The Giving Generation
For Generation Y, money isn’t the be-all and end-all.
By Allison Enright
"Go into plastics” was the career advice Ben Braddock received in the opening scenes of 1967’s The Graduate. And for early Baby Boomers, the industry offered what many sought in a job: A solid opportunity to earn a paycheck that wouldn’t bounce. While we still hope our paychecks won’t disappoint us, Generation Y expects something more; namely, an employer that will “do good” and “give back.”
Older, more experienced workers may have a hard time understanding what Generation Y perceives work to be. But a lot of formative influences have taught younger workers to behave—and expect—differently. And with Boomers angling towards retirement, human resources departments at companies large and small are scrambling to satisfy the available pool of young talent, for whom dollar signs aren’t the be-all and end-all in job satisfaction.
“Gen Y has been labeled the entitlement generation. Growing up, they were given prizes for coming in 13th place. What that’s done is put more pressure on employers to make a working environment that is attractive to recruit and retain some of the most talented young minds. Students and twenty-somethings are interviewing potential employers more diligently and are evaluating not just the package but the cultural fit,” says Nicholas Aretakis, author of No More Ramen: The 20-Somethings Real World Survival Guide (Next Stage Press, 2006).
Top 10 Most Socially Responsible Employers
1. Peace Corps
2. Teach For America
3. Mayo Clinic
4. US Air Force
5. US Army
6. Ernst & Young
7. US Customs and Border Patrol
8. Internal Revenue Service
9. KPMG
10. HCA
Source: Universum IDEAL Employer Survey 2008, Stockholm, Sweden.
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David Morrison is president of Twentysomething Inc., a consulting and research firm based in Philadelphia that focuses on the Gen Y demographic. He says that the generation has expectations of what work should be, and isn’t used to settling for second best.
“It’s important to remember that these are the offspring of the ‘Me Generation.’ Generation Y grew up in an ‘everybody wins’ environment where teamwork was integral. They’ve been highly empowered since the day they could crawl and expect the world to yield to their preferences.”
The dotcom boom also played a part in reclassifying the role of work in the lives of Generation Y. “The dotcom culture defined work as an environment that could actually be fun, engaging and exciting. It was hyped in the media to no end and redefined the expectation of what the workplace could be like,” says Morrison. At Google Inc.’s main campus, for example, the company zeitgeist means employees can bring their dogs to work, bicycles are provided to get around the campus, and free lunch is handed out every day in an environment that encourages creativity.
The events of 9/11 also changed perceptions of work almost instantly. “On 9/11 people didn’t call their employers, they called their friends and family. Immediately our firm saw the pursuit of the dollar fall a few rungs on the ladder insofar as importance,” says Morrison.
As a result, today’s Gen Y workers seek to balance work and life, want to express their desire to give back, and place high importance on feeling good about the choices they make, particularly in an employer. Human resources departments are rushing to respond, in part because corporate social responsibility initiatives lay the groundwork for a company to participate in its community, and partly because the competition for Gen Y talent is growing fierce, particularly among financial services firms.
A look at the demographics finds that there simply aren’t enough young workers to replace the brain drain left behind by workers entering retirement. What’s more, the tenure of workers under the age of 34 at any given company averages just 20 months, says Morrison. So the need to recruit and retain workers is forcing companies to rethink the work environment and cater to more of the demands of the generation.
“There is a major battle to fill the ranks with quality talent, and companies that adhere to the status quo are getting stung deeply,” says Morrison, author of Marketing to the Campus Crowd (Kaplan Publishing, 2004).
“There is a war for talent, and the organizations that win the war will be the most successful in the future,” says Deb DeHaas, vice chairman and Midwest regional managing partner at Deloitte in Chicago. “Our business is based on our clients and our people, and the only way that we can successfully work with the best clients is to have the best people to work with them. It is essential to respond to the needs of Gen Y with authentic programs that are outcomes-focused.”
One tactic gaining steam in human resources circles is to develop corporate volunteerism programs, which fill several voids at once. These programs help to satisfy Gen Y’s desire to make a difference, their need for social interaction and a work group environment, and their desire to develop leadership and management skills. For companies, these programs produce a workforce that is focused on developing long-term skill sets, and a team that is engaged and therefore more likely to stick around.
In 2007, Deloitte’s annual Volunteer IMPACT survey, which focused on Gen Y’s attitudes to volunteerism and workplace choices, found that 62 percent of respondents preferred to work for a company that provided opportunities to apply skills to benefit nonprofit organizations. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said their companies currently provided them with these opportunities.
In 2008, the Deloitte survey looked at the potential for volunteer programs to cultivate leadership skills. Ninety percent of corporate human resources professionals “strongly or somewhat agreed” that contributing to a nonprofit in a volunteer capacity could be an effective way to develop these skills. However, only 16 percent of companies intentionally offer skills-based volunteer opportunities for employee development on a regular basis, according to the survey.
Deloitte’s Gen Y employees (not part of the survey sample) prove just how effective community involvement is. In Chicago, Deloitte sponsors its annual IMPACT Day in which about 2,000 employees utilize their professional skill sets to assist more than 40 nonprofit organizations. In 2008, these organizations included the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and Chicago Public Schools.
“A number of projects have really been initiated by our Gen Yers. They teed up projects that they have taken ownership of and are driving their execution. Frankly, it’s a great way to develop the skills of our people,” says DeHaas. Deloitte also offers year-round opportunities for employees to volunteer in the community.
At KPMG LLP, volunteer programs have become an important point of differentiation among new recruits, says Sean Treccia, Midwest director of campus recruiting. The company, which ranks No. 9 in Universum’s annual survey of the most socially responsible employers, offers year-round volunteer opportunities in the Chicagoland community. It also offers every employee the chance to “donate” 12 hours of work time annually to charity; Treccia says the majority of the workforce uses at least a portion of that time.
What’s more, the company’s INVOLVE committee ensures the availability of volunteer opportunities throughout the year, essentially taking out the legwork and taking care of any registration fees. Two larger initiatives for the company include KPMG’s Family for Literacy program, which helps to bring reading materials to underprivileged school children, and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program, a partnership with Major League Baseball, which helps inner-city youths learn life skills. KPMG volunteers also help to coach teams and provide scorekeeping for games.
“This generation of students likes volunteer work. They like doing things in groups and this helps them bond with people they might not work with. They create more networks and they are happier at work because they know more people,” says Treccia.
Treccia, who works directly with students on college campuses, notes that the general feeling about volunteerism has changed over time. Whereas 10 years ago students had to seek out opportunities, those opportunities are now part of the norm. “College campuses have so much going on around social responsibility and are used to seeing it everyday; they expect it. It’s just a given,” he says.