Hiring in the Hovering Era

Written by Suzanne St. Clair

Recently there has been a buzz in both the popular press and professional journals regarding the phenomenon of Generation Y and their expectations of the work world coupled with obliging parents who have no compunction about participating in the process.  For those of you trying to keep up, Generation Y is the one after Generation X that you began working with fifteen years or so ago. This generation is also known as the millennial generation or the Net Generation. These are young adults who have not known what life is without a cell phone or email. They come equipped frequently with what are known as “helicopter parents” because of their hovering tendencies.

Hovering begins when children are young. This shows up in the need to maintain constant contact with the child, which is not always a bad thing these days. This is generally done by means of the cell phone. Hovering also can manifest itself in the desire of the parent to “rescue” the child from bad or disappointing events. This behavior can carry over to college and the workplace. These parents want to stay involved with their children to the extent that they involve themselves in hiring decisions. I have read of cases where a parent called the hiring officer to ask why her child had not been offered a job as well as one in which a parent accompanied an offspring to the interview. Much has changed since I was in human resources.

But dealing with helicopter parents is only one facet of the complexities of hiring Generation Y. The definition of work ethic has shifted to the degree that those of us who are “boomers”, and even Generation X, are struggling to come to terms with how one not only recruits and hires these young workers, but how one treats them once they are employed. And what, you ask is the old work ethic? I think if you were to ask most employers, they would say it is comprised, among other things, of coming to work every day, on time; performing the duties of the job with a minimum of interruption; and demonstrating basic courtesy toward managers and coworkers.

The expectation of Generation Y, because they have never known a world without technology, is that they will have access to cell phones and texting at all times, even at meetings, accompanied by instant feedback. There is also the possibility that the parent will come to their aid, or perhaps the parents on their own will rescue the child from the consequences of ignoring the work ethic, such as the parent who told a human resources manager when she called to find out why the employee wasn’t at work, that her child was taking a nap.

There are two trains of thought as to how to work with millennial employees; one is that the workplace should accommodate them with their differing ideas of how work gets done, and the other is that they should be expected to perform with the same standards as the rest of the work force who are not from that generation. Both arguments have valid points.

For those who argue that Generation Y employees should be accommodated, the focus is they are our future. When all these Boomers are gone, these are the folks who will take over our responsibilities. Therefore, we should view it as a paradigm shift in the work ethic; from one of rules and procedures and 50 hour work weeks, to one of a more relaxed environment where employees honor their time as well as their jobs. Working with them also offers the possibility to demonstrate how to take responsibility. It can be a mentoring opportunity. And of course working with employees is always preferable to the cost of replacing them.

The other argument is that these workers need to learn to take responsibility for themselves at some point, so it may as well be on the job. It is also the case that making changes to the culture to accommodate Generation Y will result in friction with Boomers and Generation X who are content with things as they are. It is argued that accommodation merely continues the entitlement mentality that some people believe exists in this generation. It could mean retaining an employee that in the past you would have fired for unsatisfactory work performance, such as lateness on a regular basis.

What does accommodation look like? It could mean overlooking that recurrent lateness because stuff happens and when the employee gets to work he or she does a good job; concentrate on what they do while they’re there. It could mean allowing cell phone use and texting during the work hours as long as it’s not too disruptive. (Yes, who is going to define what is “too” disruptive?) It could even mean getting to know those helicopter parents.

And what about not accommodating? What would that mean? It would mean that the rules in place are the rules for everyone. It could mean that the employee is expected to take responsibility for his or her own work, attendance, initiative, etc. It may mean being firm with hovering parents during recruitment, hiring, and afterwards. It should also be about encouraging these young workers to develop into productive employees who contribute to the synergy of the business as well as the bottom line.

Whether you determine to accommodate or not, the bottom line is this generation is our future, and how we learn to work with them is crucial in an environment where experienced employees are going to be leaving the workforce in droves. It’s time to start thinking about your strategy if you haven’t already. Happy hiring!

Used with permission.  Copyright 2007 Suzanne St. Clair.

Staffing Firms Create Jobs in California

Staffing firms match thousands of people to thousands of jobs in California:

• California staffing companies employed 1,485,651 people for temporary or
  contract work in 2006. The average tenure was approximately 12 weeks.
• In California, 527,140 temporary and contract employees bridged to
  permanent jobs in 2006.
• In 2006, California staffing firms employed an average of 355,419
  temporary and contract employees per day.
• California staffing firms generated more than $9.4 billion in annual payroll
  in 2006.
• Staffing firms operate some 3,450 offices throughout the state, each
  contributing to the vitality of California’s economy. 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Staffing Association.

Welcoming Mike Miller

Premier Staffing has a new Account Representative: Mike Miller.  We welcome Mike with much enthusiasm.

Mike comes to us with many years of sales and management experience. He is covering our ever-growing area of Lathrop, Tracy, Manteca and Modesto. If he hasn’t already popped his head in to say hello we are sure he will soon.

Mike is not only a true human resources professional -- you might need to watch out for his keen sense of humor, too!

Upcoming Events

November 8 (11:30)
Lodi Mayor's State of the City Address [Link]
Hutchins Street Square

November 14 (11:30am - 1:15pm)
SJHRA Meeting - Workplace Violence Prevention [Link]
Le Bistro Restaurant

November 14 (4:30pm - 6:30pm)
Theft Happens Workshop [Link]
Lodi Public Library

November 15 (11:30am)
Stockton Athena Award Luncheon [Link]
Stockton Golf and Country Club

December 12 (11:0am - 1:15pm)
SJHRA Meeting - SHRM National Benefits and Networking [Link]
Le Bistro Restaurant

Call us for details the next time you need direct hire, temporary-to-hire, or temporary assistance.