Because the subtitle of my soon-to-be-released book and the tagline of my Reviving Work Ethic brand both include ‘the emerging workforce,’ I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about what that term means or implies.
Allow me to explain.
In 2002, my first leadership book, Employing Generation Why – Understanding, Managing, and Motivating Your New Workforce, was released and I began giving speeches around the topic and title. It profiled post-Gen Xer’s who were born between 1980-1994. Demographers had dubbed this cohort Millennials, Nexters, Boomlets and, of course, Generation Y. It was easy to talk about ‘them’ back then because ‘they’ weren’t in the room. (In ’02, the oldest were just graduating from college.)
Now Generation Y (as defined by birth year markers) has grown up and many are in their late twenties and early thirties. And as a keynote speaker on Gen Y, I can tell you that it’s a lot tougher to stereotype people when those you are talking about comprise 30% of the audience you are speaking to. And that percentage is increasing each day.
My entire body of work has always been centered around helping young people become successful at this thing called work, and helping leaders figure out young people in the workplace.
The term ‘young’ is where we get hung up. At what specific age does someone go from young to old? After all, you’ve got to be one or the other…
Maybe not. Young and old are words that are open to interpretation, and the way I see it, so is the term ’emerging workforce.’
Take a 30,000 foot view of your organization and imagine that you had to divide all of your people into two groups: Group A is reserved for people who are set in their ways, have firmly implanted workplace habits and behaviors, and who are likely to be doing the same general kind of work for the next ten years. Group B are those who are more easily influenced, are more capable of changing workplace habits and behaviors, and may be actively searching for a job change or entire career change.
Group B is what I consider ‘the emerging workforce.’ Those are the people I can help you lead, inspire, motivate, and grow. There are no age, gender, socio-economic, or ethnic restrictions.
So now that we know who is in your emerging workforce, let’s get busy improving their value.
Related articles
- Is Stereotyping Gen Y a Bad Idea? (bnet.com)
