Ran across an interesting blog about Generation Y and the workplace.

As I've mentioned before, I was born in 1980 and thus fall squarely at the end of the Gen-X range and at the very beginning of the Gen-Y era (so I'm a member of both, or neither, depending on the day). Thus, I will use the term "young workers" to refer to members of Gen-Y as well as young Gen-Xers such as myself. Some key points:

1) Technology creates choice. BlackBerrys, laptops, Basecamp, text messages - if all of these things aren't impacting the way human resources departments approach retaining top talent and creating conditions of high productivity for the workforce, what is the technology's value?

These inventions should have an immediate and profound impact on where, when, and how employees work. We know that these things have blurred the lines between "work" and "home" like never before. Why is it, then, that some employers still expect an 8-5, Monday through Friday workweek to still have meaning?

2) Some people will take advantage of the freedom created by this new technology. People using the phone while in the bathroom are one thing. Young workers using their BlackBerry to send out a couple of messages late on Friday night, copied to key management, to give the appearance of having done a full day's work are entirely another.

More than ever before, discerning executives within modern companies will have to understand this technology well enough to weed out "pretend workers," those Generation Y folks whose sense of entitlement overshadows any ability to actually contribute on a consistent, regular basis.

3) All of this Gen-Y talk, and all of this discussion of how "old folks" and "young folks" can work together in the modern workplace, reinforces my belief that human resources remains the most important function within the modern business.

It goes way beyond simply identifying great people. You've got to keep morale high, and keep everyone aligned, which creates the foundation for high productivity.

Even further, you've got to be just as willing to perform "R&D" within human resources as you would be within product development. The aforementioned blog has a great reference to software developer 37Signals' new workplace experiments, which include going to a 4-day workweek (Fridays off) and giving employees a no-limit credit card to use to pursue hobbies or outside passions. After all, if you can't trust your employees, then what are they doing as your employees?

4) I do think one very under-discussed topic is a need to lock Generation Y employees up using explicit, fixed-term employment contracts rather than "at-will employment" agreements.

Remember that this generation grew up in front of the TV and has all the ADD to match. I believe this generation also has "employment ADD" and a tendency to buy into the widespread notion that employees need to move around every few years or so. As a result, employers need to respond, and the best way to respond is by using fixed-term employment agreements which incentivize retention through a certain period of time, with perhaps a mutual option to continue the arrangement after that time is up.

This would be using the best practices of sports contracts, entertainment contracts, and other fixed-term deals like those and bringing them into the traditional workforce. It makes a whole lot of sense, when you understand the underlying psychology at work.

These types of contracts, of course, would only work in tandem with other best practices that keep morale high, productivity high, and turnover low. They obviously wouldn't work by themselves to mask existing HR problems within an organization.

And it goes without saying that true business leaders will avoid the problems other employers will face simply because they're able to stay pro-active toward the HR needs of their employees.


Shifting the discussion from business to sports, tomorrow is one of the biggest days of the year with the unveiling of the 64 teams making the NCAA Tournament (really 65 with the play-in game, but whatever). ESPN has Vandy as a 6-seed, which I think would be criminal if it actually goes down like that. Vandy has a 3-seed-level RPI and I would hope they get seeded no higher than a #4...

Speaking of workplace productivity, get ready for it to drop dramatically beginning on Thursday. Will check back after these 64 teams are reduced to 16 by next Sunday!