Generation Y (those born from 1982 to 1997) has received a lot of buzz recently. Indeed, much has been made of Gen Y attitudes over the past few months (see this Post). Gen Y “millennials” are apparently looking for:
- Better work-life balance
- “Flex” work hours
- More time to travel
- Purpose driven companies
Many I talk to in Gen Y are indeed pushing for their companies to find “a purpose”. Millennials want to work for companies that actually stand for something.
But wait! One could be cynical with all this talk about purpose driven Millennials…last year a San Diego University Study bashed the Gen Y kids. The study was entitled: Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - and More Miserable Than Ever Before.” Here is a link to an interesting commentary on the article by Evan Maloney, which sparked some passionate comments!
Whatever you think about the Millennials, they aren’t wrong if they want to see more purpose at work. I had the pleasure of stumbling upon a great internal P&G blog today written by Matt Carcieri. He notes in a recent post that Brand Purpose is not just a nice to have…it is actually a winning model.
Matt leaves reminds us of a couple of good resources on the topic of purpose: Built to Last and Firms of Endearment. Both books call out purpose as a serious value creator.
What do you think about Gen Y?
Ryan Jones is interested in marketing and good causes. He currently works in Global Brand Management at Procter & Gamble and resides in Geneva, Switzerland.
One Comment
Hi, Ryan, Google Alert put me on to your mention of Firms of Endearment. of which I’m a co-author. Here are two posts from my blog that might interest you:
“The Power of the PCG on Shaping Consumer Behavior”– Introduction of the idea of the “psychological center of gravity:
http://agelessmarketing.typepad.com/ageless_marketing/2004/09/on_the_power_of.html
“The Aging Boomer Origins of Gen Y Attitudes and Behavior” –
http://agelessmarketing.typepad.com/ageless_marketing/2004/09/the_aging_boome.html
I hope the thoughts in those two posts have meaning to you. Also, you might want to read “t’s a Myth: Boomers Did Not Lead the Charge for Change in the 1960s” —
http://agelessmarketing.typepad.com/ageless_marketing/2004/09/historical_exam.html
Thanks for the mention of our book.
David