As explained in some of our conferences, the expectations of new employees reflect the social environment of the web. It is when “4i” new behavior “(Individualism, Interconnection, and Inventiveness Impatience) meet the” 4 Cs of “web of life” (Community, Collaboration, Conversation and Customization). Gary Hamel, a management guru and author of “The Future of Management”, looks back at the new professional expectations of what he calls the “Facebook generation”.

Gary has collected 12 characteristics of this online life to help managers of Fortune 500 “to reflect on the directions given to their management practices and to overcome their bureaucratic tendencies:

1. All ideas are comparable on an equal footing
On the Web, each idea has a chance to gain a following – or not and no one has the power to kill off a subversive idea or stifle an embarrassing debate. Ideas gain traction on the basis of merit rather than the perceived political power of their sponsors.

2. Contributions are more than references
When you post a video on YouTube, no one asks you what film school you graduated from. When you write a blog, nobody cares about whether you are a journalist. Status, title and degree; all of these usual status differentiators factors carry much weight online. On the internet, what counts is not your CV, but what you contribute to the party.

3. Hierarchies are natural, non-prescribed
In a forum, there are some individuals who command more respect and attention than others – and have the influence as a consequence. Critically though, these individuals have not been appointed by a higher authority. Instead, their clout reflects the approval of their peers. On the web, authority trickles up, not down.

4. Leaders serve, they do not lead
On the Web, every leader is a servant. Nobody has the power to command or sanction. Credible arguments, proven expertise and selfless behaviour are the only levers for getting things done through other people. Forget this online and your followers will soon abandon you.

5. The tasks are chosen, not assigned
The Web is an opt-in economy. Whether it is to contribute to a blog, participate in an open source project or sharing advice in a forum, people choose to work on things that interest them. Everyone is an independent contractor and everyone scratches their own itch.

6. The groups define themselves and organize themselves
On the internet, you get to choose your compatriots. In any online community you have the freedom to link up with some individuals and ignore the rest. You can share deeply with some folks and not at all with others. Just as no one can assign tedious tasks or work with dull colleagues.

7. Resources are attracted, not affected.
In large organizations, resources are allocated from the top-down, sometimes in a politicised Soviet-style budget dispute. On the web, human efforts are directed towards the ideas and the projects that are the most attractive (and fun), and away from those that are not. In this sense, the Web is a market economy in which millions of people can decide – at any time – how to spend their most precious resources, time and attention.

8. The power comes from the sharing of information, not its retention.
The Web is also a gift economy, the era of freenomic. To gain influence, you must give away expertise and provide content. And you must do so quickly or someone else will do so for you and garner the credit that might have been yours!

9. Opinions are made and decisions are reviewed by peers
On the internet truly smart ideas spread quickly, no matter how disruptive they may be. The Web is a near perfect media for this famous aggregate ‘crowd wisdom’. Whether it is in formally organized debates or in relaxed discussions, once assembled, the voice of the masses can be used as a sounding board to challenge the entrenched interests and institutions of the off-line world.

10. The user can veto political decisions
Like many Internet moguls have learned to their sorrow, online users are opinionated and vociferous – and will quickly attack any decision or policy change that seems to be contrary to the interests of the community. The only way to keep users loyal is give them substantial say in key decisions. You may have built the community, but in reality it will be the users that really own it.

11. The intrinsic rewards matter most
Think of all the articles contributed to Wikipedia, all the open source software created, all the advice freely given – add up all the the number of volunteer time involved to create it all and it is obvious that human beings give generously when they’re given the chance to contribute to something that they care about. Money is important but not as much as the recognition and sense of accomplishment.

12. The Hackers are heroes
Large organisations tend to make life uncomfortable for activists and rabble rousers however constructive they may be. In contrast, the virtual online communities frequently embrace those with strong anti-authoritarian. Views. On the Web, muckraking malcontents are frequently celebrated as champions of the Internet’s democratic – particularly if they have managed to hack a piece of code that has been interfering with what others regard as their inalienable digital rights.

These features of the web of life “are part of the DNA of social culture 2.0/comportement Y / Facebook generation but are mostly ignored by large companies. Certainly, there are many people looking for a job right now but are they really ready to work in cubicle land?

Translated from our French article

So much has been written already but what is happening right now and what do we need to be thinking about when it comes to the China’s future workforce?
Although China is experiencing a slow down in exports and property sales, it remains one of the least exposed countries in the financial crisis. Many hope that this will lead to closer ties and cooperation with the western continents and ideally support the IMF in the global crisis.
While many may fear China’s growing superpower, what would happen if China was not able to sustain its markets in years to come? Amazingly, with a population of over 200 million in the Generation Y age group, way outnumbering the 7% over 65’s, and 5 million graduates entering the market each year, China is still struggling to find the right talent, especially in key positions and with few top talents in the pool, the long term future of China’s leadership is still uncertain.

Mercer found that some of the challenges were to find candidates with the right qualifications, language skills (such as English) and the employability factors necessary for the workplace roles expected of them. There are swelling numbers of engineers coming onto the market, keen to learn more but needing time and further investment in order to bring value to businesses. Perhaps all this is indicative of the higher education system and weak ties to industry, it is difficult to tell right now, but what is clear is that organisations in China have a huge talent planning and development challenge ahead of them.

Having seen nothing but a boom in China for some years, the economic pressures are still a shock and worry for many there. Some state owned enterprises are facing consolidation of their huge workforces, attempting to keep their best talent, even though the government has been keen to prevent job losses. Others are still expanding, needing to recruit large numbers of people who can work in an international context. It is still the private sector that could be facing the biggest challenges, however, with increasing production costs, still adjusting to labour law challenges particularly around fixed-term contract workers, labour disputes as employees have become more aware of the rights, reduced export orders, inflation, and so on. Some may argue that this may have been coming to China anyway as it develops. Chinese owned companies have been buying their talent from multinational organisations, where perhaps employees are able to make themselves more marketable with the experience and learning they gain. Atttition rates for GenY have been rather high in comparison to their predecessors in China, 20-40% in some cases.

Competitive reward packages have been changing in the last two to three years but talent planning, attraction, retention, development and people management are all issues that need a great deal more attention. Good quality managers, senior managers and all round business leaders are hard to find at the best of times in China, so what is being done about it?

With HR functions still relatively underdeveloped in China for varying reasons, and those in multinationals having their ‘hands tied’ by their parent companies, this leaves the question about who is taking ownership of talent strategy and able to address it.

Local companies have been looking to other cities to find cheaper talent so that they remain competitive and many multinationals continue to place expatriates in China (from UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia for example). Some bring Chinese engineers to Europe for training before returning them to their homeland as well as trying to send those Chinese born and bred outside China to help bridge the gap. But there is little evidence of doing much more than that. Localisation strategies appear to be no more than talk for many, with all but a few leading multi-nationals including China in their leadership development programmes, it is not clear how much sophistication goes into development programmes at lower levels.

And so what of China’s youth? Teenage author Michael Stanat, wrote China’s Generation Y: Understanding the Future Leaders of the World’s Next Superpower in 2005 (See also our earlier article about this, in French), but much of it holds today. We all know that China adopted the mobile phone as soon as it became connected and we have visions of youngsters sitting behind their computers, playing with software and internet games, changing their gadget accessories and applications almost on a weekly basis. They are become more ‘green’ conscious and are better educated than their parents, are savvy and brand aware, big spending and entrepreneurial and, as such, GenY is still a major target for marketing campaigns despite talk of cost consciousness and cutting back.

Working with China is still seen to be a potential major competitive advantage.

“This youth marketplace is having a major ripple effect that continues to shape global business strategies–making Chinese youth culture one of the most sought after new markets in the world.” (www.researchandmarkets.com, 2009).

But representing such a large proportion of the world population, these will be the individuals that will have learnt to survive and thrive in a recession, will come to travel the world (as many foresee themselves doing) and lead and create new enterprises of the future.

How will management practices change? The introduction of global whistleblowing polices has already proved to be an interesting challenge in China where it has traditionally been deemed to be highly disloyal and career limiting to speak out against their command and control management. Our vocal GenY will be pushing these boundaries further. Current Chinese leaders of the right calibre, expected to run large enterprises and multi-national subsidiaries, with all round skills are still rare. They are often seen to be lacking in strategic thought, certain aspects of business acumen, innovation and creative problem solving skills despite many being cunning, but are often strong relationship builders and are loyal and resilient.

Our GenX in China see themselves as a friendly face and pride themselves in building their relationships and networks and many appear hungry to learn from international organisations. Y’ers in China are no less keen, they are thirsty for overseas education programmes and opportunities, and new forums to share ideas and opportunities. However, today’s teen ‘net fluent’ (or ‘cyber-’ as they are referred to there) population are feeling the pressure from their GenX parents, and stories of depression and rebellion continue to emerge. Meanwhile young entrepreneur associations are still forming formally and informally and social media is spreading.

So it’s time for China to address it’s talent gap issues and for us to think about how we can support that for mutual benefit.; there is a duty to the youth of today and the leaders of our future.

Here in EMEA we may think of China being far away or not yet connected to our businesses and that we ourselves have different challenges with a more ageing population; but with some countries in the region having more than 50% of their demographic under the age of 30 (and most 30-40%), this is also a group of future world leaders that needs to be nurtured, especially if they are going to be working with our Chinese counterparts in a more cooperative way.

So talent planning and management practices need to be carefully thought through, considering the rapid pace of change and with some tailoring to Chinese culture. Organisations need to look increasingly at ways to develop Chinese staff from within, including secondments, projects, mentoring, and other forms of training. Forms of interactive and blended learning and communications, including use of social media style technologies may all be effective ways to spread the word and all of which can be done without huge investment but needs to be well thought through. Successful organisations in China are thinking big picture, planning long term and looking to carefully select the right talent to buy in and above all tailoring their learning & development programmes. Stronger ties with universities and business schools may also be a shrewd investment.

As we always say why not ask GenY what they would like to get involved in and what they think may be good ways to gain experience and share know-how how, they can be pretty ingenious and resourceful!

How is the Chinese talent gap affecting your organisation? What are your challenges and perspectives on working with China? How are you finding GenY behaviours there? Are you developing new talent strategies in China or other parts of Asia? Are your leaders ready to work alongside their Chinese counterparts in the future?

As managers, it is time to be prepared and open minded about what each of the generations brings. Those seniors may have worked in a different era but the experiences are no less valid and they’re amongst the users of the internet and web 2.0 tools just like everyone else.

Our Gen Y need an encouraging hand, genuine interest in what they have to say and what they want to achieve; it’s not about their managers making assumptions or judgements, or ensuring these newcomers have to go through the same paces they did.

In the article “I’m way more Generation Y than I thought, you too?” by 23 year old Victoria Gutierrez, she looks at the fundamental differences in her Y world and that of her boyfriend’s father who is busy conforming to the traditional hard working career guy image just like many of the others that she perceives follow in similar footsteps. Victoria remains frustrated, trying to bring her unique contribution, finding something exciting and creative that allows her to be herself at work.

So what are these Gen X senior and middle managers going to do to bring these  groups together? How are they going to cope with the pressures of change? How are our new Gen Y middle managers going to embrace these strange times? And how are we going to support them?

Of course there are plenty of leadership development programmes and workshops out there, change management guide books and all the rest. In fact we urge you to keep investing in your leadership and think carefully about how you can do that in an imaginative way. The top companies distinguish themselves by the way they develop their leaders and think about the young leaders of tomorrow.

However, we need to think about what is different and not just fall back into our old ways. First, what is similar: Recognition, Leadership, Meaning and Authenticity:

Recognition: For one thing, it is time to be human and to find ways to maintain that community spirit and allow people to share their contributions.

Leadership: Do you have enough of the right mix of talents and generations in your team? How diverse is your team really? It is not just about legal compliance or making up numbers, it is real, without the right balance how can you leverage the best ideas? The more you put into these teams, the stronger the results. Ask them to take ownership of identifying what they need as a group and individuals to improve their activities and how they can work together in new and better ways.

Meaning: Leaders and middle managers need to use their position wisely. It is not just about leading from the front, it is about leading from the centre, being a facilitator, spiritual guide, coach, master companion and humamanagement!

Authenticity is key – make it real! Don’t live by the text book. In fact, leave the rule books on the floor; it is more than ‘look, listen and learn’ as previous generations would say; get in there and be part of something adaptive and evolving. Regardless of budget cuts, making fun part of the agenda will reap rewards. Encourage laughter, it is still one nature’s best medicines, even if the tasks at hand are serious ones.

Recognise and support those who try hard and don’t succeed, the lessons learned are always valuable ones. Don’t preach at them, ask them for solutions, they enjoy participant led activity.

Gen Y will “sink or swim”. It’s time to let Y’ers show you what they’ve got! Let them take on challenges that others may guffaw at, just allow them your encouragement and support. It is time to allow them to literally feel and sense what they believe. It is not time to ‘coach and facilitate’ into GenX trusted beliefs – genuine open minds are required and above all a positive mental attitude. Let our Gen Y show us their energy and stop putting them in boxes!

Remember, as we have said before Gen Y is not just an age group but a behaviour, it is not just a fashion or a fad, it is a new way of thinking, a lifestyle, a way of being in the new world. Leaders need to embrace it and make it work for all.