What will organizations have to do to adapt to the influx of needed Generation Y individuals?
With Google’s intention to expand its brand into the Chinese market, the company encountered certain problems as the promotion of its products would require complying with regulations imposed by the Chinese government. Unfortunately for Google, the leaders of the company came up short when they refused to assist in a case of child pornography (amid privacy concerns) while simultaneously censoring searches to obey the Chinese government. To avoid such situations in the future, it is highly important to realize that the more Google expands, the more flexibility it needs to adapt and develop.
Senge’s Five Disciplines can be implemented by approaching the changing environment from the perspective of a Google employee. The disciplines include systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. They allow companies to adapt without compromising their principles (Senge, 2014).
The same principle can be used to assess major events influencing the change. Moreover, the mental model’s principle can also be implemented to uncover the deep-seated mindsets that influenced the leaders’ decision to change. The principle of personal mastery would also help estimate how much the company’s behavior and values contributed to the change. This analysis is necessary to understand the extent to which Google is to blame for its current troubles.
Finally, to adapt to change, employees need to use the principles of shared vision and team learning. The first one makes it possible to identify what the organization wants to create as a result of the change by working in cooperation and what strategies can be applied to achieve these goals. The second principle would help the teamwork together by sharing views, knowledge, and experiences to facilitate the adaptation process and increase employees’ commitment to the company.
Is Generation Y really that different from previous generations that entered the workforce in large numbers?
For managers, it is highly important to learn how to avoid a clash of cultures and worldviews in the workplace while getting the most of their workers’ competence, knowledge, and skills. The influx of Generation Y workers aggravates the situation because even when initially interested in the job, these workers quickly lose motivation if they do not receive immediate rewards and constant inspiration. Thus, to adapt to the influx of such workers, companies must develop strategies to support their motivation by providing non-financial incentives (as financial ones will create the inequality that would be met adversely by other generations of workers) (Ivancevich & Konopaske, 2013).
It is necessary to understand that this generation is quite different from the previous ones. Some see them as ambitious, goal-oriented, and focused on promotion and development, whereas others view them as lazy, selfish, shallow, and conceited. They are much more controversial than their counterparts of Gen X, who are also tech-savvy, diverse, and open to change; indeed, their responsibility and commitment are rather questionable as well as their desire to meet challenges. Baby boomers stand apart from the two as they tend to be rigid, conservative, and reliant on experience (Grubb, 2016).
To be successful in their careers, Generation Y’s works must become more organized and well balanced. They need to understand the importance of commitment and cooperation. While individualism and creativity can give outstanding results, it is difficult to cope without assistance in a new workplace. Despite their desire to perform more personalized tasks, they need to realize that routine work is indispensable to the creative process and is not a good reason to look for a new job.
References
Grubb, V. M. (2016). Clash of the Generations: Managing the new workplace reality. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Ivancevich, J. M, & Konopaske, R. (2013). Human resource management (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Senge, P. M. (2014). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, NY: Crown Business.