bizMe

I was born in 1978. This makes me, well, old. But that’s not the point. The point is that I am uniquely positioned between two generations—Gen X, famous for Reality Bites, the grunge era, apathy; and Gen Y, or the Millennials, known for their obsession with Can’t Hardly Wait, rap music, and Napster. This means I can both disrespect and patronize authority with the best of ‘em. And wear flannel or Harajuku equally well.

The youth are starting to inherit the earth. As the baby boomers creep towards retirement, the X-ers are becoming the bosses, and the Y-ers are the most coveted workforce to recruit. Unfortunately, there’s some conflict between the young and the youngest.

According to blogger Rebecca Thorman, “The Gen X focus on distrust makes them solitary workers, preferring to rely solely on their selves to see a project through, while Generation Y tends to want to support and work together. A Gen Xer is often found at the office, squeezing by on their flextime, and blocking out the world with their iPod.” In other words, Gen X-ers typically crave a casual, independent work environment, whereas their younger siblings would prefer something a bit more structured, communal and supportive.

Case in point: when the Gen X owner of 27-year-old Dawn’s company set up a “zen lounge, set up like a coffee shop with tables and such,” he thought it would be workplace heaven. Unfortunately, his younger workforce didn’t share the dream. “Nobody really uses it, and chooses to go out or eat their lunches in their offices,” she told me. “Besides, I hate the smell of coffee.”

Obviously, where you choose to spend your break time is just one aspect of your workplace personality. But this is a great example of how the new generation has some surprising habits and desires—and employers need to wake up and smell the, er, coffee (sorry, Dawn).

Match.com profile for the perfect employer (wanted by a Gen Yer)

Young workers are not shy about making their needs known. I spoke to a bunch of women, from the ages of 24-32—basically, the up-and-comers of today’s workforce—to hear their thoughts on what would make for the most perfect of employment situations. Overall, if the Gen Y-ers wrote a Match.com profile for employers, it would look a bit like this:

20-something female, seeking relationship that offers challenge, flexibility, and opportunity for growth. I don’t like a lot of restrictions, but I also crave security—you can’t be too careful these days! Probably not interested in anything long term; I like to keep my options open. Searching for that like-minded, social, technologically-savvy, progressive employer who will encourage me to grow and not pigeonhole me into any specific role. And be warned—I don’t intend to take down my profiles on MySpace and Facebook, and I like to Tweet throughout the day, including details about our workplace situation—so jealous or paranoid types need not apply.

In an interview with ZDNet Asia, Don Tapscott, chairman of nGenera Insight and author of Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, broke down the eight “norms” of the Millenial generation. These include freedom of choice, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, innovation and speed. I was most interested in looking at the scrutiny and speed aspects of this generational profile, since these have to do with the social media age—an era which I, and others in the geriatric side of Gen Y, missed by a few years.

Those of us born in the late 70’s and early 80’s were already out of college by the time social media outlets like Facebook and Myspace had really taken off. Our facebook was actually a book—a static collection of photos of incoming freshman. Sounds archaic, doesn’t it? We couldn’t find out everything and anything about potential friends or lovers by going to their profile page on a widely-used website. But the advantage to this was that when graduation rolled around and we were interviewing with prospective employers, none of our past indiscretions could come back to haunt us. Today, hiring managers can find out your interests, what your friends are like, the type of music you listen to . . . and a host of more sensitive details about your personal life. Those of us in our early 30’s remember when this phenomenon began—I was working at a Big 5 consulting firm when one of my coworkers was fired for blogging about some work-related matters—those of you at the other end of Gen Y have grown up in an environment where privacy is just a term your McAfee software brings up every now and then.

What does this have to do with what millennials want in a workplace? One word: transparency. You can’t hide anything, so you don’t want to have to hide anything. The whole concept of professionalism has changed. Just because you rock out at a Justin Timberlake concert one night (and tweet in real time about your crazy evening) doesn’t mean you can’t run an important business meeting the next morning. For that matter, your boss might have been dancing to Justin in the seat next to you.

But here’s a caveat—many people brought up the issue of office gossip when I asked them about their ideal work environment. “I’d love to work in a place where the constant office gossip isn’t assaulting me at every turn,” lamented Sam, a 30-year-old attorney working as a public defender. “I think the problem is that so many of us in this generation don’t separate work and personal life. We socialize with our coworkers . . . which makes sense; we spend so much time at work that we don’t have time for hobbies or lives outside of the office. None of my coworkers are married or have kids. So what else are we going to talk about except each other?”

The work-life balance Sam speaks of was also a common refrain. It seems to be a holdover from Gen X, a way of life that Gen Y does not want to emulate. “My brother is ten years older than me, and he spends like 80 hours a week at the office,” says Jess, a 21-year-old college senior beginning to think about post-grad job prospects for next year. “I realize I’m getting out of school in a crappy economy, but I still don’t want to settle for anything that would make me as miserable as he is. He’s not married. I see myself as a young mom. I still want a career, but if I can’t find a job that offers some flexibility, then I’ll just start my own business.”

Entrepreneurship is another characteristic of the millennial generation. Facebook was started in a dorm room, after all. The advertising industry holds up Blake Mycoskie of Tom’s Shoes as the face of a new wave: his wildly successful company is based on his dedication to community service; plus the guy is living the dream on his own houseboat. The definition of success has changed, and we don’t feel like we have to settle for the 30-years-at-one-company, work-for-your-pension model presented by the Boomers. Not to mention that with the disintegration of a lot of those pensions and our social security benefits, that road is looking a lot less attractive.

Generation Y Not?

Everyone I interviewed had a fleshed-out vision of what their professional dream world would look like. The trend was definitely towards finding a job that enriched a person’s interests, but also allowed them to have a life. For women of this generation, there seems to be a pendulum swing back to putting motherhood first. But unlike past generations, Gen Y women don’t see this as an either-or choice—we can have our baby food and eat it too.

Trish, 28, muses, “I’d run a non-profit benefitting special needs kids or animals. I’d work 4 days with flex time. Onsite daycare, working from home when possible. We’d be business casual all the time.” Lily, 27, agrees: “I would love to work 4 days with 3 day weekends, or the opportunity to work from home. I would also love a maternity leave like Europe or Canada (6 months paid, 6 months unpaid); not to feel guilty when I need to take a sick day; and not to have to cover the butts of people who don’t do their jobs.”

Trish also spoke of a focus on healthier office environments. “We’d have some healthy food options in the cafeteria . . . My food options now, if I don’t brown bag, are the greasy chop suey place around the corner or the fried fish place down the street.”

Physical health wasn’t the only thing on Gen Y minds. Mallory, a 25-year-old special education teacher, envisions running a workplace where emotional health is considered, and feelings are voiced and respected. “I would do everything I could to promote a positive work environment. I would have time where staff could meet to bond and make friendships, and I would go out of my way to do nice things for people and get to know each of my employees.” However, in true Gen Y style, she has no patience for laziness: “I would meet regularly with employees to go over their positive aspects and talk to them about areas where they could use improving. When I was having a problem with an employee, I would meet with them early and have a clear plan on how to go about making improvements. I would also have regular meeting to check their progress. Employees that didn’t take steps to improve their skills would be let go.” Watch out, slacker-friendly Gen X!

As the Boomers exit, young women are hoping for more of an egalitarian workplace. “A big issue I have with where I work is a lack of equality between ‘titles’, says Kate, a 24-year-old financial analyst. “ People who have different positions are definitely treated that way, and it really stinks. Especially since those who are lower on the totem pole contribute to those who are higher up a ton. It seems to be management who views it more this way . . . at least in our office. So I would make that a huge priority. I would want all employees to feel as if they mattered equally in all aspects: their opinions, feedback, etc. I also would want to do things as a company on a regular basis to boost morale. I work in the financial field and obviously it has been tough lately, so this is a biggie for us. Even just something small to get us out of the office and focus on something other than work would be nice.”

Some Gen Y women are opting for less traditional work environments, which allow them to achieve all their goals—work/life balance, responsibility, and the ability to make a difference. Gwyn, 32, another woman on the “cusp” of X and Y, isn’t living the life of a corporate big wig—she works in Africa as a health and nutrition advisor—but life is still pretty cushy. In fact, she said she wouldn’t change much at all about her job. “I think I have a pretty sweet situation already—I work in my field of study, I get 5 weeks vacation, and 6 months paid maternity leave. And my office pays for my house and housekeeper. It’s a good life.”

In the end, a “good life” is what most Gen Y folks are seeking. Our ideal work environments run the gamut, but there is a general trend towards more balance, community and fun. Still, after speaking to women on the edge of Gen Y versus those in the thick of the Millennial brood, I can tell you that there is significant difference between what those in their early 20’s desire versus those approaching the big 3-0. And as a warning to Gen Y: even though Generation X is smaller in terms of population, it has a much stronger generational identity. Those on the cusp of these two groups tend to associate more with their older cohorts. Perhaps this is due to the speed of technology, and the social media revolution. It was hard enough for me to get on Friendster; now I need to start Tweeting? I can’t keep up. It’s far easier to position yourself as a curmudgeonly, MTV-watching slacker. I just hope we aren’t all weeping into our lattes as our swift, health-conscious, technologically-adept Gen Y lackeys overthrow us . . .