Managers: What's Your Definition of 'Grown Up?'

Published by J.T. on September 10th, 2007 in Career Development, Employment, Money, Recruiting, Work, Work/Life | 21 Comments

I was chatting with Ryan Healy this week about his post on moving back home. Given my line of work, I know the number of college grads who are returning to the parental nest is high. I even heard once that more than 70 percent of the graduating class of one of our most prestigious and expensive American universities said in a survey they planned to move home too.

There's actually a term people are using to describe college grads who move back to take advantage of nice living quarters, laundry service, good food and the various other perks living at home provides: KIPPERS. (Which stands for 'Kids in Parents Pockets Eating Retirement Savings.') A more commonly known term is 'Boomerang Kids.' Both are meant to be humorous, but we all know, humor is usually rooted in truth – or at least in perception. Which leads to one of the major concerns I hear from corporate managers today: When will Gen-Y grow up?

Yes, clients I work with all seem very focused on getting Gen-Y to realize they need to be responsible for themselves. They are frustrated by the fact that when they graduated, they were forced to, as one client told me, "live in a roach infested apartment, eating Ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." They see Gen-Y heading back to the comforts of home and start to think this will be the generation who 'fails to launch' into adulthood. Moreover, they view Gen-Y's job hopping as a product of how they are able to, 'take this job and shove it,' because no one is making them pay the bills and survive on their own.

In short, managers don't think Gen Yers are acting grown up, and they don't want to invest in them because they consider them unreliable. As I told Ryan, I actually have personal experience with this mentality. Let me share…

In the very first years of my own career, I went in and proposed myself for a new position that was being created in the start-up firm I was working for at the time. I had been with the company a little over a year. I told my boss, an ex-marine and former Fortune 500 manager, I was perfect for the job because I was young, single, and had no spouse, kids, or mortgage to worry about. I stressed that this made me totally available to give the job 200 percent. His response: "That's the exact reason why I don't want to hire you."

I almost fell off my chair. He proceeded to explain, "I want to invest in someone who will stay put. I don't want you to get the job up and running and then just take off for a better opportunity. So, I want someone with a big mortgage, a spouse, AND kids. Someone with personal obligations that will keep them loyal and productive."

Without saying it directly, I could tell my boss did not see me as a 'grown up.' Which also meant, I wasn't going to get any sort of position of significance until I met his definition. What do you think I did? I'll tell you shortly, but let me offer this first:

There have been endless discussions on turnover and the lack of loyalty amongst Gen-Y being attributed to their child-like acts of entitlement on-the-job. Corporate America, it's time to take a closer look at Gen-Y's current career reality and what's driving those actions.

Today, the average college student has $17,000 in debt upon graduation. In the last 20 years, the cost of inflation has severely outpaced the increase in starting salaries. And let's not forget that our society expects everyone to have a degree, which means a diploma doesn't give you a "leg up," just a ticket to the career starting line.

Finally, we must recognize that universities don't prepare every student for the workforce. Colleges focus primarily on teaching students how to learn, not how to find the right career and be a good worker. For many, their first job after college is also their first experience in the professional world. Therefore, every college grad today is bound to mistakes and adjustments to their careers over the first 5-10 years, which will hopefully teach them how to identify and achieve the personal and professional satisfaction they seek.

I suggest companies recognize that Gen-Y needs your help gaining their independence, not your criticism. Offer professional development opportunities in the forms of customized career and financial coaching to your young professionals. Give them the chance to learn how they can achieve their goals with your help.

Yes, they may still leave you, but I assure you, they will remember you fondly and recommend their peers to you. And any HR manager will tell you, WOMP (Word of Mouth Potential) is the best recruiting and retention tool a company's got. As the saying goes, "if you set them free, and it's meant to be, they will come back to you."

Young professionals often need to jump jobs in order to leverage what they have learned, not to mention, be able to have additional experiences that will make them a more valuable asset (potentially for you!) in the future. I know many, many people who have left firms only to return to them several years later, prepared and excited to do great things for the company who has welcomed them back. So invest in Gen-Y employees, regardless of whether or not you think they'll stay, and you'll see a return one way or another.

I'll end by telling you that one week after meeting with my boss, he brought me in his office and said, "Against my better judgment, I'm giving you the job." I spent the next nine months building, learning, and growing in the position. And then, I took that experience and landed myself a new job someplace else.

Yes, I left him, just as he predicted, for the reasons he outlined. He wouldn't speak to me for my final two weeks. I've never seen him since and I wasn't comfortable ever using him as a reference. I just couldn't be sure he would talk objectively about my skills and abilities. On that last day, I made a promise to myself that I would never do that to a young professional in my employ when they gave their notice – and I never have. In fact, at my subsequent jobs, I actually became known as the manager to reach out to if you wanted to leave because I would help individuals find a new job on the condition they would help me find their replacement.

Eventually, I left corporate America and became a career coach and HR/workplace consultant. I honestly think my experience with my former manager is one of the reasons I do what I do today. So, I hope somewhere he is out there, reading this post, and knows that I am actually grateful for the entire experience – all of it. And, I hope all managers reading this will think seriously about the long-term benefits of investing in Gen-Y as well.