Generation
Restless of India Inc
20-somethings
employed as young executives across companies are redefining parameters of work
and leisure and challenging their bosses’ old notions
Every
organisation has them (at least a few cannot do without them) — 20-somethings,
bright and full of spunk. Their managers marvel at their talent and
fearlessness, though they struggle to come to terms with their insouciance.
Generation Y is making its mark in India Inc and it is posing some sticky
questions to its managers.
K Ramkumar, executive director at ICICI Bank, calls them “the golden generation”. He lists out several reasons for this. They are not apologetic. They may brag, but their engagement is assured. They believe they have the ability and they need not be submissive. Ramkumar says they will publicly criticise a policy. “I can live with that. They are entrepreneurial, not clerical, in their mind. That’s such a positive change for our society,” he says.
Work, Life, Fun, Balance
They couldn’t be more different than their predecessors. Work is a part of life, yet to find their groove, they could turn to music or writing a book. To land a job is de rigueur, but that doesn’t mean they lose sight of their ambitions and goals.
Sabbaticals figure prominently in their yearly to-do lists. Re-skilling is essential as is going back to school to gain the edge to fast track careers. The organisation frowns at sabbaticals? Too bad. They are likely to quit.
Udit Tiwari, a 26-year-old at Mahindra & Mahindra, wants to take a two-month break every year. “The two months will be for travel, reading and introspection,” he says.
“We have lost people who wanted to write a book,” says Sangeeta Singh, partner, human resources, KPMG. The concept of a break-year was unheard of 10-15 years ago and was frowned upon by the parents and bosses alike. The youngest employees are making that a norm too.
For the post-liberalisation generation, certain things are a given, at home and at the workplace. They expect and demand a certain environment, be it technological or a workplace ethos. A good pay cheque is a must too. “But the best compensation may not get you the talent. They are strong in their beliefs and the employer brand they work for,” says Sameer Wadhawan, V-P, HR and services, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia.
If campus conversations earlier were about simply landing a job or pay cheques or designations, they have now veered towards work-life balance.
Sriganesh TV, a management trainee with Coca-Cola in Mysore, says he and other young employees value an organisation that is empathetic to employee needs. He recalls how the company had given a colleague time off for a television reality show. “We value what the company did.”
Their managers who are between 35 and 45 are resentful. This is the generation that took the engineering- and MBA-degree route, and postponed their sabbaticals and urge to follow private passions till they turned 40. They slogged 15-16 hours a day, plotted their careers, let stress take over their lives, only to have newly hired 20-somethings question them about work-life balance and sabbatical policies.
“I can’t understand why the youngster wants to go home at 6 pm when I am sitting in office till 9 pm,” says a manager. He did ask one of his young employees once only to hear: “That’s your problem, boss.”
The problem is the younger generation does not look at linear, vertical growth. Its needs are different. Those in 35-45-year age group are stuck in a promotion-and-vertical growth mindset. Gen Y, on the other hand, wants access to information, much more transparently. “Their thresholds on the rights and access to information are much lower,” says Prithvi Shergill, chief human resources officer, HCL Technologies. “They expect it to come in much faster and they expect it at fingertips.”
A New Breed
“At Google, they keep us on our toes,” says Sharad Goyal, HR head, “because they have very high aspirations at work. But they get bored easily.” It’s an interesting challenge for a company which believes that ‘you can be serious without a suit’. However, he doesn’t find it tough to manage their expectations. “They don’t come with pre-conceived notions. What works for us is our informal culture.”
Eight months ago, KPMG introduced a system of continuous feedback. “That’s because the younger lot have no patience for half-yearly reviews,” Singh says. She has seen her young employees grow restless when told that there is a process to get an email ID or a laptop or business cards.
In recent years, a significant challenge for managers is recruits who come from nuclear families and are the only child, says Ramkumar. A not-so-positive feedback makes them feel trivial, a bit of competitiveness at work seems like bullying. “Today the emergency calls about small issues we get from young employees living alone are mind-boggling,” he adds.
The approach of 20-somethings is also different when it comes to solving problems. “If you give them an assignment, they will mine the information. The earlier generation would think through,” says Prince Augustin, executive vice-president — human capital & leadership development, Mahindra & Mahindra.
A senior HR executive at a telecom company recalls an interaction with a 26-year-old employee who was being let go. The executive tried to help by discussing job options. “I was surprised to hear what the guy had to say. He said, “I don’t like the options you are suggesting. I can find myself a new job”. It was a mature reaction without any emotional outburst,” she says.
Loss of job is not a worry; rather there is an urge to do something on their own. Across B-schools, the number of young entrepreneurs has seen a jump in the past two years. “Youngsters are open to new things, new opportunities they have not even heard of. A young software engineer can easily make a switch to being a photographer. This concept would be threatening to older generations,” says management consultant Gautam Brahma.
Me, Myself and Us
Three years ago, M&M launched engagement studies that gave it a feel of the pulse of the next generation of employees. Simultaneously, the company also began to sensitise the young employees about the need to manage their careers in the context of what the organisation was offering. The initiative has showed results, says Augustin.
At HCL, talent managers argue that the way their youngest employees learn is a little different from others. The youngsters would say: “Give me an answer to my question about how do I perform better, now. Please don’t ask me to wait till the training programme is scheduled.”
For the young, the company has modified some practices. HCL has a site called MEME, an internal social media network which allows employees to share their views and exchange information.
Just because this group is made up of non-conformists doesn’t mean it’s full of prima donnas. “I disagree that young employees are self-centred. They just have a mind of their own,” says KPMG’s Singh.
Twenty-four-year-old Malika Bajaj, who has spent nearly 11 months at KPMG has a list of things that she wants to learn on a priority. “I want to learn leadership skills, handling teams, dealing with deadlines and managing my personal and professional life,” she says.
Coca-Cola India in its interactions with young employees realised that they value a company that has a social agenda. They are eager to contribute. “We introduced corporate social responsibility in our management trainee programme a couple of years ago,” says Wadhawan, adding that young employees are redefining the values at the workplace.
Boredom is the biggest challenge for organisations, says Wipro’s chief learning officer Abhijit Bhaduri. “The number of people who focus on depth is far less than those who focus on breadth.” The nuanced argument is missing. “Every piece of information has to be small, snack-like. We are redesigning a lot of our learning modules that can be delivered through smart phones for this reason,” he says.
Another big challenge is the perception of time. For the older generations, a long-term stint in a job could easily be 5-7 years, but for this generation, three years is the upper limit. “Three years is a lifetime for them,” says Bhaduri recalling a conversation with a youngster whose perception of a long time spent in a job was seven months.
“If India Inc works on tapping their ability to think differently, to network, to explore, this set of employees can be powerful brand ambassadors of Indian business,” says Mahindra’s Augustin.
K Ramkumar, executive director at ICICI Bank, calls them “the golden generation”. He lists out several reasons for this. They are not apologetic. They may brag, but their engagement is assured. They believe they have the ability and they need not be submissive. Ramkumar says they will publicly criticise a policy. “I can live with that. They are entrepreneurial, not clerical, in their mind. That’s such a positive change for our society,” he says.
Work, Life, Fun, Balance
They couldn’t be more different than their predecessors. Work is a part of life, yet to find their groove, they could turn to music or writing a book. To land a job is de rigueur, but that doesn’t mean they lose sight of their ambitions and goals.
Sabbaticals figure prominently in their yearly to-do lists. Re-skilling is essential as is going back to school to gain the edge to fast track careers. The organisation frowns at sabbaticals? Too bad. They are likely to quit.
Udit Tiwari, a 26-year-old at Mahindra & Mahindra, wants to take a two-month break every year. “The two months will be for travel, reading and introspection,” he says.
“We have lost people who wanted to write a book,” says Sangeeta Singh, partner, human resources, KPMG. The concept of a break-year was unheard of 10-15 years ago and was frowned upon by the parents and bosses alike. The youngest employees are making that a norm too.
For the post-liberalisation generation, certain things are a given, at home and at the workplace. They expect and demand a certain environment, be it technological or a workplace ethos. A good pay cheque is a must too. “But the best compensation may not get you the talent. They are strong in their beliefs and the employer brand they work for,” says Sameer Wadhawan, V-P, HR and services, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia.
If campus conversations earlier were about simply landing a job or pay cheques or designations, they have now veered towards work-life balance.
Sriganesh TV, a management trainee with Coca-Cola in Mysore, says he and other young employees value an organisation that is empathetic to employee needs. He recalls how the company had given a colleague time off for a television reality show. “We value what the company did.”
Their managers who are between 35 and 45 are resentful. This is the generation that took the engineering- and MBA-degree route, and postponed their sabbaticals and urge to follow private passions till they turned 40. They slogged 15-16 hours a day, plotted their careers, let stress take over their lives, only to have newly hired 20-somethings question them about work-life balance and sabbatical policies.
“I can’t understand why the youngster wants to go home at 6 pm when I am sitting in office till 9 pm,” says a manager. He did ask one of his young employees once only to hear: “That’s your problem, boss.”
The problem is the younger generation does not look at linear, vertical growth. Its needs are different. Those in 35-45-year age group are stuck in a promotion-and-vertical growth mindset. Gen Y, on the other hand, wants access to information, much more transparently. “Their thresholds on the rights and access to information are much lower,” says Prithvi Shergill, chief human resources officer, HCL Technologies. “They expect it to come in much faster and they expect it at fingertips.”
A New Breed
“At Google, they keep us on our toes,” says Sharad Goyal, HR head, “because they have very high aspirations at work. But they get bored easily.” It’s an interesting challenge for a company which believes that ‘you can be serious without a suit’. However, he doesn’t find it tough to manage their expectations. “They don’t come with pre-conceived notions. What works for us is our informal culture.”
Eight months ago, KPMG introduced a system of continuous feedback. “That’s because the younger lot have no patience for half-yearly reviews,” Singh says. She has seen her young employees grow restless when told that there is a process to get an email ID or a laptop or business cards.
In recent years, a significant challenge for managers is recruits who come from nuclear families and are the only child, says Ramkumar. A not-so-positive feedback makes them feel trivial, a bit of competitiveness at work seems like bullying. “Today the emergency calls about small issues we get from young employees living alone are mind-boggling,” he adds.
The approach of 20-somethings is also different when it comes to solving problems. “If you give them an assignment, they will mine the information. The earlier generation would think through,” says Prince Augustin, executive vice-president — human capital & leadership development, Mahindra & Mahindra.
A senior HR executive at a telecom company recalls an interaction with a 26-year-old employee who was being let go. The executive tried to help by discussing job options. “I was surprised to hear what the guy had to say. He said, “I don’t like the options you are suggesting. I can find myself a new job”. It was a mature reaction without any emotional outburst,” she says.
Loss of job is not a worry; rather there is an urge to do something on their own. Across B-schools, the number of young entrepreneurs has seen a jump in the past two years. “Youngsters are open to new things, new opportunities they have not even heard of. A young software engineer can easily make a switch to being a photographer. This concept would be threatening to older generations,” says management consultant Gautam Brahma.
Me, Myself and Us
Three years ago, M&M launched engagement studies that gave it a feel of the pulse of the next generation of employees. Simultaneously, the company also began to sensitise the young employees about the need to manage their careers in the context of what the organisation was offering. The initiative has showed results, says Augustin.
At HCL, talent managers argue that the way their youngest employees learn is a little different from others. The youngsters would say: “Give me an answer to my question about how do I perform better, now. Please don’t ask me to wait till the training programme is scheduled.”
For the young, the company has modified some practices. HCL has a site called MEME, an internal social media network which allows employees to share their views and exchange information.
Just because this group is made up of non-conformists doesn’t mean it’s full of prima donnas. “I disagree that young employees are self-centred. They just have a mind of their own,” says KPMG’s Singh.
Twenty-four-year-old Malika Bajaj, who has spent nearly 11 months at KPMG has a list of things that she wants to learn on a priority. “I want to learn leadership skills, handling teams, dealing with deadlines and managing my personal and professional life,” she says.
Coca-Cola India in its interactions with young employees realised that they value a company that has a social agenda. They are eager to contribute. “We introduced corporate social responsibility in our management trainee programme a couple of years ago,” says Wadhawan, adding that young employees are redefining the values at the workplace.
Boredom is the biggest challenge for organisations, says Wipro’s chief learning officer Abhijit Bhaduri. “The number of people who focus on depth is far less than those who focus on breadth.” The nuanced argument is missing. “Every piece of information has to be small, snack-like. We are redesigning a lot of our learning modules that can be delivered through smart phones for this reason,” he says.
Another big challenge is the perception of time. For the older generations, a long-term stint in a job could easily be 5-7 years, but for this generation, three years is the upper limit. “Three years is a lifetime for them,” says Bhaduri recalling a conversation with a youngster whose perception of a long time spent in a job was seven months.
“If India Inc works on tapping their ability to think differently, to network, to explore, this set of employees can be powerful brand ambassadors of Indian business,” says Mahindra’s Augustin.
Spot the Restless
1 Can’t
have enough of freedom at work
2 Constantly
seeking time and space from seniors
3 Vociferous
in displaying their ability and IQ
4 Want
quick rewards & quick solutions
5 Have
lofty, often unrealistic, goals
6 Are
high on energy, strong in belief
7 Want
work-life balance from day one
8 Say
career growth is critical; money a given
9 Want
to control their life, even at work
How to Manage the Restless
Keep them occupied with a career challenge
Treat them as equals. They don't respond too well to command
Have transparent and open conversations
Be consistent in what you expect from them
Be one up on knowledge if you want their respect
Keep them occupied with a career challenge
Treat them as equals. They don't respond too well to command
Have transparent and open conversations
Be consistent in what you expect from them
Be one up on knowledge if you want their respect
Udit Tewari | 26
Executive assistant to Prince Augustin, Group EVP, human capital, at Mahindra & Mahindra, Mumbai MBA from XLRI, Class of 2011
Career Path: I plan to upgrade my profile and get inter-cultural exposure (He is headed to China in October for a new role)
Expectations From Employer:
Provide exposure, education and experience
Executive assistant to Prince Augustin, Group EVP, human capital, at Mahindra & Mahindra, Mumbai MBA from XLRI, Class of 2011
Career Path: I plan to upgrade my profile and get inter-cultural exposure (He is headed to China in October for a new role)
Expectations From Employer:
Provide exposure, education and experience
Work-life Balance: Would like to work 10 months a year, leaving two months for
travel, reading and introspection
Fun at Work: It is important. Something as simple as listening to music
can give you the mindspace to deliver
Malika Bajaj | 24
Executive at KPMG, Gurgaon Chartered accountant
Career Path: I see a lot of young managers and directors around me. Would like to see myself there
Expectations From Employer:
Look for knowledge, learning and help in realising 110% of my potential
Executive at KPMG, Gurgaon Chartered accountant
Career Path: I see a lot of young managers and directors around me. Would like to see myself there
Expectations From Employer:
Look for knowledge, learning and help in realising 110% of my potential
Work-life Balance: A must, and the workplace must be receptive to the idea
Fun at Work I have been to offsites, but at the moment I have high
professional aspirations
Naman Pugalia | 24
Public Policy and Government Affairs analyst at Google, Gurgaon London School of Economics 2007-08
Career Path: I want to participate in an eco-system where technology is used for people
Expectations From Employer: Offer an entrepreneurial work culture
Fun at Work: Delivering on the mandate while enjoying your work
Public Policy and Government Affairs analyst at Google, Gurgaon London School of Economics 2007-08
Career Path: I want to participate in an eco-system where technology is used for people
Expectations From Employer: Offer an entrepreneurial work culture
Fun at Work: Delivering on the mandate while enjoying your work
Uttam Dey | 26
Branch Service and Compliance manager, ICICI Bank, Mumbai
Probationary Officer programme, ICICI Manipal Academy for Banking and Insurance
Career Path: I want to grow in my role and take others along
Expectations From Employer Transparent, motivated and fun environment
Work-life Balance: When I come to work, I set my targets for the day and first see that my work is finished. However, there is life beyond work
Fun at Work: Required to ease off pressure and sharing light moments with colleagues helps
Branch Service and Compliance manager, ICICI Bank, Mumbai
Probationary Officer programme, ICICI Manipal Academy for Banking and Insurance
Career Path: I want to grow in my role and take others along
Expectations From Employer Transparent, motivated and fun environment
Work-life Balance: When I come to work, I set my targets for the day and first see that my work is finished. However, there is life beyond work
Fun at Work: Required to ease off pressure and sharing light moments with colleagues helps
Sriganesh TV | 26
Management trainee at Coca-Cola India, Mysore XLRI Jamshedpur Class of 2011
Career Path: Want to become the best marketeer in the country in 15-20 years
Expectations From Employer:
Learning and well-defined career path
Management trainee at Coca-Cola India, Mysore XLRI Jamshedpur Class of 2011
Career Path: Want to become the best marketeer in the country in 15-20 years
Expectations From Employer:
Learning and well-defined career path
Work-life Balance: High on priority and the organisation is open to the idea
Fun at Work: Parties, cricket matches, fun is part of work life
::
Saumya Bhattacharya SET120812
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