Recent trend show that youngesters are more enthusiastic and need more appreciation at workplace. How do you HR people handle the young generation (I am one of them) Please reply
From India, Bangalore
46From India, Bangalore
On the lighter side - Since you are one of the "young generation" ask yourself how would you like to be handled.
From my experience of dealing with younger employees I can tell you that first and foremost a thorough induction is required to get them out of the "college" mood and bring the in to a "professional" mood. Expectation setting on day 1 is the key to manage younger generation.
The biggest difference is that in college you pay the fees, so professors don't give you a very hard time, but in an job it is the Co. who is paying you so they will definitely make demands on your productivity and quality of work.
Keep the following in mind to adapt to corporate life quickly:
1. Respect the Co. & the rules.
2. If Co. is paying you for your services, be serious about it and focus on your work.
3. Expect appreciation only when A) You did something which your seniors (not you or your colleagues) think is outstanding B) Your actions have benefited the Co. is some way.
4. Don't expect appreciation just because you learnt something faster than others of if your performance is better than others, the real yard stick is the expectation level of your seniors.
Most companies do have a formal reward and recognition system in which they have various wards for new joined employees esp. youngster, some of them are:
1. Rookie of XYZ Co.
2. Rising Star award
3. Pat on back
4. Dynamic new joiner award
5. Prodigy award
The definition, frequency, eligibility etc. are different in different organizations.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Ritesh Shah
From India, Pune
From my experience of dealing with younger employees I can tell you that first and foremost a thorough induction is required to get them out of the "college" mood and bring the in to a "professional" mood. Expectation setting on day 1 is the key to manage younger generation.
The biggest difference is that in college you pay the fees, so professors don't give you a very hard time, but in an job it is the Co. who is paying you so they will definitely make demands on your productivity and quality of work.
Keep the following in mind to adapt to corporate life quickly:
1. Respect the Co. & the rules.
2. If Co. is paying you for your services, be serious about it and focus on your work.
3. Expect appreciation only when A) You did something which your seniors (not you or your colleagues) think is outstanding B) Your actions have benefited the Co. is some way.
4. Don't expect appreciation just because you learnt something faster than others of if your performance is better than others, the real yard stick is the expectation level of your seniors.
Most companies do have a formal reward and recognition system in which they have various wards for new joined employees esp. youngster, some of them are:
1. Rookie of XYZ Co.
2. Rising Star award
3. Pat on back
4. Dynamic new joiner award
5. Prodigy award
The definition, frequency, eligibility etc. are different in different organizations.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Ritesh Shah
From India, Pune
Job Seeker HQ has given useful input on the subject.I just add that the youngsters be put under the wings of a sensible mentor who can inculculate the cultural values of the organisation and shape their attitudes and guide them to grow as professionals. On the part of these young aspirants, their focus shall be on performing at their best and acquiring skills rather than on cornering appreciation since if they take care of performance, rewards and recognition will take care of themselves.
B.Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
B.Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
Dear B. Saikumar,
You have given a good suggestion, it works, but you just need to be careful while selecting the "sensible" mentor. I have noticed that once you assign someone as a mentor (no matter hoe sensible) that person automatically considers that role as extra responsibility and expects higher rating during appraisals.
For such kind of programs to be successful the following need to be in place:
1. Mentoring responsibility should not be assigned to anyone, the person should volunteer for the role of a mentor, of-course you can set some eligibility criteria of tenure, designation, etc.
2. The Mentor himself should undergo a induction to know what his role is and what is expected from him and whether he will or will not get extra credit during appraisal. The induction is imp. for following reasons: A) Standardization; B) No ambiguity about the responsibility; C) No surprises/ dis-satisfaction at appraisal time.
I have run such programs and I can tell you on good authority that you cannot just assign a mentor (no matter how senior Or sensible) and expect that new/younger employees will get proper guidance. You have to set up a formal process in which you give people a chance to volunteer for the role of a Mentor on quarterly rotating basis. Mentors also need guidance about what is expected from him/her hence they should also undergo induction.
We had also set up a process to gather feedback about Mentors effectiveness but it wasn't very successful because people felt that we were pointing fingers at them for what was essentially a voluntary assignment and it deterred others from volunteering.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Ritesh Shah
From India, Pune
You have given a good suggestion, it works, but you just need to be careful while selecting the "sensible" mentor. I have noticed that once you assign someone as a mentor (no matter hoe sensible) that person automatically considers that role as extra responsibility and expects higher rating during appraisals.
For such kind of programs to be successful the following need to be in place:
1. Mentoring responsibility should not be assigned to anyone, the person should volunteer for the role of a mentor, of-course you can set some eligibility criteria of tenure, designation, etc.
2. The Mentor himself should undergo a induction to know what his role is and what is expected from him and whether he will or will not get extra credit during appraisal. The induction is imp. for following reasons: A) Standardization; B) No ambiguity about the responsibility; C) No surprises/ dis-satisfaction at appraisal time.
I have run such programs and I can tell you on good authority that you cannot just assign a mentor (no matter how senior Or sensible) and expect that new/younger employees will get proper guidance. You have to set up a formal process in which you give people a chance to volunteer for the role of a Mentor on quarterly rotating basis. Mentors also need guidance about what is expected from him/her hence they should also undergo induction.
We had also set up a process to gather feedback about Mentors effectiveness but it wasn't very successful because people felt that we were pointing fingers at them for what was essentially a voluntary assignment and it deterred others from volunteering.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Ritesh Shah
From India, Pune
Dear Ritesh
I can't agree more with you that extreme care shall be taken in selecting a mentor.Mere seniority is not a criterion for selection as you said. What is required is that the person selected as mentor shall have aptitude for such job, proper understanding of his role and shall consider such job as a delicate responsibilty but not a delegated authority and be sensitive to feelings and emotions of their wards.Thanks for sharing your experiences on mentoring.
B.Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
I can't agree more with you that extreme care shall be taken in selecting a mentor.Mere seniority is not a criterion for selection as you said. What is required is that the person selected as mentor shall have aptitude for such job, proper understanding of his role and shall consider such job as a delicate responsibilty but not a delegated authority and be sensitive to feelings and emotions of their wards.Thanks for sharing your experiences on mentoring.
B.Saikumar
From India, Mumbai
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