From my Gen Y perspective the traditional dependency on employment has been weakening as more of us recognise the potential we have to connect with others & create our own, new forms of work.
“…I don’t see employment coming back, not for years. My clients were amazed by how much productivity they could squeeze out of their people in the downturn. They’re not going to start hiring again — well, maybe temps or contract workers, but not regular, full-time employees…” Harvard Business Review: The Strategic Imperative Not to Hire Anyone
As business’ take the opportunity to outsource work & increase productivity and workers move toward contracting, new methods of organising and facilitating work will arise.
At Worknow we are backing the fact that social networking tools will play an important foreseeable role in the future of work organisation by:-
Providing a forum for building shared intelligence.
Providing a repository for knowledge.
Helping us connect and collaborate more easily.
If you have or aspire to being your own boss then we have tools to help you match your talent, skills and interests with work opportunities
Is there no economy left to speak of? | The Economist
No it’s not scare tactics or fear mongering, just a whole lot of nothingness. Granted, it’s been quite interesting to learn a little more about the bias of the people I’ve trusted to provide economic insight. Found online 7am April 27 2010 via iGoogle RSS Feed. Does anyone else sense some irony here?
Source The Economist: don’t be surprised if this link no longer works. That’s why I went with the screen shot option.
The content of today’s economic news from Delhi is:
Fly-title (the short one) goes here in “sub-head”
Headline goes here in “headline” font
rubric goes here in “rubric” font
Apr 26th 2010 | DELHI | From The Economist online
Article text goes here, bla bla bla
Read on, it gets better…
Someone will probably try and blame this on outsourcing, although based on the comments it seems to me more likely that this was the work of a rather bored team of employees…
r3loaded wrote: Apr 26th 2010 5:57 GMT Asine and sarcastic comment pointing out the absurdity of this article goes here.
Electrichead wrote: Apr 26th 2010 5:59 GMT Pointless follow-up comment in “default” font goes here
Muhammad Bombadom wrote:Apr 26th 2010 6:02 GMT Headline goes where?
brujohnson wrote:Apr 26th 2010 6:22 GMT Shouldn’t the Fly-title be in “fly-title” font?
NirajC wrote:Apr 26th 2010 6:32 GMT Comment goes here in “comment” font.
The Bird wrote: Apr 26th 2010 6:47 GMT Comment blasting the blantant pro/anti-Israeli and-or pro/anti-Palestinian bias of the article goes here.
unbeliever wrote:Apr 26th 2010 7:07 GMT 300 word diatribe attacking The Bird for his pro/anti-Israel bias that reflects more on my lack of character than any facts goes here.
oikos-nomos wrote: Apr 26th 2010 7:15 GMT I have always wondered what a fly-title was.
Justin Beach wrote: Apr 26th 2010 7:16 GMT Comment blaming the entire thing on socialist left wing policies and accusing you of being biased toward them.
dlukas wrote: Apr 26th 2010 7:24 GMT Spamblog comment advertising hot black singles plus appended semi-English gibberish goes here.
scilgailtn wrote:Apr 26th 2010 7:31 GMT Comment blaming George Bush and/or all Christians for the issues brought up in this article and a few issues unrelated to this article.
armin grewe wrote:Apr 26th 2010 7:32 GMT Comment pointing out that there is a speling mistake goes here.
Orcuspay wrote:Apr 26th 2010 7:36 GMT So, Delhi is the default? That’s unexpected.
Illusions shattered, I am left wondering…
Does anyone think this might constitute grounds for dismissal?
Is this a mistake or a rather clever churning of the PR machine?
What’s the chances I will score a free lifetime subscription from this?
Companies and leaders in today’s knowledge economy are beginning to recognise that traditional command and control methods of leadership are no longer the most effective way to inspire the best from people. Instead there’s a growing recognition that networked collaboration is the way of the future.
Ok, I am bias because collaboration is one of our founding values and I have issues with 80’s management theory. Words like power and control, creep me out.
But no use complaining right, one must act hence our new venture - Worknow - where we connect talented people willing to trust and collaborate with each other and support flexible forms of work such as contract, project, freelance, and volunteer work.
Now, I noticed recently my tendency to sing about co-operation when contemplating ways to collaborate which raises two questions.
1. an act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit; joint action.
2. more or less active assistance from a person, organization, etc.: We sought the cooperation of various civic leaders.
3. willingness to cooperate: to indicate cooperation.
4. Economics. the combination of persons for purposes of production, purchase, or distribution for their joint benefit: producers’ cooperation; consumers’ cooperation.
5. Sociology. activity shared for mutual benefit.
6. Ecology. mutually beneficial interaction among organisms living in a limited area.
VS
col⋅lab⋅o⋅ra⋅tion[kuh-lab-uh-rey-shuhn]
NOUN
1. the act or process of collaborating.
2. a product resulting from collaboration: This dictionary is a collaboration of many minds.
Yet, I always “assumed” an interdependence becasue by my understanding effective collaboration requires co-operation. But now to the next question, which speaks even greater volumes about my education…
Why this song? “Co-operation, makes it happen. Co operation, working together”
Clearly it was a song lyric from somewhere and when I goggled the lyrics I was not at all surprised to find that its actually one of the regular skits from an influential childhood programme…go on, take a guess. Here’s a clue. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12…
Technology has made sharing opinions, information and knowledge easier. We no longer need a degree in Journalism or a PhD to publish findings. Having a voice no longer requires the interest of a publisher or editor yet clearly our growing freedom of expression is threatening to some people.
The rise of social networking sites is indeed a disturbing trend that may be continuing to fuel the narcissism of a generation [Gen Y] becoming more desperate than ever to maintain their fragile self-esteem. Source
I wonder what this Dr would say about the need to adapt? Because despite all the evidence gathered in support of their stated point of view there is much more to prove that Social media is not just a “trend”, it is a new way of connecting and communicating.
There is so much more than ego in play here. Social networking tools can harnesss the collective potential of people and our new venture team is proof that they can be applied to entrepreneurship and new business creation. It’s our intent to help others like us – young aspiring and active entrepreneurs, business catalysts and change makers – use these tools to;
Showcase their talents, skills and values
Connect with people of common purpose and vision
Find work experience and business opportunities
Build teams with which to drive the creation of new business
There’s an old school mantra that advises “do not underestimate the competition” because knowing your competition is necessary in order to build strategic advantage. Yet from a Gen Y perspective, many of those same competitors are potential collaborators.
If we were to offer a mantra of advice in regards to competition it would be to “seek opportunity to collaborate rather than compete” which makes it ever more frustrating that the older generation, people we would also like to collaborate with, continue to deny the talents and capabilities of my generation.
Even an over educated, under experienced MBA student knows that success comes from being able to climb the greasy management pole. You don’t do that by trumpeting that you know it all or that Facebook is the interface proxy for enterprise applications.
Try that in this economy and you’ll be at the head of the queue when the next round of pink slips are distributed (sic). You can only know that from having worked in enterprises, experienced the nuances of management practice and negotiated the politics of power. Source
This comment completely fails to recognise that management hierarchy’s are not the future. While they might have worked for the industrial revolution, entrepreneurship, collaborative, mobile, networked teams are the future of our knowledge economy.
Political Hierarchies vs Collaborative Teams
Sorry, old guard but we don’t actually need to climb your “greasy management pole” because with today’s technology we can connect and circumvent your traditional hierarchy’s to collaborate and build businesses of our own.
Rather than politics, power and vainglorious titles we aspire to work together as co-founders in recognition of our interdependent need for each others talents, skills and trust.
Our entrepreneurial spirit makes us increasingly willing and able to take risks, our education has armed us with knowledge and insight and today’s technology allows us to connect, share and collaborate in new, more effective ways.
Dismissing the fact that we are tech natives, and assuming that we need to be “employees” fails to recognise that we are creators of our own future.
Love us or hate us 10 years from now we will represent almost 40% of the New Zealand workforce. Perhaps it’s time to accept that aspects of our work ethic, like our collaborative spirit, may be the best form of work organisation for a knowledge based economy.
I chose to study extramurally so that I could apply my business education across a range of business settings and discover where my talents lay.
However, when I finally completed my degree and set out to find full-time employment (my apprenticeship in business ownership) potenial employers began to question why I had already worked in so many roles.
Back in 2003, before it became widely recognised as a common Gen Y work trait, my CV already listed more roles over five years than my mum held over a thirty year working life:-
Gymnastics Instructor, Tauranga YMCA
Holiday Programme Leader, Tauranga YMCA
Civil & Criminal Law Clerk, Tauranga District Court
General Administration & Customer Service, FIL Agrichemical
Part Time Financial Administration, Harmer Parr Financial Planners
Market Research Contract, Private Interests
Junior Reporter, Oceansider Community News
Frontline Sales, Greenpeace
Business Developer, Bartercard NZ
Bay of Plenty Marketing Representative, Hewlett Packard
The problem was full time study combined with working 30+hours a week, rather than proving a strong work ethic or general intelligence, indicated to potential employers a lack of loyalty or worse. Fours year study, did little to prove my discipline or perserverance, all it served was to get me on a level playing feild with every other graduate.
WorkNoWorKnow
It’s a conundrum that many students face.
First we must choose either to Work Now which research shows will hinder future long-term prospects or
Forego earnings and take on student debt in order to be in the “Know” and compete for jobs that require no more than a high school education.
On choosing the second option – education and the pursuit of knowledge – we still must Work Now to get by in more than survival mode. Yet in most cases the type of work we can get – hospo, cleaning, labouring – does almost nothing to reflect our true intelligence, or inherent talents.
And in some cases, like my own, even a series of respectable contract jobs can have negative connotations for employers, which begs the question; would I have been better to choose No Work over Work Now?
But of course if you choose the No Work option and elect to focus on study then when you step out in to the working world, which is where the education path leads for most people, you will lack the “work expereince” needed to land the jobs that you’ve studied so hard and long to attain. In the words of Tom Petty
Situation no win
Rush for a change of atmosphere
Work Study Transition
Of the three option 1) work or 2) study or 3) work and study it is easy to recommend that the best option, by far is #3
Do try and find contract work relevant to your degree while studying so that you can gain the work expereince you need to apply your education out in the work force.
If you can’t find paid work expereince, then volunteer with a company that interests you. Volunteering looks great on anyone’s CV and can open doors to work opportunities that are not advertised on seek, trademe jobs or student job search.
Employment is not our only option. Business creation, while higer risk is the much more rewarding alternative.
Here at WorkNow we encourage and support a more entrepreneurial work ethic. Whether you’re starting out and need work expereince or have honed your talent and skills and just need to connect with the right work opportunities, we can help. Register today with our talent community and foster your collective potential.
The Financial Times has labeled us as ‘every employer’s nightmare’; while Fortune magazine claims we are destined to be the most high-performing in history.
Although leading opinion appears polarised with debate begins the development of a more balanced point of view which in turn moves us towards finding the common ground.
Yet, the scales still tip in favour of identifying problems, so as a solutions focused, Gen Y entrepreneur I’d like to suggest there is promise, despite existing “problems”.
Workplace Culture & Innovation
PROBLEMS of Workplace Culture, will occur for anyone expecting us to conform to the old school culture. Hierarchies, no matter how you construct them, be they pyramid, open or flattened, are simply not flexible or open enough to facilitate the collaborative learning and the construct of shared knowledge.
It’s time we reinvented the way we construct our organisations. Here at Worknow we used interconnected circles vs. square tiered boxes to represent our organisation because I believe the PROMISE of workplace culture is that a collaborative and communicative culture inspires innovation.
Leadership & Potential
It’s true, we have high expectations, which some characterise as making us demanding and needy but let’s consider the education system from which we are not far removed.
It’s an environment where variety, challenge and change are the status quo. Where performance expectations are established at the outset and tested, measured and rewarded.
Is it unrealistic to expect that work might present a greater opportunity for such variety and challenge? or that work expectations be established at the beginning for us to work towards.
PROBLEM is while many of us Gen Y recognise in ourselves a wealth of promise – we’re talented, enthusiastic and educated, connected and informed – in many cases, we lack the planning, time management skills, discipline and experience to fully realise our potential.
Therefore PROMISE exists for those leaders who can inspire, support and encourage the growth and personal development of the Gen Y workforce and in this way provide guidance and reason for us to stick around.
Worknow, Aotearoa NZ
We are gathering a community of talented people that seek more collaborative and flexible ways to work together.
We believe networking technology can help foster and harness the collective potential of existing communities and distributed groups
We encourage and support a more flexible and entrepreneurial work ethic.
We work to connect all that share this philosophy so that together we can build a more entrepreneurial and innovative work culture for NZ.
It seems that deriding Gen Y has become a marketing tool in itself. Repeat something negative about Gen Y and you’ve instantly attracted an audience.
Some readers will flock in order to have their personal points of view validated. But how many more will read because we’ve learned the importance of “…know thy enemy…”
Everyday we learn more about why the entrenched workforce fears us but more importantly the negativity provides us a challenge to rise to.
It seems, my entire generation now has a point to prove and the best way I can see to do that is to overcome the negativity, choose life and community over career, step around the square box and do exactly what we are disliked for.
Be different, challenge the status quo and find better new ways to get work done.
Although people continue to highlight our flaws a growing number of people are beginning to realise that these traits which appear as weaknesses may indeed be indicators of our strengths.
Disloyal vs Adaptive
Lazy vs Lifestyle
Demanding vs Achievement Orientated
Long hours vs Get the job done
Employee vs Entrepreneur
As one onlooker notes:-
“It is quite likely that some sizable percentage of these [Gen Y] workers will never work in a steady job on the payroll of a single employer. And an equally large segment may never know a career different from that of a ‘permanent part-timer,’ contractor, or consultant.”
Gen Y’s fierce independence will accelerate the nation’s evolution from a corporate economy of worker bees to an entrepreneurial one of innovative thinkers and rapid change, one where a majority of the Gen Y workforce is self-employed or even part of an ever-widening proprietary class.
The Gen Y group will be fiercely start-up oriented, and “by 2013, perhaps two- thirds of all adult Americans will be classified as entrepreneurial.” Source
Gen Y Entrepreneurs
So while this article talks of our US counterparts perhaps we should take note. More than any previous generation Gen Y has a more flexible and entrepreneurial approach to work.
Our entrepreneurial spirit makes us increasingly willing and able to take risks, our education has armed us with knowledge and insight and today’s technology allows us to connect, share and collaborate in new, more effective ways.
The traditional dependency on employment has begun to weaken as more and more of us recognise the potential we have to connect with others in order to create our own forms of work.
While our entrepreneurial and flexible approach to work demands of us greater self-reliance in return we capture the ability to shape our own future rather than “comply” or “conform” to the expectations of a workforce that often fails to utilise our talent or understand our work ethic.
Worknow
At Worknow we support a more entrepreneurial work ethic and are developing tools to help people find, connect and work together in new ways
Social networking tools will play an important role in the future of work organisation by helping us to create, connect and collaborate as project teams, regardless of time or place.
As workers move toward contracting and business’ take the opportunity to outsource work to increase productivity new methods of organising and facilitating work will arise.
Institutional “containment” as we know will cease to exist and with it the barriers to productivity that stalled the growth and development of our people and businesses.
Networking Tools & Platforms
Today’s social media tools and network platforms have created an environment where communication, collaboration and coordination are already in use. They need simply be applied in business to make it quicker and easier to get work done.
No longer limited by time or place or disadvantaged by the costs of travel, the concept of using networking tools to facilitate projects begins a paradigm shift in the way we think about and accomplish work.
IT and business technology will take center stage in the post-recession economy. The crisis…will sweep away organizations that do not grasp the importance of and utilize social network technologies.
Innovation will be defined by networks, [collaborating to] work with partners or competitors or customers using social technologies. George Colony, CEO of Forrester.
The way we work is changing and with it comes a shift in power, away from the corporate hierarchy that directed and controlled productivity in the past towards the innovative, more flexible contract workers that are ready and able to work, as needed.
Connect & Collaborate with Worknow
Networking tools and platforms give individual contractors and dispersed project teams the ability to compete with institutions at an unprecedented level. At Worknow we support this more flexible, entrepreneurial work ethic and are here to help contractors find, connect and collaborate on project work opportunities..
Entrepreneurship is not yet considered a viable alternative to the professions because, as Sam Morgan noted November 2008, New Zealander’s tend to view entrepreneurship as a niche, high risk, slightly crazy alternative to employment.
This sentiment permeates New Zealand’s culture as was confirmed when I spoke to students attending the Otago University Career fair about news of a trend in New Zealand towards private contracting instead of employment.
When asked whether they would consider private contracting as an alternative to employment some did not consider it a viable option while those that did support the alternative noted that it’s often seen as too risky.
Our education system undermines the development of a more entrepreneurial culture by encouraging our smartest people towards “safe, secure professions” such as lawyers, accountants, and doctors.
“We seem to have focused wrongly on building CVs rather than building businesses” Sam Morgan
As a result we have a wealth of talented people preparing themselves to be “employees” rather than cultivating talents which could drive economic growth through the creation of new business and new jobs.
Aotearoa NZ, Past Achievements.
We would do well to remember more often that our small pacific nation has lead some of the best innovations and achievements of the last century.
Rutherford split the atom, Hamilton built the first jet engine. We were the first to allow women the right to vote and our spirit of adventure inspired Sir Ed to summit the tallest peak on earth.
More recently, Sam Morgan and Trademe introduced us to a new world of buying and selling online and Stephen Tindall and the Warehouse forced us to reconsider our need for plastic bags. History proves, we are an innovative nation.
Present, Our Entrepreneurial Nation
Entrepreneurship is one of our economic strengths. In 2008 Auckland was voted the most entrepreneurial city of the OECD. The same research in 2006 identified Maori as the third most entrepreneurial people in the OECD yet we still promote the fallacy that entrepreneurship is too “high risk” without qualifying or highlighting any of the benefits of risk vs reward.
Future of Entrepreneurship
Gen Y demographic research shows that more than any previous generation Gen Y has a more flexible and entrepreneurial approach to work. The traditional dependency on employers has begun to weaken as more and more young people recognise the potential we have to connect with others in order to create our own forms of work.
While our entrepreneurial and flexible approach to work demands of us greater self-reliance in return we reap the ability to shape our own future rather than “comply” or “conform” to the expectations of a workforce that often fails to utilise our talent or understand our work ethic.
Inspire Encourage & Support Change
Rather than bemoaning the generational differences we suggest it is time to inspire and encourage a more entrepreneurial culture to support the development and growth of talented “business owners & teams” rather than just “employees” .
Educate and promote the economic, lifestyle and personal benefits of a more entrepreneurial culture
Encourage and support entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to the traditional “professions”
