10 More Ways Generation Y Will Change the Workplace

Last May, I wrote a post titled 10 Ways Generation Y Will Change the Workplace. It received a lot of attention and more importantly a lot of conversation. The gist of the post was not to say that Generation Y is great and we will make everything better. Rather, it was a testament to what I witnessed during trips to different companies and what I heard from my peers in the workforce.

Nine months later, the economy has collapsed and the workplace is changing before our eyes. This next year or two will be a defining time for our generation, and I believe it will shape our world view and work view in many ways. Based on this, I've come up with 10 more ways Generation Y will change the workplace. Hopefully it will strike up just as much conversation and maybe even some action, so things can start changing for the better.

1. We'll reduce executive compensation for underperforming companies
It's already happening. Obama put a $500,000 cap on executive pay at the banks that were bailed out. In 2007, the average CEO salary at the largest companies was more than $11 Million. It's hard to justify paying anyone that much. In some cases, these executives probably do provide more $11 million in value to their respective companies. And when that happens, they should be compensated for it. But having a CEO expect $11 million regardless of performance is just bad business. The Obama administration is setting the precedent, and as Gen Y takes power we will follow through and reduce executive compensation for underperforming companies.

2. Discussing salaries will be completely normal
Transparency is king. You hear it everywhere these days. Social media is forcing companies to open up their doors and show the world what's really going on. Obama has promised budget transparency to the American public. And the vast majority of the world's under-30 population are living their entire lives online. Transparency is no longer an option. Websites like Glassdoor and Payscale let you compare your salary with others in the industry. My company, Brazen Careerist practices complete transparency. Even financial gurus like Suzie Orman say it's great for business. As Gen Y continues to work our way up the ladder, it will just be a matter of time before companies of all sizes have transparent salaries.

3. Employees will be more loyal than ever before
Transparency does not just mean that everyone knows what everyone else in a company makes. It means that the company must educate their employees on everything that is going on. When Pepsi was ready to release their new "Gen Y Friendly" logo to the world, they wanted to make sure that their employees weren't surprised when they found it in the grocery store. So they invited their staff to a party and introduced the product. The employees were excited and they felt like the company actually cared about them. When employees feel like they matter and the company thinks about them first, they feel a sense of pride and true loyalty to a company. Expect to see this trend continue as Gen Y comes of age.

4. There will be less mass layoffs, but more pay cuts
When someone feels a true sense of pride and loyalty to their company, they're more likely to figure out a way for everyone to pull through when times are tough. We watched our parents and our friend's parents being laid off when we were young and we're going through it now. We know the hardship that comes with it. Don't be surprised to see across-the-board pay-cuts instead of mass layoffs when times get tough. Start ups do it all the time – my company did it without thinking twice. And it's already happening at large corporations; HP just instituted a 5% or more across-the-board pay-cut rather than laying off hundreds. When you're part of a team, you want that team to succeed, and you'll do what's necessary to survive. And as we all know, Generation Y is the ultimate team player generation.

5. We'll truly get over the "punch clock" mentality
It's easy to say you have a progressive workplace and that you don't care what hours people are actually working at the office or what they do outside of work. But the truth is, companies care and people care. At the typical company, everyone notices what time someone leaves the office and what time people get in. We're still stuck in a workplace that was designed around producing widgets on an assembly line. As life moves more and more online, and new technologies are invented that allow traditional offices to be truly optional, the punch clock mentality will slowly disappear. By the time Gen Y is ready to retire, people won't even know what a punch clock is, and maybe then we will finally be working in the environment that knowledge workers are meant to work in.

6. Independent contractors will become part of the team
Nearly every company hires independent contractors to work for them. Contractors are great. They don't require health insurance and you don't have to pay the extra taxes. But they're often treated very differently than traditional employees. As more people develop skills that allow them to be effective independent contractors, and some form of universal healthcare is finally adopted, companies will begin to think of their contractors as their employees. When Brazen had a big budget, we worked with a ton of contractors. When people asked how many employees we had, I would always mention that our team felt much larger because of all the freelancers. As the number of independent contractors increases, they will become a vital part of the team.

7. Corporate branding will work in conjunction with personal branding
Companies spend a lot of money on branding. They throw huge budgets at PR firms and superbowl ads. It usually results in a ton of brand recognition. But brand recognition is no longer enough. Consumers want transparency, conversation and experience. Generation Y doesn't want a company to talk AT us, we want to talk WITH a company. The only way for a company to talk with a person is to give employees the freedom to interact. It's already happening as people like Sharpie Susan are branding themselves as social media players and helping their companies in the process. Who knows exactly how this will play out, but as Gen Y invents new technologies and new marketing strategies, corporate branding will never look the same.

8. Leadership will be a team effort
Jack Welch was a larger than life CEO. Everyone knew who he was and his personal brand may have been just as big as GE's brand. In Good to Great, Jim Collins determined that dominant CEOs like Jack Welch actually have a lower than average ROI during their tenure. This is because CEOs need to be respected and admired by their employees, and they need to be selfless and always thinking about the organization. As a team-oriented group, Generation Y will not stand by and watch one person insert his will on the company. We will figure out a new form of leadership, where one person is the decision maker, but leading is a team effort. With all the new social technologies, there will always be a place for people with huge personal brands and huge personal egos. They will make a lot of money and still be well-known, but they won't be the ones running large organizations.

9. We will really know people before we hire them
I can't tell you exactly how they will look, but sooner than later, resumes will be extremely different. It's not because a hard copy piece of paper is outdated, it's because people are becoming more and more complex. Resumes were created when people went to school, graduated, got a job and maybe another job. But today people blog, job-hop and have multiple hobbies outside of work. We live our lives online. It's too limiting to judge someone based on one sheet of paper. Social technologies give employers a window into people's souls. As Gen Y become responsible for hiring decisions, you can bet we will know almost everything we possibly can about someone before we give them an offer.

10. Entry level employees will be students and teachers
In the old days, entry-level employees had to pay dues before they moved up. This makes sense, it's impossible to know how a job or an industry works when you've never been there before. Young people had everything to learn and nothing to teach. Things are different now. For the first time in history, the youngest people in the workplace have the most knowledge about a very important topic – technology. And get this; we want to teach our bosses and managers how to use these technologies. This trend will continue. Young people will stay on top of the newest useful technologies. As Gen Y grows up, cross-mentor programs will be instituted. Old will teach young and young will teach old. Sounds like a great environment to me.

We Launched the Team Brazen Blog Today

Be sure to check out the official Team Brazen Careerist blog, we just launched it today. Here's a quick taste of what the blog will be all about.

It's been a long time coming, but we've finally launched the official Team Brazen Blog. After a year of telling companies how important it is for them to blog, we figured we would drink the Kool-aid and start one too.

Most of the team has a unique online identity. And as Dan Schawbel would tell you, that's great for personal branding. But we also need a collective voice from the company. People want to know what's new at Brazen headquarters, where we're headed in the future and why we're doing what we're doing. So this will be the place to find all the latest Brazen gossip.

At Brazen, everyone has a unique job (in most cases, multiple jobs) and a unique personality.

Ryan Paugh, our Community Manager/Editor/Fill in Designer, loves talking to people. In fact, Ryan genuinely wants to be friends with every single person on our network. I often wonder how he'll do this when we have a million users, but I wouldn't be surprised if he finds a way. Ryan is determined to showcase as many community members as humanly possible through his community member Q&A's. I'm sure he'll also write about life as an online Community Manager – the coolest new job around……

Read the rest at the official Team Brazen Blog

6 Ways to Fit in when you're the Youngest Person in the Room

I do a lot of speeches and meetings where I'm educating people much older than me on a specific topic. So it's important for me to appear competent, knowledgeable and quite frankly, older than I actually am. Over the past two years, I've learned a few things about fitting in when you're the youngest one in the room. Here are six tips for you to remember.

1. Talk about technology
This is the first time in history that the youngest generation in the workforce has the most knowledge on a very important business topic – technology. This gives Generation Y a ton of advantages that past generations didn't have. We can provide ideas for new marketing techniques and new recruiting strategies, and we can implement these ideas at very little cost. Regardless of whether or not it's true, people assume that if you're in your twenties, you are an expert on technology. The next time you're in a room full of people talking about a topic that's a little over your head, pick the right time to chime in and talk about technology. Explain how Facebook, or blogging or Twitter can help. People will listen because when it comes to technology, you're the expert.

2. Ask questions
When you're the youngest in the room, it's important that you appear confident and competent. But you have to be careful that people don't mistake confidence for arrogance. You're not expected to know everything at 25, and older folks will expect that you're always trying to learn. The best way to show people that you want to learn and that you don't think you know everything is to ask a ton of questions. Be sure the questions are relevant to the topic being discussed, but remember, there's no such thing as a stupid question (only stupid people…just kidding!)

3. When the kid convo comes up, keep your mouth shut
I hate the kid talk. But somehow, someway, a room full of 30 and 40 somethings will ALWAYS end up talking about their kids. Whether its little league, ballet, their latest illness or anything else, my only advice is to nod your head, force a smile, keep your mouth shut and pretend like you're interested. At IBM I made the mistake of chiming in on a few of these, but all I could come up with were old war stories about my little league days. Relating to their kids is a quick way to remind everyone how young you are. Avoid this at all costs.

4. Talk about your weekend fun
This may seem a little counter-intuitive, but I've found that older folks love hearing your weekend party stories. I'm sure it's fun for them to relive the old days of late night parties. Usually they will talk about a few stories of their own, it's a great conversation starter and it allows them to relate to you. This is one case where it actually is ok to show your age because you are relating to the other people in the room, not their kids. Just be sure you don't give too many less than professional details and you'll be fine.

5. Be an expert, but don't flaunt it
You should be an expert in something. There is no excuse for you not to have some sort of specialty or at least a career-specific topic that you are highly interested in. When that topic does come up, it's the perfect opportunity to display all the hard work you've put into becoming an expert. Talk about your ideas and give some background on how you learned about the topic. Just be careful that you don't flaunt your "expert status" too much. Nobody likes a show off.

6. Accept every favor you're offered
In college, I wanted to be a psych major. Turns out, I'm much more into analyzing my own issues then other peoples. But that's beside the point. One thing I learned in a Social Psychology class is that people actually like you more after they do a favor for you. It seems strange, but it's true. And when you're the youngest in the room you probably have the least money and least connections, so if they like you, people will offer you things like sports tickets, introductions to high-powered friends etc. Next time, remember that they want you to accept this favor and they'll actually like you more if you do!

Depending on how you look at it, being the youngest in the room can be a good thing or a bad thing. Some people will never give you a chance if you're under 30, but if you remember these six tips, you'll have a better shot at fitting in with the older crowd.

A Bad Economy Is the Perfect Time to Start Over

My first six months in Wisconsin were interesting to say the least. Ryan Paugh and I lived on $1,000 a month in a beat up old house on the East Side of Madison. We worked from home, we rarely went out, we fought with each other, we fought with Penelope, and we watched the snow pile up on the cold Wisconsin ground month after month.

By all accounts, it was pretty terrible. I was used to having lots of friends, going out all the time, and counting on a good paycheck to come in every other week.

But then we raised some money. We took bonuses, we got regular paychecks, we hired people, we rented an office, and I moved in to a nice place with my brother and bought a flat screen TV. It was great. It was comfortable.

It was boring.

Any true entrepreneur will tell you that the best time in the life of a start up is the beginning. You work tons of hours and you can't wait until you're funded because that's when you'll be able to do the things you really want to do.

But once you get funded, the headaches just begin, and it starts to feel like a "real job." It's easy to get comfortable, to forget about all the hard work you put in before there was cash in the bank. And strangely enough, you end up wishing you could go back to the beginning or sell your company and start a new one.

Rather than being completely focused on the company, I found myself walking down the street, sometimes nostalgic about the little apartment Ryan and I lived in and sometimes dreaming about our big exit and all the money that would come with it.

Then, before we even realized what was happening, the market crashed, investors pulled back, and we didn't have salaries anymore. The whole company had gotten too comfortable; we weren't prepared to handle the downturn.

But oddly enough, three months later, things are going really well. We made a decision to switch up our business model and bring in revenue any way possible. Every dollar we make is treated like gold, we've managed to cut our burn rate by nearly 50% without losing any productivity, and we've realized just how many ways there are to make money, without begging someone for a multimillion dollar investment

I'm confident that we're going to make it through, and I'm convinced that when Brazen Careerist does end up a success, we will have George Bush to thank (Did I really say that?). The recession allowed us, or some might say forced us, to reevaluate and start over.

In a way, I did get my wish, Brazen is like a brand new start up, except we have a site that's already built, we have founders who have all done this part before, and we have a whole army of people that want us to succeed.

I've learned a lot from this whole experience, both personally and professionally. Difficult situations are the best learning opportunities; when things are good it's very difficult to see how you can improve. But when times are tough you have the opportunity to make difficult, life-altering decisions. Great businesses and great leaders embrace difficult situations and thrive when times are tough.

The question is, when adversity is staring you in the face, will you get comfortable, or will you embrace the adversity and emerge stronger than ever?

Employer Branding: It's All About the Story

Take a look at the newest Best Places to Work list by Fortune and you will see an interesting pattern. More often than not, the same companies show up on the list every year, and its not a coincidence. Sure, these companies are probably pretty good places to work, but more importantly, they recognize the value in employer branding.

Brand recognition is not employer branding. Brand recognition is easy – it's advertising. Authorize a huge budget; hire a creative advertising firm, make a funny Superbowl ad and people all across the country will recognize your company logo. That's great if you just want people to buy what you're selling.

Employer branding is much different and equally important. It gets the right people in the door to create and improve what you're selling. But, employer branding is all about the story you tell – its marketing.

A funny Superbowl ad is not going to make me think "Wow, that looks like a great place to work." In fact, I'll probably forget about the ad by the time the game comes back on. On the other hand, a well crafted story that I read on my favorite blog or on the Best Places to Work list will make me consider rewriting my resume and passing it on to your company.

Google has a story. Googlers get to work at the coolest company on the planet. They sit on brightly colored bean bag chairs and they get on-site dry cleaning and free lunches. Oh yeah, they work hard too, that's cool.

Zappos has a story. Zappos employees get fee lunch, concierge service, and 100% health insurance premium coverage. If you start with Zappos and decide after training that you don't want to work there, they will GIVE you $2,000.00 to go home. Zappos does not want dead weight, and neither do their employees.

During the Q&A session of my Gen-Y speech at State Farm last week, a gentleman asked if strictly branding to Gen Y would alienate other generations. It was a great question. And the answer is yes; strictly trying to appeal to people in their twenties will alienate older employees. But that's the beauty of marketing, you don't need just one story. As long as every story you craft is true, you can and should have multiple messages for multiple audiences.

For example, State Farm's story for Gen Y could be that becoming an agent gives you a great taste for entrepreneurship without all the risk. Learn how to run your own business with the guidance of people who have been there and done that.

For Gen X the story could be that starting an agency gives you the freedom to spend time with your spouse and kids while earning plenty of money to support your family. And you become an important part of your community.

And for Baby Boomers the story could be that working at State Farm is a great way to finish your career on your terms. You can call the shots and make your hours. And if they're interested, you can get your kids involved in the business.

Each of these messages is completely different and from what I learned at the conference, completely true. Different audiences want to hear different stories. And if you actually are a great company like State Farm is, crafting a story is easy. Take a good look at how your business operates, ask your current employees in every area and at every age level why they like the company. I guarantee the answers will give you the perfect story for every demographic.