Note that this article has been updated to also include some of the private discussions with thought leaders in the past. You can read my final overview of my research into the Millennial generation along with what I predicted and what happened as they matured at this link. While I still speak about Echo Boomers and iGenZ privately, I seldom add new articles to this specific blogspot site. If you're reaching out about a speaking engagement, you can contact me at the research firm SqlinSix.
An article [Update: dead link removed] highlights that among Echo Boomers pay does not always mean a better job. For instance:
In other words, if you believe that focus is superior to multi-tasking, Generation Y will challenge your views: they enjoy multi-tasking.[M]ore than two of five would accept a lower-paying job that had more flexibility with regard to device choice, social media access, and mobility than a higher-paying job with less flexibility
Pertinent Side Note:The very nature of a cell phone and social media, like Facebook, allow for multi-tasking to occur. In fact, a study counting the number of hours that workers spend on their cell phone, social networks, or doing other non-work related things would be quite fascinating (one radio talking head mentioned that it was 60% of workers' time, but failed to mention the study).
The corporate world, in general, has failed in this area. They still operate on the fallacy of the 40-hour work week, instead of the getting things done efficiently and quickly assumption. A company could easily arrange a policy where once you're done with work, you're done. Not only would work be accomplished quicker, but employees wouldn't feel trapped in a certain time frame - why be productive if you're stuck at the office for a minimum of 8 hours anyway?
On top of that, jobs which require creativity, need more time away from the office anyway. An employees' best ideas don't come when they're at work, but when they're away from work (ie: the shower, an afternoon walk, Archimedes' famous bath, et cetera).
In other words, set your goals, distribute the work, and when employees finish their job, let them go (even if that takes them 2 hours). Not only would employees save time and be motivated, companies could avoid the numerous costs that come when employees try to "fill their day" with something to do (all at company costs, of course).
Basic Human Incentives - School
All humans will consume the maximum amount of time allowed for a task, if completing the task early equals freedom to come up with their own work. I've seen this countless times in research. The exceptions we observe in corporate America occur because the person has other work they need done.
Growing up, I saw this with Echo Boomers and school as well. Unlike many Echo Boomers, my parents home-schooled me for a period of time, I attended private school and I attended public school. In comparing all three, only home-schooling allowed rewards for getting work done early.
For instance, in mathematics:
When I was home-schooled, I had to complete 2 mathematics lesson per day. Once I finished mathematics, I could complete all my other work and once done, I had the rest of the day to spend with friends who often had finished their work. Most of the time, I finished all my school by 10 or 11AM. Yes, I had over 5 hours a day while most kids were in school to spend time with friends.
In private school, if I finished mathematics early, they required that we move onto the next lesson. What was the reward for finishing the mathematics book early? We would start studying the next year's mathematics. While we always finished our mathematics' textbooks in private school, we had no incentive to finish our work early.
In public school, if I finished my mathematics work early, I had to tutor other students. I absolutely hated this. Usually, I would finish my work early and start journaling.
Other generations may have had different experiences, but these patterns show what Echo Boomers experienced. What was the incentive for finishing work early? None, unless you were home-schooled. Obviously, we all valued playing with friends, but school environments prevented this and punished those of us who finished our work early.
Corporate America Is Exactly the Same
If you finish your work early in corporate America, you often get assigned more work. You seldom get a promotion or raise for doing this. (This explains why Echo Boomers are much more interested in entrepreneurship; this does not happen when you help your clients succeed.)
If you want focused employees who do their work well and fast, reward it.
