The team is young and experienced staff. Motivation for the Millennials: How to Work with Generation Y. Who Can Be the Leader

Millennials, or Generation Y, are hard to get to work on the pattern familiar to their older colleagues. Parents of modern youth - witnesses of the difficult 1990s - began to work to survive on their own and raise children. There was no great diversity among professions, but this was not required: they worked for money.

Today, young people are working more for the sake of a process that, in addition to salary, brings them internal satisfaction. This is reflected even in the slogans of companies: “Do what you like. Like what you do ”(“ Do what you like. Love what you do ”) - says the Russian coffee like chain Coffee Like. Work for the soul, work for the sake of which you want to wake up - that’s exactly for those born in the 1985-2000s it became a priority in the search for the cherished vacancy.

Millennials began to come to jobs. Time passes. They find that work is not always (and even more often) a holiday: too boring, too much paperwork, too much well, very uninteresting work.

Sometimes these factors become decisive: a person leaves and is looking for something else. Someone attracted by the level salary - but at the same time, the work becomes almost hateful. As a result, young workers in life process companies: it seems that their work is not important, not needed. Then why do it well? Obviously, millennials need strong motivation to remain an employee of a company - more than just a good salary.

Show the meaning of their work

Almost none of the young specialists understands their role in the company at the very beginning of their journey. They are doing something, doing something, calling somewhere, finding out something. But real results from the work done are usually not visible. Hence the feeling of worthlessness.

Show which path the work they have done takes them. For example, if an employee prepared a report, tell us how he was received at the meeting, what information he gave, what further decisions were made based on this report.

Explain what's going on in the company.

Involve young employees in the decision-making process. Tell us what is happening inside and outside the company, why now it is necessary to take these and these actions. Inform about the plans of the company, ask for their opinions.

Do some small brainstorming. Perhaps you really will find some solution to the problem. If not, it’s okay too: explain why their ideas are good, but not suitable for the company. Start with simple questionscomplicating them over time. You will soon notice that the communication process between you and the young employees will be much easier.

Remember praise and rewards

It has been said more than once that: they are used to passing levels and receiving rewards for this. Therefore, one of the obvious methods of increasing the motivation of young professionals is the introduction of gamification in the business process.

Do not spare words for praise, note the smallest successes of an employee - at the beginning of a career path this is especially important. Celebrate their work. At the same time, be sincere and rely not only on your opinion, but also on the words of other senior colleagues.

Remember the material reward. If you see that the employee has really reached a new level, it will not be superfluous to think about increasing his salary.

Find out about their career goals.

Ask young colleagues about their career plans. Firstly, this way you show that a person as an employee is really important to you. Secondly, you will determine how much your specialists are ready to stay in the company. Find out about their goals, dreams. After listening, tell us how your company can help them.

If an employee expresses a desire to eventually get into large company, and your business is small, then be mentally prepared for the fact that one day he really leaves your company. This is one of characteristic featuresinherent in generation Y - do not stay in one workplace for a long time. However, he can develop his professional skills and abilities in you, gain basic knowledge related to his activities. In addition, in a small company it is much easier to get more versatile experience: often one person has to perform several functions at once and make many decisions independently.

Make your company proud

Millennials are attracted by the opportunity to proudly declare their place of work. Here you will have to try and find several reasons why a young employee can enthusiastically talk about the company. For example, tell young professionals:

- How did you become a leader in a narrow segment of goods or services;
- Why exactly do you always win the competition;
- Which of the famous companies you worked with were partners.
- What are the most difficult tasks you have successfully solved;
- About possible internships in larger cities or abroad.

Think about what else can add weight to the company in the eyes of your young professionals. And then they themselves will begin to talk about you - not expecting questions from the interlocutor 🙂

The question is: is it possible to retrain 40+ people to work in the IT sector and is the industry pushing “those for whom”?

“SOON NO ONE WILL TALK ABOUT“ OLD WOMEN ”IN IT”

Lola Traps
director of the Belarusian office of the international company for the search and evaluation of top managers Pedersen and Partners

For several years now, I have been faced with a situation where companies are looking for 35+ employees. Especially to bring balance and maturity (at least social) to the team.

There are technologies that are not popular with young people, but in demand in development. There are serious financial projects that require approaches and knowledge that are usually possessed by older people. There are reputable companies with large-scale projects and another organizational environment. All this is a slightly different reality than that part of the IT culture where they crave to quickly "gash a site or shoot a startup."

In general, I know few areas where the accumulated set of competencies can be taken from and easily transferred to the IT environment with great benefit to it. Rather, an older person has more social and communication skills, he better understands his abilities and needs.

“Young people today start from the level for which we have suffered for so many years.”

And he will have to build up technical competencies already in the company. Young will master the new, of course, faster. But if you think strategically, then a lot depends on the specific personality: how much a person is set up for painstaking work and development. Which, incidentally, does not necessarily imply promotion career ladder. Not everyone seeks managerial positions. Many, on the contrary, refuse this in every possible way.

Employers need to learn to understand people and their motivation. To do this, it would be good for employers themselves to dig deeper into themselves and look at least two or three years in advance. Calculate whether it will be easier to keep a young person or to work calmly with someone who does not constantly seek new companywhere there are more cookies.

I am sure that soon there will not be so many artificially contrived barriers around IT, including age-related ones. Now 28-year-olds work there, and in five years they will be over 30. Yes, the market situation has developed so that IT people earn a lot more, but nothing more. Do not make celestials out of them. It will pass very quickly. Soon no one will talk about the “oldies” in IT. In my opinion, a person transplanting a heart is more breathtaking.

“GENERATION X REPRESENTATIVES MORE Loyal”

Maxim Poklonsky
managing Partner, MarkSist Consulting Agency, Head of Capital Business School. In the past, he was the head of the commercial divisions of such large Belarusian companies as Tair-NTTS, ASBIS Group and Alutech Group of Companies

If the owner of an IT business thinks strategically, he understands that everyone on the market is simply not enough for 25-year-olds. The industry is developing rapidly, so companies are experiencing a shortage of personnel. In addition, it is always not enough motivated people. I believe that it is possible to educate and retrain people at any age - if they are energetic, interested and have a natural curiosity.

In addition, representatives of generation X, as a rule, are more loyal. And this is worth a lot: if they invest in a person, it’s a shame when, after a year or two, he goes to a competitor. Young people are now easily changing jobs, older people are holding on to their place.

In my opinion, age-related employees are generally more responsible. Usually 40+ people have a good educational base, which is also important. In any case, already on initial stage you can test what a person is inclined to: programming, business analysis, graphic design. If the employer has a line of young people, you can raise the bar. If the deficit and we are aimed at 40+ people, we lower the bar even during trial period watching the progress.

Why do we even think about age? The main problem is that older people do not have the habit of using new technologies. My dad is the creator of the first computers in the country, he led a large design department at the Computer Research Institute, he has his own inventions. And now he has to explain for a long time how to use the phone, iPad. This is due to the fear of pressing a button, breaking something. It takes some time to get rid of this. But then experience and motivation make themselves felt. Now he is pulling up the math of his grandson living in Moscow.

Situations are different. For example, if you need employees with specific knowledge of languages, platforms, and technologies, you probably should not look towards age-old beginners. It will be a long journey with a high degree of risk. But when they select a candidate for the position of tester, PM, analyst, industry expert, you can search for 40+ candidates.

But the main success factor of these projects is those managers who will train new 40+ employees. I remember when I was a student of the first set of software at MRTI in the early 90s, I was asked to give a course for computer literacy accountants. And I explained to them what Norton Commander, Excel, Word are, how to work in DOS and Windows. These women looked at me like an astronaut, with delight. Now I already understand why. I sincerely wanted to help them figure it out. And when they try to help us, we turn on.

Therefore, guides to the new world are important in 40+ employee training programs. I would focus primarily on training internal trainers - those IT professionals who will train and manage 40+ year olds. I would nurture managers with multi-age competencies. It can even become a hidden competitive advantage.

“THERE IS AN OLD JOKE: THE BEST EMPLOYEE IS THE FATHER OF THREE CHILDREN WHO HAS APARTMENT IN A MORTGAGE”

Cyril Golub
co-founder of Aheadworks

Of course, cognitive ability decreases with age, it is naive to deny it. But such a fall is offset by experience and horizons. The rapid development of technology does not mean that every software company uses the whole range of new products and only those employees who own them are needed. On the contrary, the technological stack of many industrial solutions used now has settled down and has not changed in 15-20 years in some places. And their market is not only not decreasing, but even sometimes growing due to developing countries. Many companies that have gained niche expertise and a customer base no longer strive to be "on the cutting edge of technology."

When analyzing the competencies and prospects of a candidate, it all depends on vacant position. If one resume comes to a programmer’s position with a diploma of a mechanical engineer, the other comes from a mechanical engineer who has worked in production for 20 years, and both without special knowledge and programming experience, none of them will be considered as a candidate, and their age will play a role.

Fortunately - or unfortunately - for the IT industry, you can become a programmer and gain experience “enthusiastically” at any age. It is impossible to learn the work of a dentist at home, on benefits and without patients. A customer freelance programmer asks about passport age last.

Although in the office, problems should not be expected. It is quite normal that a 25-year-old team leader will have people on the team different ages, including 40+.

Firstly, the relationship of team leader and programmer is not a relationship of submission - this is not an army. Secondly, if a young guy has become a team lead, he clearly has not only abilities and experience, but also developed soft skills. There are almost no subordinate relationships in IT. Creativity and flexibility of thinking are important here, so companies with a rigid hierarchy rarely achieve great success and often cannot stand the competition.

Sometimes I hear that older people are not inclined to overtime, so it’s better to take young people to the team. And who said that a normally functioning company regularly needs to overtime? It is even harmful. Constant refining is a direct indicator of systemic problems in a company.

In a class at a business school, I once had an absurd dispute with a teacher who quite seriously formulated the following problem: “What to do if you want your employees to go to work on a day off?” I did not understand such a statement of the question: what does “you want” mean? If at some point the circumstances of the business require the whole team to spend a day off working on the project, there is an objective and understandable need for everyone, then there is no need to persuade anyone, much less force them. But if such an exception turns into a system, then something is wrong with your business (or with you as a leader).

There is such an old joke: the best employee is the father of three children, who has an apartment in a mortgage. A more mature employee (and this is not always a characteristic of age) is more balanced in working relations, and his requests are always adequate. And one of the manager’s main duties is to build work so that his colleagues will come to the office in the morning with pleasure and return home in time.

"JOURNALITY IN STARTS - IT'S Sure, Rather MINUS"

Peter Krupsky
practicing psychotherapist

Most often, a person in 40+ decides to change his profession against the background of a midlife crisis, when not everything is very good. During this period, usually a reassessment of achievements occurs, people may mistakenly believe that the best and most important thing is behind. They may have low self-esteem. This is all exacerbated by stereotypes about age and the lack of support from loved ones, friends, acquaintances. Because those, for example, are not interested in the new and do not understand how to take risks and change everything radically “in old age”. Let it be better bad, but stable.

Therefore, people 40+ deserve attention just because they tried. It is much more difficult for a person aged 45-50 to come to an IT company and ask him to test it than when he was 25. It is already important for eychars to have the professionalism to act outside of stereotypes. If you see the inquisitive active personwho knows English and has some technical base, age cannot become objective reasonby which a person does not master the new technology.

Here lies another nuance.

Often, eychars are very young girls. Seeing in front of themselves the peers who are peers of their parents, at a subconscious level, they will remember the possible conflict of fathers and children, not only in the family, but in the team. Only maturity and professionalism on two sides can help here: the applicant and the employer. We must sensibly assess how realistic it is to integrate a person into an existing company. And you can integrate it so competently that age will be an advantage. Of course, if the candidate has good potential and a sufficient base. After all, he also has life experience.

It is also important that older people, as a rule, value human relations more. Work in the company is not only the performance of a strictly defined set of functions and problem solving, but also communication, interaction. From the point of view of psychology, it’s very good when in a team different people. An attempt to be homogeneous depletes, and differences, on the contrary, enrich.

To summarize, I believe that age is not a definite minus or plus. It is necessary to build on the situation. Usually more mature people are more reasonable. Is this good or bad? In startups, for example, this is probably more of a minus. And in systematically developing projects it can be just a plus.

“THOSE THOSE THOSE THROUGH T-SHAPES SEARCH CUT OFF THEM ANOTHER AT THE STAGE OF ANALYSIS OF SUMMARY”

Elena Lokteva
expert in the field of IT education and e-learning

I would advise company executives to pay attention to the “old people” until others have done so. Back in 2010, one of the most sought-after IT employers in Belarus told me that he was no longer interested in just a tester or programmer. He needs a programmer who has experience of over five years in any other subject area: tourism, medicine, logistics. Unfortunately, the hiring structure at his company is such that these people will not get there.

This year has been to several IT conferences. Each had at least one speaker who spoke about T-shapes - people who have strong expertise in any field and a broad outlook in others. They are the ones who are able to find effective, simple, elegant solutions at the intersection of subject areas. Now let's think: at what age do we become T-shapes? The paradox is that it is precisely those who rushed in search of T-shapes that cut them off even at the stage of analyzing the resume.

You must understand that " clear sheet"Not better, it’s easier to manage. For the time being. You will have to reckon with an experienced specialist from the very beginning. And such people make a career in IT fast, if they are nevertheless given a chance. And our leaders are often self-taught and not yet mature enough to take a strong person into our department.

Is learning harder with age? We all, regardless of age, constantly process huge amounts of new information. This is not the prerogative of the young, but our life. What masses of information scare people, during whose life the phone mutated from disk to smartphone? But how can you scare people who, at the age of 40+, have decided to try themselves in new profession, around which so much flera a la "not everyone is given"? This attempt itself deserves respect!

The older we get, the worse and less work - a stereotype. Hopefully it will disappear over time. I myself am 41, I have always worked much more than eight hours a day. Do you think it was easier for me to do this 15 years ago when my children went to kindergarten and were sick?

I’m ready to make a small admission so that the “older generation” doesn’t look like cyborgs at all. Yes, I can’t conduct classes for 12-16 academic hours per day from Monday to Saturday. I will no longer go to work with a temperature of 39, I will take care of my health, colleagues and students. But my effectiveness has not been affected. Just what I once needed for two days, I now do in two hours.

Finally, I’ll tell you another amazing story. A talented and sought-after musician once came to us for web design courses, he played the wind instrument. International contests, foreign tours - everything is fine. One morning he gets up and does not remember how to play. Muscle amnesia. Imagine, a man got up at the age of 35 in the morning and realized that he no longer had a profession. He was treated, went to grandmothers - to no avail. A family needs to be fed. One of my friends advised courses, and he went to study website development. At first I got into the position “I'm not a techie”. I had to carefully hint: who you are now is up to you to decide. When he realized that there would be no concessions, he gathered himself and began to study. And he made a wonderful graduation project about classical music. And most of all he was praised for the software part. A few years later I found out that he opened a small web studio and makes websites to order.

So, dear "old men", if you have not been hired in IT, there is always another way - to create your own company and convince competitors that they were very mistaken.

Photo: Andrey Davydchik, from the personal archive of speakers, illustration: PANDARAMA for dev.by.

Often a specialist whose work experience is estimated at more than a dozen years is lost when he is surrounded by a young team. They are completely different, they dress and talk differently, they have different values \u200b\u200band priorities ... How should the “old man” who got into the young team should behave - set the right path or change into jeans and remember his own youth?

Relations in the team - the problem is obvious

There is an opinion that the age and personal characteristics of each individual employee do not affect how efficiently and harmoniously the staff will work. The main condition for such work is good motivation by management. But how does an “aged” employee feel in a team consisting entirely of young “talents” who insert new-fangled terms through a word, work enthusiastically until midnight, and generally do not work the way an old specialist is used to? Experts argue that in such "unequal" teams, where the entire "young" team has one employee in age, conflict situations are really not uncommon. And the first cause of such conflicts is the internal discomfort of an elderly person who fell into a team not of his age. The result of such discomfort is either intense competition or the notorious generational conflict. Most often, the "old people" in such cases either shut themselves down, despite the friendly attitude of the team, or begin to constantly indicate to young people their inexperience. But it also happens that a young team simply does not accept a senior employee - young people adapt much more easily to new working conditions and a new team and do not accept those who are not flexible. Whatever the cause of the conflict, it will certainly affect common work, which means that both sides will have to seek compromises.

What to do?

The key factor in the relationship between the young team and the specialist “aged” is his own self-esteem. Here psychological mechanisms are at their full potential - if this specialist considers himself an “endangered species” and says that he is “behind the times”, there can be no doubt that young people will soon try on these assessments. At the same time, an employee who appreciates his breadth of views, experience and understanding of emerging situations, then the attitude of his colleagues will be appropriate. Of course, everywhere you can meet young workers who are not burdened with upbringing, but if the "old man" will respect himself, then he will not take seriously the "pearls" of such colleagues.

Another development of the situation is when a solid Petr Petrovich, looking at his young colleagues, suddenly decides to remember his youth and has begun to “get young” with all his might. The desire to match the team can be expressed in the style of clothing, outlook on life, the manner of communication. But only in most cases, such metamorphoses look, at least, ridiculous and will become an occasion for jokes on the part of the same youth. You should not become someone else, because at work it will be primarily the working qualities that will be evaluated. If, the most valuable quality will be practical experience and a high level of communication.

Positive points ... is there?

In fact, in addition to an excessive amount of energy, the young team is no different from any other. And for an experienced, qualified employee in such a team there is always a place. In a society of energetic, mobile and always positive people, an aged person feels himself more energetic and, as it were, younger than in the team of his peers. In addition, the lack of an experienced, “cold-blooded” specialist in the young team leads to the fact that the company has to pay for additional training for young people. And wise advice from a senior colleague means a lot when making a decision.

And academician, and hero, and navigator, and carpenter
From the poem "Stans" (1826) by A. S. Pushkin (1799-1837). So the poet speaks of the versatile activities of Peter the Great:
By the autocratic hand
He boldly sow enlightenment,
He did not despise his native country:
He knew her destiny.
Either academician or hero
That navigator, then the carpenter.
He is a comprehensive soul
An eternal worker was on the throne.
Quoted: to indicate someone’s versatile activity, many talents, etc.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M .: Lokid-Press. Vadim Serov. 2003.

See what is "And an academician, and a hero, and a navigator, and a carpenter" in other dictionaries:

- (1799 1837) Russian poet, writer. Aphorisms and quotes Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich. Biography It is not difficult to despise the court of people, it is impossible to despise your own court. Slandering even without evidence leaves sweaty eternal traces. Critics ... ... Consolidated Encyclopedia of Aphorisms

And, m. 1. The one who works, works. Either an academician, or a hero, Either a navigator, or a carpenter. He is a comprehensive soul. An eternal worker was a throne. Pushkin, Stans. As a worker, this young and strong man was not worth a penny. Next to power in ... ... Small Academic Dictionary

Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

1. TO1, union. 1. use. at the beginning of the main sentence for a greater expression of its connection with the subordinate clause, starting with a conditional or causal union, if this clause precedes and, in particular, if it is very widespread. If a… … Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

- (Greek. αντιθεσις opposition) is one of the stylistic techniques (see Figures), which consists in comparing concrete representations and concepts connected by a common construction or internal meaning. Eg: "Who was nothing, that will become everything" ... Literary Encyclopedia

Antithesis, antithesis (other Greek ἀντίθεσις opposition from ἀντί versus + θέσις thesis) rhetorical contrast of the text, stylistic figure of contrast in art or oratory, consisting in a sharp ... ... Wikipedia

Antithesis - ANTITESA (Greek Αντιθεσις, opposition) a figure (see) consisting in a comparison of logically opposite concepts or images. An essential condition for the antithesis is the subjugation of opposites to a common concept uniting them, or ... ... Dictionary of Literary Terms

PETER I - Russian Tsar * since 1682, the first Russian emperor (since 1721). The youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter was enthroned in 1682 in violation of the rights of his older brother Ivan. As a result, an uprising broke out in Moscow *, the main ... Linguistic and Regional Dictionary

And what if you are faced with such a chef.

Frame from the film "Office Space"

How to understand that your manager does not know how to manage, and what to do with it, says Liz Ryan - coach, Forbes columnist.

We are used to thinking that a strong manager is a person with a strong handshake and a bossy voice. We are used to thinking that being a strong manager means acting decisively and know the answers to all the questions. But these ideas are already in the past. Strong leaders adjust to the environment in which they operate. They know how to lead, based on trust, not fear. They do not need to shout in an ordered tone, and they are strong enough not to be right always and not to be responsible for everything.

Weak leaders break down and shout at people. They rule with fear. They simply must be right: no member of their team can have a more correct answer to any question than the answer that the manager has. Weak managers can speak important and bossy - but only because they don’t want anyone to question their authority. They are too weak to engage in a real, heated discussion. They are afraid that someone below will realize that they do not always understand what they are talking about.

Today, more and more workers understand that not every manager and not every organization is worthy of their work. You have much more power and influence than you think, but this influence arises only when you are ready to use it: ready to stand up for yourself and have your own position. We are all now entering this previously uncharted territory.

The experience of weak managers can be extremely useful. But these are lessons like: “Never lead a team as this person leads!” Here are 11 signs that your boss, no matter how high a position in the organizational hierarchy, is a weak leader who is afraid to manage, relying on trust.

1. Your main concern at work is not to anger your boss.

2. Your manager criticizes much more than praises.

3. Your boss believes that the last word on any issue is his.

4. Your manager does not want you to experiment and try something new.

6. Your manager relies on discipline and rules to keep you and your colleagues in check.

7. You and your colleagues can easily determine when a chef is angry with any of you.

8. Your boss attaches great importance to problems such as episodic ten minutes late for work. He (or she) clings to formal rules and applies sanctions whenever these rules are violated.

9. They are afraid of your boss, and people in other departments and departments pity you.

10. You rejoice when you manage to live to the end of the working day, never having met with the boss.

11. If you tell your manager about some amazing thing that happened to you - your blog received an award, you were awarded some special title or privilege - the boss is not happy with you. He doesn’t want anyone to outshine him.

Alas, the mass of weak managers. Too many companies continue to promote people into managerial positions based on their functional competence, despite their lack of communication skills, empathy and other human qualities. And weak managers deep down realize that they are weak. That is why they are so tough.

You don’t need to be upset if you realized that you were under the leadership of a weak leader. Each of us has worked with such a chef at least once in a lifetime. But you don’t have to tiptoe around him until the end of time. Better use this moment and make a good career plan for yourself.

Perhaps there are some valuable things and skills that you can still master at this job - and maybe you will need two more years to master them. During this time, you can improve your resume, increase your competencies, increase self-confidence and clarify your further career goals.

Your weak boss can lead you all this time - or maybe go to another position, or even get him fired. The more clearly you formulate your own goals, the less you will be disturbed by the unpleasant inclinations of your boss. This is just another dog that barks but does not bite.

Your weak boss may be horrified to learn that he is teaching you important lessons — lessons that will come in handy for you to overcome more serious obstacles in your way. But that is exactly what will happen. And the more you focus on yourself and on your self-improvement, the less importance you will attach to your boss and his bad character. When you clearly see your path, weak people cannot stop you.

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