By Lindsey Wright*

With the flexibility of online coursework, it’s no wonder why so many students are choosing web-based education programs. Having the freedom to complete work on their own time allows students the opportunity to tend to their daily schedules of work and parenting. Thanks to online education, more individuals are able to get the education they need without compromising their financial or familial roles.

Moreover, there are no restrictions as to what university is chosen. This provides students with opportunity to communicate with others on a global level, allowing them to be exposed to different ideas and viewpoints. With these positive elements that go hand-in-hand with Web-based education programs, so it’s not surprising that enrollment levels are skyrocketing. This recent trend may sound promising, but will it create an atmosphere where the traditional college setting is less valued?

Better Opportunities Lead to More Productive Workers

Not only are educational courses evolving, but also are the methods in which education is obtained. Attending an online school used to be equal to the traditional classroom settings at brick-and-mortar schools, except students were given the opportunity to complete work at their own pace. However, now Web-based programs expand on the standard, teacher-centered classroom setting and welcome peer-based interactions online, as well as the exchange of information with others across the world.

Plymouth University is one of many schools that advocates for online learning. The university reports that the concrete skills acquired are not only useful in an online educational setting, but also in the professional world. For example, online courses prepare students to communicate with others through digital interaction, a necessary skill when dealing with both coworkers and clients.

Self-discipline is also a staple of online learning and relevant in modern-day work environments, as those who work from home or have Web-based jobs will know how to handle the demands of managing workloads. Due to the fact these same skills are not as well achieved from traditional classroom settings, workers fear there will be a gap between standard and online learning obtained by their employees.

Generation Gap between Workers

Fortunately, the majority of today’s classrooms are taking a virtual approach in addition to teacher-centered discussions. Students have the opportunity to interact with one another online, complete projects over the Internet and submit material using online interfaces. With these features in place, students obtaining an education today will be granted the same opportunities no matter what type of school they attend.

However, for those that have acquired their degrees in past years when Web-based programs were not yet offered, a generation gap will almost certainly manifest in professional contexts. Julie Chisholm, a lecturer at California State University, published an article on Academe Online that expressed both the pleasure and danger of online teaching and learning. Chisholm found that the viewpoints the instructors had toward online learning were based on their own career paths and where they were on the age-career spectrum.

In general, instructors who were younger and had recently completed online classes themselves were more in favor of online learning. These professors were also more likely to know how to use online programs and found many positive features in utilizing them. On the other hand, professors who were older and hadn’t completed online coursework were less in favor of online education. They lacked the skills required to operate online programs and didn’t have much personal incentive toward learning how to use these systems.

Is Online Learning Better?

A study conducted by East Carolina University looked at the difference between online education and traditional education to determine which was better. Although the study did not conclude that online learning was the better choice, students in the online programs did have improved grades and test scores. Thus while it isn’t clear whether one learning style is superior over the other, it does seem apparent that our changing educational system will impact how employees are regarded in the workplace.

Potential Problems in the Workplace

It’s expected that a generation gap will exist in the professional workplace between online and traditional education. The most common problems that employers will face are a division in the competency of their workers to be able to navigate the Internet and adjust to Web programs and protocol.

Furthermore, the confidence, speed and efficiency that students with online degrees will have under their belts, will make them much more competitive in the workplace. It is likely that these professionals will be able to develop new and innovative alternatives to managing and organizing company information. This knowledge could cause not only generation gaps within the workplace, but also increased negative competition, devalued feelings and an inequality across workers.

Most of the discussion has been in favor of an online education, but what about those that hold traditional degrees and their perspective on an online education? It’s possible that some employers will consider online degrees to be less credible than those from a standard, four-year university. Placing greater importance on this educational learning style will cause further rifts between coworkers.

For instance, workers who attended traditional schools may feel that they hold “real” degrees and went through the rigorous process of applying, being accepted and attending structured classes, making their education and experience more authentic. As such, employers must recognize the advantages to both traditional and online courses, giving each the respect they deserve. With this approach, coworkers will learn to value each other’s diverse backgrounds and be more inclined to look at the experience as a whole instead of how the education was obtained.

Bridging the Gap between Online and Traditional Education

With the potential problems that employers and employees face in the work setting, it’s crucial that online learning is not only understood and respected, but also anticipated. In his article “21^st Century Schools: Bridging the Gap Between Traditional and Digital Learning Resources,” Frank B. Withrow point out that the first step toward closing the gap is to ensure that all educational programs allow for modern-day technology. This gives all students the same opportunities, no matter what type of school they chose to attend. It also ensures that all students will be qualified for the same position and acquire equal knowledge and experience.

Yet the bigger dilemma lies in the generation gap that already exists with age, and now educational learning style. Since those who have already achieved their degree from a traditional classroom setting cannot go back in time, employers should provide workers with the option to refresh their skills by taking courses online. Giving all employees the same opportunities will close the gap between these two radically different learning styles, while making all workers feel competent, valued and worthy of promotion.

The addition of the Internet in contemporary society has forced people to not only rethink, but also change the world in which they live. Educational systems have modified their operations to fit the online, global world that exists today. However, for these advancements to be effective, the business world needs to follow suit. By offering workers the same opportunities regardless of their educational backgrounds, employers will be closing the gap between education systems, allowing all of their employees to reap the same benefits.

*Lindsey Wright is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education.

By Sarah Newton

We have long been fed the line that Millennials are disloyal employees who expect to work when they want and how they want, but new research could be knocking these long held myths on their head.

The Price Waterhouse Coopers ‘Millennials at work’ research looks at the opinions and expectations of over 4,200 graduates from 44 countries in relation to the future of work and their attitudes on subjects including corporate responsibility, technology, global working and reward/ incentives.

And its findings are very interesting indeed.

1. Training and development is the benefit the Millennials value most highly – particularly coaching and mentoring
Globally, training and development is the most highly valued benefit for Millennials in the first five years of their career – with one third of respondents electing this as their first choice benefit (aside from salary). Almost all respondents (98%) stated that working with strong coaches and mentors is important to personal development. The three most popular benefits for UK respondents are training and development (46%), cash bonuses (45%) and free private healthcare (29%).
2. Millennials do not expect to reject traditional working practices
The findings show that – while global opportunities and robust corporate responsibility are critical to the Millennials – they expect to be predominantly office-based, work regular office hours and have a small number of future employers. Just 3% of respondents expect to work mainly at home and only 18% expect to work mainly outside regular office hours.
3. Robust corporate responsibility is critical to attracting and keeping the new generation of workers
Additionally, 86% (76% in the UK) would consider leaving an employer who’s CSR values no longer reflected theirs – Argentina (94%), the US and Brazil (both 92%) are home to the most idealistic graduates in that respect. Indian respondents were least likely to leave (66%). An employer’s policy on climate change is seen as important or very important by the majority of graduates globally (58%) and in the UK (55%)
4. They want to travel
Respondents were very open to overseas assignments, with Indian graduates showing the greatest appetite for working overseas (93%) compared with 62% of those from the Netherlands. 80% of all respondents want to work internationally. Of UK respondents, just 3% did not want to work outside of their home country during their career – 84% want to work abroad and the remainder are undecided.
5. They want it personal
40% of respondents are comfortable about giving employers greater access to their personal information in the interests of personal and business security. Additionally, two-thirds of Millennials would embrace the provision of personal services – such as housing, food and regular health appointments – by their employer. Which seems to be in line with recent studies on Gen Y sharing information?

So if we now know what they want why is it so difficult to keep them?

Research from the Commissioned by the Inspirational Development Group (IDG) shows that:

• 49% of HR managers highlighted the difficulty of retaining graduates for long enough, with 22% reporting that on average they lose graduates within two years of their employment.
• 57% felt that there was more they could do to retain these graduates – the ability to identify and retain the right graduates will be a crucial success factor as the economy comes out of recession.
• 75% of HR managers saw most graduates leaving between two and a half and three and a half years after starting their graduate program, or one year after the end of the program.
• 78% of HR managers agreed or agreed strongly that a specific development programme to increase retention of graduates one year after the end of their graduate program would be of benefit.

So what should the golden rules be?

1. Have a robust training and coaching/mentoring program that is clear full and worthwhile.
2. Highlight the opportunities for travel if there are any and show how and what your Millennial needs to do to get there.
3. Be very clear on your corporate responsibility and ensure it filters through your whole business.
4. Think about what benefits you can offer them in terms of health insurance, housing, lunches etc., they really do appreciate the smaller stuff.

By Carol Phillips*

Financial services are waking up to the potential of Gen Y consumers. Millennials may not have a lot of money now, but they are determined to pay down their debt and conserve resources for the future.  Coming of age in an era of massive financial uncertainty, they may even come to be known as “Gen Frugal”.

That’s good news for community banks and credit unions which are all about helping moderate income people responsibly manage their own money.

Last week I was interviewed by Myriam DiGiovanni of the Credit Union Times.  She wrote an article titled “Forget the Cool Factor, Focus on Millennials’ Needs” based on our talk. Here the full article (bold face mine):

Looking to engage meaningfully with younger consumers? Then stop assuming and start connecting through a common interest rather than trying to sell credit unions. “I think the main difference in marketing to Millennials and other generations is that they have great filters–they only see what they want to see. If you want to engage them, the message can’t be about brand but rather something they care about,” said Carol Phillips, president of consulting firm, Brand Amplitude, LLC. “It’s not about being hip but providing services they find useful now, like finding a job, figuring out how to finance their education or new business. They are starting out their lives at a difficult time and credit unions should credibly speak to that.”

She added that credit unions shouldn’t fall for the stereotypical myths surrounding this group such as they are all tech savvy–they are in fact tech dependent. Another myth is that they have money–many don’t and those that do are in saving mode or paying down debt said Phillips.

Forget about making the luxury appeal. When pricier purchases are made they tend to rationalize it based on whether it’s a good investment. According to Philips, for example, moving in with their parents is not viewed as an admission of defeat. Rather they see it as a strategy for saving.

Don’t look to the exclusive use of social media as a guaranteed in either. While they are very social, Millennials have close bonds with their parents, often consulting them regarding financial matters or major life decisions. Phillips said it’s yet another challenge because typically you’d market to the buying group, which in this case would include their trusted board of advisors consisting of parents, family members and friends. The key is for credit union to reach out and be a part of their world, and Phillips said initiating a conversation is a good start. Given the age span of the group is from 16 to 30 years old, she also advised credit unions to segment by interests. From there, credit unions can figure out how to connect in interesting ways whether around careers, music, causes or even sponsoring events that matter to them rather than talking about the latest checking product.

“Meaningful connecting requires recognizing that they are not the same as their parents. They do not respond to marketing, and that is the definition of different,” said Phillips. “Take time to understand who they are as people and introduce your services in context of what is relevant to them. Social media is about a humanization of the brand but is still just a tool [and] not a strategy. So be interesting, have a conversation.”

She added their values are no different than previous generations-they care about family, leading a good life, finding a fulfilling job and they want to give back.

One bank that seems to be getting it right with young adults is UMPQUA, a fast growing regional community bank in California, Oregon and Washington.

Their web site looks more like an ecommerce site than a traditional bank and they call their branches ‘stores’.  The language is plain English and yet stylish. The checking account featured on the home page is called HIP( for High Interest Paperless Checking) and offers 2% APR on  deposits and returns ATM fees. Nothing tricky about that!  News is broken out locally and is called ‘murmurs’. There are quick links to ‘deals and steals’, ‘reorder checks and supplies’ and ‘attend a neighborhood event’.  The navigation is straightforward as well and feels like you could do everything you need to do from opening an account to managing it to taking a loan, right from the web. There are spam alerts and interesting discussions. The site is very sticky and feels quite local, despite being spread across three states.

The short, awareness-oriented TV spots featured on the home page are cheerful, and perky, and not very ‘bank-like’ — “Bank on the Bright Side“, “Optimists Unite“, “Pursue Hopefulness“,  ”You deposit your check in the Northwest economy, like a gentle rain in a garden of courage“, “Optimists are just realists ahead of their time“.  The graphics and the voice over work together to create a hopeful feeling. I feel better just listening to them!

The part of the website I like best is under the tab heading ‘UMPQUA Life”. The sub categories speak directly to Millennial lives – Support, Belong, Discover, Inspire. The sub-subcategories  further emphasize local charitable and volunteer opportunities, neighborhood events and community responsibility. There are links to social media like Twitter, but they are discreet. The site itself  already feels like a social media site.  Even the history page is fun, with just the right information about the banks’ origins with emphasis on what it is doing in the community with music, eco-friendly programs and being included in Fortune’s Best companies to work for.

It should be noted that UMPQUA’s products are not all that special.  But, they are presented in a relevant and very accessible way that speaks directly to the Millennial mindset.

I suspect UMPQUA has been successful in attracting a higher than usual percentage of young adults and people who want banking to be less stuffy and more a seamless part of their lives. Other banks and credit unions could learn from their example.

*Carol Phillips is the president and founder of the brand strategy consulting firm “Brand Amplitude.” She is also a Professor at the prestigious University of Notre Dame. Carol began her career as a market researcher and strategic planner at Leo Burnett. Later, as an Account Director, she led agency teams at four different agencies – Y&R, Leo Burnett, Mullen and JWT – for a variety of clients including Sprint, Nextel, Ameritech, Heinz, 7UP, and Philip Morris. She blogs at www.millennialmarketing.com.

OK, I can hold my containment no longer and I have to shout from the rooftops. I am so excited about the coalition agreement made in UK politics between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, mostly because I am so excited to have Nick Clegg in a senior position. While I did not really favour Cameron, I must say that throughout this whole process, he and his party have handled the situation with grace, humility and a spirit of collaboration which we, as a generation, have never seen. But mostly what excites me is a shift from baby boomer leaders to Generation X leaders.

Baby boomers are notorius for having a great vision and assuming that we will all follow suit. They want to help and can mollycoddle; look what they did to their Gen Y children, they were the original helicopter parents! Generation X on the other hand are so much more individualistic and as such, more likely (as we have seen) to preach personal responsibility, which I believe will fill the gap I see so often in our youth.

For these of you who are not aware or familiar with Generational Theory, Generation X is commonly abbreviated to Gen X, the generation born after the baby boom ended, with earliest birth dates used by researchers ranging from 1961 to the latest 1981. In Generation Theory, generations are split into four cycles, describing their job in the world, so to speak.

Now, Gordon Brown was in the Baby Boom generation and here is what Howe and Strauss say about that generation.

Prophets are values-driven, moralistic, focused on self, and willing to fight to the death for what they believe in- and they can convince other people to join them in the fight. They grow up as the increasingly indulged children of a High, come of age as the young crusaders of an Awakening, enter midlife as moralistic leaders during an Unravelling and are the wise, elder leaders of the next Crisis. The Boomers are an example of a Prophet generation.

Have we not seen Gordon Brown do all of these as he tried to cling onto government? As I said before, Boomers can have a tendency to tell us what is right or wrong and convince them that they are doing things in our interests.

However, enter Generation X, a whole different ball game – known as the nomads, here is what Generation Theory says about them.

Nomads are ratty, tough, unwanted, diverse, adventurous, and cynical about institutions. They grow up as the under protected children of an Awakening, come of age as the alienated young adults of an Unravelling, become the pragmatic, midlife leaders of a Crisis and age into tough, post-crisis elders during a High. Generation X and the Lost Generation are examples of Nomad generations.

As a Gen X myself, I would certainly say that that is true. The explosion of youth culture and punks really does align with what we know of Gen X – they are the rebels. Is it no surprise that they went against the institution and formed a coalition?

So we can expect our government to be tough, cynical and pragmatic and Gen X do become leaders in midlife, so it is all looking good for us as we move forward. However this tough individualistic style is something the millennial/Gen Y have not yet seen. For our little Gen Z coming up behind, it will be an approach they are very familiar with, seeing it in their parents, but for their older counterparts a shock may be in store.

Here is what Generation Theory says about Gen Y, who are considered the hero generation.

Heroes are conventional, powerful, and institutionally driven, with a profound trust in authority. They grow up as the increasingly protected children of an Unravelling, come of age as the Heroic, team-working youth of a Crisis, become energetic and hubristic mid-lifers during a High and become the powerful elders who are attacked in the next Awakening. The G.I. Generation that fought World War II is an example of a Hero generation. Millennial are expected to emerge as the next generation of this example.

So, we have young adults who grew up protected, being governed by people that grew up very unprotected, institutionally driven youth with a trust in authority being governed by a mistrusting pair who are cynical about institutions. On the surface it looks like a mis-match. However, as Gen X finally get their day, I feel can learn a lot from them.

Firstly, I want to say that as most Gen X had such difficult childhoods, feeling very unwanted by society, that they believe in the potential and power of the youth that they missed out on. Therefore, I believe they will approach them in a very helpful way.

What our new PM and his deputy will teach the youth.

1. I think they will teach them to toughen up. So far they have had it easy, looked after and loved well by their parents, who step in to help. I think Gen X will teach them to stand on their own two feet a bit more and will encourage them to go out into the big wide world unaided.

2. The youth will learn what relatiism is, something that up to now they may not have encountered. A generation that were brought up being told they could do anything, they will soon learn to take a realistic view at things. Our new government will be pragmatic and real and will I think tame the lofty heights and fantasy worlds that Gen Y sometimes live in.

3. Gen X are extremely individualistic; they learnt from a early age to take care of themselves, taking personal responsibility. Gen X parents will never take the blame for a mistake their child has made and this government will not take the blame for youth not taking responsibility for their own actions.

4. Gen X are not known for their result-focused attitudes, so it may be that we see some reform of the education system. We may see a shift from results to pastoral care, which will have a huge impact on our youth.

And I also think that this government, should it choose to do so, has a lot to learn from our youth. Since they are in collaborative coalition, who best to turn to than the generation who do collaboration standing on their heads? Their young society will not stand for quibbling between these parties and will demand that they govern in a respectful, authentic way. The youth, if they are listened to, may also be able to raise the expectations of these two leaders. Gen X are highly practical in their outlook and may lose some vision and enthusiasm for what they do. While the Baby Boomers tried to keep them on the moral path, this government could become very uninspirational.

Like anything, this is just speculation, but I think that we are in for a highly interesting time….

*By Carol Phillips

I recently finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s best selling book, Eat Pray Love. The book chronicles Gilbert’s literal and figurative spiritual journey toward a deeper relationship with God, but never actually reveals which if any religion speaks to her yearning.  Gilbert, a Gen X’er, seems to have a lot in common with Gen Y.

New data released this week from Pew Research on Millennials and religion quoted in USA Today, Denver Post and elsewhere, says one in four Millennials (25%) do not identify with any one faith, instead describing their religion as “atheist,” “agnostic” or “nothing in particular.”  This level of non-affiliation is much than was seen for other generations at the same age.

At the same time, the Pew study reveals that spirituality among young adults is undiminished. “Members of today’s Millennial generation, ages 18 to 29, are as likely to pray and believe in God as their elders were when they were young.” This leads them to conclude in their headline: “Young Adults ‘Less Religious,’ Not Necessarily ‘More Secular‘.”

There is other evidence to support the conclusion that the issue is more one of lack of affiliation than a lack of faith in God. A survey of Millennials reported in New Yorker magazine last year found that 43% of Gen Y believes they are ‘as religious’ or ‘more religious’ than their parents.  A Marist Institute poll shows over three in ten Millennials define their primary long-term life goal in religious terms (“To be spiritual and close to God”). That figure was higher than for any other age group.

What makes this lack of affiliation especially intriguing to me is that in many other areas of their lives, Millennials are inclined to go along with their parents’ choices.

Within the 25% who are unaffiliated, nearly three quarters were raised in a religious faith tradition and dropped away. This makes faith the outlier as far as decisions that break with their parents.  Recall that this is the first generation that as a rule likes their parents and even thinks of their parents as their ‘best friend’.

• 86% say they share their parents political views.
• Every single student in my Principles of Marketing class raised their hand last week when I asked who banks where their parents bank.
• According to an AARP survey, 41% of Millennials with cars drive the same brand of car their parents drive or have driven.
• The American Savings Council found 71% of Gen X’ers and Gen Y’ers turn to their parents for financial advice.

So why make the break here, over something as important as faith?

I think has to do with the strength of the Millennial subculture and its strong, shared ethical values than a fundamental change in their belief in God.

The Gen Y subculture is astonishingly ethical, both in values and in practice. ’Bad behavior’ on a variety of  social dimensions from pregnancy to crime to drugs are all down among young adults.  Socially, Millennials prize tolerance as a result of their inherent diversity. They are significantly more socially liberal than their parents on issues of marriage, abortion, interracial dating.  Millennials are less inclined to believe that church affiliation is necessary to be a ‘good person’. According to a Marist Institute poll, 56% have donated money to a charity in the past six months and 67% have volunteered their time.

I’ll go out on a limb here and speculate that some of the lack of affiliation is due to a desire for ‘authenticity.’  The Gen Y subculture is unusually sensitive to phoniness. It’s unlikely they will go through the motions of attending church just because it is ‘the thing to do’  if they have questions about their own sincerity.

In the final analysis, reaching Millennials and getting them to re-affiliate with any one ‘religion’ may be unrealistic as a ‘marketing objective’.

Gen Y is accustomed to choices, and there is some evidence they may feel confined by a denominational label.  In December I noted that Millennials are ‘auditioning’ faiths the same way they would look for a college, a spouse or other major decision (“For Millennials Belief Is A Choice“). This represents a huge generational shift and as with so many other Gen Y trends, may start to migrate into  the thinking of other age groups. The Pew research shows that like Millennials, most Americans are embracing ‘multiple faiths’, with beliefs that do not ‘ fit conventional categories’.

*Carol Phillips is the president and founder of the brand strategy consulting firm “Brand Amplitude.” She is also a Professor at the prestigious University of Notre Dame. Carol began her career as a market researcher and strategic planner at Leo Burnett. Later, as an Account Director, she led agency teams at four different agencies – Y&R, Leo Burnett, Mullen and JWT – for a variety of clients including Sprint, Nextel, Ameritech, Heinz, 7UP, and Philip Morris. She blogs at www.millennialmarketing.com.

The premise of generational marketing is that each generation assumes a characteristic set of values and behaviors. While it’s not everything you need to know to market effectively, it provides a cultural foundation and helps avoid the ego-centric mistake of thinking other generations are just like you, only younger or older.

While Millennials are socially more liberal than other generations, their values are fairly traditional.

(For more on this see earlier posts, “Millennial Values: Back to the Future?” and “Millennials More Upright than Kids 20 Years Ago“.)

They value family, personal connection, and loyalty.

They seek out the genuine and are repulsed by phony.

They are famously optimistic and believe in the possibility of change.

They advocate for the environment and social justice.

They treasure tolerance and diversity, teamwork and balance.

They seek spirituality and are open to the possibility of the divine.

There’s nothing revolutionary here, I could be describing my grandmother’s generation. It would be very easy to be fooled into thinking nothing’s changed because what has changed is not the content but the dedication to those values.

Millennials can be defined both by their strongly held values and their strong intention to live by them. Generation Y is passionate about making a difference in the world. This is a common thread through dozens of values studies conducted globally.

It’s easy to dismiss their “unwavering commitment as still too young to understand the harsh realities of compromise/capitulation”, as suggested by my Twitter friend, J. Maureen Henderson. And it’s true that their values are not that evident, at least so far, in their shopping, voting and volunteer behavior. Most Gen Y buy green products when it suits them and volunteer rates are no higher for Gen Y than Gen X. They did not turn out to vote in Massachusetts last month.

Certainly, time will tell. They will either be a generation remarkable for its accomplishments, or one that is notable for its disillusionment.

Personally I think that disillusionment is unlikely. Young adults understand that ‘not everyone grows up to be Gandhi’. Leading a purposeful, life consistent with one’s values is reward enough as Henderson suggests in her Brazen Careerist blog post, “You’re Not Going to Change the World, and That’s Okay.”

“Those of us who grew up as part of the middle-class North American majority learned that we could be anything we wanted, but somewhere along the way, we got it twisted around in our heads that we had to be everything the world wanted/needed in order to be successful. Money wasn’t enough, nor was the love of family and friends, we wanted to matter, to make a difference, to prove ourselves, even if we couldn’t define exactly what this entailed. …..The desire not to hide our individual lights under a bushel is a laudable one, but not everyone is going to be a game changer. And there’s no shame or failure or inadequacy in working an “ordinary” job, in leading a quiet life, in surrounding yourself with a handful of close friends and family. In fact, those are the lives most of us end up with, with the smarter of us realizing that they’re every bit as meaningful as the marquee existences we feel we ought to aspire to.”

For marketers, whether or not Gen Y does or does not change the world doesn’t matter. Values representing the overriding, governing motivations for decision-making, and they matter a lot.

A deep understanding of values is critical to creating desirable products and meaningful communication. Employers who take Millennials seriously will be more attractive to the best and brightest. Marketers who take Millennial values seriously are better positioned to win with the consumer of the future.

*Carol Phillips is the president and founder of the brand strategy consulting firm “Brand Amplitude.” She is also a Professor at the prestigious University of Notre Dame. Carol began her career as a market researcher and strategic planner at Leo Burnett. Later, as an Account Director, she led agency teams at four different agencies – Y&R, Leo Burnett, Mullen and JWT – for a variety of clients including Sprint, Nextel, Ameritech, Heinz, 7UP, and Philip Morris. She blogs at www.millennialmarketing.com.

By Renato Andrade

Another edition of the “Results ON Day” took place in São Paulo, this time on the theme of social media.

Besides for the latest tendencies, research, and case studies about social networks (Twitter, Orkut, Facebook, blogs, etc), Gen Y’s behavior and life online was a topic of frequent discussion.

Here, I’ve made a summary of 12 topics which were commented on during the debates by 8 social media experts.

- Network, follow interesting people on Twitter, participate in blogs and virtual debates. Sign up for classes that have to do with your work or other interests. Personal tip: Many classes that are advertised on social networks are also transmitted via the web.

-Everything you write online is monitored, even if it’s unconscious it can influence the success and price of a product. A question on Twitter like, “What cell should I be” or “Buy the cell phone by brand X” is constantly evaluated by advertising agencies specializing in digital marketing.

-We live in the era of the impatient consumer, also a characteristic of Gen Y. Businesses spend fortunes to serve and comprehend this new generation.

- The consumer today has the following thought process: “I want everything now, or I’m going to cry very loudly!” this is the infantilization of the Internet.

-I’ve read almost everything on “Cloud Computing.” It’s the buzz word right now, and is being used by companies like AT&T, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft e Yahoo.

-Specialists in education believe that University education is still important, but the mistake is creating the “package of courses” that the student will never use in the business world. In the future, it won’t make sense to study for 4 years if only a few classes are necessary for your work.

-Young people from other parts of the world don’t used social networks in the same way Brazilians do. The biggest social network in oriental culture is a version of Twitter where users have two accounts: one is their personal account and the other is a character which represents them. Because it’s such a conservative environment, full of military repression, individuals are afraid to show their true identity.

- Students are lost when they have to decide what they want to do with their lives. One reason for this is the lack of references and real knowledge when it comes to the future. Generation Y, in many cases, is the first of their family to pursue higher education.

-Different from the opportunities other generations had, it’s now easier to enroll in University. But there’s a lack of real role models and references when it comes to choosing one’s profession.

-Universities in the future need to help the student choose their profession. This isn’t happening today.

-The web has created a professional world which is more competitive and complex. Proof of this are new positions that are emerging (IT, webmaster, programmers, etc.) However businesses have a lot of trouble finding qualified professionals to carryout roles in these new departments.

-The majority of research regarding online behavior talks about generation Y, but executives (currently Baby Boomers for the most part) are the ones who navigate the web most.

In conclusion, participating in ResultsON Day made me realize that businesses are opening up space for consumers to give their opinions about products and services. Therefore, we should enjoy being a collaborator, and make use of the tools we have in the market, creating a virtual identity, which adds value to this universe.

What about you? Are you part of a virtual community exchanging ideas and information? What’s your opinion on the current use of social networks for young people?

Leave your comment here.

For more info visit:
http://resultson.com.br/day2009midias/

By Manuela Mesquita

Parents are not teaching their children to be citizens with an attitude.  This is the opinion of Dr. Içami Tiba, psychiatrist for whom, “There isn’t an ideal model for raising children.”

The author of 27 publications, the majority focusing on young people, Tiba believes that parents are responsible for the unstable and impatient nature of this new generation, who has trouble dealing with problems or tolerating things they dislike.   In an interview with the blog, he affirms that this generation of egocentric young people still has a lot to learn about differentiating themselves in the competitive workplace today.

What’s happened in society that has caused relationships within the family to change so much?  Parents have become much less rigorous and don’t exercise the same authority as before.  Is this mostly a product of mothers leaving the home to work outside of it?

This is a silent revolution that happened because parents, both men and women, don’t want to repeat the upbringing they had and didn’t like:  limits, discipline, and physical punishment.
The upbringing they received has pushed them to not repeat this with their own kids, as they strive to give privileges to their children they would have liked to have obtained from their parents.
In reality, this upbringing has not been adequate because it’s created kids who are not well brought-up, in the sense that they are not citizens who fulfill their obligations.  Their parents had these values, but they didn’t want to hold their children to these rigid standards, thus establishing a relationship between children concentrated on their own leisure and suffocated parents.
However, children in this day and age need to be very committed to obtain results.  They have to be competitive and have ethics.  However, parents teach their kids to be heirs, not successful entrepreneurs who obtain things on their own, advancing due to their own strength.
The fact that mothers started working outside of the home, has accentuated these tendencies, as parents try to compensate for their absence in a way that isn’t positive or healthy for the kids.  Of course, mothers can work, but they can’t please their child at whatever cost.  This intense “softening” has a negative impact on an individual’s professional life later on.

You’ve stated that 80% of delinquents today have been raised by their mother.  Erich Fromm argues that fathers have conditional love, whereas mothers express unconditional love.  How does this difference manifest itself in a child’s upbringing?
Women have the hormones for building relationships, and men have testosterone, which pushes them to compete, fight for their territory, and defend their interests.  For this reason, a male parent and female parent, balance themselves out perfectly.  One fights and the other protects, while giving the child the necessary resources for survival.  Imposing obligation isn’t massacring the child.  Rather it gives him or her the tools to be a man or women of great success:  having learned skills, the ability and will to learn, and the pleasure that goes along with that.
Human beings need to find pleasure in their work, but they have little time to align everything in their busy lives.  Children just want to have fun and they don’t want to learn.  However, not everyone gets to do what they love all the time.  There are aspects of work for instance, that you will never like.  Yet, parents don’t teach their children this.   For this reason, young people make their choices, letting go of a good job because of a small disagreement at work, or a fight with a girlfriend or boyfriend.  They have a low threshold for frustration, dropping out of University because they don’t like one subject.  As parents, our job is to teach them to handle these situations.

How can mothers or fathers exercise a “double role” in a society where so many parents are divorced?
In this case, children still have a mother and father.  If a couple divorces, it’s due to their own problems, and shouldn’t impact the raising of their children.   What you can’t do is continue fighting while separated, throwing your kids in the middle, trying to turn them against the other parent.

The concept of raising children has changed a lot.  Psychologists argue that you can’t punish a child too much, and that you need to stimulate creativity.  What are your thoughts on this?
I can speak from my clinically based experience. What I’ve noticed is in this modern way of raising children, parents become less and less demanding of their kids, allowing them to make their own decisions when they shouldn’t.  For instance, allowing them to stop their studies at a crucial moment.  A lot of kids start to work, making some money, and gain a false idea of freedom.  So parents may think “At least my child is working,” and yet this is the result of a total lack of preparation.

How should we raise this generation?
I think that to be human is to have the capacity of learning along with our mistakes. In this modern way of raising children, the kids who aren’t given the skills to manage the results they obtain, aren’t ready to make decisions yet.  And so parents need to take care of this and assume responsibility.  If their children don’t understand this and want to join the workplace anyways, they won’t be successful because they lack maturity.  If parents continue to be too easy on their kids, listening to their every caprice, they’re not raising them or doing them any favors.

How does the Internet influence the raising of children?
If parents don’t dedicate themselves to learning, they can’t educate. While raising children, it’s important to be aware of the latest advances.  Parents today need to understand MSN, Orkut, etc.  The Internet has a lot of great things, and some bad things too.  It depends how you use it. Parents need to use the resources their kids use, in order to relate to them.  Young people have never had so many resources to meet and connect as they do today.  On MSN it’s possible to connect with all your friends in one day.  The same thing happens with blogs and on social networks.  The vision is different, and we don’t even need to leave the house.  We just need to press a button.  Young people know what’s happening with their friends, and they make plans.  If parents tap into these resources, they will gain in their own professional careers, and also communicate more effectively with their children.

In your opinion does virtual contact substitute physical contact?
Physical contact needs to be better appreciated.  For parents who just want to please their kid, regardless of the circumstances, it would be better not even to have this physical contact.  They could just control everything virtually, and when they actually did meet face-to-face, it would be without the conflicts and fights, that end up happening precisely because of the absence of parents.

At school we learn to socialize and to share things, like our toys.  But when children turn into teenagers, their reality turns into something else.  We become individualistic, wanting to earn money. This provokes a lot of confusion.  How do we go about this problem? Does the way we teach young children need to be more realistic?

Even in the Vestibular (the exam used to get into University in Brazil), a hard-working student who studies in a group, will do better than someone who studies alone.  Similarly, in a competitive sport, athletes develop skills individually, but the team solidifies their strength.   Champions are the ones who are among many others.  Nobody wins completely alone.  If school cultivates group participation it helps the student’s development.
It’s good for the student to realize that the world is competitive.  Those who are on the sidelines, will at some point, be fighting the same fight as everyone else.  Yet, if you have this knowledge, you become stronger, than you are as a lone individual.  This also relates to one’s professional life.

Many argue that this generation is less generous than past generations.  Do you agree?
I agree because this is a product of the way they’ve been raised.  They’ve done drugs, they’ve become more egocentric, they don’t give value to hierarchy, they want results on a short-term basis, and if they don’t see these results right away, they want to move somewhere else.  They don’t have a strong career vision for themselves. In your career you need to get your hands dirty.  They can’t handle this.  They’re self-centered and that’s due to the way they’ve been raised.

In your book “Família de Alta Performance” you explore excellence in the quality of life of an individual.   However, we know that currently it’s really difficult to reconcile everything in our busy lives.  Is it possible to have an extremely successful career while also being  an excellent mother or father?  If so, how?
By trying to do things in the best way possible.  No mother or father is going to be the best they can be, if they aren’t dedicated to understanding the current Educational system and the way kids are being raised, making their kids benefit from the best advances available. Business professionals need to update themselves constantly.  The same goes for parents.  It’s not a question of constantly being with the child, but actually knowing what he or she is doing.   Teaching at a distance is an example of how the virtual can be really productive.

In your book you also talk about how certain changes could make our lives better.  Could you cite some of these changes?
The first is the way in which parents can make their kids happier people, by making their child a citizen within the household.  In other words, parents need to instill a principal of collaboration within the household, called the citizenship of the family.   Just like at work, you don’t wait until the last minute to take care of things, or wait until the day before a payment is due to present the result to your boss.  The same attitude should apply for family citizenship.

How do you think the raising of children will evolve in the near future?
I believe that when facing a problem, we need to mobilize our resources to overcome it.   Those who mobilize resources are those who win.  This generation is bothered by how difficult it is to join the workplace in a time of such economic crisis.  Since a lot of people are suffering, there are going to be a lot of new things popping up, and they are impossible to predict in today’s market conditions.

But do you think there’s going to be a sort of pendulum swing?  Are parents going to go back to the way they were before, becoming more strict in the way they raise their kids?  Do you think this should happen?  Or are there more modern ways to raise a happy child?

I don’t think things will go back to the way they were before.  There’s a movement which aims to prohibit everything, but that doesn’t work because children need to learn.  They need to ask why.  However, they can’t ask questions that don’t lead them anywhere.  A child doesn’t have to question studying or education.  This isn’t a question that will make him or her grow.  If we aren’t able to separate things, we will think that all questions are good, or all of them bad. It’s not that simple.
Laziness always finds answers or excuses not to do things.  We need to establish family citizenship.  Studying and education need to be an obligation, whether our children like it or not.  The most important thing is for people to start learning, and to find what they like through this process.  Today there are many more opportunities for happiness than unhappiness.  But to tap into them we have to be competent, and dedicated to an eternal learning process.  The raising of our children is currently going in the wrong direction, so we need to turn around, and grow.

By Mauro Segura
I asked a group of teenagers to estimate how many friends they talk to everyday via the Internet, cell phone, or texting. Most of them replied “several dozens.”

Text messaging, Facebook messages, blog comments, tweets etc…Everything from a simple “hello” to a long conversation counts as talking. Their responses confirm what most of us already suspect: young people engage in a huge amount of social interaction through the web and through mobile devices like cell phones everyday.

All day I hear about how Gen Y has fragile human relationships. Their relationships more volatile than the relationships of youth in the past. Perhaps this is true, yet in front of me I see a much more interesting generation. A mature generation, actually preoccupied in cultivating relationships with my generation.

When I was 15 years old, I played soccer in the afternoon and studied the encyclopedia religiously. I believed everything my professor said. My relationships limited themselves to my classmates, neighborhood friends, and of course my family.

In contrast, young people today are able to travel out into the world virtually everyday. People from all places, social classes, and cultures meet intensely, 24 hours a day. Young people are more informed and attentive than we were at their age. They are conscious of the dilemmas of the planet, and are preoccupied in changing the world, and being agents of change.

A big challenge for Gen Y is time. So many possibilities and alternatives to create and build relationships in the short time-span of a 24-hour day, by a simple mathematical calculation, young people have many more opportunities to talk to people, and so it’s no surprise that the length of their relationships will be shorter and thus more volatile.

Yet have no illusions: young people continue to have the same characteristics of young people in the past. They have friends they confide in, they want to get closer to those they trust, and they want to be successful professionals in their careers.

However, Gen Y is not particularly preoccupied with their privacy, as they reveal parts of themselves on social networks, creating many virtual relationships rather than real ones.

Is this Gen Y’s fault or the fault of social networks? This is the current state of our country and of our democracy. Brazil is a democratic country, things are becoming more and more transparent. The media is also becoming increasingly outspoken. The Brazilian people have started to express themselves more freely. So this so-called “lack of privacy” does not just pertain to Generation Y. It’s part of the general transformation of society, as we all become “more open.”

There’s always something new popping up, giving fuel to those who argue that such or such thing will contribute to the worsening of society, be it the deterioration of family or human relationships. In the past, the same thing happened with radio and television. Now it’s happening with the Internet. Society is evolving, becoming more transparent, and this creates a higher level of social consciousness.

Everything in this blog post expresses the idea that Gen Y is much more interesting than past generations. Raised as citizens of the world, global citizens, and transformers of society.

In conclusion, if you are a reader belonging to Gen Y, have a look below at the hero of my generation. In the 1970’s, I was ten years old. I sat in front of my Television to dream…