customer base is
This tech-savvy generation
more than 250 million.
can be instantly impressed

with a great initial experience
Impressive, isnt it? But thats only the beginning.
with your organization or can

quickly move on to the next
Hmm, you can give yourself a pat on the back, but what is in
opportunity if the process is
it for me? The language we are using to speak to the people
frustrating or inadequate.
we will need is inappropriate and way off mark. We do not
Ryan Estis need to start using the lingo that would be far more
patronizing we need to understand how that language
shapes expectations. We are simply not listening to them
when we devise future organizational strategies.

Gen Yers think differently than any other members of the
14
workforce .

The generation question is one that demands a
comprehensive understanding of evolving context, values
and knowledge. The Boomers fought communism, Gen Yers
fight terror. While the boomers listened to Elvis, The Beatles
and the Rolling Stones, Gen Yers listen to Brittany Spears,
15
Eminem and Puff Daddy . (Interestingly, My Generation has
recently been re-recorded by bands Oasis and Greenday,
16
and the Generation Y singer, Hillary Duff ). For many
boomers, 1992 feels like yesterday, but remember that the
college students of today were just learning to walk and talk
back then. Eighteen-year-old freshman were just being born.
1992 was eons ago; it is so yesterday.


12
cited in Ransom, K. 2007, Reign of the Plain: Survey Finds Gen Ys Prefer Brand Simple, in Marketing Daily online, April
Marketing Daily.
13
Marketing Daily.
14
Henry, A, 2004, How to Attract, Motivate, Manage and Retain Different Generations at Work, AHRevelations.
15 Information taken from 2006, New Generations at Work: Attracting, Recruiting, Retraining & Training Generation Y,
©McCrindle Research.
16
McCrindle Research.
Page 9 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


Gen Yers have embraced technology to broadcast
themselves and network. They are, much to the mortification
of many boomers, proud exhibitionists.

While boomers are perhaps more modest, and in some
A loud noise at one end and
instances protective about their personal lives, Gen Yers
no sense of responsibility at
fearlessly air theirs, as well as their bodies, friends, tastes and
the other.
dislikes. Exhibitionism is a must for members of this
Jerome K. Jerome generation. To them and their friends it is normal to post up
material on, say Face Book, that oldies may find
confrontational. This is because they have constructed a solid
line between their personal and working lives that keeps
MySpace on the personal fringes. They would not expect
employers to perform background checks on MySpace, and
employers should not expect their often tongue-in-cheek
profiles to be accurate. So if you go there, be prepared to be
surprised and above all be cautious about how you read and
what you believe in the social networking space.

Paradigm Shift, It That said, we encourage you to use these networking sites,
because they will enable you to seek rather than exclude
Happens
candidates (whose content you might mistakenly and

subconsciously judge) at zero cost. Employers can advertise
their opportunities, and many are getting hundreds of listees
from these sites. Candidates in specific locations can be
found by typing in simple keywords, such as Virginia and
electrical engineer.

Undoubtedly, Generation Y is shaped by an unprecedented
revolution in technology and dramatic events both at home
17
and abroad� . Each and every individual in Gen Y is savvier
about new technologies than any other generation before
them; technology is no longer the domain of experts and
Gen Yers know how to manipulate its uses to their
advantage. And so should we. How can we best take
advantage of the tools currently available to us?

We need to re-engineer our traditional ways of
communicating and connecting so that they stretch into the
future recruitment landscape.






17
McCrindle Research.
Page 10 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


According to Pew Research,

The Digital Generation: [Gen Yers] use technology and the internet to connect with
people in new and distinctive ways. Text messaging, instant
On-demand, In Real-
messaging and email keep them in constant contact with
time
friends. About half say they sent or received a text message

over the phone in the past day, approximately double the
18
proportion of those ages 26-40 [our emphasis] .

It is the social aspect of new instant messaging technologies
and networking that differentiates Gen Y from any before
them. More than half Gen Yers have used sites like MySpace,
Face Book, and MyYearbook, and 45% have created their
profiles on the sites. The Pew Research concludes, Because
so many young people use technology to communicate,
they are much more likely to see its advantages in terms of
19
fostering relationships . And for us, those include
relationships with organizations and potential employers.

Todays graduates and younger employees use the Internet
�Today's younger generation is
to research everything: search for jobs, and communicate
no worse than my own. We
with friends and mentors. Besides using email, they
were just as ignorant and
communicate via chat rooms, instant messaging, and online
repulsive as they are, but
groups. In addition, a rapidly increasing number write blogs.
nobody listened to us.
So, clearly, the Internet is a sizeable location to get in contact
Al Capp with tomorrows movers and shakers. But we do it on their
terms or at our peril.

Their familiarity with all things technological means that This
generation expects interface, contact, respect, consideration,
20
and prompt response [our emphasis], according to Estis .
Communication networks are faster and more far reaching
today, and this has repercussions for mindsets. Gen Yers are
noted for their, Can I have it all, and can I have it right now?
attitude.

Ms Cichelli, a Gen Yer, told the New York Times, Why do I
need to invest three minutes of my life listening to a message
when I can just "ping" someone with an instant message or
21
an e-mail message? . Three whole minutes? To us that is not
long at all.


18
McCrindle Research.
19 McCrindle Research.
20
Estis, R, 2006, Nine Best Practices for Gen Y: theyre always preparing for the next job, October, NAS Recruitment.
21
Bernstein & Marshall.
Page 11 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


The same applies to wasting time on careers/opportunities
pages. Ms Cichelli would expect a website to get her where
she wanted instantly. So we performed an experiment. We
assumed that we were at the Harvard Graduate School of
Arts and Sciences, and visited our Office of Career Services at
www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/. We clicked on Students and then
Careers/Internships. Then employers recruiting for full-time
jobs (4 clicks and counting). Then we clicked Fujitsu/Various
Technical Positions. We got here: www.fujitsu.com/global/.
Go there yourself the number of ensuing clicks defies
imagination. A very negative candidate experience, when
time for having fun is of the essence.

Ctrl, Alt, Delete Making an impact is a shared aspiration for members of Gen
Y. They are idealistic, civic-minded people, who care about
the environment more than previous generations (so who
got us in this pickle anyway?). Roughly four-in-ten Nexters
[42%] say global warming is a very serious problem, almost
They look up to leaders and
identical to the percent of all Americans who share this view
expect guidance and some
22
[41%], according to Pew . In addition, research has shown
protection from them. They
that In their political outlook, they are the most tolerant of
see a boss as a mentor and
any generation on social issues such as immigration, race and
coach. They expect to be paid
23
homosexuality . More than anything, they know their goals
for what they do, not how
24
and can explain how they fit into the big picture . Have we
much time they spend doing
factored this into our profiling?
it.

Kevin Wheeler
These are individuals who are not exactly patient and want
to make a difference, says Masarech, the director of research
25
and marketing at BlessingWhite . This new generation is not
averse to action and strives to make a difference and to
progress. A significant proportion of Gen Yers are keen, for
example, to take their work-related skills to help nonprofit
26
organizations . Many who do volunteer also think that
companies should use volunteering as a professional
development tool, because such opportunities help develop
management, teamwork, communication and leadership
27
skills . But which organizations are actually setting up the
structures to support this mode of action in the future when
it will be required?

Gen Y is intensely mobile in every aspect of their lives, and
they routinely move around the workforce and continually

22
Pew Research Center.
23
Pew Research Center.
24
Henry.
25 cited in Hastings, RR, 2007, Surveys that Shed Light on Generation Y Career Goals, SHRM, March.
26
Gurchiek, K, nd, Employer-Based Volunteerism Lures Gen Y Workers, Available online at SHRM.org.
27
Gurchiek.
Page 12 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


seek better opportunities. Specifying five years experience in
a given field is, to be frank, a dumb boomer oversight in this
day and age. Interactive Careers (from online to
everywhere) have a post for an email campaign manager.
The Manager will work closely with the Sr. Email Marketing
Manager to oversee and implement all aspects of email
marketingQualified applicants will have 3 to 5 years
agency experience.
This is not what Gen Yers are looking for. Aside from the
All of the women on The
demand for experience, we have work closely: the most
Apprentice flirted with me -
important thing about the workplace for Gen Yers is the
consciously or unconsciously.
relationship with the person they directly report to, and they
That's to be expected.
need to be trained and feel empowered enough to make
Donald Trump decisions themselves rather than referring ever upwards for
28
approval . The flattening of control hierarchies is a reality of
Gen Y perception. Micro-managing is also doomed to failure.
Gen Yers need to feel in control and that there is not
someone breathing hot air down their necks. Unfortunately,
while boomers believe in inclusive leadership, most lack in
29
skills to follow this commitment through .

Gen Y talent can only be retained by creating an internal
culture that consistently encourages training, internal
30
mobility and sound mentoring and feedback . This means
cultivating a gencentricity that results in action according to
their perception of the world and their place in it, and
releases some of those controlling mechanisms.

This might mean simply using the internet, emails, text
messaging and sites such as MySpace and Face Book to track
and attract future talent, rather than resorting to traditional
modes. Ninety percent of all college students own a mobile
phone, and 90 percent of early twenty-somethings regularly
31
use their cell phones for text messaging So how do we
fruitfully harness this technology?

By creating a dialogue. Text messaging is expanding into a
means for recruiters to capture the attention of students with
enticing offers of rewarding educational, internship and
32
career opportunities .


28
Wonderlic, C, nd, Tips for Hiring and Managing Gen Y, HR.com.
29
Henry.
30
Snell, A, nd, One size fits all: not enough for Canadas Generation Y, HR.com.
31 Rothberg S & Arnold CM, 2007, Best Practices for the Use of Targeted Cell Phone Campaigns for College Recruiting, March,
CollegeRecruiter.com.
32
Rothberg & Arnold.
Page 13 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


Consider reinforcing your organizations legitimacy year
round with SMS marketing. Text messages (less than 160
characters of meaningful text) are a means to opening up a
dialogue. Gunn suggests that we heed advice from Gen Yers
about the workplace, so we must recognize that transparent
33
communication rocks .

In addition, feedback to existing employees can be given via
If somebody has that
cell phone text messaging it is less obtrusive than a phone
potential, that kernel within...it
call and quicker than email, says Knipstein, general manager
can be nurtured.
34
at Cushman/Amberg Communications . He claims that the
35
Arthur Blank teamwork and productivity you build is valuable .

Gen Y has specific expectations that we did not have and still
dont: opportunities for continuous learning and building
skills, they demand more coaches and less bosses and they
expect informal, not formalized, communication.

Deborah Loffredo, of the college relations department at
Pepsi Bottling Group, said that one quality of Gen Y
employees that stands out for her is their need for feedback-
oriented leadership. They want to know regularly how they
are doing. They want to make an immediate impact, she
said. And the greatest thing about using cell phones for
feedback, as well as marketing is instant gratification. Dont
neglect the power of this tool.

36
Often Gen Ys heroes are close and familiar, whereas many
boomer heroes were more distanced. When asked to name
someone they admire, they are twice as likely as older
37
Americans to name a family member, teacher, or mentor .

Styles of leadership then need careful consideration, but they
can work. New employees should be paired with someone
who has an expressed interest in their success. Pairing
candidates from different generations or across segments of
the business is a great way to bridge gaps and build
38
understanding throughout the workplace . So this is one
means to mending an intergenerational fracture.



33
Gunn, EP, nd, Three Tips from Gen-Y About the New Workplace, from CareerJournal.com.
34
cited in Gunn.
35
Gunn.
36 Pew Research Center.
37
Pew Research Center.
38
Estis.
Page 14 of 18An RCI White Paper Boom, Dot, Net, Y


Being less tech-savvy, the boomers could come down and
Gen Yred
recognize that Gen Yers are a great resource for training the
older, less computer literate. This is a task they have probably
performed with their parents and grandparents. Employers
can satisfy the desire of Gen Yers to feel like theyre making a
significant impact in their organization by giving them the
responsibility of teaching new skills to older employees.

One key data point24% of Then there is blogging. We maintain that it is never too late
to start blogging, and that more boomers should be doing it
Gen Yers read blogs, which is
twice as often as the 12% of and getting into Gen Y spaces. Corporate recruiting blogging
Gen Xers (ages 27-40) and is effective to attract Gen Yers, as well as providing a means
three times the 7% of Young for their voices to be heard and to talk about what matters to
Boomers (ages 41-50) that them and so retain them. We could also then perhaps find
read blogs. ourselves listening to words straight from the horses mouth.

So skeptics of blogs should
Many organizations have embraced blogging as a valuable
suspend their disbelief and
communication network. Honeywell is one organization that
look to at least one bellwether
uses blogging to help it reach into the future. Blogging is,
demographic to get an idea of
however, a little like tight-rope walking as it is reliant upon
how widespread blog
the maintenance of trust.
readership can potentially

grow in the future.
As with your employer brand, your blog should be an
Charlene Li expression of your companys values but it should not be
overdone. When bloggers try too hard and produce material
that looks like marketing copy or PR releases, they fail. Were
at a point in corporate communications where authentic
voices are the ones making the impact. If the voice of your
blog appears to be trying too hard, few people will see a
reason to read, or trust the blogger. What is more, blogs work
because they are true peer-to-peer marketing.

Invention is the talent of From the bloggers perspective, having a voice (remember
youth, as judgment is of age. the importance of exhibitionism?) and being trusted with
that voice, has the potential to empower.
Jonathan Swift

Faced with a choice between continuing to work for your
current organization that trusts you by allowing you to blog
on its corporate site and a potential organization that
demonstrates its distrust by refusing to allow you to blog on
its site, which would you pick?

Blogging also quickly makes people into experts, because
they need to stay on top of the news and trends and update
postings. So bear in mind that the vitality and quick
turnaround of employer-sanctioned blogging is appealing to
Gen Yers.
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Unidentified.net is a Gen Y site (note the name). They explain
their project: The Unidentified is a film that deals with today�s
youth culture, a generation that wants to make a difference
in the world but doesnt know how or why or what they
would do if they had the chance. So why are they seemingly
excluded? And what is stopping them? The boomers of
course; we are drawing back too tightly on the reins so that
we can preserve our comfy recliners worldviews.

Unidentified.net poses an open question on their forum: Is it
normal for older generations to talk down to younger ones
or are todays twentysomethings particularly inarticulate?
Jay, a member, responds:

The voice of our generation has not been heard yet. I don't
The speed with which word of
know if being disaffected is just part of the nature of young
mouth spreads is faster with
adulthood, but our generation hasn't taken sides yet as best I
this generation than it has
can see. I feel like popular voice in general has been
ever been before and its a
marginalized in the buzz of advertising, both commercial and
result of the technology they
political, and that this inaccessibility, the fact that we can't
use to stay in touch with each
figure out yet how to get our hands on a megaphone (all of
other. Gen Y cant go to the
them locked up in DC and CNN, FOX, NBC etc. headquarters)
toilet without telling five of
has diminished the drive of our generation to be heard.
their friends first."
We've been conditioned to believe that we shouldn't bother
Peter Sheahan
speaking, and also that people aren't for listening to because
they are not on TV. And there's your reality TV obsession. We
have (and by we I mean Americans and others, but mostly
Americans) bought the idea that what is on TV is of value, is
true, is more real than the shit we're perpetually bumping
into as we try and walk down the street.

We are on TV, and we have the misconstrued idea that Gen Y
is obsessed with reality TV. Give them a camera and give
them a megaphone. Jays voice, is raw and angry. He asks
that we now open up and start making and adjusting to
paradigm shifts.

It really is as simple as understanding that evolving contexts
demand a revision of styles (leadership, training, profiling,
retaining and branding) and an adoption of technologies if
we are to be attractive and credible to Gen Yers. We should,
Adapt our management and recruitment strategies to better
engage the new generations rather than expecting them to
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39
conform to old styles , or bury our heads in the sand and
hope that the old house suits.

McCrindle maintains, as we do, that generational trends are
Age is a very high price to pay
40
not like a pendulum that swings back and forth� . Although
for maturity.�
Gen Y shares a few beliefs with the boomers, their focus is on:
Mick Jagger work/life balance, flexibility, flat structures, social
environment and fun culture; these represent a permanent
41
change in priorities .

Gen Yers work to live rather than live to work. They want to
do good work in areas that make them money and in areas
that help other people. They are much more concerned
about the environment and are happy to live simply.
Although addressing the demands of Gen Y may seem like
hard work, if we do it, the legacy we leave will mean our
futures will be in good hands.





39 Estis.
40
Estis.
41
McCrindle Research.
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About the Authors
Amitai Givertz Ami works with clients in a number of areas helping them
adopt new methods and technologies for improving their
Senior Consultant with the
recruiting and related business operations. Ami is a
RCI Center of Excellence
trusted advisor who specializes in problem solving and
process innovation but also rolls his sleeves up when
called to action in any number of client situations.
In addition, Ami is responsible for the RCI Center of
Excellences program development, a role that includes
recruiter training, consulting services, planning and
communications.
As well as being the Editor for RCIs blog Bells & Whistles,
Ami is one of the founding members of Kennedy
Informations Recruiting Trends Advisory Board.

Anna Kassulke Anna works with our consultants and clients on a variety of
research and communications assignments. Drawing on
RCI Center of Excellence
years of experience as a researcher, accomplished
Research & Development
wordsmith and editor, Anna produces a variety of papers
and study materials for RCI and our client organizations.

About the RCI Center of
The RCI Center of Excellence was created with the express
Excellence
goal of raising the strategic importance of the staffing
function to its rightful place in the corporate hierarchy.
We provide training and development programs focused on
talent management best practice and professional
advancement. RCI consultants are leaders in their fields. As
well as delivering our various programs they work with
clients across specific practice areas brining a highly
specialized yet integrated approach to problem solving and
project management.
The RCI Center of Excellence is headquartered in Jupiter,
Florida, with operations throughout the United States, RCI
provides a broad range of products and services that are
configured to meet the diverse needs of our thousands of
clients who themselves are recruiting across engineering,
finance, sales, healthcare and other tough-to-fill skill sets.

RCI Center of Excellence 550 Heritage Dr., Ste. 200, Jupiter, FL 33458 Ph: 561.686-6800 Fax: 561.686.8043
Web: rci-centerofexcellence.com rcirs.com

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