Gen Y do not want to become future leaders
A study by a leading HR services firm has found that young people are less inclined to want to become managers or leaders in the future and there is a growing mismatch between this and what employers think young people want.
According to research conducted by Penna, a leading HR Services Group, there is a growing mismatch between what employers think young people want to aspire to and what they can offer them. After Penna surveyed employers, a quarter thought that one of the most important motivators for young people was experiencing different roles within a company. While a fifth responded that they thought young people wanted to lead their own teams.
However, the opposite was found in other research conducted by Penna, found that young people were more concerned with other areas of their career. The three that were most common among young people surveyed was that they were looking for achieving a great work life balance, earning a great salary and to be totally fulfilled and happy in their work.
Head of Career Development, Steven Ross, was quoted saying 'This research has revealed two really important things – one, that we cannot just assume that younger generations in the workplace are automatically going to want to fill the shoes of todays' leaders and managers, and two – that perhaps Gen Y aren't as distinctly different from older generations as we thought.'
'While organisations are doing pretty well at understanding some of the key motivators, there is work to be done in casting away stereotypes and making sure that managers invest time in regular career conversations with their teams to really understand what drives them. Simply guessing what will engage a Gen Y employee, or any employee for that matter, won't work.'
'Organisations that fail to do so could see a decline in engagement levels, and productivity, and increased attrition rates - not to mention a serious shortfall of managers and leaders in ten years' time.'
Steven Ross continued 'It's clear that 18-34 year olds have a very broad list of things they care about and believe in when it comes to choosing a job and developing their career within an organisation, which may not be fully recognised by management. Whilst things like salary and progression opportunities will never stop being important to them, what this research shows is that they need to be listened to, otherwise organisations could be investing time and energy on development initiatives that don't connect or resonate with them, and that can have serious long term business consequences.'
By James Howell
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