Tammy Erickson Associates Building Intelligent Organizations

Q&A: Generation Y and the Economic Crisis

Hi Tammy,

In the face of the growing economic crisis, what do we early-career workers need to do to make ourselves more indispensable to our organizations? Secondly, what impressions from our “teenage years” can help us to really fathom what’s going on? Or, what generation is in a better place than we are to understand this—who can we turn to with questions? Thanks,

AW

Hi A—

I’m a strong believer in the “a good offense is the best defense” strategy for any generation in the workplace today. That is, do the very best work you can. A few specifics for early-career workers:
* Do your assigned task thoroughly and well, before you volunteer to get involved in other special projects. I know someone recently who was contributing in major ways to a number of very interesting special initiatives for her company, but when the time came for lay-offs, she wasn’t viewed as integral to the core activities of the firm and was among the first to go.
* Help others. Look for ways to lighten the load for a colleague—quietly, perhaps with no attribution. Pitch in and word will get around that you are a solid team player.
* Stay heads up on trends and issues potentially affecting the business. Bring new ideas to the table. (But avoid being a “Debbie Downer”—no one wants to work with someone who only talks about problems—bring solutions and ideas, as well.)

In many ways, Gen Y is, by temperament and habit, very well suited to the rhythm of this economy. Your ability to “go with the flow,” to coordinate in the moment, rather than rely on long-term schedules and carefully constructed plans, are all good philosophical traits to bring to an unpredictable situation. Use them to your advantage. This is a great time to stay flexible, think near-term (“what can I do for the next year that is challenging,” rather than “how do I launch the long-term career of my dreams,” for example).

What you lack is experience navigating through a tough economic patch. Only the Boomers have had a significant dose of that—and most Boomer managers have a bag of tricks that are helpful at a time like this. Some of my favorites: focus on cash (as a metric and as an operational priority) and favor agility over low cost (i.e., rent instead of buy).

Good luck—your generation has a lot to contribute to helping firms through this tough economy.

Best,

Tammy

Filed under: Generation Y | Published: 12/04/08

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