Sylvia Hewlett: I think jazz is the right metaphor. It's freedom within form. Our new demographic research coming out in July really shows that what Gen Y wants, and is actually what boomers want too, is actually to stay with an employer/company that they had admire. But to mix and match, to ebb and flow, to have much more of freedom within form, and to have a long view.
One of the biggest yearnings of these two juggernaut generations, and just remember Gen Y 80 million of them in the US, and only 37 million Xs, so this is a huge generation on our doorsteps beginning to climb up the professional ranks. What they want within the context of loyal attachment to an employer and intense periods of work is odyssey. The ability to search and quest for meaning, to maybe work for six weeks in Africa, and then absolutely get down to work back on the ranch again.
I think that we are seeing a sea change in attitudes towards work and a much more fluid and creative take on what a 360 degree, full round work experience should look like.
Obviously companies like Google or Genzyme, some of the smaller innovative talent machines out there, are precisely allowing this.
But there is a tension between loyalty and quest, but it can be totally handled by allowing this jazz-like arrangement and I think that's where we're heading.
Discuss
TJ McCue on June 5, 2009, 2:19 AM
Very cool — freedom within form. I’ve not heard of Sylvia’s company before, but I like the sound of it — Work Life Policy. I think she’s on to something much like one of the growing companies I work with around setting the worker free. There’s a grassroots effort underway with how people, consumers, workers are seeking control of their information, their buying life, their work life. We want to be able to make a restaurant reservation at 8am when the lunch restaurant is closed, so we go to OpenTable.com. We want to be able to schedule our own shifts at work or our volunteer time when it fits our personal life, so we turn to Shiftboard’s Online Scheduling system. Over and over, web and mobile technologies are changing the way we think and buy and work. The experts here are exploring that with us, for us, and inspiring new companies to take root. Kudos to Big Think.
Tobias Preston on June 5, 2009, 10:55 AM
The case for multiculturalism has never been explained this coherently. It’s incredible that there is even still a debate about the benefits of a diverse workforce and argument over whether it makes sense to let women re-enter professions—at the same level—after they leave to have children. Hopefully Dr. Hewlett’s videos will put an end to any further confusion. Diversity and equality make companies work better!
Quentin Cassidy on June 5, 2009, 1:37 PM
Quentin Cassidy on June 5, 2009, 1:59 PM
This is romantic and vague, but not realistic. What kind of for-profit company is sending employees to Africa for 6 weeks before getting down to work “on the ranch?” Are they hiring? Ms. Hewitt doesn’t really account for the entrepreneurial spirit of Gen Y’ers, which is insatiable. The “tenstion between loyalty and quest” that she discusses is not something I believe can ever fully be resolved by a large employer. The individual needs to take the opportunity to have ownership of an enterprise. And we should be encouraging that.I do agree that Gen Y’ers have different sets of expectations for work should be upon graduation – see the excellant report from 60 minutes on this – but they aren’t necessarily good things for all parties involved.
Spencer Zipinski on September 1, 2009, 9:49 PM
Very sound input.
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