Blog: The 3Es for GenY - Explore, Experiment & Execute

Campus Recruitment

The 3Es for GenY - Explore, Experiment & Execute

A lot of GenY management graduates are getting into unchartered territories with new profiles
The 3Es for GenY - Explore, Experiment & Execute

As per Kruger and Smit in their book “Basic Psychology for HR Practitioners”, an individual’s job satisfaction is a direct result of his or her ability to execute tasks. This attribute cannot be more apt for brigade of young Management Trainees (MTs) who belong to GenY and are gradually entering the mainstream workforce.

We are living in a world of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity), which suits the personality traits of this millennial segment wishing to chart out its career in unexplored areas and untested waters. This segment is impatient, unconventional and prefers risks over rewards. The fact that a lot of GenY management graduates are getting into unchartered territories with new profiles speaks a lot about their tendency to explore, experiment and execute. They are keen to invent new business offerings and improvise current business technologies. They respond very well to challenging assignments, which require high degree of execution. For them, an unknown territory or unchartered path presents a sense of adventure, which they love to engage in.

Gone are the days when designation of a job used to entice people. Today’s generation is more concerned about the role and what kind of responsibilities it entails. What matters to them is their ability to make an impact and thus create visibility for themselves. During campus selection process it has become evident, that it is the ‘profile’ being offered by the company that primarily influences the choice of the candidates.

In-fact, a lot of FMCG majors engage MTs by assigning them early ownership and responsibility for driving business. They provide on the field sales exposure to MTs during their training phase by assigning them roles of sales representatives who do outlet-to-outlet selling with defined targets. It is grilling and gratifying for them to operate on ground zero and be a part of frontline operations. They don’t seem to enjoy the classroom training program as much as they enjoy on-the-job training, which gives them real time practical exposure.

Various managers, who have been functional guides for these trainees, have often shared following feedback about them:

  1. This segment expects a clear direction in terms of deliverables backed by complete empowerment
  2. MTs value coaching and mentoring over supervision
  3. They love to get into discussions, dialogues and constructive arguments
  4. They are passionate about results and most of times end up exceeding their targets
  5. There is an inner zeal to excel and exceed the expectations and make a mark for themselves
  6. They come across as multi talented multi-taskers who are agile towards changing business environment

These GenY associates do not believe in just completing the stint brief. Most of them go beyond it and carry out additional projects, which add value to the company. When they come for their formal reviews, their presentations and thoughts are laden with recommendations and suggestions. They evaluate the current processes with a critical outlook and do not accept the norms easily. Many a times, they would like to see some quantum changes in some of the existing work practices. They don’t seem to believe in following a set template or standard pattern. Rather they would try and leverage their resources to come up with creative and unique solutions.

They have a knack for identifying diverse opportunities where they can make an impact. In-fact, when some of these ideas are implemented and scaled up in the organization, it gives them a real sense of pride.

This generation is so well networked within their peer group that information for them is just a click away. They are experts at accessing multiple information sources. It will not be wrong to say, Gen Y is trained to compete for excellence and not just survival!!

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Topics: Campus Recruitment, Diversity, #Trends

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