Motivating the whY Generation

Managing Generation Y seems to be a hot topic at the moment as employers face the new generation of worker who is not afraid to demand a certain style of management or walk straight out the door. That is if they decide to turn up on day one after accepting the job. Obviously not all Gen Y’s are like this and it is important not to generalise, however as a HR consultancy we certainly hear increasing accounts of similar behaviour. Research has found that Gen Y is a different breed who value work/life balance, constant skill development, independence, variety and honesty. Employers are being urged to gain an understanding of what motivates them, in order to retain them as long term employees.

With this in mind we decided to undertake some research of our own locally grown Gen Y’s. We surveyed over 120 secondary students on their career and study interests, employee benefits that would motivate them and where they intended to live post study.

The results bode well for retention of youth on the Mornington Peninsula as over sixty percent of the participants said they would like to remain on the Peninsula after they completed their studies. Whilst most said they intended to study at University or TAFE after secondary school, twenty five were interested in gaining an apprenticeship or traineeship.

The most popular industry was Community and Sport, followed closely by advertising/media/entertainment, education and retail. The retail and education sectors which are relatively strong on the Peninsula would be happy to see these results point to a good supply of future workers. Community and Sport is an interesting industry on the Peninsula because there are several community agencies to seek work through, however these are mainly within the health sector, which was not heavily highlighted in our study. Anecdotal evidence in relation to the sports industry suggests that recreation is a growth area on the Peninsula and may provide opportunities for small business start ups.

The advertising and entertainment industry is likely to be much stronger closer to the CBD as local work opportunities would be limited. A positive result was found in relation to the trades and services sector, with sixteen students aiming to work in this industry. Most of which were interested in remaining on the Peninsula.

With the motivations of Gen Y’s an important element for employers to understand, we gave students a set of nine employee benefits to rate in order of importance to them. “A good salary” was included in the nine and came out on top as the number one important benefit. However the other benefits produced very interesting results. It would seem that the future workforce will be looking to work for organisations that provide them with flexible work hours, opportunity for training, and bonuses for achieving results. These were the top three benefits after salary. In addition, a majority of students were interested in receiving extra annual leave and time off to pursue other interests. These results further support prior research that Gen Y values work/life balance and skill development.

It is important that local employers looking to attract and retain this generation of workers offer not only salary based rewards to their employees, but incorporate opportunities for training and flexibility of work hours. By listening to this generation and their needs the likelihood of retaining will increase immensely.