Why can't they be like we were, perfect in every way?
What's the matter with kids today?
If you:
- Automatically hear the melody with the words
- Know the tune is "Kids" from the musical "Bye Bye Birdie"
- Agree with the lyrics...
...You are definitely NOT a member of Generation Y, the youngest folks in today's newsrooms.
I'm betting you're a Boomer who is trying to manage them.
Gen-Y journalists may share your passion for journalism, but they differ from you in many ways. If you are trying to lead and motivate them, you're sometimes frustrated. Here are some complaints I've heard:
- Why can't they just do things my way?
- Why do they seem to want too much from me, too soon?
- Why don't they seem as willing to pay their dues, the way I did?
The answer: because they aren't you. And until you understand more about them, you won't be successful in leading them.
So let's get better acquainted with Gen Y.
There's no official arbiter of dates, but by most measures, Gen Y's were born from the late 1970s to late 1990s. Today, the oldest among them are in the twilight of their 20s. In your newsroom, they could be your interns, your recent college grads or your up-and-comers.
While each one is an individual, they share some general life experiences and influences. Here's what people who have studied them say about the Gen-Y staffers in your midst:
- They have high self-esteem and don't tolerate intimidation.
Their teachers and their Boomer parents focused on positive reinforcement. Boomers grew up with teachers who could smack them (as nuns did in my school) and parents who were likely to side with the teachers. But in the lives of Gen-Yers, corporal punishment was discouraged at home and forbidden at school. They were told that if anyone bullied them or made them uncomfortable, they shouldn't endure it. They should speak up or report it. And in a newsroom, you can expect they will.
- They have been heavily parented and programmed.
Parents played a substantial role in their school life: volunteering, checking on homework, scheduling extracurricular activities and schlepping them from place to place. Gen-Y time was managed for them by their parents.
- They are success-oriented.
They often come from dual-career families with parents who knew the ropes about college and achievement. Those parents didn't want their kids to have to learn from the school of hard knocks, as they might have.
- They are accustomed to quality as consumers.
Those two-career families had disposable income, and the kids became discerning customers, brand- and quality-conscious.
Technology has always been a part of their lives. They are far better at using it than most of their bosses, and do so without fear.
- They are accustomed to immediacy.
Cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging, faxes, overnight mail, digital cameras and microwave ovens have all reduced the waiting time in their lives.
- They are tolerant of differences.
They grew up in schools that mainstreamed students with disabilities, strove for racial and ethnic diversity, had Gay-Straight Alliance clubs and women in leadership roles.
- They have volunteered in their communities.
Their religious organizations encouraged it, some schools even built it into curriculum and it was likely a requirement for entry to the National Honor Society.
- They value work-life balance.
They may have been latch-key kids and children of divorce. They watched parents devote long hours to their careers, only to see those jobs disappear during downsizing.
- They work around, not against, authority.
Unlike the young people of the '60s who rebelled against authority, the Gen-Y approach when opposing authority is more passive than aggressive.
A lot of these insights came from the book "Managing Generation Y," by Carolyn Martin and Bruce Tulgan. They write of Gen Y: "In essence, they want to be 'paid volunteers' -– to join organizations not because they have to, but because they really want to, because there's something significant happening there."
The authors say Gen-Y employees want to work for bosses who are:
- Open-minded
- Experts in their field, even if they aren't tech-savvy
- Organized
- Teachers, trainers and mentors
- Not intimidators
- Respectful of their generation
- Understanding of their need for work-life balance
The work-life balance concerns echoed the results of the survey we did among journalists earlier this year.
The respondents most likely to say they had considered leaving journalism because of work-life balance issues were aged 20-34. We need to listen to them, not just assume they don't "get it" -- or that they lack the passion of their predecessors.
We need to listen to them, not just assume they don't "get it" -- or lack the passion of their predecessors.
So, if you are a Boomer -– or a Gen X'er -- managing Gen Y's, you're more likely to motivate them by mentoring, not threatening. Don't be afraid to talk about purpose, not just performance. And figure out the challenge of how, in this world of doing ever more with ever less, you can remember they have lives outside of work. Our Poynter survey of journalists reminded us how much employees value bosses who do, and how even the smallest gestures can make a difference.
To manage Gen-Y journalists, get to know them better. One resource is the Beloit College mindset list, which describes the cultural realities of each year's incoming freshman class. Beginning with the class of 2002, it shares such generational gems as "There has always been MTV, and it always included non-musical shows," right on up to the class of 2009's, "They have always been challenged to distinguish between news and entertainment on cable TV."
I've checked the Beloit lists. "Bye Bye Birdie" definitely doesn't show up on the current generational radar. So maybe we can stop assuming everyone should (sing out now!) "be like we were, perfect in every way" and instead just give Gen Y its due today.
Related: Read a letter by a Gen Y journalist to a newsroom manager
This is the first time I've ever felt so compelled...
