Recruiting ,Training and Retaining The Generation Y

Much has been heard about the generational differences in the workplace. These differences could not be more evident than in the issue of training. Who me as a member of Generation Y, I can personally attest to the difficulty in creating a training program that addresses the needs and demands of today.

Who is Gen Y?

Generation Y, are employees born between 1980 and 2000.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, by 2014 Generation Y will make up close to 50 percent of the 162 million total work force. With these employees quickly becoming a large part of the workforce, understanding how they function and how they learn is imperative in order for these new workers to reach their full potential.  Appreciating and adapting to the way this generation learns is the key to embracing and valuing this generation.

How do they learn?

Training is and can be complex as their learning style greatly differs from our precursors of Gen X. This is mostly due to the vastly diverse worlds in which the two age bands were raised.  Being exposed to the most advanced machinery and being not only aware of but very reliant on those technologies has caused workers of Gen Y to necessitate advanced technologies in the workplace and in their training. Otherwise they will definitely loose.

Generation Y is flooding into the workplace in unprecedented numbers and is reshaping the foundations by which many organizations were built, managed and lead. This disruption is leading to many questions, concerns and points of contention among the business community as a whole.

How can we get work done out of them .

Let’s re-visit Eric Chester’s principles and add one more:

1.       Let them know that what they do matters.  When was the last time that you shared your guest service scores with your employees or read the good comment cards at a meeting of your employees? (When was the last time you had all-employee or departmental meetings?)

2.       Tell them the truth.  When did you last indicate exactly what was going on – as in we have half the house checking out today, it is going to be stressful but we can do it.

3.       Explain why you are asking them to do it.  When did you last explain to your employees that an athletic group might be difficult to serve but that it is a slow period and they account for revenue that helps the hotel achieve its budget?

4.       Learn their language.  When was the last time that you took the time to sit down and communicate to your employees, one on one, about what they did on their day off – the things they like to do?

5.       Be on the look out for rewarding opportunities.  When did you last hear or see an employee providing good customer service and praise them on the spot for a situation well handled?

6.       Praise them in public.  How often do you use an employee meeting to praise a housekeeper on bringing a lost item to your attention so you could contact the guest?

7.       Make the workplace fun.  Have you ever brought bubbles bottles to work and taken them to housekeeping just to be silly and play before they pick up their carts?  This works with any generation in any language.    

 

8.       Model behavior.  When did you last work the desk during a difficult check-in and show your associates the correct way to handle a difficult guest?  Do you say negative things about guests within earshot of your employees?

9.       Give them the tools to do the job.  Why is it that our front desk, housekeeping and maintenance training is focused upon technical skills but includes virtually no training on the soft skills of customer service?  Don’t assume that they have empathy for the guest, know how to handle a difficult customer situation or understand what you expect in terms of servicing the guest if you don’t communicate the expectations and give them concrete skills to turn basic customer service into good or exceptional customer service.

Understand and appreciate the challenges of Generation Y , in order to recruit and retain this new wave of potential employees. But try applying rules to all of the employees.

It is the best practice. 

 Subhan Sharif