GenXers…Come on down!

Are you a conscientious employer? Do you consider all that can be done for an employee? Are you generally fair and equitable? Do you proactively help members of your organization achieve their goals?

Well, take a step back (share a glass of wine) and take a closer look at another kind of millennium bug - GenXers - the new graduating classes of Year 2000 and beyond. We have been educating them too well, and they're worth every penny!

A recent survey conducted by Louis Harris & Associates for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company polled 2,000 first-year students at colleges across the United States. The GenXers are well-balanced with a good mixture of heart and soul, according to Deanna Tillisch. "They are alive with idealism, optimism and a vision of a better world."

So what does that mean to you - the manager, the owner, the shareholder?

The top six values for employment were:

1. having idealistic and committed co-workers
2. doing work that helps others
3. doing work that requires creativity
4. having lots of responsibility
5. high salary
6. prestige

Whoa! How do we deal with this? What new policies are you going to need to create?

1. Companies will need to stress teamwork and shared responsibility.
2. Companies must emphasize opportunities to reach out to the broader community.
3. Companies must have an extensive and diversified training and skills development program.

There is some hope....

1. Most of them believe that they will need to work more than 40 hours per week
2. They want to take three or more weeks of vacation per year
3. Practically nobody wants to work a 9-to-5 schedule

There is some recognition that the need for time will bump up against the need for money. HR recruiters can point to their company's flextime arrangements, day-care assistance, and generous vacation benefits packages.

Generation 2000 reveals a group of young people who will work hard if they believe in what they are doing. Recruiting them will require a promise of opportunity, camaraderie, and caring.

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