From Gen Y to Gen IE
The 30-45 years old are called GenX, they are the generation of the end of the economic bonanza in the western countries, the generation of the oil shock and all the struggling years that followed.
The new generation is 15-30 years old .It’s called the Gen Y.
they are born in the post cold war era, in a decent economy, with technology everywhere, with an instant access to their friends, to video games; They are tech savvy; they are living in the instant
Y is following X. but the Y has an extra meaning: they ask “why”.
“why” should they have to go to work for big companies which didn’t offer their parents a proper career.
”why” should they vote for governments which don’t tell the truth?
“Why” should they wait for enjoying anything they like to?
Now this generation is joining our companies.
What can we offer to them.
I suggest we give a sense to Gen Y.
They have technology at home, at their universities: mobile phones, direct and mobile access to the Internet (they are always “on”), they use the tools of the Web2.0: wikis, social networks, blogs, vlogs.
We can provide them with these tools.
It’s the easy part, even if it’s not yet the case in most of the companies.
But it won’t be enough.
They want an open world, where the permitted is the rule and the forbidden the exception, they want to organise their work the way they organize it in their personal life.
They want a better balance between personal life and worklife.
They don’t respect authority, they respect competency;
Hence we have to change our way of management: empower them more than stick to our old military model of Command &Conquer.
And they want to give a sense to their life.
Our company purpose should bear a sense.
If we want to attract and retain the best of the GenY we have to offer them a sense.
The good news is that Tech Companies have an historic opportunity to answer to their Y question
The Internet is changing radically our economic landscape.
Internet brings global connectivity at a much lower IT cost, and can bring real time and relevant data to the agents in the field.
These agents will have the opportunity to transform these real time data into real time decisions.
That’s what I call the Intelligent Economy
This Economy is an economy of much higher efficiency and much more services, tailored to each of us needs.
It is an Economy where one can get the real service he longs to; and an economy where the smart companies can grow dramatically.
An economy where the decisions are made by the people in the field.
An economy where one uses technology as he does at home or at school;
An economy which makes sense
The genY could become the Gen IE, Generation Intelligent Economy.
