Talking about Generations

By Mauro Segura

It was a big business, with thousands of employees.  As the grew they hired many young people, especially belonging to Generation Y.  One of the existing programs, was a welcome meeting, which occurred at least once a month.  New hires were called to the auditorium to watch presentations about the business, its organization, and history.

There were many presenters, and the majority of the time, the CEO gave a talk about the business’ history, speaking of the foundation of the business, its past, and how it had grown in the last decades, though always maintaining very solid and strong values.  The CEO was used to wrapping up his presentation by showing off a book about the history of the business, usually full of photographs and historical facts. From there, he would ask the audience a question, and whoever answered, would win this book, which was the pride and joy of the CEO and his executive team.

One day, at one of these presentations, a young 23 year old who had been working only a few weeks, answered the question and received the book.  Surprisingly, the young man, microphone still in hand, said, “Sir, I  want to thank you very much for this book which talks about the glorious past of the business, but would you also have a book which talks about the business’ future?”

This event became famous because it sort of crushed the perception that everyone had, that the CEO’s presence at these presentations really had an impact on new hires.  After this experience, the business decided to conduct a survey which found that the majority of new hires found it extremely uninteresting and boring to hear facts about the past of the business.  These things seemed distant and disconnected from the new hires’ everyday.

The survey asked what they wanted, and the employees responded that they wanted to know the business’ plans to win over the market, they wanted to know about opportunities for growth and development, and how the CEO imagined the business would evolve in the next decade.  Actually, they all wanted the “book of the future.”

So the business revamped everything. The welcome meeting was conducted by younger employees who shared their experiences and positive perspectives on their vision and future of the business.   Enthusiastic and inspirational messages were the focus of the meeting.  At the end, the CEO said a few words about the history and how he saw the business in the future.  Now, the meetings ended with great enthusiasm.

And what about the book?  The book continues to be delivered, but this time with inspiration and hope for the future.

This is a true story.  But don’t ask where this took place.  That, I’ll never tell…

Tags: corporate culture, Gen Y, Generation Y