Generation Y

Over the past year on our blog we have been discussing generational differences and how these manifest themselves in workplace learning and motivation. How can we know which training providers are best placed to support our organisation, our people, our unique situation? And what are the parameters that matter, what should we be measuring. Here's an example.

The Energy Industry currently spends $6bn on training every year. Yet the difficulty is ensuring the quality of delivery and the capability, expertise and diversity of their vendors, to make sure all generations are supported. With the proliferation of training delivery modes, generational issues and the drive towards mLearning, in a crowded and diffuse market, how can we ensure that the training delivery is appropriate? How can we compare and differentiate?

We've been wrestling with the issue of how to create a comprehensive vendor standards framework. One that's simple, easy to understand and that assesses vendors against a strict and objective set of criteria to ensure that each organisation gets the maximum benefit from each training intervention.

The Prelude CALIBER RATING will allow each training provider to be quickly and objectively measured and compared in terms of capability, specialisations, generational-specific proficiency and value for money to allow the client to make the most informed decision when choosing a training provider, both pre and post procurement.

We'll publish the parameters shortly but we'd love to hear about others ways people have addressed this problem and also on any issues of generational learning.

Bill McAneny was interviewed by Jon Hansen yesterday about the impact of generational learning on business. You can listen to the full 1 hour interview by using the player below or by visiting the show home page.

Generation Y - the wired generation

Generation Y are those born after 1980. They are wired generation, the digital generation, often known as the ‘learning 2.0’ generation. By 2014 they will make up almost half the workforce; already in the US there are 88 million Gen Ys to <50 million Gen Xs. This group are in the ascendancy, (in India for example they make up more than one half of the over one billion population). A recent article in the Economist encapsulated the new breed really well: “It is becoming commonplace for a cafe to be full of people...more engaged with their in-box than with the people touching their elbows. These places are physically inhabited but psychologically evacuated.”

This has a major implication for how we recruit, manage, and motivate this group, how we understand them and their aspirations; and it means a complete change in how we construct and support their learning.

What characterizes Gen Y and learning?

• An instant 24/7 culture, with no tolerance for delays, a need for immediacy
• A ‘trial and error’ approach to problem solving, this is the ‘Nintendo’ generation
• Comfortable with technology coupled with a low boredom threshold, ‘snack’ learning, a bit of TV, a bit of internet all at the same time
• Multi-tasking and parallel processing, preferring visual stimuli, non-linear, virtual learning, all at odds with traditional delivery methodology
• Collaborative learning where they value interaction, being connected, discussing, listening to others
• A constructivist approach, ie they have a strong need to construct their own meanings, not passively accepting or absorbing (or being ‘told,’) with learning undertaken socially and then personalized
• Socially constructive where they both ‘consume’ learning but also want to contribute and ‘give back,’ (c. f. Wikis)

A truly remarkable film that captures the essence of Generation Y and how we need to change our mode of thinking to make learning relevant to them.