Are You Keeping Up With Generation Y?

Matt Dyer looks at the changes contact centres could make to accommodate the professional wants and needs of Generation Y.

Born between 1980 and 2000, millennials – or Generation Y – are a significant group because they represent not only an increasing part of your customer base but also a growing proportion of your contact centre workforce.

As a contact centre manager, you need to be thinking hard about what makes Generation Y tick, especially when it comes to fine-tuning performance around their known enthusiasms.

Flexibility and experience are more important than money

Work/life balance is critical to Generation Y employees, so offering a mobile app to select shifts and book holidays could help to keep agents happy. Also, experiences rather than financial rewards are often preferred, so charity projects or community hubs could also prove important for Generation Y agents.

Having grown up with broadband, smartphones and social media, Generation Y expect immediate access to information and, as employees, expect a much more flexible approach to work.

80% of Generation Y staff expected regular feedback from their managers

When surveyed by PWC, 59% of millennial respondents said that an employer’s provision of state-of-the-art technology was important to them when considering a job. Always online, and digitally and socially active, being able to instantly connect, engage and collaborate will be an increasingly important factor in job performance.

Research also suggests that 92% of millennial respondents felt that their success at work should be measured in ways other than profit. A recent study by MTV reported that 80% of Generation Y staff expected regular feedback from their managers, while three out of four wanted dedicated mentors for their career.

It’s therefore important for contact centre management to develop HR reward programmes and coaching approaches that start to address these expectations. Similarly, with an anticipated average employment tenure of just two years, contact centres need to move quickly to ensure the optimum value from their Generation Y staff investment!

The same thinking applies when it comes to engaging Generation Y customers. They value simplicity, so it’s important to focus on making your organisation easy to do business with.

With thanks to Matt Dyer at Sabio