Boomers Versus Gen Y, Part II
Last week we talked about how baby boomers can better communicate with younger colleagues. This week, I have invited a guest blogger to help me with this blog. He is a young laboratory professional with one year of experience. He has had two permanent full time jobs since graduation. My Questions for my guest: What changes in the working conditions might have prevented you from leaving your first job? What do you think of the retention suggestions discussed last week?
As a recent college graduate, I understand as well as anyone the problem with employee retention, especially in young medical technologists. Many took jobs right out of college. Not only was it my first job, but also the first job I was offered at the hospital where I’d worked for a year as a lab assistant. I went in with the mentality that I would use this position as a stepping stone; this is one of the roots of the problem with employee retention. After a year, I left the position and moved on to another hospital.
While I had the intention to use this job as a stepping stone, there would have been ways to motivate me to stay. However, if a job does not provide you with any motivators to remain in the position, and instead presents an employee with more reasons to leave, it becomes difficult to keep young graduates in the same position for more than a few years.
As I look back and think about the things that would have motivated me to stay, I realize that these are actually quite simple. In addition, these motivators should be common sense for management. The two areas that jump out at me are:
1. The opportunity to do, learn and experience new things.
2. Being appreciated despite being young and inexperienced.
Young employees are energetic and enthusiastic workers. We are accustomed to learning and experiencing new things everyday.As our months of employment progress and we get into a routine, we can very easily also get into a rut. Once in the rut, we run the risk of becoming bored with the same routine. If I had been presented with the opportunity to help in new projects, assist with the correlations on a new instrument, or attend some of the relevant seminars in the hospital, it would have gone a long way to increase my happiness, and maybe at the same time ease some of the burden in the department.
The second and much more important consideration for me is for employers not to take young workers for granted. This unfortunate circumstance seems to be a rather common trend among my fellow graduates. We are young and entered the field immediately following graduation. We have lots of energy and practice in a profession that suffers from a severe personnel shortage. Therefore, the administrative tendency is to run the risk of overworking the young workforce with extra shifts, work and menial tasks that other people are not expected to do. Without the proper motivation and notice of the extra work, we just feel like we are being used. Probably few considerations can increase turnover and decrease retention like the feeling that you are being used.
Employee retention of young medical technologists can be extremely difficult and I know is an area of direct concern. However, as a young medical technologist with personal experience in this area, my suggestions for increasing retention of young professional staff members closely parallel those coming from the "boomer" crystal ball.
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Present these new graduates with opportunities to learn and experience new things.
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Do not take them or their youth for granted.
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Provide appropriate recognition and kudos for good work.
These are a few items that will go a long way for keeping these young employees happy and possibly keeping them around for a long time