Execs Should Balance New "Gen Y" Perspectives On Work Life with Getting the Job Done

We found an interesting piece in a recent issue of The Harvard Business Review by Tamara Erickson, a professor at UCLA and expert on organizational thinking, about how so-called Gen Y workers (those born after 1980) think about their jobs.

She says this generation “clearly prefer jobs defined by task, not time,” – and this change will impact how executives for every function will need to think about human resource management. She says these young workers have little interest in hanging around the office just to put in “face time” for the boss. They want flexible schedules.

It’s already happening. More than 40% of IBM’s tens of thousands of employees have no official office. Erickson says retail giant Best Buy has largely adopted the approach – some 60% of its headquarters’ employees are now evaluated based only on the tasks for which they are responsible, and decide themselves how much office time they have to put in to accomplish the goals.

Erickson adds these suggestions for dealing with this new paradigm:

• Articulate clearly the results you expect – and tie accountability to getting the job done.
• Make physical attendance at the office, including meetings, largely optional.
• Gauge performance on the quality of work performed.
• Help managers and employees learn to measure dedication in ways other than face time.
• Use today’s technologies to allow staff to work from anywhere.
• Support the approach by using flexible offices configurations (shared office spaces, open work areas,
etc.)