PR Advice for Professionals

Meeting the Needs of GenY

by Patty

As Nadira A. Hira’s cover story for Fortune made clear, GenY is set to take over, and many of them are headed straight for PR. With a force of 70-plus million, GenY will force companies to adapt to them, rather than the other way around. Since most of my office is made up of GenY, I know them well. They are intelligent, well-educated, full of self-confidence, opinionated and plugged-in to what is going on in the world — all attributes that will serve them well in PR.

Of course, they can also be viewed as arrogant, demanding and expecting too much too soon with a sense of entitlement.

Bruce Tulgan, founder of generational research firm RainmakerThinking, agrees. He says, “This is the most high-maintenance workforce in the history of the world. … The good news is that they’re also going to be the most high-performing workforce in the history of the world.”

The Fortune article addresses the idea that if a GenY employee doesn’t like their job, they will more often than not simply quit. In order to harness the energy of GenY, companies are going to have to learn how to accommodate them. From my experience with GenY, here is what they want from their employer:

A Challenging Environment

GenY wants a job that provides a serious challenge, as well as more responsibility. If you demand a lot from them, they will rise to the occasion. However, along with the added responsibility, they require feedback — lots of feedback. GenY wants to know that they aren’t just doing the job right, but faster than expected. Let them know that you have noticed their work and what you think of it. They want to know how they are doing — good or bad.

State-of-the-Art Technology

This generation has grown up with computers, and they expect any company they work for to provide them with the latest technology. They do not want to do their work on 10-year-old computers that are slow as heck. Look to these employees to help drive your company forward and to introduce new technologies that you may have not considered. Trust me, they know a lot more about technology than you do, so listen to their opinions.

Demand For Flexibility

This is a generation that does not understand why the work they do at home after office hours is less valuable than the work they do doing the day at their desks. With the technology at their fingertips to work remotely, they feel as if they should be trusted to do more work outside of the office. Measure their productivity and performance, rather than their actual in-office hours. Let them have a say in which holidays they work. The happier GenY is, the more productive GenY will be.

GenY is a force to be reckoned with, and PR firms will have to adapt if they want to attract and retain GenY as employees. And trust me, with their brains and drive, these are kids you will want to have working for your PR firm.

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