Edmund Scanlan

From my perspective, which is that of running a technology enabled services business, I have seen some things you might find unexpected while focusing on reinventing the day job for Generation X and Generation Y.

• All generations respond positively and their levels of commitment rises beyond the commitment they have had at other companies

• Passionate employees far exceed order takers and are willing to put any amount of time necessary to succeed

• Your employees never stop working, they are always thinking about how to make the place they love better

• Your customers, potential employes, vendors, partners and press can all feel the positive energy radiating from your organization

• Your brand can be built from the culture of your company, which in the emerging world of social media is critical

For those might be concerned that this new generation of workers is doomed to drive our country into the ground (or better yet, those who are interested in engaging this new work force) I encourage you to read Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott.

Grown Up Digital is about the Net Generation, which starts on January 1977. (I was born 1 month after this generation started, which I guess gives me a first mover advantage.) Listen to the intro that Eric Schmidt (Google CEO) gives Don in the first minutes of this video and you get an idea of how well respected this guy is.

While this focus on reinventing the day job might not be applicable to every industry, it has served my tech enabled services business quite well.

Start working on reinventing the day job for Generation X and Generation Y.

A new generation is starting to establish leadership positions in companies all of this country. They are driving change. They are driving innovation. You should want them driving in your company!

This generation wants work to be in balance with outside interests, like playing in band, acting, family time, traveling, and maybe all of those. Working 70 hours a week is not acceptable. Hyper productivity in 38 hours, perfect!

They want the company they work for to be fun.

They want the company they work for to be different.

They want the company they work for to have integrity.

They want the company they work for to treat them like an individual and not with a one sized fits all HR policy.

They want to be enabled to make decisions and impact rapid change. The way something was done yesterday is rather boring to this generation.

Those who are able to engage these generations in the creation and execution of their companies mission will win.

If your company can focus on giving Gen X and Gen Y the above, I’m confident that they will be able to lead your organization to new heights.

What else do you think Gen X and Gen Y’ers want out of a job?