The engineering world is poised to experience a sea change of sorts in the upcoming decades as it faces a flood of engineering executive retirements as the boomer population moves on to greener pastures (golf courses). Manufacturing organizations must facilitate knowledge transfer of these seasoned engineering veterans to the younger generation of engineers who will be tasked with leading design initiatives of the future.
Often referred to as Generation Y or “digital natives,” these younger workers, who were born after the advent of digital technology, are a different species in terms of lifestyle and work habits. A lifelong immersion in technology has affected their mindset, behavior, and expectations. As a result, employers will have to adapt their work environments in order to best leverage the unique experiences and strengths these workers bring to the table. They demand fast-track career positioning, greater work-life balance, positive feedback, training and cutting-edge technology.
Organizations who fail to meet these demands will face obstacles when trying to recruit this crop of young workers. These digital natives will require a lot of management, but they are worth the effort. They are high-maintenance, entitled, technologically sophisticated and fickle, but are also potentially the most high-performing generation in decades. What makes them different from previous generations is exactly what makes them ideally suited to the increasingly demanding, diverse, and dispersed global workplace.
The generational differences between this younger generation and older workers, or “digital immigrants,” will inevitably pose challenges. The different styles, values and habits of the different groups can create misunderstandings, misperceptions, conflict, and disharmony and communication breakdowns. Conflict often occurs because of digital natives’ reluctance to accept hierarchy in the workplace and to obey authority without questioning it.
Let’s lay down a few simple rules to follow to best take advantage of these younger engineers who will one day be calling the shots at organizations worldwide.
Ditch the manuals. Digital natives are not going to sit down and read tedious printed employment or training manuals. They want instant access online to information. Take a cue from Agilent Technologies, which distributes Apple iPod Nanos preloaded with information on benefits offered by the company to all new employees hired from U.S. college campuses.
Embrace new tools. Natives will bring blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and other so-called Web 2.0 social networking tools into the workplace that will enable them to collaborate more freely in an enterprise environment. Revamp your training techniques and methods, implementing tools that are more interactive, such as virtual environments and collaborative tools.
Let them find their own way. Specify clear objectives and set limits explicitly so they know the rules and the expected result, but leave it up to them as to how they get there. This gives them space to unfold their creativity and develop a sense of ownership for a task.
Company loyalty no longer exists. These younger workers—who are projected to hold five to seven jobs before retirement—don’t expect lifetime employment from a single company. They are searching for fulfillment and job satisfaction and achieving success that might enable them greater opportunities in the future. Employers must design engaging work that allows workers to make a clear contribution for which they can be individually rewarded.
Be flexible. Find a balance between the traditional approach of 100% presence of workers during work hours to work-related issues with digital natives’ ways of multitasking, task-switching and working intermittently throughout the day, night and week. These skilled, bright, creative digital natives will perform better under circumstances that suit their preferred working style.
Meet them online. Since digital natives spend a lot of time using social networks, companies should begin their recruiting efforts by looking for potential employees there and promoting themselves via on social media outlets.
Practice transparency. Younger workers believe that transparency yields trust. Facilitate external social collaboration with customers, suppliers, and partners via social collaboration tools. Managers must also realize that digital natives are very peer-oriented and thrive in a participatory culture, which can help them harness the creativity, knowledge and capacities of digital natives.
Reward them daily. Show them short-term benefits while maintaining a vision of the big picture. Create a challenging environment that acknowledges everyone’s performance so there are immediate rewards (and penalties) for the output of an employee.
Law down the law on IP. Nearly all members of this younger generation of workers have created a blog, posted photos or profiles online, or uploaded photos or videos to a web site. For this reason, companies must create policies about how employees treat company information, what kinds of intellectual property (IP) need to be protected, and basic guidelines of behavior in regards to creation of online materials.
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