Worknow_Aotearoa_NZ

It had been a while since the game of generation bashing has had a look in but the floor is open again to generational commentary, stereotyping and general whinging following a research report on the values, attitudes, behaviors and demographic characteristics of American Gen Y | Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next

Born 1979 outside or upper end of the generational “age bracket” does nothing to change the fact that I identify most strongly with the Y Generation. While I can see in many friends my age, a stronger tendency to Gen X some of us never had the new generational “stereotypes” to qualify our actions.

Generation Y on Careers

I had to live my “traits” before they became widely touted indicators of our generation. My work career for instance in which I’ve had more than 10 jobs in the last 10 years. Inevitably, there were interviews in which I was asked to justify my job “hopping” to which my response involved learning, challenge, personal circumstance.

Now, in retrospect I can claim this as normal for an entire generation of people. No longer such an outlier, there is some reassurance to the fact that the following opinion is as true to me, as it is Amanda and probably millions more like us.

I don’t think that staying at one company for 20+ years necessarily correlates with building a career. Gen Y’s are more adaptive and willing to jump companies if it means advancing their career and lifestyle goals. I believe that this is a strength of our generation, not a weakness. I would rather change jobs many times to advance my career than allow my career to stagnate due to “corporate loyalty.” ~ Amanda, Tustin, CA : July 8, 2010 4:24 pm

Gen Y on Opportunities

Granted, I can understand that a CV of contract research and 6 – 12 month “career” efforts probably looked disconcerting to potential employers. And probably well it should because each job was for me about discovering something new about what I wanted to do with my life.

In some cases I learnt lessons about what I would do and what I could achieve but in most I learnt more about what I didn’t want. It was a process of discovery that has lead me to the clear realisation that as an employee other people were never going to allow me to challenge the status quo, learn and grow by testing limits.  I was not made to fit the “employee” mold, a fact which I believe will prove true of many of our generation.

A recent study by researchers from the University of Konstanz (Germany) has found that volunteering can offer mental health benefits and may even help people to perform better in their paid work role.

Research was conducted via a 2-week diary study, with 105 employees to provide data for a total of 476 days. Research then examined relationships between the amount of time spent on volunteer work activities during leisure time, psychological non-work experiences in the evening, and work outcomes during the following working day.

Results confirmed the hypothesized positive relationships between the amount of time spent on volunteer work activities and psychological detachment from work, mastery experiences, and need satisfaction in the evening.

Positive relationships between the amount of time spent on volunteer work activities and psychological detachment from work and mastery experiences in the evening suggest volunteer work’s potential to provide a break from paid work and to offer opportunities for recovery experiences.

The study “Volunteer Work as a Valuable Leisure-Time Activity” was published online in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

EMPLOYERS are refusing to hire Generation Y workers because they lack a work ethic and spend too much time talking to friends in work hours. Source

In my early twenties, I adopted a twin philosophy from a very good friend of mine “…it costs nothing to be nice…”  and that “…if you can’t say anything nice, best say nothing at all…”

I have lived to discover the wisdom of this advice and in my personal experience I have seen and heard that the negative characteristics that people  would attribute to others are most often a reflection of  the person speaking. Quite simply; what you say about others says more about who you are, than who they are.

Hence the assertion of this blog is that those that bemoan Gen Y, probably just wish they were more like us. It’s opinionated and at times bias but it is an attempt to develop conversation around opposing thoughts; drawn from three of the many hundreds of comments that the Article Gen Y too lazy and unfocused to hire generated.

Work Life Balance

Pretty sick and tired of “he/she who is the centre of the universe” and “work” being “somewhere you go during the day”.

Just a little jealous? I reiterate my stance on work life balance fairly often. The reality for us is that, unlike earlier generations, work is NOT our life. Work is important to us but we’ve been taught that it is better, for our health, to work to live, rather than live to work.

In addition to work we may also be juggling study, friends, family, sport, other paid and unpaid work commitments. Hence the need for flexibility.  There are people in every generation that would benefit from a more balanced approach to work and life.

Respect My Authoritah!

These brats have no respect for experienced people. You treat them well and they crap on you.

Experience alone does not qualify one for respect, being respectful toward others does. Respect, like Love,  is something you give not get.  May I suggest leadership:-

• Our concept of leadership 2.0 involves asking questions, connecting and collaborating.
• We seek leaders that inspire, support and encourage our personal growth and development.
• We want to feel that we work to contribute to something meaningful.
• We will find new and improved ways to increase effectiveness, efficiency and productivity in business.

Gen Y’s Great Expectations

The main issue with Gen Y’s (but not all) is their expectations are ridiculous. They come into the workplace and after one year they want a promotion and if they don’t get it, they throw a hissy fit…I think there is some resentment in some of our older people as we had to work our way up and earn respect in the workplace and pay would come later. These days they think and expect to be CEOs at 24.

We are entering the workforce the most highly educated generation, yet I can see that to those that did not have to pay for an education our pay expectations may seem disproportionate.  Still, education has burdened our generation with billions of dollars worth of student debt. Is it unrealistic of us to seek an income that may see us debt free within the next 15 years?

And aspire to leadership, we shall because 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.

Gen Y Collaborators

Love us or hate us 10 years from now we will represent almost 40% of the New Zealand workforce. Maybe it’s time to accept that aspects of our work ethic and the workplace freedom that we aspire to are  useful, perhaps even necessary, for the growth of a knowledge economy.

Statistics New Zealand today released the Household Labour Force Survey showing a rise in unemployment over the September 2009 quarter.

Sadly those most effected by unemployment are our future leaders, business creators and workforce:

• 15 – 19 Unemployed 25.1%
• 20 – 24 Unemployed 10.9%
• 25 – 29 Unemployed 6.8%

For more information click  through to Statistics New Zealand articles for download

Job Crisis or Opportunity for Change?

Business Week  recently lead with a story entitled The Lost Generation discussing  the effects of the existing job crisis on young people in the USA.

the continuing job crisis is hitting young people especially hard – damaging both their future and the economy…studies show that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income

As today’s figures show, youth unemployment is also a problem here in New Zealand. Yet,  suggestions around creating a sub minimum wage to encourage employers to take on young people  does little to empower or improve their future earnings potential. It simply undervalues their time, skills and talent and feeds into the downward spiral of lower lifetime income.

We see ways to empower young people, support Gen Y’s potential, harness their talents and help them discover their place in the workforce

“…We seem to have focused wrongly on building CV’s rather than building businesses…” Sam Morgan

We currently have a wealth of talented young people preparing themselves to be employed rather than cultivating talents which could drive economic growth through the creation of new business and new jobs.

Things are changing on the education front but we believe there is  opportunity to provide additional tools to help young people transition from study to work.

The solution we are offering incorporates work experience, education and elements of the traditional CV

1. We want to encourage Volunteer Work Experience as a means to build confidence and valuable work skills  so we are facilitating a system of Time Trade (a.k.a Time Banking) to encourage, recognise and reward volunteer activity.

2. A Peer Mentoring Community connecting Graduates with recent Alumni who can share with students of the same / similar discipline their experience of the study / work transition and highlight the real life opportunities available in the marketplace.

Where to look, who to talk to, which skills are important etc. Existing examples include the future in tech initiative to which we hope Time Trade could be applied as a tool for rewarding their career ambassadors.

3. We are using social networking tools and talent profiles to allow young people to build a living work history, a CV with a wealth of testimonials to their talent, skill and work ethic. A talent profile against which they can also be matched with volunteer and paid work opportunities.

Youth unemployment is a major issue but it’s reassuring to know that there are many community based organisations stepping up to help keep young people engaged in productive activity despite the fact of high unemployment.

Build your talent CV

Independence vs Collaboration

I will always value my independence and my ability to make things happen but in the past my strong willed independence was one of my greatest weaknesses. As a gifted young person, my attitude to achieving goals was always self determined, borderline egotistical and admittedly I believed that “…if you want something done right, do it yourself…”

However, in retrospect this philosophy perpetuated a self-delusion. It did not help me expand my talent and although I was nearly always (99.98%) able to achieve my desired outcome I now recognise that in being so “independent” I was isolating myself and limiting what could have otherwise been achieved through collaboration with others.

There were unique characteristics holding New Zealand’s [entrepreneurial] development back, such as reluctantance to look for help and build a team. Source

In Collaboration with Talented Other’s

Recognising that every single person has talents which can add value for myself and others is fundamental to the development of Worknow. Time Trade especially is designed to recognise and highlight the fact that we all have talents that are of value to each other and our communities.

Today’s networking tools have created an environment where communication, collaboration and coordination are becoming second nature. They need simply be applied in our real life communities 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 collaboration begins a paradigm shift in the way we think about and accomplish work.

Recognise Weakness; Work to your Strengths

Yet despite knowing and believing that I need the help of other’s I still sometimes lack the patience and skill to just listen and hear people out. Instead, I sometimes find myself, forming replies in my mind rather than actively listening.

So when a friend replied to a similar statement I made about myself with “…it’s good that you see that because I see it as one of your weaknesses…” and launched into a conversation about why and how I should change, I opted to just let him speak, I bit my tongue and I let him tell me things I already knew about myself (oh you noticed that did you, well done) and voila! I gained this insight:-

It will always be more important to recognise people on the basis of their talents rather than their weaknesses

On the topic of you, trust yourself.

Constructive criticism has its place but we could easily spend too much time attempting to overcome weakness that are simply the shadow of our strengths. We all have faults and in the main we probably recognise them. Doing something about them is not meant to be easy but a good place to begin is simply being conscious of them and making changes where we can.

If you focus too much on mitigating faults you lose time wherein you could be building upon your strengths. I may never stop that childish know-it-all voice that thinks “…I know what you’re saying….” but I can ignore it, hold my tongue and in hearing people out perhaps gain insight to help me expand my talents.

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.

Having recently spoken of how irksome the prevailing media portrayal of Gen Y was to me, I’m finding it refreshing to see a growing number of authors now taking a step back to listen and learn from, rather than deriding our generation.

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.

Redefining the Value of Work

One of the most valuable life lessons learned while building this company is that “…money does not define the limits of what is possible…”

I would not be here today if I’d let a complete lack of funds prevent me from pursuing our vision of this new venture. Or if I feared the stigma of being “unemployed”. By choosing to build my future using the only resources that are truly mine – my time and talents – in collaboration with others, I’ve discovered the freedom to follow my dreams and trust my intuitions. While I may be poor in terms of money I’m undeniably blessed and rich in the things that money can not buy; love, happiness, hope…

Our company, Jamie Josh and I, are living proof of what can be accomplished when people are willing to invest time and talent in lieu of earnings. We hope time trade and the use of time credits will help us all to redefine the value of work to include some of the values that define us as humans; our capacity to love and care for other people, animals and our environment. To share knowledge, collaborate and stand up for the things we believe in.

Every time we reward an act of helping with a time credit, we are declaring that the monetary economy does not have the power to define what real work is, that market price is not the only measure of value and that money does not define the limits of what is possible. Edgar Khan in The Time of Our Lives

I’m inspired by thought leaders like Edgar Cahn because here at Worknow we break from the definition of work as either “employed or unemployed” choosing instead the role of aspiring, social entrepreneur and incorporating the idea of time trade – into a company built to help people find and connect with work – so as to give equal value to both volunteer and paid work opportunities.

We hope that our intention will become more evident when we launch the beta site because Jamie’s created some funky elements, in the navigation and site design, to allow people to easily switch and identify between time trade and paid work options. They are after all two sides of the same coin because as my father used to say “…there’s more than one way to skin a rabbit…”

Dr Seyfang of the University of East Anglia has conducted some insightful and inspiring research into the effects of time banking in the UK

Case study research, which provides evidence that time trade can provide tools for promoting community development and overcoming social exclusion. I have recently read and would recommend:

• Seyfang, G. (2004) Time banks: rewarding community self-help in the inner city. Community Development Journal 39:1 62 – 71 Oxford University Press: Oxford.
• Seyfang, G &Smith, K. (2002) The time of our lives: using time banking for neighbourhood renewal and community capacity building. New Economics Foundations: London Download PDF Here

A Generations Project Orientation

10 years from now we will represent almost 40% of the workforce and slowly but surely people are beginning to accept that aspects of our Gen Y work ethic, our project orientation for instance, are more suited to work in a knowledge economy.

AUSTRALIA’S pre-eminent demographer, Bernard Salt, has stepped into the debate on whether Gen Y is work shy by declaring they’re not lazy but they have to adapt in the downturn.

“In fact they’re incredibly hard-working within the areas they are interested in. In fact they work quite assiduously when they are engaged by a particular project,” he said.

While always nice to see people portraying “Gen Y” (Gen We as I like to call us) in a rare but positive light it remains evident that Mr Salt still expects us to conform to the norms that he works by. Norms that perpetuate the myth that happy and worker are divergent states of being.

“With the global financial crisis the wheel is turning and it’s time for Gen Y to adapt,” he said.

“It’s important for Gen Y to realise that work is not a form of entertainment. You should not be jumping out of your skin for eight hours of work.” Source

Fair call, it’s not a party but what Mr Salt’s discussion fails to recognise is that there exists other options to remaining an unhappy, under challenged, albeit adaptable employee.

Gen We Entrepreneurs

Research indicates we have an entrepreneurial spirit that makes us increasingly willing and able to take risks. As the most highly educated generation we are armed with knowledge and insight and chomping at the bit to apply it to work life.

Those that expect us to be so desperate for employment, during this recession, that we will just adapt to be more like the old guard was at work, may be disappointed to find we are indeed well equipped to adapt but simply not as dependent on traditional “employment” as previous generations have been.

Today we recognise that we always have the option of working for ourselves. With the right team, building a company need not be as risky as it has been made to look. With today’s networking tools is it’s becoming second nature for us to find, connect and work with each other

Worknow, like Trademe, for services on a networking platform.

Six months ago I did not know either of my two co-founders. I met Jamie by applying for a house on Trademe. Josh and I connected through shared networking circles – Intersect Facebook and Twitter.

Today we are evidence of the collaborative teams and new ventures being established using networking technology to connect talented, passionate people.

We encourage and support a more entrepreneurial work ethic by providing tools to help other people connect with each other to create solutions, new knowledge and work opportunities.