Eric was interviewed in the Financial Post talking about the changing values of young Canadian entrepreneurs.
Eric Meerkamper is interviewed here.
Yesterday I attended an interesting seminar for HR professionals and the topic was “social networking” in the work place - timely given all the talk about it. During that session I heard that if an organization did not make Facebook available to it’s employees that the 18- 24 year old crowd would not even consider working for such a company….seems like a pretty broad statement to me. Let’s throw some stones at that notion. Do you think it’s true? How many of you work for a company that makes such allowances? How many of you don’t? And more to the point how important is this issue?
Recent bad news about the economy will no doubt have an impact on the needs and desires of young Canadian graduates entering the workforce. It will be interesting to note how the desire for stability in employment impacts the choices young people make in where they will want to work.
The other (more pressing) issue is the extent to which the recent economic events will affect the labour market in Canada. It’s probably too early to speculate as to how bad the situation will get. But: companies seeking to shed employees are likely going to start with older ones first. This will necessitate a real and deep understanding of those employees who remain.
Here. Why do government brands appear to receive such a high ranking? It’s purely speculative on our part, but the desirability of government brands may speak to young Canadians’ desire to have meaningful work. In the eyes of recent graduates, government embodies this desire in a way that for-profit companies do not. This may explain this somewhat surprising result. How these attitudes change over time would be interesting to track.
In Canadian HR Reporter. It’s interesting to see the reaction From Learning to Work provokes. That young people are actually looking for stability and security in their careers appears to be a surprise. We are inundated with messages about how youth equals rebellion, but the reality most young Canadian graduates face does not really allow for it. Student debt is one example — but cost of living (rent, housing, food) may also be a factor.
DECODE’s very own Eric Meerkamper was on Canada AM on Friday to talk about From Learning to Work Findings.
My name is Jamie Erickson. I am an HR professional and an employee of DECODE.
When I first read this article I was kinda surprised. I was surprised because I had all kinds of assumptions about Gen Y values and what’s important to them in the workplace. The fact that they are seeking stability and security was something that I had not expected. My perception has been that they were more inclined to move from job to job and not look for a place to call home. In addition I had not stopped to consider that they would be willing to take a job that was less ideal in nature when starting out their career. When I stopped and began to realize the implications of my thinking and the assumptions I was making a few things crystalized for me. Let me pose these in terms a series of questions:
1. What are the implications of this kind of thinking to attracting and engaging young employees?
2. How is it possible to orient them to an organization when I don’t fully understand their needs?
3. If I don’t understand them and do manage to hire them, how could I keep them?
When I stand back and look at those questions in a broader context there are huge implications to recruiting costs and building organizational capacity.
So let me ask you this. Do my questions resonate for you? Has your thinking been similar to mine? Is your organization organized and prepared to look at new graduates and young employees in a different way? Do you think that there is a huge strategic advantage in thinking differently about young employees? I would really like to know.
Does anyone have any horror or success stories you would like to share?
Hello and welcome to the blog for the “2008 From Learning to Work” study. Please keep checking back, as we plan on debating and exploring the implications of this important report.
For now, here’s the press release and report.
