Gen Y Vs Gen X Workers Workforce Performance Discussion -Please read the provided case study (attached) -and select one argument below to respond to. -a minimum of 250 words. Argument A: From the Gen Y in the Workforce case, describe (in written, narrative form) at least three of Josh’s missteps below.Argument B: From the Gen Y in the Workforce case, what are at least two possible responses (in written, narrative form) from Sarah regarding Josh’s behavior. Gen Y in the Workforce
https://hbr.org/2009/02/gen-y-in-the-workforce-2
GENERATIONAL ISSUES
Gen Y in the Workforce
by Tamara J. Erickson
From the February 2009 Issue
RU BRD?1
T
he text message from Ashok stood out in bold block letters on the small screen of
Josh Lewiss iPhone. Am I ever, Josh thought, stuffing the device back into his
pocket and emphatically rolling his chair away from his PC and the backlit
spreadsheets and formulas that had made his eyes bloodshot and his mood sour. He stood
up, stretched, and took a minute to consider his plight: For the past three days, hed been
crunching U.S. and international film sales, attendance, and merchandising figures
nonstop for his boss, Sarah Bennett, the marketing chief of the movie division of Rising
Entertainment. Bennett and her team were in the midst of prepping the promotions,
advertising, and branding plan for the next Fire Force Five film; her presentation to the
companys CEO, its head of distribution, and other unit leaders was planned for Friday.
Two more daysmany more hours, many more stats to go over before I sleep, the 23year-old marketing associate estimated. He plunked himself back down in his chair.
A recent graduate of the University of Southern California, Josh had had visions of making
films that offered strong social commentarylike Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth or
Morgan Spurlocks Super Size Meand distributing them on open platforms so that his
message could reach the greatest number of people. With some championing from his
unclea well-regarded TV producer who knew people who knew peopleJosh joined
Rising Entertainment, one of the top three multimedia production and distribution houses
1in
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the
4:18 PM
world. The company boasted large film, television, home video, music, and4/20/20,
licensed
Gen
Y in the Workforce
merchandise
units,
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with a catalog of thousands of properties.
Josh expected that the
studio, with its location in the heart of Los Angeles and satellite offices in six countries,
would offer plenty of excitement and opportunityever-present TV and film shoots on the
lots, hobnobbing with industry power brokers, the inevitable offers from competing
studios, and, of course, the terrific LA nightlife. But now, with 10 months on the job, and
most of that time relegated to mundane, ancillary projects that informed the bigger
initiatives his boss was spearheading, Josh was feeling numb. Who would have thought
that life in a big movie studio could be so routine? he thought to himself.
Suddenly there was that familiar vibration from his iPhone and another text message from
Ashok: WRUD? TAB?2 A break sounded great. He replied immediatelyBRT3and
set off for their favorite meeting spot. As he was heading out, it occurred to Josh that he
should let Sarah know where he was. He fired off another quick text message.
Sounding Bored
By the time Josh got to the high-backed purple booth in the corner of the commissary,
Ashok and Jessica were already there. Ashok Devi worked in Rising Entertainments TV
division as a promotions associate. Jessica Sadler had started out in the film division but,
for now at least, was working as an assistant in the companys legal groupostensibly to
help out a team in transition but really to figure out if law school was in her future. The
three had been at USC together, studying a broad mix of business, communications, and
film, but they had become particularly good friends since joining the company around the
same time, braving orientation together and now commiserating with one another about
the flaws in their respective work groupsin which each was among the youngest on staff.
Aw, whats wrong, Josh? Jessica said, noticing Joshs serious expression as he shuffled
over to the table. Did your mom call HR again? Ashok, who was sitting next to Jessica,
just grinned and shook his head.
Josh shot them both a look. Whatever. Ive been buried all week with ridiculous
busywork. Sarahs all amped about this distribution and marketing plan for the Triple-F
2 of 13
series. But Im just not feeling it, he vented.
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Gen
Y in the
Workforce
Have
you
tried
explaining that to Sarah? Jessica asked.
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Josh had. A few weeks earlier, during a small team meeting in which Sarah was outlining
her marketing premise for Fire Force Five: Reignitionthe details of which centered
primarily on TV ads and an aggressive print campaignJosh had casually joked about how
1990s the whole plan was. It was as though DVRs, film-related websites and blogs, virtual
worlds, and YouTube didnt exist, he thought. As though the question of how to capitalize
on the free-content movement was still something plaguing the guys in the record
business and not anyone else.
No one watches network TV anymoreor network TV ads, Josh had pointed out during
the meeting. Instead of relying chiefly on traditional marketing channels, he said, why not
try new media? Make the movie theme song available for download for Guitar Hero. Or,
even better, make one or more of the Fire Force Five movies available online and embed
teasers for the latest sequel within them.
Sarah had immediately balked, noting the creaky Rising Entertainment website, which
boasted very little traffic and even less functionality. A successful online campaign for
the third Triple-F movie in 2005 had nearly taken down the studios entire network
including critical sales force connections.
So how about striking deals with, like, Hulu or There or Gaia? Theyre well suited to
handle the trafficmuch better than we are, Josh replied. These days it was just so much
easier to download music, movies, and TV shows how and when you wanted them. To
have, as Jessica joked, old 90210 and new 90210 existing peacefully on your laptop. Wed
be leveraging one of Rising Entertainments biggest strengths, its library, in a way that
gets the company out in front of the movement to free content.
All great points, Sarah had responded. But our budget is soft right noweverything is
soft right now. Im not sure we have the time and resources to throw at these channels.
Josh opened his mouth to respond, but the marketing chief cut off the discussion there and
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went on to her other notes.
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Gen
Y inwas
the Workforce
That
the end
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of that, Josh explained to his friends. I guess
I just expected that I
would get to act on more of my ideas, he complained, as they finished crunching through
a large order of lime-cilantro chips and salsa. And that the higher-ups here would have
figured out by now that the models changing. By the time Ashok, Jessica, and Josh had
gotten down to salty crumbs, the three were in firm agreement: Sarah just didnt get it.
The View from Above
Should all the bullet points be flame balls? Sarah Bennett wondered, only half joking with
herself. She was in the midst of building her PowerPoint slides for Fridays meeting with
CEO Sam Smithstone and, as always, fighting the urge to add crazy animation and special
effects to her presentation. After 10 years at Rising Entertainment, the 37-year-old
marketing chief still saw herself as a budding creative rather than an established suit. But
she understood her role in the hierarchy: manage the people and the details.
Still, it was a far cry from where she started. A native of Long Island, Sarah had gotten her
MBA from New York Universitys Stern School of Business and held an undergraduate
degree in film studies from NYUs prestigious Tisch School. She moved to Los Angeles and
worked her way up in Rising Entertainment, from an entry-level copywriter, to marketing
associate, to head of the 22-person film-marketing unit. Sarah had a lot riding on the
latest Fire Force Five release. A big opening weekend would go a long way toward helping
her lobby for one of the positions she was really interested in: EVP in either international
business development or family films.
The Fire Force Five series was one of the companys strongest and best-known properties:
The three Triple-F movies released over the past 10 years had generated more than $2.4
billion in box-office receipts and almost as much in merchandise sales. The buzz was
building for the upcoming fourth release. Already, Sarah had leveraged the decade-long
relationships shed cultivated with reporters at Entertainment Weekly, Variety, and other
magazines to place behind-the-scenes and making-of feature articleseach of which
stoked the chatter and anticipation among Triple-F fans. Shed overseen the production of
a high-impact trailer that would be reviewed in Fridays meeting, and shed also been
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coordinating with Rising Entertainments publicity department to get most of the Fire
Gen
Y in the
Workforce
Force
quintet
booked
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on the usual morning and late-night talk
shows.
Now, Sarah was staring anxiously at the envelope icon in the bottom-right corner of her
screen: Where were the numbers shed asked Josh to generate? Sarah just couldnt afford
to stay at the office tonight; every minute she was late to pick up four-month-old Rosie
from day care was costing her (financially and psychically), and she had already logged
plenty of overtime this week. Sarah was ready to alert her husband that hed have to
handle the pickup, when the Outlook message popped up: You have new unopened
items. It was close to 5:30 PM when Joshs report arrived, and the last couple of case
studies looked pretty sketchy, as if hed thrown them together quickly. But there wasnt
enough time to send them back for revision, Sarah decided. Shed work on them further in
the morning.
Sarah stared anxiously at her screen: Where
were the numbers shed asked Josh to generate?
Sarah quickly dropped the numbers into her slide deck and was about to log off when she
spotted the bright pink coaching sticky note slapped on the side of her monitor. A few
months ago she and the other frontline managers at Rising Entertainment had gone
through a special HR-facilitated training session about integrating the newer, younger
hires into the company. Invest the time, the managers were told. But what many of them
heard was Sugarcoat.
Sarah quickly dashed off an e-mail to Josh. Great job! Youre the best. Who was she
kidding? Hed done a half-assed job, and he knew it. Like so many of the young people
hired by the studio recently, Sarah thought, Josh was far more concerned with getting
praise than with earning praise. How else to explain that look at me move in the team
meeting a few weeks back? Not that Joshs ideas were bad, Sarah recalled. They just
werent very well informed; he hadnt bothered to think about things like, well, money and
infrastructure and talent. If I had tried something like that when I was an associate, I
would have been back at square one in a heartbeat, she thought.
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Gen
in the had
Workforce
NoYone
even
bothered to show her the ropes until shed https://hbr.org/2009/02/gen-y-in-the-workforce-2
been on board awhile, Sarah
recalled. But, following HRs directives, she promised herself shed take time to explain to
Josh exactly how his analysis had been received, how it fit into the overall presentation,
and how shed structured the pitchafter the meeting. The clock was ticking.
Bypassing the Boss
Sam Smithstone was already late for a dinner meeting with a couple of potential clients at
the Ivy. The freeway would be murder. So he didnt take too kindly to Josh Lewiss overly
solicitous greeting in the hallway late on Thursday and his attempts to conduct a drive-by
pitch. Stop by my office at 8:15 AM tomorrow, he told the marketing associate. Or walk
with me, if you want. But keep up.
The break-time discussion with his friends the day before had emboldened Josh. As soon
as hed returned to his cubicle, he sent Jessica and Ashok an urgent e-mail: Who would
know details of our current distribution and intellectual property agreements for the
Triple-F films? Jessica shared the name of a veteran IP lawyer in her department. Ashok
had no contacts to share but responded nonetheless with a morale-boosting XLNT!4
Rather than devote even more time to Sarahs assignment, Josh opted to turn in a good
enough version near days end. Then he had raced off to legal to find Jessicas colleague.
Hed spent most of Thursday morning and afternoon fleshing out his plan.
Now, walking alongside the studio head, Josh took a moment to establish his pedigree,
telling the executive where he went to school and why he chose Rising Entertainment. As
Josh chatted up the CEO with ease, Sam was instantly reminded of his daughterwho was
around the same age, now living back at home, and would similarly corral him to talk
gadgets, politics, and pop culture.
Im glad youre enjoying it hereso what did you want to run by me? Sam said, trying
to get Josh to cut to the chase before they reached the lobby.
Josh carefully but quickly laid out his ideas for putting the Triple-F series online as a
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marketing ploy for the new installment and employing nontraditional distribution and
Gen
Y in the Workforce
promotion
channels.
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Even before Josh was done, Sam stopped
and smiled. Thats some
fresh thinkingI like it, he said. Can you talk through these ideas during tomorrows
meeting? Maybe provide some P&L projections or a point-by-point comparison of your
plan against the plans weve used to market and distribute Triple-F in the past?
Thats some fresh thinkingI like it, the CEO
told Josh.
I can, Josh replied, neglecting to tell the senior leader that he hadnt actually been
invited to the meeting and wasnt even sure where it was being held. I will. Thanks, Mr.
Smithstone. Sam was only seconds out the door when Josh grabbed for his phone and
typed an urgent message to Ashok and Jessica: AYT?5 SOS!
Oops! Sarah literally bumped into her boss as they were both getting coffee in the
commissary early on Friday morning. She had been so fixated on the slight stain on her
blousespit-up? orange juice?that she hadnt even seen Sam Smithstone approaching,
Styrofoam cup in hand. Good thing theres a cover on that, Sarah thought.
Great work cultivating the new guys, Sarah. Im looking forward to hearing more from
Josh, the CEO said in passing. I love his approach, and even better, I love the wiki he
sent around last night explaining his idea. See you in a bit.
Sarah stared after Sam. What? Wikis? She was amazed on every level, starting with the
fact that the CEO even knew who Josh was. I wasnt even sure he knew who I was, she
thought. Her astonishment slowly abatedreplaced with a burning desire to talk things
over with her young marketing colleague, particularly before the Triple-F meeting in a few
hours.
Sarah pulled out her BlackBerry and punched out a message: Josh, in my office, please, in
10.
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How can Sarah and Josh work together more effectively?
4/20/20, 4:18 PM
Gen
Y inAlsop
the Workforce
Ron
(ronald.alsop@gmail.com)
https://hbr.org/2009/02/gen-y-in-the-workforce-2
is a freelance writer, editor,
and consultant, and a
former reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of The Trophy Kids
Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
This is a classic case of impatient Generation Y meets pay your dues Generation X.
Similar scenarios are being played out in many workplaces as Gen Yers, with their great
and sometimes unrealistic expectations, clash with older workers. Josh Lewis is in a hurry
to see his ideas implemented and get into a more senior position at Rising Entertainment,
while Sarah Bennett believes in putting in your time before expecting recognition and
promotions. Its telling that she wasnt even sure CEO Sam Smithstone knew who she
was, despite her role as marketing chief for the movie division.
Such generational conflicts are inevitable but certainly manageable when members of the
various generations are willing to listen to one another and make accommodations. How
to heal the relationship between Josh and Sarah? For starters, Sarah must reprimand Josh
for blindsiding her by going over her head and presenting his marketing tactics directly to
Sam. Like many Gen Yers, Josh doesnt respect the corporate pecking order. His
generation has little tolerance for lines of authority and proper protocol. Some corporate
managers even call college-age job applicants student stalkers because they fire off
e-mails to everyone from the CEO on down to try to get the inside track to a job. But such
brash behavior wont fly at most companies. Josh needs to respect Sarahs authority and
try to work with her, not bypass her.
Sarah should firmly tell Josh to air his future grievances with her rather than go directly to
her boss, but she also must take steps to deal with the frustrations that motivated him to
be so headstrong. Like many Gen Yers, he wants to know that his work is meaningful and
have input into big decisions. He also needs constructive feedback about his suggestions.
Too often, it seems, Sarah has dismissed his ideas as impractical and considered him too
inexperienced to participate in important strategic meetings. She has failed to appreciate
his valuable knowledge about new media and social networking and his creativity in
dreaming up fresh marketing ploys that will appeal to his generation, the prime movie8going
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audience.
4/20/20, 4:18 PM
Gen
Y in the Workforce
Todays
bosses may
https://hbr.org/2009/02/gen-y-in-the-workforce-2
sometimes feel like babysitters, but theyll
have to get used to
spending more time with their young workers. The investment should pay off in improved
morale, productivity, teamwork, and innovation. Clearly, Sarah has been struggling to
balance her time at the office with her family responsibilities. But that doesnt excuse her
failure to encourage more communication with Josh. She needs to find opportunities to
explain how his contributions matter and affect the success of the companys marketing
programs. Josh and Sarah should plan regular sessions to hash out their differences. While
Josh might prefer text messaging and e-mail, it is critical that he and Sarah meet face-toface for more substantive conversations about workplace attitudes and expectations.
Todays bosses may sometimes feel like
babysitters, but theyll have to get used to
spending time with young workers.
Managers like Sarah also are finding that they need to show respect for Gen Yers and
encourage them even if they cant give Gen Yers what they want as fast as they want it. It
doesnt mean we can be as indulgent as managers as we are as parents; we have to slap
them back a little, a managing director at Merrill Lynch once told me. But as parents of
young people just like them, we can treat them with respect. Maybe they cant sit in and
listen to the presentation they helped put together for senior management. But we can tell
them, If not this time, maybe next time.
Pamela Nicholson is the president and COO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, based in St. Louis.
Sarah doesnt have time to get angry. She needs to familiarize herself with Joshs idea and
make sure all the supporting data are there. Given the CEOs enthusiasm for Joshs
marketing…
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