Managing Gen-Ys is killing me. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

The skills shortage is killing me. We have a young business that hires a lot of Gen-Ys and managing them is exhausting! As soon as we train them up, they leave. Most of them are unreliable, emotionally demanding and really assertive.

I just had one the other day telling me they are not going to do a job that I myself don’t do. And we have to pay them a small fortune (comparatively). I have been through three general managers in the last year.

But I am a bit nervous hiring older people as they might be stuck in their ways.

Grant T,
North Ryde

Grant, every time I open my mouth to comment on that wrecked Generation-Y, some of our readers bite my head off.

But here goes.

The answer is simple. Don’t hire them. Why not take a fresh look at the baby boomers? My guess is you would have to hire fewer of them, they would stay longer and be a lot more accommodating. Yes they are more expensive. But not that much.

Many are changing the way they want to work. They might be prepared to take a smaller salary in exchange for, say, more flexible hours, which a smaller company like yours could offer.

And what about those poor Gen-Xers, sandwiched between the two demanding generations? They tend to have all the traits you want: obedient, risk adverse, staying in one place…

Your other options are to re-cast your workforce. Can technology take over some of the roles of the Gen-Ys? Can you restructure the business to do without some of them?

Can you bring in a consultant to help train a GM that can handle them better?

Grant, take heart because you are not alone, but do share with us your solutions!

Cheers, Your Aunty B