Incentives and the Class of 2011

Graduation will soon be upon us.  Millions of hungry job-seekers will be flooding the market place looking for work. A few of them will find it.  And they might find it at your organization.  And you may be responsible for influencing them, recognizing them and designing incentives for them to guide their behavior at work.

And knowing who they are is key.  But do you?

Last week the company I worked with on a webinar, i love rewards, released something called their “Class of 2011” white paper/research study.  It was profiled on Forbes and in the USA Today. 

When I saw the reference I thought of the Beloit College “Mindset List” started about 10 years ago to help Professors at the school understand incoming Freshman and how they may (or may not) interpret references.  Here’s an example...

How do you think a student would react if a professor, commenting on the lack of organization in a student’s backpack... 

“That looks like Fibber McGee and Molly’s Closet.”

I’m pretty sure many of you reading this have no clue.  I only know of it because my father (born 1928) used to use that when describing my bedroom.  Here’s a link for all of you under the age of 75.

Program Design Is About Them

I’ve only said it 239 times on this site - design incentives and recognition for your audience, not for you.  And your audience is probably very different than you.  Want proof... check out what the Mindset List said about the incoming Freshmen in 2008 who will be graduating this year.  

I’ve picked my 11 favorites out of their list of 70.

Beloit Mindset List 2011

1. What Berlin wall?
2. They never “rolled down” a car window.
3. They were introduced to Jack Nicholson as “The Joker.”
4. Stadiums, rock tours and sporting events have always had corporate names.
5. They learned about JFK from Oliver Stone and Malcolm X from Spike Lee.
6. High definition television has always been available.
7. Smoking has never been allowed in public spaces in France.
8. Tiananmen Square is a 2008 Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre.
9. MTV has never featured music videos.
10. They get much more information from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert than from the newspaper.
11. The World Wide Web has been an online tool since they were born.

That’s what we call “perspective.”  Get it.  Use it in your program design.

 

Comments

[Hinda_incentive]

Great article, Paul. I'm also from Gen Y and I can relate to that list pretty well (not sure if that's something I should admit or not). New generations are never carbon copies of generations before them. So, it's important that companies, managers and workplace programs are continually evolving to adapt to the change in audience.

[Paul Hebert]

Never apologize for your context - it is yours alone. Also, I count on Gen Y a lot - it is part of my retirement plan...

[Kenneth]

Wow, your mind set list was an eye-opener. What is the Berlin Wall and never having to roll down a car window were the best. Thanks for reminding me that not all of us in the work place have had the same experiences and therefore do not think alike, which is a good thing.

[Xuan Luo]

I am Class of 2006. After reading the list, I can feel that I am growing old. Things are changing rapidly these days, which expands the generation gaps between people of different ages. It is beneficial to learn what other generations of people have experienced and how they think so that we can communicate with them more effectively.