What Gen Xers want from work - From the Publisher; Generation Xers' attitude towards work; includes related article listing the Society for Human Resource Management's - board of directors - Column - Brief Article

HR Magazine, Oct 15, 1999 by John T. Adams, III

Look around your office. There's a Generation Xer out there who, in 20 or 30 years, might be running your department. Or your company.

But probably not. He or she won't be around that long. In 20 or 30 years, the Xers in your company will be in other companies, or self-employed. Your company will have new Xers in charge, who are proud of their varied careers and their long resumes.

Generation Xers see work more as a lifestyle decision than a means to support themselves. After watching their workaholic parents get laid off in corporate mergers and downsizings, many of them don't trust employers. After being raised as latchkey children in families with no stay-at-home parent, they have learned early to rely on themselves.

While studies have shown that Xers are loyal to the companies they work for, they define "loyalty" differently than their older colleagues. For Xers, it's the contribution that counts, not the tenure. Other studies have shown them to be more willing than their boomer coworkers to take charge of their own career development and less tolerant of hypocrisy in the workplace.

As a result, they're more willing to move on to a new job that promises more "fulfillment," whatever that means to them.

Browse around the web and you'll find plenty of Gen X sites. Some are for employers who haven't figured out how to hire, motivate or keep them on the job. Some are for the Xers themselves.

One of the latter is www.dayjob.com. In the area for "venting," the site gives a glimpse of the Xer angst about work:

"People either glide through a delusion of happiness at work or actually are happy (rare). But it doesn't matter, delusion or not. As long as you're believing it," writes Stephanie, a 25-year-old cancer research assistant in Boston.

Meggan, 29, a research assistant in Chicago, says she longs for her cigarette breaks. "I haven't worked here for more than a month," she writes, "but I've been around long enough to realize that the only place where people are truly happy at work is outside the back door ... puffing away at their smokes. 'This has got to be the best part of my day!'

"They're putting up billboards all over town now, telling people to quit. Well, here's what I have to say to them: Everyone needs to find their breaks somehow ... Smoking, well, smoking is one way out, accepted. ...

"I'll tell you what, though, I think I'm more addicted to the cigarette breaks than to the cigarettes themselves. ... "

So how do you deal with these kinds of attitudes? How do you get the most out of the considerable talents Xers can bring to your organization? How do you keep them motivated and interested in their jobs?

The best advice I've seen: Talk to them. And listen to what they say.

What's your company doing? Send me a note at jadams@shrm.org.

1999 SHRM Board of Directors

Chair

Gary Howard, SPHR

Motorola

Vice Chair

Michael J. Lotito, SPHR

Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman

Secretary/Treasurer

Sandra Gaffin, SPHR, CCP

Arthur Andersen, LLP

Immediate Past Chair

Kathleen McComber, SPHR

StaffMark

Vice President, Area 1

Nina Woodard, SPHR

Standard Chartered Bank

Vice President, Area II

Michele Fantt Harris, SPHR

Association of American Medical Colleges

Vice President, Area III

David B. Hutchins, SPHR, CEBS, CCP

Richfield Bank & Trust Co.

Vice President, Area IV

Larry Burk, SPHR, CCP

Boy Scouts of America

Vice President, Area V

Isaac Dixon, PHR

GE/Colonial Pacific Leasing

Vice President, Area VI

R. Gregory Green, SPHR

Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Vice President for Committees

Ommy Strauch, SPHR

Ommy Strauch & Associates

Vice President, PEGs

Sue Tempero, SPHR

Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc.

Vice Presidents-At-Large

Libby Sartain, SPHR, CCP

Southwest Airlines Co.

Margaret Evans, SPHR, MPA

Government Employees Hospital Association

Anne Pasley-Stuart, SPHR

Pasley-Stuart HR Consultants

Gerald T. Crispin, SPHR

Shaker Advertising

Richard C. Bell-Irving

Re-certify.com Inc.

David F. Russo, SPHR

SAS Institute Inc.

President and CEO

Michael R. Losey, SPHR, CAE

Society for Human Resource Management

Executive Vice President and COO

Susan Meisinger, SPHR

Society for Human Resource Management