Business Leaders, Young People Aren't Who You Think!
21 October 2014
Read by 4280 persons
Sacrificed, traumatized, disillusioned youth? It may be time to change the narrative and consider that young people have more to offer than their distress and the sacrifice of their ambitions, along with the pity of their elders. After more than six years of crisis, they have developed their antibodies and say they are ready to invest themselves ardently in their professional lives, provided they are listened to, involved, and considered by those who supervise them. In short, they only need a helping hand to participate in the adventure.
These are the findings of a survey we conducted with Ipsos (*) among a thousand young people aged 18 to 35, of whom 75% are in the workforce. Three out of four young people consider that work is a source of personal fulfillment. The value of "work" is highly valued. The main factor of professional success cited by young people is simply "being a hard worker" (59%), far ahead of "having a network" (43%) or "being born into a privileged background" (15%). No more young people counting their 35 hours, no more cynicism, no more depression!
Their main fear? Being overlooked. More than one young person in two feels a lack of recognition in their work. But expectations have evolved. First, a salary increase, of course, but equally important are "more frequent signs of consideration." Even more surprising, young people massively declare that "their lives would change" if the people who supervise them more often told them that they should believe in their abilities (85%), explained the company's directions (76%), and yes, also...showed them that they care about them (78%). Feeling recognized would give almost all young people the desire to give their "all" in their work, leading them to not count their time too much, or even to work weekends if necessary. That's what the crisis has changed.
The testimonies of the young people we met are enlightening... There's Laurie who remembers that "for Women's Day, my company gave me, as it did to all the women, a portrait of myself with a pink object! They're in the wrong century, aren't they?" There's also Louise who says: "One day, I landed a great contract, I put together the whole file, I worked like crazy, I knew it inside and out; when I asked to go to the meeting in Paris, they told me: if you want to go, you have to take a day off!" And finally, there's Martin who says "the annual reviews, in my company, are a total joke."
For business leaders, these results on young people's desire for self-fulfillment in their work are a powerful call to change their management practices. Signing a permanent contract shouldn't be the culmination, but the beginning of a collective adventure in which one feels valued. Just as we have implemented sustainable development policies, we need to implement innovative policies to recognize new employees. Not as a requirement imposed by human resources management, but as a pact to overcome the crisis.
Betting on a positive atmosphere and better recognizing the contribution of each person, that's a great ambition to ensure that the company's workforce loves work, but also their work.
(*) Survey conducted from July 9 to 16, 2014, among 1,002 young people from a sample representative of the French population aged 18 to 35. Sample surveyed online. Quota method: gender, age, profession of the respondent, region and type of agglomeration. All details are available on www.doinggooddoingwell.fr
Hélène Roques.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Published October 13, 2014.
Posted online October 21, 2014.
These are the findings of a survey we conducted with Ipsos (*) among a thousand young people aged 18 to 35, of whom 75% are in the workforce. Three out of four young people consider that work is a source of personal fulfillment. The value of "work" is highly valued. The main factor of professional success cited by young people is simply "being a hard worker" (59%), far ahead of "having a network" (43%) or "being born into a privileged background" (15%). No more young people counting their 35 hours, no more cynicism, no more depression!
Their main fear? Being overlooked. More than one young person in two feels a lack of recognition in their work. But expectations have evolved. First, a salary increase, of course, but equally important are "more frequent signs of consideration." Even more surprising, young people massively declare that "their lives would change" if the people who supervise them more often told them that they should believe in their abilities (85%), explained the company's directions (76%), and yes, also...showed them that they care about them (78%). Feeling recognized would give almost all young people the desire to give their "all" in their work, leading them to not count their time too much, or even to work weekends if necessary. That's what the crisis has changed.
The testimonies of the young people we met are enlightening... There's Laurie who remembers that "for Women's Day, my company gave me, as it did to all the women, a portrait of myself with a pink object! They're in the wrong century, aren't they?" There's also Louise who says: "One day, I landed a great contract, I put together the whole file, I worked like crazy, I knew it inside and out; when I asked to go to the meeting in Paris, they told me: if you want to go, you have to take a day off!" And finally, there's Martin who says "the annual reviews, in my company, are a total joke."
For business leaders, these results on young people's desire for self-fulfillment in their work are a powerful call to change their management practices. Signing a permanent contract shouldn't be the culmination, but the beginning of a collective adventure in which one feels valued. Just as we have implemented sustainable development policies, we need to implement innovative policies to recognize new employees. Not as a requirement imposed by human resources management, but as a pact to overcome the crisis.
Betting on a positive atmosphere and better recognizing the contribution of each person, that's a great ambition to ensure that the company's workforce loves work, but also their work.
(*) Survey conducted from July 9 to 16, 2014, among 1,002 young people from a sample representative of the French population aged 18 to 35. Sample surveyed online. Quota method: gender, age, profession of the respondent, region and type of agglomeration. All details are available on www.doinggooddoingwell.fr
Hélène Roques.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Published October 13, 2014.
Posted online October 21, 2014.
