Archive for the ‘Lifestage & Generational Segmentation’ 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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
The New York Times has a snazzy interactive graphic showing the results of how Americans spend their days. You can track differences between various demographic categories, including age range. What this survey terms “computer use” accounts for a tiny fraction of how people aged 15-24 spend their leisure time.
This flies in the face of conventional wisdom about how youth populations are glued to their computer screens. Is this a case of a flawed survey methodology? Or are our assumptions about the dominant nature of online experiences completely wrong?
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Robert’s response published in The Mark.
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
(note: this is in response to Morgan Stanley intern Matthew Robson’s article on teenagers and media usage)
Dear Matthew,
For the last few months I’ve been working as an intern at DECODE and have spent a lot of time looking at the media habits of young people in the UK. When I came across your report I was very impressed by how well you had managed to capture and explain some of the key areas that I have recently become familiar with. I am pleased that you got the opportunity to be published as your observations have opened up the discussion on youth media habits.
When I first started at DECODE I was surprised that so many of the assumptions I held were not represented when looking at a broader view of the population. After reading your report I was interested to explore how inline our data was with your observations. I am also a few years older so wanted to see what we could discover if we added my experience to your insights to build up a more developed picture.
The idea that young people, particularly teens, don’t read newspapers is one that has been inscribed in folklore. That 39% of 15-18 year olds report reading a paid for newspaper at least once a week is something of a shock.
Your observation that most teens are heavily active on social networking is also one that is also shared by many. I was surprised when the data revealed that almost 40% of teens use social networking sites less than once a week.
I was interested to discover that radio is more popular than we both assumed, as 54% of teens report listening to the radio at least once a week. I was also surprised to find that brands such as the BBC had a higher approval rating than other channels specifically targeted at teens, with 53% of teens having particularly positive feelings about the BBC.
You were definitely right that music is popular amongst young people. Our data shows that 78% of teenagers say that music is a particular interest to them. The data regarding music downloading seems to refute common assumptions that paying for music is a thing of the past. We are apparently a more honest bunch than is often made out. Our data shows that a majority of teenagers report paying for music most of the time.
The data supports your observation that young people visit the cinema quite often, as 67% of teens go to the cinema at least once a month.
I hope these insights can add to your understanding of the media and internet habits of young people in the UK. I wanted to show how the data can help develop a greater understanding of teenage behavior. Most importantly, I was inspired to support the precedent you have set that when it comes to understanding young people, who better to ask than the intern.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Doherty.
(These insights are drawn from a report produced by DECODE as a response to Matthew’s observations into teenage media and internet consumption in the UK)
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
We are often asked to determine whether the technological environment people are growing up in is helping or hurting. Tyler Cowen has written a new book about this very topic and remains on the optimist side, and his new book Create Your Own Economy continues the trend. Ben Casnocha writes a very interesting review of the book here, making the point that optimism or pessimism (as is the kind voiced by Andrew Keen in The Cult of the Amateur). Casnocha’s point is that whether this is good or bad is irrelevant — it simply is. Our brains are remarkably plastic, adaptable things, and our cognitive functions have survived many, many years of changes in how we learn, discern and discuss.
Key quote from Casnocha:
We ought to consider the possibility that attention may not be only reflective or reactive, that thinking may not only be deep or shallow, or focus only deployed either on task or off. There might be a synthesis that amounts to what Anderson calls “mindful distraction.” Gen Y, the so-called ADD generation raised on the Internet, might be the ambassadors for mindful distraction. There are still young people accomplishing big things, their IQs are still as high as ever, and innovation continues apace… even as they are tethered to their iPhones. Somehow, they’ve made it work.
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.”
