Dealing with Employees of GENERATION Y is harder than you THINK

By: Kmar Henry
       CEO, BIZcare Consultation & Accounting Firm

The image of your business is greatly dependent on how your employees interact with your customers.' A concept that has been brushed aside by many business owners due to the derivative change that is evident within the potential workforce that they have to choose from. Yes, our business owners are now faced with the issue of having to employ the best out of a crop of workers that have been misled by societal trends.

With information being very easily accessible, many would think that the quality of customer service

would have been at its optimum level. However, the backlash is evident as our workers, who are mostly from GENERATION Y, are far more distracted by keeping up with societal trends than ensuring that your customers are being satisfied at all cost. Workers nowadays lack purpose and understanding of what customer satisfaction and expectations truly is and are therefore distracted by a world that literally does not exist. Hence, the service that you need to implement as a business owner is either short lived or given in spaces by your employees. We are now in the age that sees a gradual shift in the way you have to market your business in order to portray an image that will not only attract customers, but also the right EMPLOYEES. The influence of social media is at a sky level, so if your business is not being properly marketed on these platforms, customers and potential workers of the Generation Y will somehow feel that your business is non-existent. This is a harsh reality that we must accept as we are seeing the changes appearing daily right in front our eyes. 

If we watch closely, millennials place great emphasis on virtual image, how you appear to them as a business has to be identical to what they have visually in their minds. Hence, if you are not inclined to the use of social media, they will either be more easily distracted or lack purpose when working which in turn causes their productivity to be at its lowest. Their visual means of meeting their goals are vastly dependent on the need to portray an image of being ‘cool’ and ‘in style’. This insatiable need for attention more often than not makes them out of line with the true values and morals that are needed to be implemented in order to reach them. We come in contact them daily, the shoes, the hair, the pants, the shirt, the style, all fitting this social or visual image that must be posted daily in order for them to feel a sense of purpose. They are easily distracted by their phones and read very little. They are always chitchatting about propaganda and work little but expect the highest wages. They always seem to lack identity and are easily reached on their phones but explain little when communication by verbal and physical means are needed. 

So what do we do as Employers to solve the issue?

The sad truth is that we have to portray the image that they want; we have to ensure that we are on all major social media platforms and give them work-related incentives to ensure that they understand the value of hard work. We have to ensure that they understand customer satisfaction is key by training them intensively via verbal and non-verbal means in order to ensure that they absorb some form of sensitivity when dealing with customer complaints. In fact, if we can shift most of our business models to accommodate service through social media applications, we might be able to get the most out of this generation. When you think about the companies that have skyrocketed over the decade; companies such as Uber, Snapchat, Paypal, Amazon, Ebay and so much more have made billions of dollars by Eliminating human interface between the customer and the company rep. Most companies have even implemented web chat based platforms to handle customer queries which studies have shown to be more effective than face to face and even telephone based query management. In the end, adaptation is key, we have to realise that the forces at play are greater than we are and a shift in business model might just be the key to survival. So depending on the nature of your business, it would be wise to see how much of an online and web-based approach you can take. And no it doesn’t have to be a major facelift, even more, frequent use of email or an online payment or shopping system can go a long way in establishing a social media and online footprint which can create a different image of your company among customers, prospective employees and current employees.

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Edited by: Anthonio James
              LLB & BA in Political Science

BIZcare Consultation & Accounting Firm is a consultation agency that operates within the small parish of Clarendon in the beautiful land of Jamaica. We are geared towards educating the minds of upcoming entrepreneurs of the important aspects that must be considered before starting their businesses. Hence why we operate under the slogan 'Your Business is OUR Priority' and tagline 'Helping Small Businesses & Individuals to better Organise their Business Functions.'

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