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HR Managers: What is The Most Difficult to Explain to Your CEO's and Board Members When Trying to Modernize Your Company to Be Attractive for Generation Y?

• Dear HR experts, I am interested in your opinion regarding the discrepancy between thinking of HR experts and business owners or board members. Is there something that CEO's usually don't understand or they have  diametrically different view when discussing some important changes you  would like to implement to make your company modern and attractive for  generation Y? Your answers will help us a lot with our upcoming webinar. Possibly, we  will be able to broaden horizons of some business leaders. Thank you in advance.

• Answer:

  I have spoken with a lot of senior managers about their Generation Y employees and there definitely is a misunderstanding about this generation of employees. Managers often under-estimate the technical soft skills that these young people have, and as a result they don't harness them to their full potential. Young people are sitting on a huge amount of technical knowledge, but to utilise these skills these employees need to be given autonomy and responsibility. Managers are often unwilling to give young employees responsibility without first seeing results, so it becomes a stand-off situation and the young employees aren't given an opportunity to shine. Gen Y employees want to see transparency and fairness in the leadership of an organisation. Often senior management underestimate how important this one factor is to young people, and they don't speak the young people's language. This breakdown in communication can lead to high staff turnover amongst the younger cohort. Managers often misunderstand Gen Y's desire for flexible working environments. They confuse flexible working for laziness. In fact they should embrace the notion of flexible working hours and conditions, because it often leads to an increase in productivity rather than a decline.