Color Papers » Never Should Have Added My Boss on Facebook
Never Should Have Added My Boss on Facebook
They're heeeerrre!!
We've all heard the standard complaints about members of Gen Y - they're disloyal, lazy, have short attention spans, you practically need to throw parades when they accomplish the simplest tasks, they want the top job on day one, don't respect experience, won't be long term employees, are only motivated by money, need work to be fun... But then every generation complains about the next one.
Now Gen Y is among us, what can they teach us about better performance management?
Gen Y is the reality TV generation: the management model is Survivor, not Charles In Charge.
Defer to the senior, authoritarian figure regardless of their skill or efficiency. Do what you're told because of the long established hierarchy not because of a sense of respect. Play the system to do as little work as possible, cover up and shift the blame for any problems.
Celebrate ambition, collaboration, ruthlessness, manipulation, backstabbing... (and a self-aggrandizing belief in your own talents). Working hard, being cleverer, faster and more ruthless than the next person is the path to success (and glory!)
the lesson
Performance management should focus on collaboration, sharing goals organically and creating transparency
Is Gen Y getting a bum rap?
Are the things Gen Yers demand from employers really so different from the things Gen Xers want (and are too scared to ask for)? Gen Y has a questioning mentality - in the revolutionary, anarchic, 60's sense. Why is there no natural light in my cubicle? Why can't I manage the team instead of him? Where is my electric company car? Why should I cut my hair, man? All poor Gen X got was a swivelly chair and a muffin on their birthday.
the lesson
Make sure that your performance management approach allows anyone to question the status quo, and then grow from there.
Push their LIKE button
Managers need to recognize Gen Y's undoubted abilities and manage them effectively. We know that if Gen Yers aren't positively challenged and appreciated they'll get bored and frustrated and leave (instead of hanging on, bored and grumbling in frustration around the water cooler like Gen X). Gen Y needs instant feedback. The metaphorical back-pat has to happen as soon as a task is completed, and preferably in public. You need to push their 'like' button.
the lesson
Performance management needs to provide feedback frequently (and even publically!) not save it up until the end of a period. And it should recognize that feedback creates stimulation - it encourages work!
Yes you're very special. Now go DO something special.
If Gen Y can get the task completed on time and within budget, does it matter that they updated their Facebook status 43 times and posted 211 tweets during the process?
the lesson
Performance management needs to focus on outcomes, not compliance.
The work-life blur
While Gen X was all about work-life balance, Gen Y doesn't make much distinction between the two. Gen Y is connected. The Gen Yers are all Facebook buddies. They follow the world's influencers, txt and Skype and take photos of EVERYTHING. They blog, post and tweet what they're thinking; often while they're thinking it. Their aspirations usually apply across both their professional and private lives; there's no work/life split.
Already added your boss on Facebook?
If you don't want your boss to have access to your work rants*, or to photos of you in your swimsuit or doing jagermeister shots (or an unholy combination of both) either don't accept them as friends, or watch what you post. Just be sure you choose one and stick to it, because unfriending your boss is a potential minefield.
*MyPerformanceReviewSucked.com has some lovely examples
the lesson
Performance management should include recognition of achievements beyond role requirements (& even beyond the organization.)
Remember managers - Gen Y stands up to poor leadership. If they are unhappy they will blog, post and tweet about it. Will your organization stand up to that scrutiny...?
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