Performance management for Generation Y

As Angela O’Connor, chief people officer at the National Policing Improvement Agency, views it, the task of delegating work to staff should be a two-way pro­cess between employee and manager.

The agency, which was derived from a merger in April 2007 to improve police training and technology, now has approximately 90% of its 2,000 staff on the same terms and conditions. But the agency did not force managers to hand out new job descriptions to staff for fear it would restrict individuals’ capability, O’Connor says.

“I’ve no interest in what job descriptions say because they’re shoved in a drawer somewhere and locked away,” she says.

“I think the emphasis has to be much more on what people are doing. They know their grade and they get paid accordingly. I’d be ever so unhappy if people got out their job descriptions and said ‘this is my description and I’m only doing this’,” she says.

Concentrating on a set list of tasks and responsibilities can also create unintentional boundaries when it comes to the annual appraisal meeting, according to Paul Reynolds, HR director at catering giant Elior. He says both the individual and the manager refrain from talking about any other aspects of work which the employee might be interested in as they are busy ‘ticking off’ progress against predetermined duties.

“The annual appraisal meeting is too process-orientated and constrained. You’re asking and getting answers to questions that come from a very set agenda. Depending on the seniority and experience of the manager, they may not feel obliged to talk beyond that,” he says.

O’Connor believes the only way to get round this is to talk to staff regularly – and informally – about how they are doing, and where there could be room for improvement.

Hobgen says internal research years ago found that all employees – not just Generation Y – wanted regular recognition and involvement in decision making. While the firm, which employs 23,000 people worldwide including 8,000 in the UK, has a formal, annual appraisal system, complete with an interim assessment mid-year, it provides training to its people managers to teach effective ways of managing performance and developing employees all year round.

About 120 senior managers, including the chief executive, run face-to-face internal briefings with fairly large groups of staff throughout the year, to foster an open culture of engagement.

“From a management perspective, it’s asking how people are, giving them time. It’s about having an open-door policy – both physically and metaphorically,” he says.

Yet head of resourcing at supermarket giant Tesco, Lorna Bryson, wants to go one step further. She says company managers must also have a thorough understanding of what Generation Y is before giving them that ‘face’ time.

“It’s about helping managers to understand the needs of a young person. They are high maintenance – needy – and want to know where their career is going. When I left school, I did whatever my manager asked. Now, the younger generation has some great ideas, but we need to get those out of them,” she says.

Just under 10% of Tesco’s 250,000 employees are aged 17-24. Tesco management teams have weekly, face-to-face meetings with staff to enable ideas to be bounced off each other.

He encouraged his leadership team, including the chief executive, to contribute to the online blogs to stimulate conversation across staff levels. In fact most articles on Elior’s intranet are now designed to encourage interactivity between employees and management, he says.

“It can be quite scary getting comments, if you ask for them, you might get some back that are quite negative. But your team enjoy the fact they’ve had the opportunity to comment, and you’re engendering this feeling of being valued,” Reynolds said.

But Henson believes Web 2.0 technology can do much more to create online communities that Generation Y expect to be part of in the office, which in turn helps with employee engagement and retention.

“Generation Y are more interested in their networks than they are in their employer. So if you interview a cohort of graduates, for example, they look for ways to work together. Organisations need to leverage networking technology to support this (for example Facebook).”

He adds: “HR needs to build in flexibility and adaptability. Yes, Generation Y wants a healthy work-life balance, but so do ‘baby boomers’. You need to create a working environment that motivates every generation.”

O’Connor agrees that managers must be willing to find out what method works best for their teams, regardless of background or age. “You can’t communicate enough [to engage them], but it’s finding mechanisms for people that work – whether that’s through internal papers like the staff magazine, or core team briefings.”

Indeed, she insists, the core elements of good people management – effective communication, constant feedback and flexibility with workloads – appeal to any generation, no matter what age or background.

• Spell out how their role fits into wider organisational goals
• Create a development plan with clear career and succession planning
• When giving feedback on individual projects, include input from multiple sources such as customers or colleagues, not just their line managers
• Offer different ways of rewarding a job well done, eg allowing time off with salary sacrifices
• Provide a mentoring programme for staff to meet and work with top management
• Harness online technology including blogging, interactive articles and chat rooms between employees and managers to encourage an open culture
• Coach people managers in how they can engage their staff
• Give constant feedback about work, informally and formally. Don’t wait until the annual appraisal to discuss how they are doing.