Managing Gen Y and Z – More fun that you think

It is the best time to work. With the Gen Y and the millennials or Gen Z trooping into the workforce, workplaces are undergoing a makeover. They flout many of the conventional work rules that you held sacrosanct. Attracting and managing the new workforce requires an evolved managerial style. Here are 8 tips if you want to hire and retain the best of the new workforce.

Set Challenges – If you have to sell your org to the best Gen Y and Gen Z talent, show them the challenge. Higher salary or positions are not enough- you will have to show them that the job gives something more meaningful than fat cheques

Inspire. Influence. Not authorize – The automatic respect for authority no longer holds. Instead you have to inspire and influence. Look at the figures running companies today. The new age  CEOs are the one in the overalls inspiring teams to give their best. Show them the leaders in your org that they can look up to

Offer individual spaces – Gen Y and Z are fiercely independent, creative and entrepreneurial. Give them the space. Think out of the box. Could you give them personal projects for example – ask them to take an hour everyday to work on new product ideas?

Tolerate the mess – Gen Y and the millenials make plans on the fly. Remember it’s a whats app world. While working with them, you have to deal with their aversion to long term planning. Break long term goals into short term outcomes. Cope with the fuzziness that define their lives.

Work and Life – Work and life mix into each other for this gen. They are comfortable working from a garage and would want to facebook at work. Give them the freedom. Offer flexibility. Manage by objectives and not by number of hours spent in office.

Play at work – Gamify. Play games- real ones. Bring an element of fun and unpredictability of it into work. This is the work hard. Party harder generation. Gel with them over a football match or a messy paintball.

Be Tech savvy- The millennium certainly belongs to technology. And you have to keep pace. E-mails now have lost out as a preferred means of communication to instant messenging. Employees want to bring in their own devices. Are you on top of the tech curve?

Be Reachable – Do you have a corner, glass office? Break down the walls. Or better still get your cubicle in the middle. Work together. The new times are not kind to the hands off manager.

Rimjhim Ray heads the Social Media Marketing at Tata Consultancy Services. She is an experienced sales and marketing professional having led  global portfolios including new age solutions such as cloud, social media and mobility. She has also lead CS initiatives in various countries including UK and Ireland and have championed social media programs around sustainability. She is an avid blogger, marathoner and a social media practitioner. She holds a degree in Mathematics and Computer Applications from Jadavpur University and a MBA from SP Jain, Mumbai. She also holds certificates in Social Media from Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. She is an avid toastmaster and she is a part of the executive committee of Mumbai Toast Masters. Check out her blog at Globe-Slother. Connect with her on LinkedIn and on twitter @GlobeSlother.