ExerciseMotivation:The Life and Times of Andy

Andy has had what might be described as a ‘privileged’ upbringing. His mother is a lawyer and his step-father is a businessman. Andy went to the best schools but he did not attempt to achieve at any of them. Achieving was for ‘nerds and geeks.’ He is however intelligent, articulate but lazy

At high school he got interested – temporarily - in soccer and did well. However, he smoked too much and discovered ‘substances.’ No party was complete without Andy.

At school academic work did not interest him and he failed more subjects than he passed. In the 7th form things got worse and he became a nuisance which forced him to join the workforce. A six months stint at Big Mac did nothing for his work ethic.

Andy’s father found him a job at a Warehouse which, for a short period he seemed to enjoy. He got up each morning unaided, went to work where he actually appeared to apply himself and seemed to be doing well. However, after 8 months he became dissatisfied with everything; the work, the hours, his workmates and the boss. One day he walked off and did not return.

His father got him another job at a new supermarket. Three weeks later he failed to turn up for work, was hunted down, given a second chance which of course…. he blew! After 6 weeks he walked away complaining that only a fool would work for $13.50 an hour.

His persistent father found him another job as a landscape gardener but the first morning he failed to turn up.

To fill in time, he decided to enroll at university but after two years and $20Kin study loans he had amassed a total of six papers.

He took up body building. He bought supplements using his student loan, insisted on eating only the best steak, read the back of every food container to make sure it did not contain ‘impurities’ and kept up a strict regime. He became a very big boy!

Andy is what researchers call a ‘generation Y-er.’ He is outwardly confident, easy-going, bordering on arrogant, flexible, and secure. He is not at all like his

‘gen X’ parents who worked hard to become secure. The ‘Y-ers’ have a different view of work which for them is a means to an end, to be tapped into and dropped when they feel like it. They want jobs that are interesting, pay well and allow them to take three months off to go snow-boarding.

The text books talk endlessly about motivation but seem to have failed to come to grips with this new phenomenon!

Some questions to ponder with the person next to you:

Have you met people like Andy? Are there many of them? At uni?Are you one!!!What do the models of behaviour tell us about employees like Andy? They should help understand him and help managers. Do they?If you were a manager in a local company, how would you go about trying to motivate Andy?Can you motivate the Andy’s of this world?

ExerciseMotivation:The Golden Generation

Aoteraoa New Zealand is experiencing major population changes. The first concerns the end of the ‘baby boom’ generation, those men and women who were born after World War 11. They are now reaching retirement age and adding to a rapidly ageing population. At the other end of the continuum, the birth rate is declining which means that there will be fewer young people available to enter the workforce. There are approximately 600,000 New Zealanders aged 15-24 who have been dubbed the ‘golden generation’ and their expectations of the world of work are very different from their ‘baby boomer’ parents.

For the ‘golden generation’, ‘yesterdays’ expectations of work and career are being challenged. Take Alban Ford for example. Alban is a 23-year-old working for Active Communications which is a six-person Telecom dealership with more than $9m in sales in 2003. Alban asserts confidently; "I've got business cards saying I'm a General Manager. I plan on being filthy rich. If you asked me a year ago where I'd be in five years, I'd probably have said to be in a position to buy a house. I can do it now if I wanted."

With a severe skills shortage, organisations will need to radically change their approach to managing the ‘golden generation.’ They will need to provide greater flexibility in working arrangements, provide rewards that meet their individualistic needs and more than anything, realise that the days of ‘take or leave it’ are over. Organisations in the near future will be competing for scarce, valuable human assets. The ‘golden generation’ will still be committed – but to themselves, not the corporation.

Questions

1. With a severe skills shortage, what will New Zealand organizations need to do to encourage more of the ‘baby boomers’ to put off retiring and continuing to work?

2. What practical steps will organizations have to take if they are to retain the services of the ‘golden generation’?

3. What will organizations need to do to ensure that the ‘baby boomers’ and ‘golden generation’ work harmoniously together and avoid inter-generational conflict?