Archive for the ‘Employee’ Category
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
A recent article in the New York Times by Robin Marantz Hening explores the evolution of adolescence and how psychologists are struggling to describe the “unfinished” nature of twentysomething adults. According to some, like “Emerging Adulthood” author, Jeffrey Arnett, the twenties are an under-recognized stage in adult development, created by a rapid change in our economic and cultural space. In an information-based economy, Arnett sees“…the need for more education to survive in an information-based economy; fewer entry-level jobs even after all that schooling; young people feeling less rush to marry because of the general acceptance of premarital sex, cohabitation and birth control; and young women feeling less rush to have babies given their wide range of career options and their access to assisted reproductive technology if they delay pregnancy beyond their most fertile years.”
These realizations have lead to the creation of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood. Others aren’t quite so sure, nothing that the period of adult rootlessness that this life-stage is not universal – many, in fact, skip it, and progress towards marriage and child-rearing right after adolescence. Development scientist Richard Lerner believes that to be a “real” life-stage (in clinical terms), it has to be universal, meaning that there need to be real measureable consequences for those who skip it.
This debate has real significance. If a new life stage exists, societies need to design support services around the needs of an emerging population, who may not be defined around a specific age range. This has a real impact on how we spend our money on things like health care and education, or how companies market their products. If it’s not universal, however, it’s going to be difficult for institutions to get these activities right.
Whether strictly applicable to the field of developmental psychology or not, we at DECODE have been noticing the impact of the life stage on everything from civic participation to employee expectations and consumer behaviour. Young independents, as we call them (those out of school, and not with children of their own) are less likely to say they’ll vote or volunteer. It’s a period that appears to me marked by a distinct lack of connection to broader community.
Hening’s article raises as many questions as it answers, particularly for those in the demographic being discussed. But kudos to her, and to the Times, for at attempting to describe the demographic in an empathetic and considered manner.
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks that in the future it will be commonplace for young people to change their names to escape their digital past (see BBC article here). But is this the solution for avoiding having incriminating or sordid photos or words published online?
We asked some of our DECODER network members, aged 15-30, what they thought of Schmidt’s vision.
The first thing we heard is that Schmidt is a bit behind on this trend. Many people in our network said they post a lot of fake information online, thus keeping their real names ‘clean’. This results in the use of fake names on facebook, names that only ‘real’ friends know. Gen Y are also aware that employers may use digital information to find out more about them – most of them fully expecting future employers to look them up on at least google and facebook. Since stories of those unfortunate few who mess up in the online world end up being broadcast through many forms of media, including TV and online as well as newspapers, many more people are aware of what could go wrong, and learn from the story.
We also heard that people feel strongly that there are logical rules about reputation management online. One rule is that you should always be able to remove information about yourself. For example, of our network members told us she had a phone number listed from a speech she had given a few years ago. Se has tried contacting the organisers to take it off, but has so far been unsuccessful. To this young woman the issue wasn’t about trying to get away from the past, but making sure that people respect each others’ privacy.
In that case, perhaps what we need isn’t an easy way to change your name, but better laws to enable us to remove personal or confidential information from the online record books.
Monday, July 5th, 2010
The BBC writes about Crowdsourcing on their News front page.
According to the article, getting suggestions in from multitudes of users can be very useful. On the other hand, doing something with those ideas is more challenging.
Tom de Castella concludes with the notion that effective crowdsourcing is actually just collaboration in disguise.
Read the article: Click here.
Friday, May 7th, 2010
According to Robert Half Technology, more than half (54 percent) of Chief Information Officers interviewed said visiting social networking sites while at work is “completely prohibited” by company policy. The main reason for the ban is concern over reduced employee productivity. What does this mean for Generation Y, the 15-30 year olds entering our workforce in the age of social media?
Gen Y have grown up in a world where maths homework is done online from a laptop, not hand written in a square papered book. Their world of information is online. They like having lots of information on hand and picking through what they think is important. From DECODEs research we know that most young people connect online with people they already know face to face.
By taking away the tools our employees use to communicate, are we actually reducing productivity?
At a recent DECODE dialogue on the subject, a participant mentioned that social networking sites are the equivalent of the coffee machine where people gather to interact. It would have been interesting to ask those CIOs referenced above whether personal calls are still allowed. What about cigarette breaks? Most of Gen Y don’t smoke, does this mean they get less of a break time to rest their minds and be social?
Recruitment managers tell us that they increasingly use social media to find good hires. It’s efficient, productive, and helps them get to know people. Building their human networks allows for more authentic communication and incentivises employees to help find new recruits. Russell Herder at Ethos Business Law found that 8 out of 10 managers believe social media can enhance relationships with customers and build brand reputation. Managers feel such networking can be valuable in recruitment, as a customer service tool and can be used to enhance employee morale.
The Wasting Time at Work survey from Survey.com says that employees with unrestricted social networking access lose about 2 hours of work time per day. But social media use by employees also yields a 9% productivity boost. Surfing networks at work for pleasure actually increases our concentration levels. If social media in the workplace is a villain, it’s a false villain, and hiding underneath it are age-old work culture issues such as boredom and lack of engagement.
Although Gen Y are digital natives and know how to use the technology at hand, they are also a typical young generation in that they are rebellious, reckless and naive. Some, and I really mean a small minority, do stupid irresponsible things that would freak out most CIOs and most of their peers too. So, assuming we can treat social networking like the modern workplace’s coffee break, how can we best use these tools?
- Train the baby and keep the bathwater: train employees on the good and evil of social networks in the workplace. This reduces risk somewhat and informs employees so that the small minority thinks twice before doing something silly.
- Have strict policies about company information use on social network.
- Open up the good in social networks to all employees. Facebook is not the only social media site. Blocking one will lead to the use of another. Just ask the music industry.
- Re-evaluate every year.
For help building your generation Y employee engagement strategy, please email contact@decode.net
A version of this article was published in Guardian Public. Find the full version here.
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Valentines day is almost here. As someone who is currently single, that doesn’t mean much to me. I’ll be spending Valentines day having lunch with a friend (at home since she refuses to go to a restaurant for fear of being surrounded by smoochy couples), playing golf and watching lots of TV. I might even do some cleaning.
I do wonder what I’m missing out on when I hear (mostly on Oprah) about people with great love lives. Some research DECODE recently carried out showed some scarily attractive traits of people with great love lives. They are more planet conscious, less self conscious, more environmental, eat more organic and less processed food, feel healthier, make more money, have more friends and are more optimistic about work and about life in general. Love seems to transcend relationships and cross into other spheres of life – loving the planet, loving work, loving life…
How does this affect people at work? It seems that those in fulfilled relationships make better employees. Why? They are more likely to be confident and to be engaged in their work. They are more ambitious and loyal to a cause, believing that they want to be leaders one day, and that if they love their jobs the money will follow. People who feel they have great love lives also view their employers more favourably, believing that their employers will be loyal to them. They are healthier, and combined with all these other traits, this might mean fewer sick days.
One key thing that caught my attention – people are less likely to have great love lives if they live with their parents. Maybe its time I moved out.
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Stefan Stern spoke with Robert Barnard, CEO about employee life stage transitions. Heres his article.
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
James Surowiecki is one of the smartest business writers around, and his latest debunking of commonly-held myths about the American consumer shows why. According to data he cites, the high debt-level of the American consumer is not because of their fondness of gadgets, SUVs, or flat screen TVs — no the main culprit is the high cost of housing and medical care.
Citing Elizabeth Warren, he notes:
The idea that most Americans have been spending frivolously on consumer goods actually isn’t true. Instead, a hefty chunk of the increase in consumption in recent decades has been the result of higher housing prices, the rising cost of medical care, more spending on education, and childcare. A generation ago, Warren says, basics (housing costs, health insurance, transportation, education, and taxes) accounted for fifty-four per cent of the average family’s income. Today, they account for seventy-five per cent of it.
Surowiecki speculates that the average American consumer doesn’t actually have much room to save more. And while he’s not specifically talking about youth populations, stories like these are of particular resonance around DECODE offices, as we’ve spent much of our recent years trying to highlight the issues facing Young Independents (those living away from home and who have not started families of their own). Many wonder as to why young people have been putting off taking on many of the trappings of adulthood. Could it be that it’s just really expensive?
In Canada we’re insulated (to a certain degree) from the rapid explosion in health care costs in the U.S. But the explosion in housing costs is something that afflicts just about every major urban centre in the country. For almost 50 years, the notion that families live in homes they own has been almost sacrosanct. Could this expectation cause people to defer starting families?
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
According to the Pew Research Centre, Americans think think that the generation gap has gotten wider. They just don’t think it’s as big of a deal. Interesting tidbit: pretty much everyone thinks older adults have superiour moral values.
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
More troubling news from the U.K: one out of every six British people aged 18-24 is both out of work and not in school.
The British have a handy acronym for this group: NEET (not in education, employment or training), and it’s been a long-standing public policy concern for both the left and the right. The prescriptions seem easy enough to grasp. Government needs increase access to post-secondary education. Business need to invest more in jobs and training. But as we noted in our article in the Mark News, these are long-term investments that don’t seem to be major public or industrial policy concerns. The irony is that anti-deficit, short-term-growth-at-any-cost logic that prevents countries from treating these issues seriously creates nagging public lags on our economies and societies.
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Our thoughts on post-secondary spending in the world of a jobless recovery.
A recent article in the New York Times by Robin Marantz Hening explores the evolution of adolescence and how psychologists are struggling to describe the “unfinished” nature of twentysomething adults. According to some, like “Emerging Adulthood” author, Jeffrey Arnett, the twenties are an under-recognized stage in adult development, created by a rapid change in our economic and cultural space. In an information-based economy, Arnett sees“…the need for more education to survive in an information-based economy; fewer entry-level jobs even after all that schooling; young people feeling less rush to marry because of the general acceptance of premarital sex, cohabitation and birth control; and young women feeling less rush to have babies given their wide range of career options and their access to assisted reproductive technology if they delay pregnancy beyond their most fertile years.”
