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Young people and employment:from onboarding to GenerationMix management.

Abstract from 2011 Research

"Does this kid want to teach us how to run our business?"

In spite of many highly principled statements and pronouncements to the effect that young people

should be valued for the innovation potential they bear, the harsh corporate reality is that the way

ahead for young resources is strewn with difficulties and survival trials.

Young hires are often prone to showing somewhat reckless expectations and behaviours. Their

outlandish requests for cutting-edge hardware and applications are seldom understood by

employers. Likewise, the flair with which they seamlessly cross boundaries between business and

private life, between the company intranet and the social networks (often revealing sensitive

information), makes security-conscious employers cringe.

While it may be a cliché, companies are often still entangled in very stringent and formalistic

organisational processes. Their very infrastructure and the restrictions placed on the use of certain

applications hardly offer a fostering environment for "digital natives" to reach the potential they are

capable of. Young people indeed seem to show a certain degree of intolerance for the constraints

placed on their creativity and initiative within the organisation.

Businesses, in turn, while they still do not appear mature enough to radically change their nature

(with the possible exception of high-tech companies), are nonetheless wondering what would be the

most fertile ground for promoting dialogue with today's new hires and those of the coming years.

This will inevitably open doors to the knowledge workers' entire web social culture.

The current research project was developed on these premises and falls within the framework of

Fondazione ISTUD's permanent monitoring of the relationship between young people and the

employment world. Over the past four years (2008-2011) the latter has placed its focus squarely on

the Generation Y segment, young people born in the Eighties who are now in a transition phase

between college and employment, or who just joined the workforce.

In keeping with the findings of recent years, our research set out to investigate two specific

dimensions of the relationship between young people and companies that pose complex challenges

for both actors in their attempt to reconcile each other's expectations:

- the logics and policies supporting the socialisation of young people in the organisation

- the dynamics associated with managing the generation mix.

Our research investigated, on the one hand, the company onboarding processes for young hires in

order to identify their strengths, critical points and areas for improvement, and to engineer specific

organisational policies.

On the other hand, a special focus was placed on the dynamics associated with the presence in the

organisation of employees belonging to different generational groups. This had the aim of

identifying the main critical areas and friction points, and to recommend concrete action steps to

minimize conflicts and grow the potential inherent in each group.

In line with Fondazione ISTUD's well-established approach, the investigation of such themes has

been conducted with three distinct, yet complementary, group perspectives in mind: the young

college students about to enter the employment world; the young hires who just joined an

organisation, and the company managers who must work with the latter.

To compare the different perspectives, an assortment of activities was devised combining different

research tools and methodologies:

- an extensive survey conducted through the administration of a questionnaire

o to a population of 1,600 university students coming from different geographical

areas and enrolled in various degree programmes;

o to a population made up by members of the Prospera community –– one of the

project partners –– which comprises around 1,000 executives and professionals;

- a cycle of focus groups

o with students from four Italian universities;

o with about one hundred young employees of project partner companies;

o with some sixty senior managers from project partner companies.

A longitudinal view of the data resulting from the extensive phase of our survey not only serves the

purpose of capturing Gen Y's orientations, values and professional choices, but also allows to

identify any variances with the evidence of previous surveys.

It may appear unusual to mention "variances" and "trend reversals" in the orientations of young

people, especially because of the limited timeframe between data acquisitions, but one must

consider two fundamental variables influencing the investigative setting:

- the first consideration involves the strong short-term focus, which is a trademark of

Generation Y. The young people's concentration on the pursuit of short-term goals may lead

to frequent priority shifts on their part, either when the wanted goals have been achieved,

or when the young choose to desist and move on to new, more interesting objectives;

- the second consideration relates to the socio-economic context in which this survey was

conducted. The last four years have been marked by a vacillating trend shared by the job

market and the economy, Italian and worldwide. Moments of tranquillity and occupational

growth (our first survey was conducted in early 2008, i.e. before the first wave of the global

crisis) were followed by stages of recession and partial growth (the slight recovery in

employment of the second half of 2009), all the way to the fears for a national economy

default. Such uncertain climate is bound to affect young people's orientations and may

therefore cause suddenly shifting priorities in their professional choices.

Some partially new findings of this year's research need to be analysed in just this perspective.

We are mainly referring to the growing need for security expressed by a part of the population. It

was predominantly young people from Southern Italy who underscored this need by showing a

growing interest in public service competitions, a time-honoured symbol of job security.

Compared to previous years, students from other geographical areas meanwhile expressed a waning

propensity for rewarding –– albeit potentially risky –– opportunities, such as starting a business or

becoming self-employed. It is also extremely likely that the current climate of uncertainty is pushing

young people to make career choices that do not really reflect their inclinations and abilities. Should

this be the case, it would amount to a partially reversed trend in comparison with studies from

previous years, which highlighted the young people's tendency to shy away from work environments

that did not conform to their aspirations. It would also send a warning sign to the extent that

surrendering their dreams and aspirations –– albeit temporarily, one would hope –– could dampen

this generation's potential for enthusiasm, creativity and initiative.

As regards the policies for young employee socialization, evidence brought to light by our research

would suggest that formal induction plans currently in place show ample space for improvement .

In particular, interviews with new hires and line managers have emphasised the central role played

by informal socialisation processes. Both actors and practices operate here in parallel with the

formal processes and prove crucial in promoting the new entrants' socialisation, while however

conditioning it in ways that are not always consistent. Informal channels do indeed manifest

themselves as being more individualised, more directly related to the daily work routine and better

suited to effectively convey the unwritten rules of organisational life. By way of summary, it appears

increasingly essential to explore ways in which formal and informal practices of socialisation may be

more effectively integrated by exploring new forms of cooperation between HR specialists and line

management. On a more general level, partially conflicting interests should be reconciled. On the

one hand, there is the need to harmonise and systematise the socialisation processes in light of the

organisation's general goals, On the other, there's the need to make such processes more effective

through individualisation and by grounding them in the daily work experience.

Finally, as for managing the generation mix, there has been a confirmation of the postulated

differences in orientations, attitudes, expectations, and outlooks among the various generations

now coexisting in the workforce: Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. It has also been

observed how deep and complex were the management implications of such diversity in

perspectives and perceptions of the professional and organisational experience. They involved

communication processes, compensation and career plans, leadership styles and the utilisation of

new technologies. To identify and experiment with new ways of achieving better intergenerational

integration –– thus allowing to overcome what has often proved to be mutual prejudice –– now

stands as a top priority for any organization wishing to enhance its human capital.