By Sarah Newton – @sarahnewton

These are some tips I recently wrote for the retail sector and thought they would be useful to share.

Sterotype One -Teens are Lazy

Tip – resume - Ensure it looks professional and is all formatted and spelt correctly. Any gaps in your previous experience (like a gap year, for example), ensure you mention them and what you did and what the experience taught you. Include all and any hobbies, even baby-sitting that you may have done and link the hobby to the job, for example playing World of Warcraft teaching you a valuable skill of building a social team to support you.

Interview - Dress correctly, smart and professionally (you may think smart jeans are OK but most adults think that means you don’t care). Look people in the eye and smile, show them that you like people and are able to be engaging.

Sterotype Two -Teens feel entitled

Tip – resume – Ensure you write in your resume what you learnt from any previous experience or jobs you have done and how thankful you were for the experience.

Interview - Research the company on the internet; make sure you know their vision and values and how you can support them to achieve their aims. Thank them for taking the time to see them and on leaving shake their hands, thank them and let them know you hope they find the right person for the job.

Sterotype Three- Teens are really bad at face-to-face communication due to technology.

Resume – Make sure you write in your resume the things you have done face to face, like participating in debates, speaking, communicating with customers in a part time job. If you go to a social group in a face-to-face setting make sure you mention that.

Interview – Look people in the eye and smile and make sure your phone is switched off. Let them know how important you feel face-to-face interaction is to the customer experience and what that adds to the retail experience.

Sterotype Four-Teens are selfish and only care about themselves.

Resume – Include any volunteering work you have done, even volunteering to look after your little sister or brother so your parents can go out shows you care. State in your resume what you loved about working with the other companies you have worked in or how you loved learning about other cultures on your gap year, or maybe you were involved in something at school that helped others like an organising committee. Even helping another win a quest in an online game or showing your parents how to Facebook counts for something.

Interview – Research the company and let them know what you like about them and what you are so interested in working for them. Thank them for their time and let them now how much you appreciate them seeing you.

As you may or may not know, as I write this the UK is going through a political stalemate, with no stable government and all the parties trying to decide if and how they will form a government. The UK look on in disbelief, not quite knowing what to do. (We now know they have formed a coalition government)

This election was unprecedented in most of our lifetimes and has ended with a hung parliament, meaning that no party has an overall majority to run a stable government.

For the first time in UK politics we had televised debates, which did really shake up politics and really woke the youth up when it came to political reform.

However what happened on Election Day was a real blow for Generation Y and may have been the first time they felt massively let down. After seeing the impact of the youth on the Obama election, they must have felt they had a chance to change things. And as they all rallied around the party that normally came third, they were devastated when an exit poll revealed that this party would lose seats and the party they despised the most would get the most seats. Furthermore, when the exit poll became true, twitter came alive with their displeasure.

Firstly, the fiasco of polling stations having to be shut with queues of people outside and some places running out of ballot papers put them up in arms. Was this really democracy? The challenge for them was that since most of them had gone to vote late, this mainly affected them.

A generation used to having a say, encouraged to have a say and used to being heard were suddenly helpless. And as the dust settled and they looked at the figures, they began to shout very loudly for political reform. How could a party that 64% of the public voted against and had no representation in Scotland and only a bit in Wales be representative of the United Kingdom? How could a party that only had 8% more of the vote have 200 more seats and how could people voting for a party go up yet their seats go down? How could this be fair?

And they were right, it is not fair. They quickly got the figures together and sent them around Twitter and Facebook.

Party Votes per seat – Conservative 34,989. Labour 33,350. Liberal Democrat 119,788

Seeing how unfair this was, they demonstrated and pleaded with the leader of the party they had adopted to push for electoral reform.

Way this election has empowered the youth is so evident. It has empowered them around fairness and equal rights and they are not staying quiet.

So, the message to businesses and people dealing with Gen Y is this.

Ensure your dealings, policies and rules are fair. Ensure that they are not based on outdated tradition and ensure they give the youth as much of a say as anyone else.

By Sarah Newton*

I recently saw this post and it really got me thinking about how we can manage Gen Y better by taking lessons from video games.

And while, in my experience, I am not sure that Gen Y in the UK keeps score (as stated in the article), so to speak, I do think that bosses can certainly learn how to manage youth by pulling information from the gaming world. As for understanding youth by understanding gaming, well certainly that would apply to boys in the UK but for girls you need to understand social gaming, which is so different.

For me, what they gain from gaming is not necessarily to keep score but to get a reward to keep going. In this modern day world it is a well known fact that young workers will not just go along for the ride as they use to, most want feedback and rewards to keep them going and they want to feel excited. As far as I can see, it goes far deeper than merely keeping score; it is about feeling the buzz of being alive.

So, if you manage lots of young employees, here is what I believe you can learn from their use of video games.

1. Instant feedback – a game gives instant feedback; you do something wrong, you die! You do something right, you move up a level, go further into the game, etc. Young employees want instant feedback, not a Sit down, how are you doing? once a month thing, but after the moment it happens. Ensure your on the ground managers know what to look for and how to correct and praise in an instant.

2. In a game the players know the objective, they know what they are supposed to achieve and when they reach that they get set another very clear task or goal. Make sure objectives you set youths are clear, concise, short-term, achievable goals and if you can link little perks to them, so much the better.

3. I know we all have this image that game play is very individual and people compete against each other or themselves, but that is simply not true anymore. Games are social and achieving something as a team or getting rewarded for helping another out are commonplace. How can you encourage collaboration rather than competition in your workplace and how can you reward helpful behavior?

4. Most games have rewards for achievement so, for example, in the popular Farmville when you gain more points and move up a level more options are open to you, such as things you can buy and how big your farm can be. How can you emulate something like these levels, which open up more privileges?

5. Above all see how you can install some fun into the day. It doesn’t have to mean that the work environment or day has to be interrupted, but the best way to get the most out of young employees is to keep it light, fun and exciting. Innocent in the UK do a great job of this and are seen as an aspirational company to work for. Their canteen has astro turf and their employees are encouraged to blog and share funny pictures. While this might not be appropriate for your company, I am sure that there is some way you could put some youthful energy into your everyday that will make everyone feel happier.

There’s a theory that Communication majors learn about in college, called the “spiral of silence.” Basically this hypothesis developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann says that less popular opinions tend not to be heard, as they get drowned out by the opinions of the majority. She links this to the role of mass communication mediums in forming public opinions.

I agree with this theory. Those who don’t agree with the majority, often risk getting shredded apart. Society almost never forgives individuals who are against “common sense.” Just look at what happened to the protestors of the Brazilian dictatorship.

But that’s all back in the world of the X’s, Baby Boomers, and Veterans. In the world of Y’s, this theory simply doesn’t apply. Today the norm is disagreement. The dissonance comes from young people, very young people who aren’t afraid to question, contest, and protest.

Online communities, chat forums, and social networks, are the greatest proof of this. It’s very common to see young people joining online communities where they criticize the very businesses they are applying to be a part of. They say what they think without any filters. The spiral of silence is over. Today it’s cool to disagree! And people are actually the opposite of what Noelle-Newman argues. And they are admired and respected, precisely for that.

During her lecture, Eline always talks about how Generation Y wants to be different from other generations. When it comes to speaking their mind openly they are in fact very different. They haven’t lived through a time of censorship. I experienced the end of the dictatorship, and even though I was only a child, I knew that there were certain things you just couldn’t say. You had to watch your back and always be conscious of your surroundings. You had to speak low.

Today we have the great freedom of being able to say what we think. I believe that generation Y and the generations after them will really benefit from this freedom, which no other generation has experienced up until now. They probably won’t realize how valuable this freedom is, for they haven’t experienced the sourness of not being able to really say what they think, as those before them did. So it seems that the theories of communication will have to silence the very spiral of silence.

By Eline Kullock

I ask myself why Harry Potter is so popular with generation Y.

Is it a deficit in idols that makes this “hero” more significant than Spiderman for this generation? What values of witchcraft and magic does this generation identify with?

Everyone will agree when I say that Harry Potter mania is officially upon us…

We often hear about the idea of a Peter Pan Youth who just doesn’t want to grow up. And yet, every individual has a Peter Pan within, independently of what generation they belong to.

Having to assume responsibility isn’t the most fun. Everybody wants to stay young. Everybody wants to fly. It’s not a generational question. It’s a question of being human.

But going back to Harry Potter, it seems that some of Harry Potter’s personal history, relates to the life history of Generation Y. He’s an idol, but he’s also an orphan. His parents were killed by a wizard. Who is the wizard that killed the parents of Generation Y? All young people feel like orphans to some extent. Their parents go out to work, and they currently live less in function of their families. They are more preoccupied with themselves. This preoccupation is legitimate, and allowed. Divorce is now an option, the pill has liberated women, and as women started entering the workplace, they made personal happiness a priority. For most people, home sweet home is a space they only see very late at night.

The children of baby boomers often came home to an empty house. It seems that Harry Potter put that feeling out in the open. The adoptive parents of Harry are not magicians. They are normal human beings. They are good people, but they are very distant from Harry’s reality. That’s exactly how young people feel. Parents aren’t aware of the magic possible through technology. Kids don’t learn with their parents anymore, they learn among themselves, with their friends. Their parents don’t know the “tricks” of life anymore.

Harry’s enemy is the murder of his parents, Voldemort, who wants to achieve immortality. Again, this concept of eternal life, which has been so sought after among human beings, appears here, showing us how dangerous and negative this ideal can be.

It’s also interesting to note that Harry goes to a boarding school. There’s no house, street, or city. These concepts are more and more viable today. Perhaps school is still the most secure (or the only “real” as opposed to virtual) environment to be with your friends.

The story unravels as Harry and his friends face various dangers. Together. Spiderman and cat-woman are no longer relevant. There’s a group of real people who attempt to find solutions to dangerous and problems together. That’s how generation Y wants to be perceived: as a team.

There’s also no discrimination between men and women in this story. Hermione Granger is brilliant, she’s a great friend, and she’s always ready for new challenges, just like her friends.

The other thing that caught my attention is that reality and fantasy blend exactly as they do for generation Y. Just as Gen Y spends time playing virtual games, the film also mixes the reality lived by Harry and his friends with games and challenges, similar to those generation Y finds in the virtual realm. This connection depicts the life of a young person today. Sometimes, it’s difficult to separate reality and fantasy.

It seems that the Harry Potter books and films are very symbolic of young people’s realities today. They identify with Harry. Perhaps there’s an indirect message for us here. We should think about the generation we are raising, and about how our new lifestyles affect them. Reflecting on our future seems important, so that we can attempt to grasp the best possible future. After all, Harry teaches us that both in magic and in real life, anything is possible!

Por Zuza Seixas*

When the workplace becomes a part of an autonomous sphere, it determines in people’s lives, the way they behave, as a being, separate from the larger body of a “we.” A series of myths appear, with terrors and hopes, on this blank sheet of paper, which with which we are all unfamiliar.

“Progress” and “winning at life” often translates into having a good position in the corporate world, and having money to act out theatrical scenes. The life of people is thus determined by the formal demands of the work world. The rules the market dictates are rarely questioned, and everyone is forced to “play the game.”

However, I do mean to make clear that the market is not a monster, an autonomous being, living separate from us, which dictates our rules and esthetic conduct. As strange as it may seem, the market is us. We create it. It’s our way of living. This must be clear so that we can build new relationships-relationships that are healthier and more productive.

Why this introduction? So that we can realize that so many times we are complicit in determining factors, which carry with them, the illusion of being untouchable. Nevertheless, we are always in our own hands, with the condition of being able to transform. This is extremely vivid in our relationships in the workplace, where generations are forced to coexist, and work together, frequently crashing into each other, sometimes event auto-mutilating themselves.

From the individual that is looking for a job, to the one who’s employed, to the one who is the employer, the unnecessary tension present in these relationships are the fruits of a rigid market-which we have the power to transform.

As young people, we are born into a world which is different from the world older people have lived-and often still insist on living. It hasn’t just been the rise of a global economy, the boom in social networks, information, or the technological advances that have become global. No, it’s a whole new way of living, of thinking, of facing one’s self. It’s a new way of dressing, of speaking, of cutting one’s hair. At this point, nothing shocks us anymore. We don’t try to contest a world that has already died anymore; we were given the rights, by the body of our society, and have tasted the possibility of extravagance. But this is not the tranquil way in which many times this freedom manifests itself, and many misunderstandings result, as barriers are placed between generations.

The difficulty that many people have in understanding attitudes of young people, relates to pure prejudice. Similar to a cultural shock between the western and indigenous worlds, where few could understand the ways of thinking, many distanced themselves in the ways they interacted with the world, lingering in a place of judgment. The old way of thinking won’t resist the force that newness brings, or the devastating force which is transforming and changing societies. We are a mutation of life, constantly in transformation. It’s because we don’t comprehend this, that many barriers appear between generations.

Therefore the possibility of agreeing does exist. It exists in the workplace, where everyday one shows something other than what he apparently is, the something which is capability. We must accept that the new workplace is no longer about appearance, dress, or even conduct. Today work is predominately immaterial, as Negri and Hardt [1] conceive: communication, information is a constant permutation of knowledge.

This immaterial work is that which produces immaterial goods, services, cultural products, knowledge, and communication. This is the path most young people are taking today. Diverging from the traditional model of the workplace, which has its origins rooted in the beginning of the industrial revolution, growing from Toyotism, where the preceding generation cultivated its image “in society.” Immaterial work favors a more creative and open image, and opens itself to productive social interactions.

While we are living a transition in terms of modes of production, generations will continue to speak different languages. As a business opens itself up, it must adopt the rhythmic step of the world, and must incorporate the general changes new generations bring. It must change the way older people navigate gusts of the fresh wind. Where will we end up?

We don’t know, but we certainly need to learn, to live and to coexist, in healthy ways, through body and thought. Relationships open up, within the family, the workplace, and in the collective groups to which we all belong to. In a sense, we too are carried by these gusts of winds, and it’s not intelligent to build, heavy, concrete, walls which cut the wind off, when we can use the force, the strong current of air, to make ourselves more productive and creative.

[1] – Antonio Negri e Michael Hardt,

In the book titled Empire, discuss a meticulous analysis of the current political constitution and the concept of immaterial work to designate the new fields of production and the characteristics of actuality.

*Thiago is the birth name of the author better known as Zuza Seixas, who was born in Brasilia-DF and currently lives in Sao Paulo. Zuza majored in Psychology, and now studies Philosophy in an autodidactic form. He works as a musician, and is serious about using his bike as his mode of transport around Sao Paulo. Zuza cultivates above all, a joyful way of life. Check out his blog at: http://emtransedotransito.blogspot.com

By Scott Asai*

Today’s organization is a mixture of different generations. It’s important to understand the differences in values, communication style, work ethic, etc. It’s even more vital to apply these findings at work. Here’s some suggestions to narrow the “gap” at work:

Baby Boomers

Think SUCCESSION plan. Plan with the end in mind.
Boomers have all the experience and knowledge. Don’t let the knowledge leave when you retire. MENTOR!

Help Gen X by: Delegating responsibility and tasks. This entrepreneur group enjoys leading projects, so start training them to take over.
Teach them how to lead a team.

Help Millennials by: Giving them feedback on their performance. One of the biggest mistakes is expecting them to lead alone. This is a collaborative group. They lead by team consensus.

Generation X
LEADERSHIP skills. This generation is driven to be efficient. They prefer to work independently, yet need opportunities to lead people. This is the next group of leaders. They are the “hybrid” of Boomers/Millennials.

Help Boomers by: Offering efficiency solutions. Ask to get involved at the management level. Be proactive, not critical. Help your experienced counterparts understand the Millennials (most of you have younger siblings this age) Help Millennials by: Showing them the work expectations of their Boomer supervisors. Teach them how to be professional. Help them increase the quality of their oral and written communication.

Millennials
TEAM players and TECH-savvy. This optimistic group expects to reach their dreams. Relationships are important – more important than their careers.

Help Boomers by: Asking Boomers to mentor you. In return, teach them technology PATIENTLY. Show them how technology increases efficiency.

Help Gen X by: Sharing your optimism. Tell them to lighten up and not take things so seriously. Explain how social networking helps build relationships.

This is a brief list, but a good start for implementing action NOW!

Don’t wait. Take action and be part of the SOLUTION!

Scott Asai writes “Leading Gen whY”, to help increase the performance of the Gen Y/Millennial Worker. He started Growing Forward Coaching in 2007 to help corporations understand and learn how to maximize the talent of the younger worker. Prior to running his own business, he spent over ten years as a coach, director and youth leader. To contact him, please email scott@growingforward.net

It started innocently enough. It was a phrase I saw randomly that I thought would make a neat T-shirt for the college crowd (renegade or not). I saw it in my mind’s eye, emblazoned in white across black T-shirts the world over. It was a statement of fact, piggybacking on a word that is overused, but whose definition everyone between the ages of 2 and 92 understand. It was going to be a social revolution disguised in 100% cotton. I couldn’t wait to see it worn by millions of folks (each of whom would pay me $12.99 for the shirt). Everyone would proudly declare in a way that only readable T-shirts can: “Cool People Care.”

But, like great social change movements, the first drops of rain cannot indicate the monsoon of creativity that awaits. Upon sharing this brilliant phrase with a friend, the brainstorming began, and after a few hours, we had a dry-erase board full of ideas, the least of which was a black shirt. We had blueprinted a revolution.

Our first steps would be a website, coolpeoplecare.org, that was full of practical tips for ordinary people who wanted to make a difference. Like us, we guessed that there were millions of people who wanted to make the world a better place, but didn’t have hours on end, or expendable income burning holes in their philanthropist pockets. But, we had, for example, five minutes that we were willing to give to any given positive social cause, and we thought others did, too. We knew that two guys’ five minutes didn’t seem like much – but a million people’s five minutes? Now that’s a revolution waiting to happen.

Having been in the nonprofit world for a while, trying to stay ahead of trends in fundraising and volunteering, I knew we had something. Years ago, successful change agents were those who were able to find ten rich folks to each write a $1 million check. But, the future of giving, I felt, would be finding 1 million people to each write a $10 check. Both tasks were daunting, and both would get you $10 million. The difference was that I didn’t know anyone who could write that $1 million check, but I did know lots of folks (myself included) who could, and would, write a $10 one.

When I was graduating college, I was on the fast track to grad school. Unlike many of my friends, I wasn’t looking for employment. But of those who were, I was awestruck by the amount of them looking to intern at a nonprofit for little or no money. Several were thinking of joining the Peace Corps, willing to be marooned somewhere digging village wells or organizing the poor in countries with hollow economic cores.

What was happening? Why were relatively few people trying to land deals with big brokerage firms? Where were the people looking to make a career in sales, real estate, or big business? Was it just the company I kept? Or, was it something bigger? Was it a larger movement of young people who had come to the realization that things needed to be changed and that they were the ones to do it, unyoked by marriage, children and home ownership?

But there seemed to be no one to organize this mass of do-gooders. They seemed like uncoordinated soldiers on some social battlefield. Each one was Google-ing for opportunities. Some struck nonprofit gold and got their unsexy wish – interning for free in D.C., working nights in a coffee shop, and dedicating their days to changing some policy that would not get their names in the history books.

But for those unable to land Peace Corps internships or other socially aware gigs, they eventually shuffled into an office somewhere, punching a clock, serving not the public interest, but the bottom line. However, their dreams of a better tomorrow were not shattered. They would give all of their weekend to a Habitat build, or serve on a nonprofit board, or run every charitable 5k they could find. The grandeur of generosity had not faded. It was alive and well.

And I know that there are millions in this same situation. There are people of every age and my generation in particular, who want to do just one thing every day to make this world better. Some give blood, some donate clothing, some recycle, some buy local, some change their energy-sucking light bulbs, some bike to work, some adopt a pet, some have a pen pal in a foreign orphanage, and some still need ideas.

To this end, Cool People Care, Inc., seeks to motivate people to make a difference. We show people how to get involved without getting up, and how to change their world in less than 5 minutes a day. We connect these inspired individuals with organizations already on the ground in communities nearby. And we reveal just how easy it is to give back. We believe there is no such thing as not enough time. We believe that anyone can engage the 5 minutes revolution, unleashing the power of millions of people giving 5 minutes or more, every day.

Because the cool people, the ones that I admire, are those who have a cause, a vision, or a dream bigger than themselves. In essence, I really do believe that cool people care.

Sam Davidson is a speaker, writer and dreamer who tells the stories that need telling in order to motivate others to change the things that need changing. For the past three years, he has been the President of Cool People Care. He blogs at SamDavidson.net.

By Blake Sunshine
It can be tough to be a Millennial at work. Especially when you are working with people who are 10 to 30 years older than you. And while Millennials sometimes get a bad reputation, we know that we bring value to the workplace. Of course, it’s important that we play nice with members of every generation at work and prove our value everyday.

It’s not always easy to do this, but here are four things you can do to “play nice” with other generations at work:

1. Teach them something new- Millennials are smart. AND we know things. LOTS of things. So take a few minutes out of your day and teach someone from another generation something interesting. It will show them that you are a valuable member of the workplace, and that you are trying to make their job easier.

2. Realize they can teach you something too- Ask for advice from members of other generations. Even if you don’t take it and even if you don’t care what they say, ask for them to teach you something anyway.  Part of feeling valued when at work is feeling that you can contribute to the greater good. And who knows, you may find that a Gen-Xer will make your job and life a little bit easier just by asking for their advice.

3. Ask for more work- Every generation appreciates an entrepreneurial spirit, and by asking for more work you are showing everyone in your workplace that you want to be there. You don’t have to ask for a lot more work, but one or two more assignments never hurt anyone.

4. Take on “non-Millennial” tasks- Millennials are important people, so we should only be taking on the most important tasks in the workplace. But sometimes it’s nice and important to others that you take on “non-Millennial tasks.” Offer to do something that no one else wants to do and you will earn the respect of every generation at work.

If you do these four things your relationships with other generations at work will surely improve.  Play nice with others, Millennials, because your job depends on it!

Blake Sunshine is a blogger at The Perennial Millennial. She also works in media relations and social media for an engineering company in Austin, TX.

By Mehnaz Thawer

“I hope I never turn into my mother.”  This is a phrase that I’ve heard more than once in my lifetime.  Mostly I’ve overheard it on the bus, or in the movies.  It’s a phrase I’ve never understood fully.  Though I can understand that not all of us are bestowed with perfect mothers, sometimes there are opportunities for us to learn from them.  I for one, can’t think of a better person to turn into as I age for so many reasons:

Work Ethic
My mother instilled in me a work ethic that has helped me through academics and through my work life.  Beyond any talent, the sensibility to work hard, and do your job well is something that is valued in almost every situation that I have been in.  Were it not for my mother, telling me to test my own limits, or teaching me one more new word, I wouldn’t understand the value of a good work ethic.

Family
Aside from family reunions being a clever ruse to eat until we vomit, family is a central part of my life.  In my world, though we may not have time for family dinners because of hectic schedules, we value each other’s contributions and support each other through most decisions, big and small, from career changes to recipe alterations to wardrobe critiques, the central place of family life is pivotal and has allowed me to grow up and become part of something larger than myself.

Resilience
I don’t take bad news well.  I generally want to sleep off the rest of the year when I’m stuck in a rut or when life takes an unexpected turn of events.  Growing up around my mother has taught me that no matter what, you have to get up in the morning.  If there is a lesson to be learned, file it for future reference and move on with the rest of your life.  Resilience is important in how we interact with each other and in the workplace.  The best of us have to react at one time or another to something that isn’t of our liking.  Resilience is the ability to walk on.

Self Respect
Gen Y women face quite a challenge ahead of them when it comes to self respect.  Though opportunity is available for the grab more than ever, is it ever okay to compromise who you are as a person, in the name of achievement? Fame?  Love? My mother has taught me that you are your own best friend, so you should treat yourself as a person of value.  If you wouldn’t do it to your best friend, why do it to yourself?

It’s difficult for me to process that becoming my mother could be a bad thing.  I inherited her curly hair and bad eyesight, but I also inherited a host of traits and perspectives that I wouldn’t trade for the world.  So the next time, you think that your mother is the last person you would want to turn into, ask yourself, “Would it be a bad thing?”

Mehnaz Thawer
Mehnaz is an international development practitioner and lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She writes regularly and has been published in several creative writing journals to date including Iamb, White Chimney and 4 and 20 poetry.  She enjoys reading, photography, blogging and running.  You can visit her blog at www.strawberryghetto.blogspot.com.