Spending time researching organizational learning for my thesis project I found myself not only intrigued but worried about the number of boomers leaving the workforce and what we are doing to understand the upcoming workforce generation. Fiscal year 2006/2007 the Canadian Baby Boomers made up two thirds of the workforce now one in seven in the workforce will be retiring in the next 5 years.
So what are we doing to learn more about the next generations in the workforce? Take for example Gen Y (born 1982-2000) the workers that want more than financial compensation; they want a piece of the action, a piece of the company.
- They care about work that is meaningful to their self development
- Career advancement based on performance, challenge and recognition is a key
- They abhor traditional one-way top down communication
- They expect communication to be constant, two way and flexible
- Traditional training, and performance reviews are not favored
- They have different lifestyle demands
- They need a sense of community and belonging
- They want a commitment to a business culture that pursues social responsibility, sustainability, and treating employees as good or better than customers
- They want flexible and restructured work environments
- They prefer social networking to be integrated into work
- They want a balanced life, not a workaholic life
- They want mentors
- They know how to and expect to use the latest technology
- They expect the company to be devoted to good deeds in the community
