Generation Y Is Annoying to Manage, But That's a Good Thing

Great post! Though, I think the challenge in America is more fundamental than saying Gen Y requires more collaboration vs. Gen X "…who take[s] serious pride in independently getting the job done."

I believe many companies & managers in the USA will need to unlearn those lessons that treat people as "human resources" to be mined. A better strategy is to recognize people as assets that grow with the right investments. Not surprisingly, TIME is one of the best way to encourage growth. The surprise is how little of it is needed for an employee to be fully engaged & productive.

Millennials are not that different from Gen Xers really. I think the younger generation always prefered one-on-one feedback/interaction with senior staffers. I personally loved working with Gen Y employees because they're faster in picking up tasks. As a Gen X, I understand the needs of Gen Y better because I went through the same thing when I started out. I, too, had the nerve to ask for a raise in my third month of an entry level job.

None of us are going to wait 5 years for a promotion and if there's a faster way to do it, by all means, do it or at least show me!

Here is my article on the fine art of managing Millennials.

http://www.examiner.com/x-11864-Office-Politics-Examiner~y2009m5d22-Tips-for-Managing-the-Millennial-Generation.

You make some interesting points. I am Gen X. I agree with Ji Hyun Lee that the Gen X vs Gen Y distinction misses an important point. A large portion of us also wanted close relationships, mentoring and intelligent managing/mentoring as well. He didn't get it either.

If you have run into many Gen X's "..who take serious pride in independently getting the job done." I suspect it is similar the pride of the stereotypical grandparent who "Walked 5 miles to school uphill in the snow." We confronted cold, unpleasant, unfeeling, unyielding reality that sucked. We often did not grow up very close with our parents, and or get a ton of feedback from teachers, coaches etc. We dealt with it independently because that is what was demanded of us.

This is not an excuse for perpetuating bad habits and bad practices. Every generation in the workforce has a sizable percentage that hate their jobs, or after years in a dehumanizing corporate grind, is too tired to care. As much as I would like to see the golden rule practiced, the reality is that people most often do unto others as has been done unto them.

The good news nothing stays static. I welcome your energy and ideas on how to make it better.

Interesting post.

Be careful of the distinction between Gen Y and younger workers in general. Younger workers tend to need more coaching and just because at the moment those younger workers are Gen Y doesn't mean that it's Gen Y who needs more coaching.

When Gen Y have gotten a bit older there will be a new generation of young workers, and they will also need a little extra coaching.

The problem is that over the last 20 or 30 years, management has become a lost art.

Fair 'nough, but you've forgotten (or are too young to know) the reasons for this. Employees who exist in a company primarily to manage others–as opposed to contributing to their company's bottom line–are what's called "middle management." Fairly or unfairly, middle management is generally considered among the most expendable group in an organization. Their only value is in making other people more valuable. That's noble, and certainly benefits the employees who receive the management, but upper level executives will always question why fully grown, college-educated adults taking home a paycheck–even the young ones–shouldn't be capable of managing themselves. It's a problem GenY will continue to face.

Or, you can embrace this as a gift.

While I certainly agree with you that whining and complaining isn't the right answer here, why should needing to spend more time to manage these employees be considered a "gift"? Because I'm given the opportunity to prevent days/weeks of fixing mistakes that previous generations wouldn't have made in the first place? I'm just not seeing it.

I agree with Sean, as companies are required to become leaner and find ways to keep the bottom line colored black, managing/mentoring becomes a real challenge. Good managers wear many hats, and find ways of becoming value-added human assets to both the company as well as the employee. Some short, but informative, time should be made available to ALL employees – boomers to millenials – but hand holding is just not an option in this day and age.

Well said Sean & Kate! Harvard Business Review's IdeaCast had an episode on middle managers a couple weeks ago. It's a pitch for a new book, but I thought it was worth the eight minutes.

Podcast Alley download:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/hbsp/Harvard_Business_IdeaCast_146__The_Truth_About_Middle_Managers.m4a

Book Preview at Google books:
http://books.google.com/books?id=vZBvb_1Ef4MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Truth+About+Middle+Managers

Thanks for the comments, all! Of course, when I talk about generations I am always generalizing, that's the nature of the subject. But also, you can't discuss generations without taking life stage into account. Im sure there are a TON of similarities between Gen Y as 25 year olds and Gen X as 25 year olds. Now that Gen X is 35, things are different.

In general, the people with the least experience need the most management, and that makes sense. But Gen Y, in many cases is asking for help because they want to learn and grow and be successful. If you can give them the push they need, they will do great work for you. If you ignore them, they will go running to another company before you know it.

I'm not entirely sure I agree on this one, but I'll admit I do have one heck of an independent streak and personally hate to be "managed."

You're correct in that we are very different from the Gen Xers who wanted to do everything independently. But I'm not sure the trend necessarily is that we want a manager as much as we want a team.

I wrote my masters thesis on youth leadership development programming. Granted, these programs are trageting people who are much younger than us, but millennials nontheless. Millennials are actually revolting against leadership in the traditional sense and have little respect for people in formal leadership positions (i.e. managers). We have redefined who leaders are to address our shift toward group work. We want people who lead from the inside out, instead of top down. Also, leadership isn't reserved for one person in the group, but is passed around from person to person based on whose skills and strengths best serve the group's objectives at any particular stage of the process.

Tom Kelly's Ten Faces of Innovation addresses this issues similarly, but from a more adult-oriented perspective.

As a cross-generational voice in my life and my work (though a Boomer by birth), I agree with the theory of Ryan's post, and things would be better if everyone took time upfront. But as a few people have already said, even the best of intentions don't always play out in today's time pressured world.

Alan correctly describes what formed Gen X's attitude, which though you may not like it,is understandable given those formative factors he mentioned. Compromises, or maybe empathy and respect are a better way of putting it, are needed on all sides to bridge differences, and differences are good. It would be useful for Gen Xers to be more collaborative like Gen Y and Boomers. Orientation to better establish expectations needs to be expanded. And most importantly, we need more facilitated dialogue within work teams to surface tensions and figure out how best to get individual and team needs met. I am optimistic that we will make good progress to get there as long as we are having these discussions at various levels and venues and everyone tries to avoid being "annoying."

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[...] Generation Y Is Annoying to Manage, But That's a Good Thing [...]

As an aging Gen Y and possibly really young Gen X, I find that my greatest strength is being able to manage myself and seek feedback without waiting for it to happen. I don't think it's a Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomer difference, it's the person. Either you're proactive and seek what you need, or you sit back and complain about how you're not getting the "management" attention you need. Personally, I would hire someone that's proactive and has drive and initiative. The high maintenance employees, just not worth it.

It makes managers become leaders. I think there is a vacuum of leaders in corporate America today. We have a lot of tenured bosses who have moved up through the ranks, but haven't learned new skills that are out of their expertise. Business owners need to realize that they have the paradigm all upside down. Management need their employees rather than vice-versa. If we took a more servant leadership approach, a lot of the angst would disappear. This will eventually be a good thing because leaders will be held accountable for the performance and results of their team.

I'm with Sean – this is bullshit. Listen here Jr., from a Gen X'er, I've had plenty of people of all ages work under me and management is management despite age or any other factor – each person has different motivators that will help them get the job done – some respond to coddling, some to pats on the back, some to flattery, some to healthy competition, some to cash bonuses and sadly, some to the fear that they will lose their job but the one most frustrating thing I find as a manager is when I have to hold your hand because you need"guidance." In this economy, managers do more than just supervise and report to others. In most cases we are in the trenches with our teams. Saying you need feedback because you where close to your parents or teachers just makes you seem like a child. My favorite people to work with have been self-motivated doers of all ages – people who need excessive guidance get the shit jobs on my watch because you'll just get in the way of the rest of your more competent co-workers and waste our time. You insult and discredit your own generation. I work in media and the Gen Y team members I've hired have always been hard working, self-motivated, smart and in some cases taught me a thing or two as well and I was happy to learn it – whether that be about a new piece of software, a new XL trick I didn't know or a new TV show that should be on my radar. Whoever it is that you are describing would never last in my circles. Being a needy whiner is not a "gift" no matter how old an employee is and wanting to have "fun" at your job is nice but that's not why you work – I have fun after work and on weekends. If I happen to have fun at work – that's gravy. I'm not saying that every day should be a morbid grind but remember it's a JOB – it's WORK – not RECESS. Grow up pee-wee.