Career Aspirations and Attributes of

Indian Gen Y @ Workplace

Research Report 2011

In Partnership with

IKYA Human Capital Solutions Ltd,

MTHR Global and

The Academy of HRD

Abstract

The first of its kind in India, this research study is an empirical exploratory study

on Indian Gen Y working in urban locations of India today.

India’s Generation Y covered in this study work in urban India, and were born

between 1981-1991. This study explores their career aspirations, motivations

(extrinsic and intrinsic) and values at the workplace, and explores how these

factors impact organizations.

The study examines career aspirations and their relationship with motivations

(extrinsic and intrinsic) and values (achievement, money and role immersion) of

Indian Gen Y at the workplace today. The findings reveal heterogeneity of Gen

Ys’ career aspirations, and suggest that the respondents aspire to achieve

managerial competence, brand identity, and a sense of service. They are

motivated by extrinsic factors (i.e. tangible rewards obtained from external

sources such as salary, perks and physical conditions) only marginally, and are

mainly motivated by intrinsic factors (i.e. Individuals are intrinsically motivated

when they seek enjoyment, interest, satisfaction of curiosity, self-expression, or

personal challenge in the work) and they highly value achievement. Overall

career aspirations are positively correlated with intrinsic motivations and values

(achievement, monetary and role orientations). However, partial negative

correlation is seen between the career anchors and intrinsic motivations, such as,

technical & functional competence - technically competent supervisor, autonomy

& independence - Equitable Pay, geographical stability - equitable pay. Alike,

some career anchors are partially negatively correlated with extrinsic

motivations, such as sound company policies - managerial competence, fringe

benefits - job stability and alike. Further analyses showed significant differences

within the different cohorts, such as, industry, gender, location and work -

experience for overall career aspirations, motives and values. From the

qualitative sessions we also inferred that the career aspirations, motives and

values of Indian Gen Y do depend on their individual socio-cultural background.

Also, when one moves forward in their career & life stages, their career

aspirations also gets influenced by their personal and socio-cultural needs.

However, these are the areas for future investigation. The implications on HR

policies and practices for management and suggestions for future research are

put forward.

Key Findings

Region specific

• Gen Y working in the northern zone of India are seen to have low extrinsic

motivations (earnings, benefits, infrastructure, etc) & values

(Achievement/ monetary orientation/ role immersion) as compared to

the east, west and south zones of India.

• In terms of career aspirations, Southern zone Gen Y career aspirations are

prominent than the other zoners and they are highly motivated by

advancement in career and life.

Industry specific

• Job stability is the highest aspiration in the healthcare industry, closely

followed by the IT industry, the education industry and the infrastructure

industry.

• Brand Identity is aspired highest by the Gen Yers from the IT industry,

closely followed by the Gen Yers from the consulting industry cohort.

Work-experience specific

• It is interesting to note that Gen yers from the 0-5.5 years of work

experience are oriented more towards achievement, while the Gen Yers

with more than 6 years of work experience are seen to value money

more.

Location specific

• Urban work location is highly preferred by the Indian Gen Y.

Key Findings

Overall

• The Indian Gen Y professionals aspire mostly for managerial

competence, brand identity, and sense of service.

• The Indian Gen Y professionals are motivated when they have a

considerate and sympathetic supervisor, work-life balance, sound

company policies and practices and, equitable pay.

• The Indian Gen Y highly value achievement. The Gen Yers expressed in

both the quantitative and qualitative study, the importance of

achievement, not only in their professional environment, but in the

social environment in which they belong.

• They want to prove themselves and work ‘NOW’. They ask questions

only to be clear of what they have to do. Once, they know which area of

specialization to pursue in their career, there is no stopping them as

they are the most focused lot, are emotionally intelligent and dare to

speak out their mind.

• Peer pressure is very high in this group and the pressure to compete

within their peer group also motivates them to be offbeat and create

their own identity and their own space.

• Gen Y respondents appear to be motivated by a series of tradeoffs

between diametric motivational gratifications.

Gender specific

• Equitable pay (male-higher), sound co. policies & practices (female-

higher) and career advancement (male-higher) are key differentiating

motivators for male and female Indian Gen Y.

1. INTRODUCTION

The newest and youngest members of work forces all over the world

are making their presence felt, causing businesses to re-think their

workplace practices and adapting flexibility at workplace to this new

breed of Generation Y (Gen Y) employees and managers. With about

half of India’s one billion people under the age of 25, Generation Y in

India is the world’s largest compared out of total of 1,723,911,077,

which is 25.47% of world population (Indian Population Bureau, 2009).

The Gen Y, in our study, is the generation born in between 1981-1991,

as the scope of our research study is limited to the working Gen Y

professionals in India today. The Generation Y in India is a remarkable

group which is ambitious, optimistic, embraces change and has a clear

sense of where they are headed. In India, they will be the largest

percentage of employed workforce for next 50 years, thus, Generation

Y professionals’ skills and potentials are crucial if economies are to

move up the value chain. In addition, as the Baby Boomers (born 1946

– 1964) retire, both Generation X (born 1965 –1979) and Generation Y

(born 1980– 2000) replaces them. Despite the large potential Gen Y

workforce, it is mentioned many a times that not all are ‘employment

ready’ and so their talents are in short supply.

Whether the challenges posed by Gen Y, also called as Millennial,

outweigh the opportunities they present, i.e. their ability to use

communication technologies and social media, their tech-savvy

culture, new ways of contemplating work, new managerial forms etc,

or they are creating both challenges and opportunities in the

workplace. There is little doubt, however, that organizations that

embrace the challenges will be in a better position to benefit from

their skills and high potential. Therefore, deep insights and

understanding of Gen Yers’ characteristics, their career aspirations,

value preferences and motivating factors will give a foundation for

developing effective management strategies in attracting, motivating,

engaging and retaining the Gen Yers. It is a proven fact that knowledge

and human capital are increasingly important determinants of an

organization's sustainable competitive advantage.

After reaffirming the facts that there is a lack of validated Indian

studies on Indian Gen Y working population and, a growing concern of

organizations on how to tap the opportunities and challenges posed on

them by the Gen Yers which has brought about a radical

transformation, perplexing organization(s) today to rethink on their

human resources strategies to sustain in the competitive and dynamic

market, ‘we’- IKYA Human Capitals, MTHR Global and the Academy of

HRD, have come together to conduct, first of its kind-exploratory

research on Indian Gen Y professionals working in urban India.

We intend to make the research study an open resource for every

professional from all walks of life and organizations and gain important

insights from this research.

Definition of keywords 1. Career anchors: A person's career anchor is his or her self-concept

consisting of 1) self-perceived talents and abilities, 2) basic values, and,

most important, 3) the evolved sense of motives and needs as they pertain

to the career.

2. Managerial Task/Competence: People in this category exhibit a strong

desire to climb the corporate general management ladder. Their ultimate

objective is management per se and the responsibility which accompanies

general management positions. Technical or functional competence is

viewed only as a necessary interim stage while their perception of required

competence lies in a blend of analytical, interpersonal, and emotional skills.

They are willing to accept challenge, crisis, group conflict and work under

conditions of incomplete information and high uncertainty.

3. Technical / Functional Competence: For individuals anchored in technical /

functional competence, actual work content becomes a primary concern and

chief area of interest in formulating career decisions. Feelings of well being

and competence are more closely aligned with subject or discipline

proficiency rather than management per se.

4. Security and Stability: The primary concern of people in this anchor category

is stability and / or security. This need can be manifested in at least two ways.

For some the central theme involves the security and stability that

accompanies membership in the firm or organization. For others the needs

tend to be more geographically based and involve the feelings and comfort

associated with settling down, stabilizing family, and establishing community

ties. In both instances, the driving or constraining forces are tied to a

personal sense of security, certainty, and future predictability.

5. Service to others: The drive to express needs, talents and values through

efforts designed to assist others; high dedication to cause.

6. Variety: The centrally important theme would involve the diversity of

challenges and the need to maintain flexibility of responses.

7. Creativity: Individuals anchored in creativity are dominantly influenced by a

motivation to build, create, invent or produce something of their own. In

essence, they are entrepreneurial by nature and are driven by the need to

demonstrate self-extension through their occupational efforts.

8. Autonomy and Independence: In this category, emphasis is on personal

freedom which can be expressed in any number of ways. Members of this

group manifest an overriding desire to be on their own, establish their own

lifestyle, set their own pace, work habits, and schedules. The autonomy

seeker will strive to minimize organizational constraints in pursuit of his or

her perceived competences.

9. Basic identity: The need to be associated with a firm or occupation which

externally or visibly enhances or substitutes for self definition.

10. Intrinsic motivation:

Intrinsic motivation is "the motivation to engage in work primarily for its own

sake (Amabile, Hennesy & Tighe 1994:950) and refers to the pleasure or the

personal fulfilment from performing the activity itself (Sonesh-Kedar &

Geirland 1998). Individuals are intrinsically motivated when they seek

enjoyment, interest, satisfaction of curiosity, self-expression, or personal

challenge in the work (Amabile 1997: 211).

11. Extrinsic motivation:

Extrinsic motivation emphasizes the value an individual places on the ends of

an action. It is "the motivation to work primarily in response to something

apart from the work itself (Amabile, Hennesy & Tighe 1994: 950) and

extrinsic reward systems are mainly tangible rewards obtained from external

sources such as salary, perks and physical conditions (Sonesh-Kedar &

Geirland 1998).

12. Achievement orientation: Achievement orientation is conceptualized as a

perceptual-cognitive framework that influences how individuals approach,

interpret, and respond to achievement activities. (Dweck & Leggett, 1989).

13. Role immersion: High orientation and involvement in one’s professional role

in an organization.

Research Objective

The key objective of the research is to explore the career aspirations

and attributes of Gen-Y professionals working in urban India. The

research further identifies how intrinsic & extrinsic motivators & the

values of Gen Y are compatible with their career aspirations at

workplaces. The following questions are addressed in the research

study:

• What are the Indian Gen Y professionals’ career aspirations,

motivations and value preferences?

• What are the relationship between career aspirations with

motivations and value preference?

• Are there any differences in the career aspirations, motivations and

value preferences of the Indian Gen Y professionals from different

zones of India, gender, work-experience, size of organization and

industry?

• What are current challenges and opportunities posed by the Indian

Generation Y at workplace today?

• What HR policies & processes will make them engaged and happy?

In order to answer these questions, it’s equally important to

understand the generational blend, portrait of Gen Y, current status of

Gen Y in India, how it’s affecting workplace and challenges associated

with attracting, engaging and retaining Gen Y employees, their career

aspirations, motivations and values. We reviewed literatures on Gen Y

from reputed journals, reports, and articles and studied each topic in

detail, in order to have deeper insights into the complexity of concerns

and disguised opportunities of Gen Y at workplace.

The following is a brief illustration of the research activities carried out

in each of the project phases and, a brief narration of the flow of the

report. The research was conducted from May’2011 to October’2011

in 4 project stages as explained briefly below:

Table 1: 4 project stages with description of the activities conducted

The Flow of the report

The report begins with a brief description of the areas under the

research study’s investigation through an extensive reviews of

research studies, articles and reports published in reputed journals and

some available as open resource. Following which, the methodology

and conception of our study is reproduced in the methodology section.

The result of the quantitative and qualitative is discussed

subsequently. The figures & tables accentuating the quantitative

results are presented below the sub-headings. In the discussion section

of the report, we have integrated the insights from both the qualitative

and quantitative analysis to finally arrive at the research conclusions,

mentioning the limitations of the study.

The Academy of HRD conducted a round table conference on the 3rd

of

Oct’2011, where we presented the findings of the quantitative

research to a panel of experts and professionals from the Industry, in

and around Ahmedabad. Their perspectives and the insights of the

Academy of HRD’s experts are put forth in the recommendation

section of the report.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

The Millennials or Gen Y (born 1980– 2000) are the newest generation

to enter the workforce. While being touted as the most “watched-

over” generation in history, they are also being portrayed as possibly

“the best generation yet” (Martin & Tulgan, 2001). As children they

were heavily programmed with multiple at-school and after-school

activities. They are highly collaborative and optimistic (Howe &

Strauss, 2000). They want a voice in the workplace as they have

become accustomed to having significant influence on family decisions

and teams throughout their lives (Alsop, 2008). They are technology-

dependent and expect automation in the workplace to support their

skills at multitasking. On the other hand, they share their feelings

easily and also share Gen Xers’ emphasis on work–life balance.

Generation Y in India

In India, they make up the more than half of the population. Despite

the large potential workforce, not all are ‘employment ready’ and so

their talents are in short supply. The Generation Y in India is a

remarkable group that is ambitious, optimistic, embraces change and

has a clear sense of where they are headed. With about half of India’s

one billion people under the age of 25, Generation Y in India is the

world’s largest. Positioned in a time of exciting and rapid economic

growth in the country, they are keen to participate in the country’s

future and success. Highly competitive, Generation Y is more than ever

before seeking higher education and landing jobs in multi-national

companies in diverse areas such as finance, marketing, project, IT, back

office operations, media, strategy and management positions across

different industry sectors like information technology, infrastructure,

manufacturing, ITES, services etc. Research indicates that as

employees, the Generation Y value work life balance more than any

other generation. Level of engagement among Generation Y

employees in India was found to be about the same as the other

generations, making them an exception compared to their cohorts

around the world. While they are willing to work in shifts to support

global operations, they are averse to working long hours.

Indian – Demographic pyramid,

2010 Source: United Nations (2009), International Database

Challenges Associated with Attracting, Engaging, and

Retaining Generation Y A major challenge which faces organizations is how to attract, engage,

and retain Gen Y who, because of their characteristics and attitude

towards work, is markedly different from Baby Boomers in their

workplace needs and expectations. Cited in the literature the Gen Y

have low levels of trust and loyalty to corporate cultures, attributed to

intense media scrutiny of corporations tainted with scandal (Wolburg

& Pokrywczynski, 2001) and having witnessed several instances of

organizational downsizing (Loughlin & Barling, 2001). Consequently,

they have become skeptical; mistrustful, and apathetic towards

traditional hierarchies and authority (Martin & Tulgan, 2002). With

Gen Y declared “the most entrepreneurial generation in history”,

organizations are confronted with the added weight of convincing

young employees that working for a corporation has greater appeal

than self-employment (Martin, 2005).

Gen Y brings an impressive, portfolio of academic credentials and

requisite skills in technology to the workplace along with lofty

expectations for fast-track promotion, raises, perks, independence,

flexible work arrangements, a need for fun (Zemke, 2001), and

meaningful work that adds value to the organization’s strategic

direction (Rekar Munro, 2008). They expect continuous recognition

and daily feedback (Hastings, 2008). They also call for managerial

support as well as clear and comprehensive instructions, yet seek

autonomy to chart the path and pace for achieving goals (Yeaton,

2008; Martin, 2005).

Today, organizational leaders lack understanding of the

communication preferences of Gen Y (Reynolds, Campbell Bush, Geist,

2008). Given their pressing sense of immediacy and impatience, Gen Y

is unlikely to be enticed by promises of distant pay raises and

promotions (Lancaster & Stillman, 2002). As stated by senior

management interviewed by Weber (2008), “You want to think about

how to prepare the next generation to move into leadership and

they’re already thinking about buying the company.”

Career Aspirations of Gen Yers Given unique characteristics and attributes Gen Yers are certainly

instrumental in changing the workplace rules. Gen Yers grew up with

boomer parents telling them how wonderful they are. They are used to

getting what they want, when they want it, and they were given prizes

for everything even when coming in last. It is not surprising they want

to run the company from day one. Being told for the first time they

have to wait for rewards can be difficult to accept. Baruch (2004)

argues that the social context in which people grows and develops

influences their values, norms and beliefs which, in turn, influence

their career aspirations, career choice, and progress. Arnold (1997)

defines a career as a sequence of employment related positions, roles,

activities and experiences encountered by a person. According to

Nicholson and Arnold (1989), career transition from higher education

into employment goes through various phases: preparation or

anticipation, encounter, adjustment and stabilization.

With regard to their careers, Generation Ys have a drive for career

success and security, craving opportunity and responsibility (Kerslake,

2005). Traditional career structures, where a person made a series of

upward career moves usually within a single company have, since the

beginning of the 1990s, been supplanted by the boundary-less career

for Gen Y employees (Arthur, 1994). More transactional and short-

term relationships are common place nowadays and people now

expect an organization to serve them – rather than the other way

round – which might only be for two-to-three years (Baruch, 2004a).

Furthermore, as many organizations have been downsized and de-

layered, so career paths have become blurred. Many of them are

redesigning jobs and roles. People now expect to move between

companies more than in the past. As a result, multi-directional career

systems (Baruch, 2004) have emerged. This approach focuses on the

individual, not the organization, who takes responsibility for their own

career. Baruch (2004) contends that it is not restricted to the realm of

paid work or work and non-work domains. He also argues that along

with the hierarchical ladder climb, other criteria are now held to be

important: inner satisfaction, life balance, autonomy and freedom. If

we relate these criteria to Generations Ys, we can see parallels

between them and the values Generation Ys hold. When thinking of

careers, a traditional linear career structure is often considered the

most successful and the most sought after. This has traditionally been

reinforced by many organizational structures, cultures and

remuneration packages along with definitions of success and

commitment, which may be opposed to the Generation Y’s value of

equality (Morton, 2002).

Key findings from the Oxygenz (2008) research reveal the following:

• Money matters: Remuneration is important to this age group and

they seek out competitive packages. But they also want a good

contractual package – they want money, work-life balance, and they

want to work for an attractive brand that reflects their own values.

• Experiential learning is crucial: Employers and Gen Y themselves see

experiential learning as key to developing the skills required of

today's finance professional. Face-to-face learning still resonates

with this generation and they are less reliant on e-learning than

may have been previously thought. Organizations need to develop a

wide range of learning opportunities to engage this generation

successfully.

• Be attractive, be different: Employers need to put career

development at the heart of their proposition to make them

attractive to Generation Y. Contrary to popular perception, the

survey shows this is a generation who value job security but are

prepared to leave if career promises are not fulfilled.

Motivating Generation Y The subject of motivation has always been the prime focus of both

researchers and managers. Different methods of motivation have been

applied to the workforce –positive and negative reinforcements have

been used by organizations to move employees to work. The

employees of the modern organizations are required to perform more

sophisticated tasks. Two factors feed this attitudinal shift. One, unlike

previous generations, the parents of educated millennial provides

financial support for their children. The second factor is the motivation

of millennial s on the whole. This requires them to be more innovative

and technically updated so as to survive in the face of intense

competition. Motivated employees provide maximum benefit to the

organization and hence the organizations should provide such

environment that provides maximum motivation to its workforce.

The most widely used classification in career choice selection and

motivation is the three-dimensional framework by Carpenter and

Foster (1977) and Beyon et al. (1998) which are as below:

• intrinsic (interest in the job, personally satisfying work);

• extrinsic (availability of jobs, well paying occupations); and

• Interpersonal (influence of parents and significant others).

To motivate Gen Y, managers must show interest and be genuine in

their interaction. Many organizations experienced that the easiest way

to show that you care is to promote dialogue which focuses on events

outside of work. Leverage from shared interests or previously

obtained knowledge about an employee. Sporting teams, movies,

social events, two way conversations and the like are great examples in

building rapport. If need be, record the observations and knowledge

for future reference. Like it or not, but work for Gen Y is a social

activity, so using the knowledge to engage with them- create an

environment where two way conversations can start and develop

naturally is crucial for organizations now. The organizations need is to

be mindful of the environment which is conducive to maximizing Gen Y

productivity. Generally the group will rebel against process and crave

flexibility. The less you tell them what to do the better! Instead focus

on output and not process. So wherever possible be creative and

flexible on dress codes, work hours, and work locations.

Generation Ys’ Values Upon entering the workforce full time, a Gen Y has already been

exposed to innumerable influences through his/her formative years,

involving learning experiences from family, friends, academic and

perhaps religious institutions. Additionally, many will sample or

experiment with the workforce through a part-time job, internship, or

volunteer activity. Collectively, these influences and experiences

contribute to their own set of core beliefs and to his/her expectations

of others. Such beliefs are values representing adherence to "specific

mode[s] of conduct or [an] end-state of existence [as being] personally

or socially preferable" to the opposite conduct or end state of

existence.

Importantly, values are not just specific to an individual Gen Y; rather,

values are common to archetypes of Gen Y exposed to similar social

forces during their formative years. With respect to prioritizing values

and value systems, researchers agree that people tend to order or rank

their personal values to reconcile various conflicts among actions that

involve more than one value. Thus, although two or more generations

may share similar values as described by Schwartz, one generation's

rank-ordering of values may differ significantly from that of another

generation. In order to build and nurture a set of work values, the

same needed to be imparted through participative approaches. Gen Y

must feel and own the values in order to have organizational-value

integration. For Generation Y employment, and even more so, loyalty

is an even value for value exchange rather than the traditional one-

sided transaction.

As organizations in India are taking new leap to the next orbit while

struggling to engage Generation-Y employees, many questions ignite

about Generation-Y’s aspirations and values, and how they are

different and can be engaged at the workplaces.

3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND

METHODOLOGY

This study is a large cross-sectional exploratory study conducted on

Indian Gen Y working in urban locations of India, especially belonging

to the service and manufacturing industries. This segment may be very

small compared to the whole Gen Y population of India. Therefore,

the findings and implications would be limited to this segment. The

Gen Yers born in between 1981 to 1991 are our target sample, located

in 4 zones (North, South, East and West) of India. Thereby, a huge

section of Gen Y is not covered by the study and future studies may

need to be done to generalize the study.

For the study, a mixed methodology, both qualitative and quantitative

was designed. In four stages as illustrated in table 1 above, the study

was designed and executed accordingly. Two stage sampling was used

i.e. in the first stage, for the selection of Gen Y in organizations

judgmental sampling was used and, for the selection of Gen Y

Professionals, convenience sampling was used.

For questionnaire design & development, we used three scales,

Schein’s (1985) career orientation inventory, intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation instrument developed by Udai Pareek (1997) and value

preference scale used by Sarupriya (1983). They are all validated

instruments, used by researchers, both in India & abroad for different

sample groups. Career aspirations were measured based on Schein’s

(1996) internal career anchors, which is a comprehensive model.

Schein’s (1987) career anchor explains that individuals hold a wide

variety of career interests. A “growing sense of self – this is me, and

that is not me” (Schein, 1987, p. 159) which derived from the

experiences was termed career anchor or career orientation. To

understand & compare results, all three instruments which were

differently scaled were converted into single scale using, average mean

percentage scale using indexing.

Socio-demographic variables such as date of birth, gender (title),

location, industry, educational attainment, organization size and total

work experience as well as organizational tenure were also taken to

describe the sample. Respondents were asked to indicate their

responses in open ended statements. The respondents’ age was

measured from the date of birth, and tenure in current job as well as

organization tenure was assessed in months. Many respondents also

gave away their email-id and contact numbers.

Pilot Study

A pilot study was conducted to gauge the feasibility of the research

design and test the questionnaires developed for the study in the

month of May’2011, wherein qualitative sessions (i.e. 2 focus group

discussions with each group of 6 Gen Y respondents and 3 interviews

with each team of two Gen X & one Gen Y respondents) were

conducted in Ahmedabad and Delhi. Coinciding distribution of the self

– administer questionnaire was arranged in an MTHR Global event in

Pune.

From the pilot study data of 68 completed questionnaires, the

reliability of the scale was analyzed. Career aspirations were measured

using Schein’s (1985) career orientation inventory. The first 22 items

pertaining to the respondents’ career and are rated on a six-point scale

ranging from 1 “of not important” to 6 “centrally important”.

Additionally, the following 19 items are relating to the respondents’

career preferences where each response ranges from 1 “not true at

all” to 6 “absolutely true”. According to Igbaria and Baroudi (1993),

this measure of career orientation has established validity and

reliability. Specifically, the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of reliability

for the career orientations (41 items) is α=0.818. Responses to each of

the factor were averaged to produce the nine career orientations.

Examples of the items are “To build my career around some specific

functional or technical area is…” and “The excitement of participating

in many areas of work has been the underlying motivation in my

career ….” Meanwhile, the motivational factors in the context of what

one looks for in a job were measured using an intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation instrument developed by Dr. Udai Pareek (1997). This

fourteen items instrument is administered through ranking order 1-14,

where 1 signifies the most important factor for deciding whether or

not to take up a job and so on. 14th

rank against the factor signifies the

lowest priority. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the motivation scale’s

reliability on 14 items is α=0.824. Examples of the items are job

security, adequate salary, interesting work, etc. The value preference

instrument has been used by Sarupriya (1983) which measures the

value of various outcomes (achievement, monetary and role

immersion). The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of reliability for the

value preference instrument (7 items) is α=0.856. The Cronbach’s

Alpha coefficients of the combined scales is α=0.849, Cronbach's Alpha

Based on Standardized Items is α=0.889. The total items measured are

62.

From the qualitative sessions conducted during the pilot study, the

questionnaire guides for focus group discussion and triad were

enhanced. The objectives of the focus group discussion guides was to

get information from Gen Y on their perception of the present trends

in society and at workplace today; their needs, wants, desires,

concerns, fears, anxieties related to work; and conflicts between Gen X

Managers and Gen Y employees, etc. The objectives of the triad

interviews (interview with 3 participants) was to investigate the areas

of conflicts between Gen Yers and their previous generations, how do

they perceive Gen Y at workplace today and, their implications on HR

policies and practices.

Main Study

During the month of July and September’ 2011, we conducted the

main study. We invited Gen Yers to participate in the Focus Group

discussion and, invited Gen Y and Gen X managers for the triad

interviews. The number of participants we recruited for each focus

group discussion and triads were 6 and 3 respectively. In total, during

the main study, we conducted 8 focus group discussions and 18 triad

interviews in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

We have received a total of 707 total responses from the online

survey; however, we received only 378 completed responses. The

research findings are based out of the quantitative data of 378

responses and the observations from conducting 10 focus group

discussions and 21 triad interviews.

The online questionnaire survey was uploaded on the internet, for

wide accessibility and convenience of Gen Yers working from different

locations of India. The link of the Gen Y online survey

http://survey.academyofhrd.org/ was sent to many organizations,

inviting them to call upon their Gen Y employees to fill the survey. By

the 26th of Sept’2011, 378 fully completed questionnaires were

received which were then, used for further analysis.

The following gives a detail description of the qualitative sessions,

during the month of May, July and August’2011.

Table 2: Description of the Qualitative sessions

4. DATA ANALYSES, FINDINGS AND

INTERPRETATIONS

1. Profile of the Respondents

Date of Birth: 61% respondents’ date of birth is in between 1981-1985

and 35.19% in between 1986-1991.

Figure 1

Gender: In this study, the sample composition of the gender

represented 51% as male respondents and 41% as female

respondents. Figure 2

Work Experience: 21 % respondents born between, 1981-1985 have a total

work experience ranging from 2- 8 years. 80% of respondents born between,

1986- 1991 have a total work experience ranging from 6 months to 4.5 years.

Figure 3

Educational Qualification: In terms of educational level, 60 % of the

respondents hold post graduate degrees. 29% hold graduate degrees.

Figure 4

Economic Sector: Likewise, 74% belonged to the industries in service

sector and 23% belonged to the industries in the manufacturing sector.

Figure 5

Service Sector: Specifically, from the 74% of the service sector sample,

5% belonged to the BFSI industry, 17% from the Consulting &

professional services, 15% from the Education sector, 8% from the

healthcare industry, 3% from the tourism and hospitality industry, 9%

from the Infrastructure industry, 24% from the IT industry, only 1%

from the ITES, 5% from Media and entertainment industry, 5% from

the retail industry, 2% from the Shipping and logistics industry, and 6%

from the telecom industry.

Manufacturing Sector: Similarly, out of the 23% manufacturing sector

sample, 14% percent belonged to the automotive industry, 3% from

the cement industry, 11% from the Chemical industry, 14% from the

Consumer Electronics Industry, 20% from the Power and Energy

industry, 4% from the steel industry and the rest 34% were from other

industries belonging to the manufacturing sector of the Indian

economy. It should be noted that the categories of the industry was

duly verified and approved by the experts.

Figure 6

Figure 7

Organization Size: 39% respondents worked in organization with

1000+ workforce size, followed by 24% of respondents in 1-100

workforce size. About 20% work in 101-500 size organization and

about 12% in the 501-1001 workforce size organizations.

Figure 8

Location: Finally, about 42% of the respondents are located in the

western zone of India, wherein 60% were from Mumbai, 15% from

Pune and 17% from Ahmedabad. 29% respondents are from the

southern zone of India, with 40% from Bangalore, approx. 25 % from

Chennai and 13% from Hyderabad. Similarly, respondents located in

the northern zone of India comprised approximately 18% and from this

sample, around 93% belonged from the National Capital Region (Delhi,

Gurgaon and NOIDA). From the eastern zone of India we received only

7% responses and 89% are located in Kolkata.

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

2. Characteristics of Gen Ys’ Career Aspirations (CA),

Motivation and Value (Ref. Figure 14, 15, 16 & 17)

Career Aspirations

• The average of overall Career Aspirations (CA) for the selected sample

is high (72.86 out 100).

• Gen Y’s top three career aspirations are Service & Dedication to cause

(78.43), Managerial Task (78.12), and Identity-Occupational &

Organizational (78.03).

• Gen Y s’ aspiration for geographical stability is the least (58.78),

comparatively. Their aspiration for strong Technical/Functional

competence is seen moderate (65.99).

Figure

14

Intrinsic Motivation

• The top three intrinsic motivators for Gen Y are Equitable Pay (58.89),

Responsibility & Independence (54.52) & Achievement (53.19).

• For Gen Y, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are important,

however, from the study a slight importance is seen towards extrinsic

motivators when compared with intrinsic motivators.

Figure 15

Figure 16

Extrinsic Motivation

• From Figure 15 & 16, we can summarize that, Gen Y respondents give

preference to Considerate & Sympathetic Supervisor as the leading

extrinsic motivator (64.21), closely followed by restricted hours of

work (63.96), Sound company policies and practices and Comfortable

working conditions.

• Interestingly, as contrary to the popular notion, Gen Y gave least

preference to adequate earnings (47.7) as compared to other extrinsic

factors. Figure 17

Value Preferences

• As seen in Figure 17, all the three values for Gen Y is high (average is

more than 75%).

• The highest value preference of Indian Gen Y is achievement

Orientation (85.70), followed by monetary orientation (79.85) and Role

immersion (67.53).

3. The Relationships between of Gen Ys’ Career Aspirations

(CA), Motivation, Value with Gender Cohorts -Males &

Females (Ref. Figure 18, 19, 20 & 21)

Career Aspirations

• Overall Gender-wise, there is very less difference in the total career

aspiration scores, in terms of mean differences for cohorts based on

gender.

• The Gen Y females aspire for more geographical stability (78.4) as

compared with their male counterparts (58.8).

• The Gen Y males aspire for high degree of Job Stability (75.3) as

compared with females (62.7).

• Gen Y Males aspire for job advancement more (60.21) as compared

with females (48.52).

• Females aspire for technical & functional competence (75.21) more, as

compared with males (66). It is interesting to note that Gen Y female

professionals, less aspires for managerial task/competence, but aspires

more for technical and functional competence than their Gen Y male

counterparts.

• There is absolutely no disparity seen in gender’s career anchors, such

as variety or pure challenge, creativity and service & dedication to

cause.

• However, we see a difference in the aspiration for autonomy and

independence more (77.3%) in Gen Y female than Gen Y male (70.4).

Figure 18

Intrinsic Motivation

• In terms of intrinsic motivation, it is interesting to note that the Gen Y

males are motivated by equitable pay (63.01), advancement (60.21),

Responsibility & Independence (56.28), while Gen Y females are

motivated by Technical competent supervisor (57.39), Respect &

recognition (55.34) & Achievement (53.22).

• Contrary to the popular belief, Gen Y females get motivated by an

interesting; meaningful and challenging job more, as compared with

the Gen Y male.

Extrinsic Motivation

• In terms of extrinsic motivation, males are motivated by comfortable

restricted hours of work (63.49), considerate & sympathetic supervisor

(62.88) and comfortable working conditions (53.72)

• Gen Y females are motivated by sound company policies & practices

(64.6), considerate & sympathetic supervisor (61.8) and comfortable

working conditions (58.03).

• It is however, interesting to note that adequate earnings motivates

Gen Y females more (49.90) than the Gen Y males (45.43). And

relatively, when compared with other extrinsic factors, the significance

of adequate earnings is seen less. Fringe benefit’s score is little higher

than adequate earnings.

• Partial difference is seen between the gender cohorts for Job security

and, considerate & sympathetic supervisor, however, the Gen Y males

scored little higher than their Gen Y female counterpart.

Figure 19

Figure 20

Overall, equitable pay, sound co. policies & practices and career

advancement are key differentiating motivators for male and females

as the mean differences are large.

Value Preferences

• In terms of value preferences, both male and female Gen Yers are

highly achievement oriented.

• Interestingly, Indian Gen Yers value achievement more than monetary

gains.

• Partial difference is seen in the preference of the three values by the

two Gen Y gender groups.

Figure 21

4. The Relationships between of Gen Ys’ Career Aspirations

(CA), Motivation, Value with Location (Ref. Figure 22)

Overall based on location there is significant different for career

aspirations, motivators and value preferences for Gen Y.

Career Aspirations

• There is significant difference for over all career aspirations particularly

for east zone when compared with other three zones (west, north and

south)(39.59). However, they aspiration is higher for geographical

stability (72.39) when compared with other three zones. Gen Yers from

the Eastern zone have higher career aspirations in terms of service &

dedication to the cause (79.8), creativity (77.42) and technical &

functional competence (74.17).

• West zone Gen Yers have higher career aspirations in terms of service

& dedication to a cause (77.47), managerial task (77.19) and brand

identity-occupational & organizational (77.11).

• North zone Gen Yers have higher career aspirations in terms of service

& dedication to the cause (77.8), managerial task (76.96) and identity-

occupational & organizational (76.9).

• South zone Gen Yers have higher career aspirations in terms of service

& dedication to the cause (80.1), identity-occupational &

organizational (79.32) and managerial task (79.08).

Intrinsic Motivation

• There is significant difference for intrinsic motivators particularly for

north zone when compared with other three zones (west, east and

south).

• There exists significant difference for intrinsic (22.10 vs. 60.40) &

extrinsic motivators (53.47.29 vs. 54.8) among west zone and north

zone Gen Y employees respectively.

• In terms of overall intrinsic motivation, the same is highest for south

zone cohort.

• Gen Yers are motivated by equitable pay (60.4), responsibility &

independence (55.24) and technical competent supervisor (55.20) in

west zone cohort.

• They are motivated by advancement (57.7), responsibility &

independence (55.24) and respect & recognition (49.9) in north zone

cohort. They are least motivated by Technical competent supervisor.

• Gen Yers are motivated by responsibility & independence (60.51),

equitable pay (60.26) and achievement (59.17) in east zone cohort.

• And in south zone cohort, Gen Yers are motivated by responsibility &

independence (61.10), equitable pay (56.63) and achievement (56.56).

Extrinsic Motivation

• In terms of extrinsic motivation, Gen Yers are motivated by restricted

hours of work (64.15), considerate & sympathetic supervisor (63.92)

and comfortable working conditions (54.84) in west zone cohort.

• Gen Yers are motivated by restricted hours of work (60.05),

considerate & sympathetic supervisor (54.02) and security (39.82) in

north zone cohort.

• They are motivated by considerate & sympathetic supervisor (65.5),

sound co. policies & practices (57.55) and comfortable working

conditions (51.89) in east zone cohort.

• And in the south zone cohort Gen Y are motivated by considerate &

sympathetic supervisor (65.16), sound co. policies & practices (55.54)

and comfortable working conditions (55.47).

Value Preferences

• There is significant difference for all three value preferences

particularly for Gen Yers from the northern zone when compared with

other three zones (west, east and south). For north zone value

preferences are on lower when compared with other three zone

cohorts.

• In terms of value preferences, achievement orientation is highest

followed by monetary orientation and role immersion respectively.

Figure 22

5. The Relationships between Gen Ys’ Career Aspirations (CA),

Motivation, Value with Service Industry & Manufacturing

Industry Sectors (Ref. Figure 23)

In the overall industry sector wise analysis, significant differences in

career aspirations, motivators and value preferences of the Indian Gen

Yers are seen.

Career Aspirations

• Gen Y s’ from the service sector aspire for more variety (72.34) as

compared with manufacturing sector (65.59)

• And aspire less for brand identity-occupational & organizational job

(72.7) as compared with the Gen Yers from the manufacturing sector

(75.6).

Intrinsic Motivations

• In terms of intrinsic motivation, Gen Yers from the service sector are

motivated by Technical competent supervisor (57.2), Achievement

(53.74) and responsibility & independence (52.13).

• And those from the manufacturing sector are motivated by technical

competent supervisor (62.06), respect & recognition (54.45) and

responsibility & independence (53.95).

Extrinsic Motivation

• In terms of extrinsic motivation, Gen Yers from the service sector get

motivated by considerate & sympathetic supervisor (64.78), sound co.

Policies & practices (64.55) and comfortable working conditions

(56.86),

• For the manufacturing cohort, Gen Yers get motivated by considerate

& sympathetic supervisor (63.28), sound co. Policies & practices

(63.07), and comfortable working conditions (57.54).

Technical competent supervisor, adequate earnings and fringe benefits

are key differentiating motivators among service and manufacturing

cohorts in terms of mean differences.

Value preferences

• In terms of value preferences there is large & significant difference for

monetary orientation which in the service sector cohort is seen very

high (80.07) compared with the manufacturing cohort (67.19).

• Interestingly, the Gen yers from the service industry are oriented

towards achievement, whereas the Gen Yers from the Manufacturing

sector are seen to be much immersed in their role(s).

Figure 23

6. The Relationships between of Gen Ys’ Career Aspirations

(CA), Motivation, Value with Service Industry &

Manufacturing Industry Sub-Sectors (Ref. Figure 24)

Career Aspirations

Overall, based on industry type cohorts, there exists very less

difference for overall mean differences of total career aspirations.

However, the career aspirations for all the sub sectors are quite high

with an average of 70% as mean difference.

• Among different dimensions of career aspirations, geographical

stability as career aspiration is found lowest as career aspiration.

• Gen Ys from the consulting & IT industry cohorts have higher career

aspirations in terms of technical & functional competence (83).

• Service & dedication to a cause (80) is seen equally important for the

Gen Yers belonging to all the 5 industry cohorts.

• Gen Ys from the infrastructure industry cohort have higher career

aspirations in terms of service & dedication to the cause (77.92),

technical & functional competence (77.5), and managerial task (76.25).

• In the healthcare industry cohort, Gen Yers have higher career

aspirations in terms of managerial task (80.00), service & dedication to

the cause (78.43), and job security (77.45).

• Managerial task (80) is seen highest in the consulting, Healthcare and

IT industries.

• Job stability (78) is the highest aspiration in the healthcare industry,

closely followed by the IT industry (76) and the education industry

cohort (76) then the infrastructure cohort (75).

• Brand Identity (80) is seen highest in the IT industry, closely followed

by the Gen Yers from the consulting industry cohort.

Intrinsic Motivations

• There is significant difference for intrinsic motivators particularly for IT

industry (49.37) when compared with other four industries (consulting,

infrastructure, health care & education). However, partial difference

for total intrinsic motivators in IT (49.37) & consulting cohorts (51.5) is

seen. The Gen Yers get motivated by advancement (59.01),

responsibility & independence (58.01), and technical competent

supervisor (55.30). The score for respect & recognition mean score

(38.18) is lowest for this cohort.

• Overall intrinsic motivation is highest for consulting industry than other

cohorts. Gen Yers are motivated by equitable pay (60.3), responsibility

& independence (57.75) and advancement (54.88) in consulting

industry cohort.

• They are motivated by equitable pay (60.23), responsibility &

independence (57.75) and advancement (59.01) for infrastructure

industry cohort.

• Gen Yers are motivated by equitable pay (61.35), advancement (59.26)

and responsibility & independence (53.78) in the health care industry

cohort.

• Gen Yers get motivated by advancement (61.37), equitable pay (58.79),

and technical competent supervisor (55.04) in the education industry

cohort.

Extrinsic Motivations

• In terms of extrinsic motivation Gen Y are motivated by restricted

hours of work (65.81), considerate & sympathetic supervisor (64.59)

and security (60.03) in the consulting industry cohort.

• Gen Yers are motivated by considerate & sympathetic supervisor

(63.74), restricted hours of work (60.44), and sound co. policies &

practices (56.6) in the infrastructure industry cohort.

• In the healthcare industry cohort, Gen Yers get motivated by restricted

hours of work (69.33), considerate & sympathetic supervisor (67.7),

and sound co. policies & practices (57.98).

• In the IT industry cohort, they get motivated by restricted hours of

work (65.52), sound co. policies & practices (59.48), and considerate &

sympathetic supervisor (58.7).

• Gen Yers are motivated by considerate & sympathetic supervisor

(65.93), restricted hours of work (64.56), and sound comfortable

working conditions (58.06) belonging from the education industry

cohort.

Value Preferences

• There is significant difference for all three value preferences

particularly for healthcare cohort in terms of role immersion when

compared with other four (consulting, infrastructure, IT & education).

• Partial difference is seen based on the orientation of Gen Yers value

preferences for the different industry based cohorts.

• For all the five cohorts achievement orientation is highest followed by

monetary orientation and role immersion respectively.

• In the health care industry cohort, the value preference for role

immersion is comparatively low when compared to other four cohorts.

Figure 24

7. The Relationships between of Gen Ys’ Career Aspirations

(CA), Motivation, Value with Gen Ys’ work experience (Ref. Figure 25)

From the analysis of the overall work experience cohorts, a partial level

of differences when compared in terms of mean differences for career

aspirations, motivators and value preferences dimensions is seen.

Career Aspirations

• The Gen Yers from the first cohort (0-5.5 years of work experience)

aspires more for technical & functional competence when compared

with the second cohort (5.5-11 years of experience).

• More experienced Gen Yers i.e. the second cohort aspires highly for

service & dedication to a cause (81.19), when compared with first

cohort with less years of work experience (77.60).

Intrinsic Motivations

• In terms of intrinsic motivation, the Gen Yers with less work experience

are motivated by advancement (60.55), equitable pay (60.44) and

responsibility & independence (55.07).

• The more experienced Gen Yers from the second cohort are motivated

by advancement (57.82), equitable pay (53.45) and responsibility &

independence (51.23).

Extrinsic Motivations

• In terms of extrinsic motivation first cohort with less work experience

are motivated by considerate & sympathetic supervisor (63.96),

restricted hours of work (63.77) and sound co. Policies & practices

(56.47)

• The Gen Yers with more experience (second cohort) are motivated by

considerate & sympathetic supervisor (64.86), restricted hours of work

(64.70) and sound co. Policies & practices (57.39).

Adequate earnings, equitable pay and interesting work are key

differentiating motivators among less and more experience cohorts in

terms of mean differences.

Value Preference

• In terms of value preferences very less difference is seen for monetary

& achievement orientation for the selected two cohorts

• It is interesting to note that Gen yers from the 0-5.5 years of work

experience are oriented more towards achievement, while the Gen Yers

with more than 6 years of work experience are seen to value money

more. This may indicate the importance of an individual’s life stages and

the influence of socio-economical variables which further impacts one’s

career aspirations and decisions.

Figure 25

8. Correlation analysis of Gen Ys’ career aspiration with

motivations and value preferences (Ref. Table 3)

• Aspiration for managerial task or competence is positively correlated

with 3 intrinsic motivations (respect & recognition, responsibility &

independence and, achievement) and with all the 3 value preferences

(achievement, monetary and role).

• Aspiration for autonomy and independence at work is positively

correlated with interesting work assignments. Whereas, this aspiration

of Gen Y is negatively correlated with equitable pay.

• Aspiration for job stability is positively correlated with 4 intrinsic

motivations (advancement, interesting work, respect & recognition,

responsibility & independence and, achievement) and negatively

correlated with 3 extrinsic motivations (fringe benefits, sound co.

policies & practices and restricted hours at work).

• Aspiration for geographical stability is interestingly seen positively

correlated with restricted hours at work, and negatively correlated with

equitable pay.

• Aspiration for creativity at work is positively correlated with 3 intrinsic

motivations (advancement, respect & recognition and, achievement)

and negatively correlated with 2 extrinsic motivations (fringe benefits

and sound co. policies & practices).

• Aspiration for occupational and organizational brand identity is

positively correlated with responsibility & independence, whereas, it is

negatively correlated with sound co. policies & practices.

• Aspiration for pure challenge or variety at work with responsibility &

independence.

• Aspiration for technical and functional competence is seen negatively

correlated with technical competent supervisor.

• Almost in every instance, almost all the career aspirations (except

geographical stability) are positively correlated with the 3 value

preferences.

• Aspirations such as, occupational and organizational brand

identity, managerial task, pure challenge/variety at work, dedication

and service to a cause and autonomy and independence are

significantly and positively correlated with achievement.

• Aspirations such as pure challenge/variety at work, managerial task,

occupational and organizational brand identity and creativity are

significantly and positively correlated with monetary orientation.

• Interestingly, aspirations such as creativity and pure challenge/variety at

work are significantly and positively correlated with role immersion.

Table 3: Correlation analysis of Gen Ys’ career aspiration with motivations and value

preferences

9. OBSERVATIONS FROM QUALITATIVE SESSIONS

The learning presented in this chronicle springs from personal, albeit

limited contact with prospects, as well as secondary reports & market

research efforts. It is not reportage.

Qualitative assessment develops hypotheses about people’s motivation,

involvement and the proposition experience- a frame of reference,

directional not conclusive.To extend beyond the big brush strokes take-

away, we have also put ourselves through the second layer of analysis.

The definitive tone in the report is intended to instigate concepts and

surface issues and challenges. The evocative style allows us to

encounter the concepts close to the experience.The overall endeavor

was to undertake an in-depth qualitative exploration of the societal

trends and motivational trends guiding changes in the attitude of both

Gen Y working professionals as well as Gen X HR Managers so as to

articulate and highlight existing and potential areas of opportunities and

concerns.

The flow of the findings from Qualitative study:

Overarching Relevant Social Trends Framing Gen Y

Mindset

Societal shifts - Security sphere: This sphere encapsulates societal shifts

contributing to willingness for risk, versus uncertainty in the workplace

1. The brain drain has reduced now due to equal opportunities created in

India.

2. High salary, high standard of living, global assignments, global office

locations are given by MNC today to ensure not to lose the best talent

to their competitors

3. They invest their money. Many have opened DEMAT accounts. Invest

their money in buying gold, capital goods, etc

4. Girls and young women are encouraged and expected to have careers.

5. The concept of “spreading feet as long as the blanket permits” is gone.

6. Credit cards generation. Different card for different purpose. Few are

off course careful in using the credit cards, while others have more than

2 credit cards in their name

7. One distinct fact is that they don’t like to move on with regrets and

baggage of the past. They are the go getters and the EMI generation.

Though some find themselves in the debt trap. But sooner or later they

know how to come out of it. They are ‘jugarus’.

8. They look for stability in uncertain times. Grab opportunities, when the

market offers

9. Due to economic uncertainty being one of the prime reasons, Gen Y

wants to earn more in less time now. Time is money for them.

10. They take decision smartly. Many are young and do take decision in

haste, but the Gen Y who are now married or have a family to sustain,

always take careful steps.

11. Gen Yers are comfortable with technology and technology has become

even more important component of their socio-cultural DNA.

12. Technology enables convenience in their life and work

13. Gen Y today is highly connected which makes it possible for them to

share info about new avenues and job opportunities. They are

connected 24/7 and access any desired information at a click of a

button. They are restless when not connected and they want

continuous access to information.

14. Gen Yers are connected to world through social networking sites. They

are aware of their environment, get actively involved in events of

importance and, make sure their voice is heard.

Societal shifts – Commitment sphere: This sphere encapsulates societal

shifts contributing to emotional and time investment, or lack thereof, in

the workplace

1. Gen Y celebrates diversity. They are open and gel well with the people

from different cultures and countries. This attitude has brought in a

culture of acceptance, openness and support in workplace today. In

some way they are indifferent to such differences.

2. Friends = Family. Love both, but like to spend fun time with friends.

The advertisement, ‘har friend zaroori hain’ aptly describes friendship

for them.

3. Gen Y is not shy of changing professions and starting with new careers

at any point in life. Most of them want to work for different company

for a few years and then start with their own venture.

Societal shifts – Control sphere: This sphere encapsulates societal shifts

contributing to need for handholding versus individualistic ambition in

the workplace

1. Gen Ys’ lifestyle is influenced by global trends. The workplace attires

are now stylish and more individualistic. They want to look good. Some

prefer branded cloths, some don’t but looking good 24/7 is important.

2. Enhanced education system- colleges are offering customised

educational packages according to Gen Y requirements of uniqueness

and difference. Today you could be a green engineer and have an

additional degree in radio jockeying. Your degree totally depends on

your choice.

3. Role models- the world is going gaga over young achievers, be it media

award functions or youth icons of the year. These role models are not

shy of showing off their achievement, be it wealth or luxurious life style

they afford, which in the past have been a taboo

4. Gen Yers today are not just brand conscious about food or cloths, but it

also reflects in career choices they make.

5. Today Gen Y speaks about a shorter working life. All of them want to

be financially independent/ free (retired) by the age of 40. Hence all of

them are in a maddening rush of achieving everything at the earliest.

6. The biggest loyalty is towards one’s own career and everyone strive

hard to get the best out of it.

7. Competition/ peer pressure- the increased amount of peer pressure

and competition has resulted into Gen Y exceedingly demanding better

job opportunities, better salaries, better enriched roles them their

peers. The pressure to compete within their peer group also motivates

them to be offbeat and create their own identity and their own space.

8. Before making any career decision, Gen Y would prefer taking advice

from their parents and peers (people they trust for guidance) than a

career counsellor.

9. From early age Gen Y today received career guidance on various career

options available for them. Sometimes, if not guided well, they tend to

confuse themselves. They look up to mentors in life and in careers.

Motivational drivers for Gen Y

Note: The sentences in Italics are ‘negative’ motivation

Diametric Motivations

10. Integration of the findings of the quantitative and

qualitative studies

Career Aspirations of Gen Y

Overall, Gen Y aspires for high Dedication to social cause and, they have

strong desire to climb the corporate general management ladder and have

strong need to be associated with a firm or occupation which externally or

visibly enhances or substitutes for self definition. Interestingly, during our

qualitative sessions, climbing the corporate general management ladder

‘fast’ was voiced out by the Gen Y participants. Organizations with strong

brand name, attracts them and therefore, it reflects in the career choices

they make. During the qualitative sessions, the discussions confirmed their

desire to contribute to a social cause, but, in the way that suits their

convenience in terms of time, money and effort. And, if given an

opportunity to involve in their organization’s CSR activities, the Gen Y not

only just participates, but can proactively organize and manage the

activities themselves.

From our sessions, the Gen Ys’ showcased an innate desire to build, create,

invent or produce something of their own and are driven by the need to

demonstrate self-extension through their work. If allowed, they displayed

positive energy and if curtailed, the Gen Y lookout for those organizations

that do. Therefore, we heard a lot about Google. They are open to the idea

of starting with new careers at any point of time.

The Gen Ys are sensitive and aware of the socio economic conditions.

Therefore, they do aspire for secure and stable jobs especially during

economic downturn, which they closely experienced during the 1998

recession. The Gen Yers aspire for job stability, especially those who

belong to a humble economic society and those who are married, carrying

responsibilities on their shoulders. Interestingly, male Gen Ys have high

aspiration for a secure and stable job than the female Gen Y.

On the contrary, geographical stability didn’t bother much to Gen Y in

general. However, the discussions with the Gen Y group clearly depicted

that it all depended on their very need or preference of job-location. One

point came out strongly during the qualitative sessions, which is, urban

work location is highly preferred by the Gen Y. The Gen X managers from

the manufacturing unit, shared their dichotomy between persuading the

Gen Y to locate to a remote location ( locations far from urban

environment, like, malls, Mc Donald, pubs, etc.) and persuading the

management to invest on bringing some urban-alike environment to the

remote job location.

During the qualitative sessions, challenging work assignments are desired

by Gen Y, however, they described that a job is challenging when it

accelerates their learning and creates a sense of ‘real’ contribution. Also,

they mentioned that they want project management approach towards

their work assignments.

Gen Y acknowledges that it’s a stiff competition. They want to prove

themselves and work ‘NOW’. They ask questions only to be clear of what

they have to do. Once, they know which area of specialization to pursue in

their career, there is no stopping them as they are the most focused lot,

are emotionally intelligent and dare to speak out their mind. Peer pressure

is very high in this group and the pressure to compete within their peer

group also motivates them to be offbeat and create their own identity and

their own space.

Technical and functional competence was expressed as important, but the

Gen Y participants said that this will happen eventually as they progress in

their career. Presently, they get motivated when they work under a

technical competent boss, who walks the talk. Technical/ functional

competencies are now basic needs. Interpersonal relations, conflict

management & related behavioral competencies are much sought after by

them.

From HR management and talent management perspectives, it is

apparent, that Gen Y gives extreme importance to mentoring and coaching

and no to bossing/ controlling.

It is important to note that career progression is at the core of Gen Y. It is

seen by Gen Y as a means to an end. Be it earning more money in a short

span of time, desire for financial stability or yearning for retirement at the

age of 40; all can be achieved by a well-defined career.

Gen Yers’ are loyal to their jobs and not organizations. They believe that

the organization should not expect loyalty from them. If they do, in that

case it should be both ways.

Gen Y aspirations are also changing and eventually the inclination for work

profile. Gen Yers with Fresher to 5.5 yrs prefer more technical/ functional

competence where as Gen Y with experience of 5.6-11 yrs need more

stability & less mobility. Task Identity as well as Respect & recognition also

become important as one moves to advance life styles, so policies should

also be different to cater to these two groups.

Motivation of Gen Y

The Gen Y participants expressed that overall, the extrinsic motivation

factors comparatively were more important than the intrinsic motivation

factors. Interestingly, a considerate and sympathetic supervisor is

preferred more than a technical competent supervisor.

Restricted hours of work, leading to a work –life balance was voiced out by

every participant. They expressed how 24/7 connectivity also has created

distress for them. They expressed that since Gen Y want to climb the

corporate ladder ‘fast’, they do not hesitate to work even on Sundays, but

when they take a day off, they do not like to be disturbed.

Sound company policies & practices attuned to the needs of the each

employee generational cohorts were expressed. Clarity in communication

and transparency of the policies and practices are equally important for

the Gen Y. They expressed that they are not at all comfortable with any

kind of ambiguity in their work. Gen Y are individualistic in nature and so

desire customization of the company policies and practices. However, they

are not irrational bunch of group and understand the present state of their

organization, therefore, when they demand something, it means that they

know that their demand is not outrageous and can be met.

Hygiene factors were expressed as important, during the sessions.

According to the Gen Y and Gen X participants, comfortable working

conditions not only includes conducive physical work environment but

also, the work culture, organization climate, updated technology, work-life

balance, hygiene factors, efficient team members and boss. Gen Y desires

to express themselves in their work place. Colourful and fun work

environment, ‘fun Fridays’ with recreational activities are given high

preference by them. Some Gen X managers expressed that creating a

sense of belongingness within the corporate culture, and extending the

feeling to the families of the Gen Y are very well accepted by the Gen Y

employees.

From the study, we have framed the following motivating factors, equally

significant for Gen Yers but are interestingly diametrical in motivating

them. Clear understanding and cognizance of these factors, will enable

organizations to better understand the Gen Yers working in urban India

today. For eg., the Gen yers need freedom to work their own way, but they

also want to be responsible for a task’s successful completion. Many of

these factors are interlinked and give different directions too. Taking

forward the above example, they need freedom but when they are new to

a system, or organization, or assignment, they seek handholding i.e.

necessary support from the team and leaders, but not micromanagement

of each and every activity they do.

Table 4: Diametric Motivations of Indian Gen Yers @ workplace

Value Preference of Gen Y

The participants in the qualitative session expressed their orientation to

achievement higher than their orientation to money.

The Gen Yers expressed in both the quantitative and qualitative study, that

the sense of achievement, is extremely important not only in their

professional environment, but in the social environment in which they

belong. It reflects the uplift of the social status of the individual and

reinforces their self-esteem.

They said learning and development programs and, getting hands on

experience on everything under the hood of their area of interest,

motivates them, however, the training module and process, including the

instructor, all should keep up with their expectations to keep them

engaged. Upgrading their own competencies is important for them,

eventually to create a niche for themselves in the job market. Going

abroad for training and getting certification adds charm to the list of their

achievements.

They are the ‘Now’ generation, the EMI generation with educational loans

to pay off, the highly educated ones, than their previous generations, and

they know it’s a stiff competition, therefore, they are very demanding and

value what they are paid ‘now’. Time is money for them. It is also a means

to get what they want and desire. They are influenced by their peers and

family to accumulate wealth fast and ‘now’. They also expressed that they

believe in what they are paid and how they are paid. High fixed salary is

most preferred than variable salary. It is also interesting to note that Gen Y

highly value meaningful and challenging work and therefore, they have no

qualms in working for such a job, with comparatively less pay package,

provided other motivational factors remain constant.

5. CONCLUSIONS, DIRECTIONS FOR

FUTURE RESEARCH AND LIMITATIONS

OF THE STUDY

Conclusions:

Career aspirations refer to the prestige or socioeconomic level of a

person’s ideal occupation; therefore, it is important for the understanding

of occupational behaviour, what motivates them and the values they carry,

because it is related to a person’s achievement and persistence in a career.

Motivation and values of a person drives and give shapes to the career

decisions that he/she makes.

Career aspirations determine one’s career outcomes such as job

satisfaction, commitment and motivation. The study examined dimensions

and levels of career aspirations and their relationships with motivations

(extrinsic and intrinsic) and, values (achievement, money and role

immersion) of Indian Gen Yers at workplace today. The findings revealed

heterogeneity of Gen Ys’ career aspirations, and therefore, suggest that

the respondents were mostly aspired in managerial competence, brand

identity, and sense of service. Organizations need to realize that

managerial competence, organization brand identity and sense of service

are Gen Yers focus in making their career decisions. However, most

components of aspirations scored in 70% range, which also illustrates that

a Gen Y employee may have one particular primary aspiration and two or

more secondary aspirations.

From the quantitative study, we inferred that Gen Ys are motivated by

extrinsic factors only marginally than the intrinsic factors and they highly

value achievement. Overall career aspirations were positively correlated

with intrinsic motivations and values such as achievement, monetary and

role orientations. However, partial negative correlation is seen between

the career anchors and intrinsic motivations, such as, technical and

functional competence - technically competent supervisor, autonomy and

independence - Equitable Pay, geographical stability - equitable pay. Alike

some career anchors are partially negatively correlated with extrinsic

motivations, such as sound company policies - managerial competence,

fringe benefits - job stability and alike. Further analyses showed there were

significant differences within the different cohorts, such as, industry,

gender, location, work - experience and company size, for overall career

aspirations, motives and values.

Directions for Future Research:

From the qualitative sessions we inferred that the career aspirations,

motives and values of Indian Gen Y do depend on their individual socio-

cultural background. And when one moves forward in their career & life

stages, their career aspirations also gets influenced by their personal and

socio-cultural needs. However, these are the areas for future investigation.

Also, it will be interesting to explore the archetypes of Indian Generation

Yers, as we have observed from the qualitative sessions that their

behaviors’ and their decisions in life and career depends on the way they

have been conditioned by their socio-economical and cultural

environmental factors.

From the quantitative study, if we look at the data of North, East & West

zones, in terms of Gen Yers career aspiration, motivation & value with

location (Fig 22), we see significant results. For e.g., the pay variance is an

acceptable attribute in the North. This can also be due to the “passive or

subdued” Gen Yers at work place or “lack of Job security” at these places.

North Gen Yers have lowest Intrinsic Motivation (22.10) that means “more

passive Gen Yers”. Even the percentage of equitable pay is very low (27.36

for North) as compared to 60.40 (for WEST). Similarly the technical

competence supervision is low (18.16)- (very low). North youth is not

enough demanding for comfortable working conditions & sound HR

policies. Either it could be a because of “satisfied lot”, low aspirations or

something more serious. These in-congruencies are worth exploring in

future research.

Limitations of the study:

1. Tangible data on performance of organizations has not been compared

with HR policies for Gen Y.

2. Inter and Intra organizational factors have not been considered {for eg.

Comfortable working condition (as an extrinsic motivator) is very low at

18.71 (at Delhi & NCR) as compared to West (54.84) & south which

indicates that organization in the north zone may have less developed

corporate culture}. Intra organizational factors like departmental

differences in terms of resources, manpower and support, their

linkages and impact on Gen Y aspirations, motivations and

engagement were not taken into consideration. As mentioned in the

report, all three organizations were different in terms of their inter

organizational factors such as size, brand image, financial strength,

area of expertise, resource allocation and strategies, SBUs etc, which

were not considered for analyses.

3. Market variables are neglected, {for eg. In the eastern zone, job

stability Lower than any other zone, maybe because of “Socio-Political

Effect”- more security feeling} and, we have taken a single unit of

analysis. Also, the underlying reasons of the correlation analysis results

remain inconclusive, but it gives direction for future research.

4. The study is limited to only a small sample of Gen X professionals from

different organizations and, in-depth interaction among Gen Y & Gen X

managers needs to be revalidated.

5. The study covers only Gen Yers working in the urban and corporate

sectors. This segment may be very small compared to the whole Gen Y

population of India. Therefore, the findings and implications would be

limited to this segment only. There is a huge section of Gen Y not

covered by the study and future studies may need to be done to

generalize the study’s findings.

6. We have taken a single unit of analysis. Also, the underlying reasons of

the correlation analysis results remain inconclusive, but it gives

direction for future research.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

Suggested recommendations on HR policies, systems and processes from

the participants of qualitative sessions, experts from Industry and from

the round table conference, conducted by the Academy of HRD in

Ahmedabad on the 3rd

of October.

Attracting talented Gen Y

1. Build a strong brand like Google by creating a unique EVP (Employee

Value Proposition) to attract Gen Y to your organization.

2. Tap an outstanding employee from the Millennial Generation to talk to

the prospective candidates about the company.

3. Effective communication leveraging social media and technology with

relevant and truthful messages.

Leading, Engaging & Retaining Gen Y

Recruitment & selection

1. Leverage in the recruitment and selection processes: During

recruitment the processes of selection are so long that till the end of

process the candidate is already taken by the competing organization

and so the whole process goes waste.

2. The role and job description clearly communicated to the prospective

candidate

3. Organizations must avoid disparity in the role and job description by

preparing an effective , apt and structured job description written for

each role

4. Managing expectations

Structured Induction, Orientation and On-boarding

1. The induction, orientation and on-boarding phase should range from 3

to 6 months with respect to the scope of the new incumbent’s role,

expected responsibilities and experience.

2. Handholding at the initial stage in the organization by giving guidance

whenever required.

3. A Buddy or one SPOC (single point of contact) assigned from each

department to introduce the new team of incumbents to their

respective systems/processes and, colleagues.

Individual & Organization Development (initiatives and interventions)

To allow:

1. Sabbatical leave: Gen Y would want to have long leaves to explore their

own interest and pursue higher education or update themselves.

2. Interdepartmental transfers: They want to experience different

department so as to have overall knowledge. Also they want change in

their work they do. Job rotation and Job enrichment.

3. Autonomy, Job enrichment in terms of multi-directional career

systems, multi career ladders in terms of presence of different ways to

progress in an organization, each reflecting different type of

contribution to the ongoing mission, serial monogamy mentality

(loyalty to given task); will satisfy their need for variety in job and high

role immersion. By having multi career ladder approach i.e. the

managerial ladder ascends through increasing responsibility

supervision or managerial competencies & professional track

simultaneously. This is done by enhanced contributions in professional

nature complementing the functional/ technical competencies. It can

be very relevant specially in Manufacturing & Infrastructure sector

where keeping Technical engaged only in “Technical Work Profile” is a

big challenge

4. Transparency: Gen Y needs transparent structure so that they know

the importance of their work and what they are heading towards.

5. Open door policy: They want this to achieve fast results so that they

can communicate their ideas and concerns openly and frequently with

their seniors.

6. Accepting new ideas: If their ideas are accepted they feel respected

and therefore they will come up with new ideas.

7. Feedback on implementation: This is to let employees improve

themselves and learn from mistakes.

8. International exposures

9. Employee benefits: Gen Y is more concerned about how faster he

grows in organization than what he will get after retirement. So

policies should be more attractive while at work than giving more

benefits after retirement.

Training & Development

1. Development programs on current trends to update top management:

This is to update top officials and seniors of what is going on in the

industry.

2. Seminars on stress management, time management etc.

3. Structured training and development programs aligned with the

professional/career needs of the employee(s)

4. Experiential learning: Video game generation, if loosing, restart the

game so this Gen is hand wired to “Re-Start” So they are not scared of

failures & hence, organizations need to be more tolerant and only then

Innovations will happen.

Performance Management System

1. Proper & appropriate appraisal system: They want an unbiased

appraisal system.

2. Strong recognition program: The recognition process should be

followed as per policies and there should not be any biasness.

3. Attractive incentives scheme: So that employees are encouraged to

work harder and more to achieve that.

4. Appreciation could be in terms of giving more responsibility,

appreciating by words, a tap on the shoulder or a meal etc.

Employee Benefits

1. Flexible working hours: They would not mind working for hours but

when they need to fulfil some personal commitments at a particular

time, they need that flexibility.

2. Allow breaks: They cannot work continuously at a stretch and

therefore they want breaks.

3. Sponsorship for higher education: They want companies to sponsor for

higher education for their career growth.

4. Fun Fridays: Here work is done in one half and games are played in

other half. This will make employee have fun at work and create kind

of informal environment. They will also take care of their social needs

and create competition and give a chance to talk and bond well with

boss.

5. Financial help with low interest: So that employees fell their needs are

considered and they can also hold the employee till loan is repaid.

6. Work from home: So that people can work with ease and at same time

fulfil domestic commitments.

7. Employee oriented policies- customization of policies.

8. Company should share profits equally with employees: So that they

work more to earn profits for company since they know that will be

passed on to them.

9. BUZZ alike program: where a group is allotted in organizations to take

care of various official bills of employees to avoid tensions and lack of

focus on work.

Career development and succession planning

1. Growth and development of individual should be structured: Each

individual should be monitored for their growth so that they can guide

on where they have to head for further growth.

2. Quick promotions

3. Career guidance

4. Appropriate Training and development opportunities

5. Distinguishing jobs from careers and distinct focus on career planning

and development holds the key to employee retention.

6. Career planning to take the center stage in times of the turbulent

markets.

7. Match Career aspirations and support career aspirations of Gen Yers

with business needs.

8. Facilitate the Gen Yers to use the HR interventions as an opportunity

for giving shape to their career plans.

9. Assess values synchronization, performance, potential and likely career

path.

10. Considering individual goals, performance and potential, HR must chart

out the career path of the Gen Y employees in such a way that these

efforts of career planning and development culminate into succession

planning at highest levels in the organization.

Labour Relation- Health & Safety

1. Child care centres for females so as to give them flexibility to work.

2. Stress-less job: Gen Y will do job only which they want and therefore

should not be forced to work and given job within their capability so

that they do it efficiently.

3. Employee health and safety policies to be taken utmost critically

Organization climate & culture

1. Approachable, knowledgeable and competent Manager /Boss: They

want a mentor like boss whom they can approach to in case of

concerns, problems etc.

2. Birthday & other social celebrations: Such activities encourage

employees’ feeling a sense of belongingness with the organization, and

creating the feeling that their organization cares for them.

3. Retention efforts should be more focused on involving everyone.

Socializing is way of life for them and therefore they are more

comfortable with group activities.

4. Sports competition: This is to create an informal environment in an

organization and competition. Also this will let employee enjoy in

organization.

5. Respect for views of employees: So that employees are more open to

speak their thoughts and ideas.

6. Flexibility to take decisions without interruption.

7. Freedom to work own way: Gen Y wants to work their own way

without interruption but guidance. They wanted to use all available

resources for more output with less money.

8. Allowed to take risk: They want to take risk so that they can explore

more.

9. Women to be given equal status while recruitment.

10. Work life balance: Gen Y want work life balance to spend time with

their friends.

11. Horizontal, vertical communication: for clarity on what work is to be

performed and what is expected out of them. In addition Gen Y

demands transparency and clarity in communicating any company

policy and practices.

12. Gen Yers’ are a blend of characteristics of the past three generations. It

is important to channelize this source of energy. The biggest tool for

doing so is communication. Gen Yers’ love free and transparent

communication. Free flowing communication between the generations

can lead this generation to do wonders at their jobs.

13. Access to social networking sites: They want to be connected always.

It’s a resource pool for them, which facilitates their work and keeps the

grapevine rolling.

14. Organization and leaders should not DEFLECT, DENY or DELAY

approach to problems posted by Gen Y.

15. Aligning the policies and practices with the employees’ life & career

stages, at different point of time.

16. Organizations need to adapt to the needs of this new group in the

workforce. This group is huge but what is more important is the fact

that not all of them are employable. This makes this group crucial to

organizations and hence, the need to change. Organizations and other

generations should not view this as a compromise where they are at

the receiving end. Gen Yers’ are also trying to adapt and the optimal

situation is somewhere in the middle.

17. There is a strong need for the organizations to bring careers and

people at the core of their value chain. This would not only lead to

greater net profits but also greater engagement on the part of all

generations.

18. There are a lot of myths about Gen Y. Organizations and managers

need to relook and question their assumptions so as to pave the way

for a better understanding and fruitful professional relationships with

Gen Y.

19. Some of challenges faced by Gen Y employees and Gen X managers can

be met by creating proactive HR polices and effective design, alignment

and integration of such HR policies and practices. Different HR

subsystems like competency based recruitment & selection,

Socialization for person-organizational role fit, training for key

deliverables, performance management system (performance

planning, evaluation, analytics, feedback & counseling), effective

rewards & recognition, grievance handling, delegation, flexible

mechanisms, faster career planning etc. may engage Gen Y.

20. In addition to such effective people processes, organizations need to

focus on coaching Gen Yers on independence, decision-making,

interpersonal skills and how to take constructive criticism. The

opportunities are in tapping into Gen Yers’ technical sophistication,

their interest in collaboration and their interest in achieving. Some

organizations, for example, use reverse mentoring to have Gen Ys to

help senior executives learn social networking and other

communication technology. Organizations should also facilitate a team

and project management approach to tasks to take advantage of Gen

Ys’ interest towards collaboration and achievement.

It is important to note that career progression is at the

core of Indian Gen Y. Career is seen by Gen Y as a means

to an end. Be it earning more money in a short span of

time, desire for financial stability or yearning for

retirement at the age of 40; Gen Y thinks that all can be

achieved by a well-defined career

Ms. Deepa Mohamed, Group Head – HR & Training, SMC

Group of Companies, New Delhi:

Therefore, as per above Herzberg’s** approach can be functional in handling Gen

Yers which says:

‘If you want people to do a good job for you, then you must give them a good

job to do’

“Hackman & Oldham’s” Motivating potential score (MPS*) of jobs can be

an effective tool in Talent Management (Attraction, Engagement &

Retention) in context of Gen Yers role/ Job Expectations

Applying theory Y to the Gen Y: Theory Y says humans are intrinsically

motivated to do a good job, and if “Gen Yers” are understood and provided

the right conditions matching their “Attributes, aspirations” they are going

to be our “FUTURE HUMAN ROCKETS”

Some pointers in terms of less stressor & more enablers at workplace -

© Boosting up the Level of employee satisfaction- Enhancing R&R activities,

corporate wellness programs and other employee engagement activities.

© Administrational Policies & Strategies- The rigid rules & regulations,

competitive pressures, rotating shifts are not willingly acceptable.

Emphasis should be given on working flexibility with well defined

organizational structure and design in terms of No role ambiguity, minimal

role conflict and absence of restrictive and untrusting culture is accepted

by open hands.

© Creating serial Monogamy Mentality- As per the study for engaging Gen

yers the commitment focus should be towards the job\task instead of

loyalty to organization.

© Good Pay Systems- The total reward system should be implemented which

encompasses relational as well as monitory rewards based on the concept

of translating performance into pay.

© Job enrichment & Engagement- Quality of work life to be high & overall

excellent work climate & culture should be there.

© Transparent supportive organizational Structure & Design- Open

communication to be promoted (downward\upward\horizontal),

Continuous performance feedback, participation in decision making, no

punitive appraisal system but appreciative approach and having enablers

like Best EVP in terms of Totals Rewards, learning & development

opportunities, clear career path with short term clear & visible milestones.

Recommendations from

Experts

“Job enrichment & engagement will be synonymous in terms of if

former is taken care of, then the latter will automatically happen”

© Supportive Work Climate- Poor lighting, crowded work area increases

the mental stress of Gen Yers and deteriorates their performance. Good

hygiene factor, good facilities & infrastructure, working atmosphere

should be focused upon.

Productive & Harmonious working Relationship among various

generations: Various Generations are working together. We will only be

able to reap the maximum benefits of all & produce financial & business

miracles by:

© Synchronizing the Traditionalist’s Direction & Guidance; Baby Boomer’s

enthusiasm &experience; Gen X’s Diversity (inclusive mind set), self –

reliance &open approach to learning and all Invading, highly motivated,

tech – savy, 24*7connected Gen Y; who is willing to accept challenges

and believe in Mentor-Mentee concept. Therefore given the right

direction they will deliver.

© Mentoring & coaching to be included in the KRAs of all generations.

© Traditionalist is generally more direction &Guidance oriented whereas

baby boomers are enthusiastic & experience holders. Baby Boomers will

be out in few years and with them they will be taking away their rich

experiences. In contrast Gen Yers hate to be isolated and they have

similar trait of competitiveness and look for ‘Role-Models’. So giving

them opportunity to work together as Mentor-Mentee will bring out

the best for the Organization. (Example: Anna effect on Gen Y).

In Addition: Sync between Gen X & Gen Y (Highly Critical &

Recommended)

© Next 30 years both Gen X and Gen yers are going to work together & Gen X

will be the managers & leaders for years to come. So organizations need to

understand these two generations attributes closely.

© Similarities like “tech-Savvy & diversity Tolerant” should be enhanced &

differences to be minimized by collaborative mentor-mentee approach

and open channel of communications amongst them.

© Gen-Xers need to let go of controlling & need to understand that the

aspirations of Gen Y more.

© Instead of looking upwards we need to focus more on younger lot since

they will constitute majority of work force and hence “Managers who will be

able to lead the Gen Y will be Leaders in true sense”.

© In nutshell Talent Management as a whole should aim at:

”You can’t give them moon but balance of stressor & enabler at work place

will be the differentiators.

Take –Aways:

© Have patience

© After understanding their attributes, aspirations we need to get in sync

with them, after all, they are going to be in maximum numbers at

workplace & ‘Yes’ they are fundamentally different from all previous

Generations

© Mindset of older Gen need to change .challenge is to manage “attitude”

© Clearly communicated values, corporate goals &personal goals must align

© CSR activities.

© Don’t delegate without making the connections to the bigger picture.

© No micro management ,mentoring is in, controlling is out

© Empowerment (high MPS*)

© Best of IT Infrastructure

Mr. Shridhar Nuti, Head –HR (Learning & OD), Adani Power

Limited, Ahmedabad:

On nurturing Gen Y at Adani Power Ltd: The HR Interventions for Fresh

Talent - Engagement & Retention Action Plan

I. Compensation:

© We are sensitive and always maintain parity of compensation with in

Power sector – further to attract and retain the young engineering

talent it is crucial to revise the compensation of GET/ETs & MTs in par

with Industry Standard. (Ref: Benchmarking Report that we collect each

year while we are addressing Adani Campus Connect).

II. Recreation and Infrastructure:

© Considering remote locations of our Power Project & Operating Plants

we provide housing accommodation with all basic furnishings with

decent living standard.

© Considering these are Googlian Generation we provide them a facility of

internet cyber cafes for accessing Internet Facility with Wi-Fi system.

© We give outmost importance and hence provide them hygienic catering

service -like SODEXO etc.

© In order to maintain work life balance we provide them all recreational

facilities (for Indoor / Outdoor) sports & Gym facilities in all our

township and city based offices.

© Recognizing the importance of this GenY: We provide Knowledge

management facility for Young Graduates- GETs inclusive of technical

magazine and management books / CDs / Library provision etc.

III. Training & Development:

© It is essential to provide power plant familiarization preparation to each

and every GETs deployed in power business irrespective of his

functional allocation.(i.e. O&M & Projects)

© We institutionalize a world class Training Center with Simulator

Training, and we designed a structured Technical Orientation Capsule

with minimum duration and make a mandatory program for first year,

this programme shall run twice in a year for these Young Talent.

© Before completion of training all these resources are communicated

well in advance about their future place of work (like Electrical dept. /

Maintenance dept/ Operation dept. / C&I dept. / Civil dept. etc.)

© During the training GET are given an opportunity to enhance their

Technical / managerial effectiveness accordingly a suitable in-house

training module for soft skills also imparted as per well structured

behavioral assessment – through TP- Profiling .

© In order to attract and retain this talent we create an environment for

challenges in the work space accordingly each year a team of GET/ETs

must be awarded as best Trainees’ Batch, with a structural evaluation

like opportunity to prepare a project report related one of the challenge

face by the organization with clear-cut remedial measure and suitable

action plan to with time frame.

© This young talent is engaged through structural career development

plan and that may be driven through - psychometric test for each

Graduate/ Management Trainee to ascertain his behavioral attributes

and his suitability to map his career for 3/5 yrs with clear IDPs.

IV. Career Progression & Road Map:

© All young talent – both Technical / Managerial – are provided with a

crystal clear roadmap for his future Progression & growth Plan and

provide an opportunities for construction of a fair psychological

contract with ADANI.

Dr. Hardik Shah, Assistant Professor, Adani Institute of

Infrastructure Management, Ahmedabad:

From HR management and talent management perspectives:

© Creating integration through aligning personal objectives with

organization objectives. HR must create super ordination goals for

employees. The HR need to ensure what individual is contributing

towards overall organization objectives to have pride contribution made

towards for service to the society.

© Mentoring and coaching and no to bossing/ controlling

Retaining Gen Y

© Provide flexibility to allow them to pursue their many outside interests.

© Get them involved in meaningful volunteer efforts. These workers are

community-oriented and are graduates of required community service

hours.

© Count them in on benefits like in hand reward plans. Millennial are

financially savvy.

© Use their capability to access and share information quickly. This is the

most technologically and globally aware generation.

© Pair them up with older mentors. On surveys, Millennial say they

resonate most with the Baby Boom and World War II generations.

© Help them learn interpersonal skills for the workplace. They may need

to be rescued from difficult situations while they develop these skills.

© Motivation: Millennial tend to be motivated when their managers

connect their actions to their personal and career goals.

© Messages that motivate Gen Y:

“You will be working with other bright, creative people.”

“You and your co-workers can help turn this company

around.”

“You can be a hero here.”

© Rewards: Awards, certificates, tangible evidence of credibility

© Preferred methods of communication: Instant messages, Chat

on intranet, blogs, text messages, emails.

© Meritocracy and Supporting Structures

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to extend our gratitude to the long list of people who have

contributed to this Gen Y study, including the many respondents who were

involved in the qualitative as well as the quantitative research, and the

analysis and reviews that followed. Without the support, patience and

perseverance of the following people and institutions, this study would not

have been possible:

Our project partners, IKYA Human Capital and MTHRG (More than HR

Global) for sponsoring the study and contributing during the data

collection phase. Mr. Marcel Parker and Mr. Rajesh Kamath who inspired

and encouraged us during the challenges and obstacles a project of this

size inevitably faces. Ms. Preeti Malhotra, Mr. Keyur Jani, Mr. Ashish

Gakrey and Mr. Vipul Aggarwal for being instrumental in inviting

participants for the qualitative sessions in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore,

and forwarding the survey links to all of MTHR Global’s many members

and their friends in India Inc.

Several organizations, institutions and individuals extended much needed

logistical support to ensure that the qualitative research sessions were

conducted smoothly:

We are thankful to Dr. S Ramachandran (Director, Parle Tilak Vidyalaya

Association) for permitting their three post- graduate students to be a part

of our research team to support us in the qualitative study. We are also

thankful to Ms. Afsha Dokadia (TISS) who proactively participated in the

qualitative sessions held in Mumbai and Delhi, and was instrumental in

supporting us and offering her inputs.

We express our appreciation to Padma Shri Dr. Pritam Singh (Director

General, International Management Institute) for offering us the

opportunity to conduct the pilot study at IMI, New Delhi, and thank the

administrative staff of IMI for making the necessary arrangements during

our two day pilot study; To Dr Jitendra K. Das (Director), Prof. Qazi Asif

Zameer and Mr. Rahul Sarin from FORE School of Management for

enabling us to conduct focus group discussions with their executive MBA

students; Dr. Sanjeev Bansal (Director, MBA & Doctoral Programme, Amity

Business School), Prof. Arunav Banerjee from School of Inspired

Leadership, Gurgaon and Prof. Sushama Khanna from EMPI, New Delhi for

their kind support in conducting qualitative sessions with their students.

Special thanks to Mr. Rohit Das and Subhojit Ghosh from PXV Law

Partners, who gave us the use of their centrally located office spaces in

Mumbai and Delhi for many days on end for us to conduct the qualitative

research sessions. We also value the support of Malavika and Krushi, who

despite their busy schedule, participated and fully supported our research

team. And without acknowledging the administrative staff, including Ravi,

at PXV Law Partners, our acknowledgement would be incomplete. We are

grateful to Major Bhargava R.D. (GM, Valdel Retail Pvt. Ltd.) who

generously supported the research team during the qualitative sessions in

Bangalore.

We are thankful to both Mr. Naresh Deevi and Mr. G.R.Reddy from Husys

Consulting for inviting Gen Y professionals from Husys and other

organizations for the qualitative sessions in New Delhi, Ms. Runa Maitra

for her spirited enthusiasm and support, Ms. Deepa Mohamed for her

insightful inputs, Ms. Meghna Singh for sub editing the report and giving

valuable inputs, and Mr. Sridhar Nuti for sharing with us a case study on his

experience working with Gen Y employees.

We are grateful to all the participants who took time out to travel to the

venues of the qualitative sessions, dedicating two and sometimes even

three hours to participate in the focus group discussions and the triad

interviews. We feel very fortunate to be associated with such committed

individuals. We dedicate this research report to each one of you.

Imon Ghosh

Director, Academy of HRD

MTHRG’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

More Than HR Global is a group that has been inspired by Gen Y,

predominantly for its Gen Y members (over 50% of our 11000 members)

and, our events that have focused on the Gen Y professional. In essence,

Gen Y has always been an integral part in pursuance of our mission

objectives. We as a community, for the last 10 years, have represented the

HR professionals and showcased the value additions they have brought to

their respective organization(s).

The rationale for this study comes from observations of the Indian

workforce demographics which have metamorphosed considerably, and

we now have four generations at many workplaces to manage with HR

practices, though, haven't kept pace with such metamorphic change. Many

a times, we have come across instances where HR Leaders inquisitively ask

us “Do you have some research that can indicate what the next generation

of HR practices will look like?". We cannot have said "no" to our brethren,

and promised to answer their relevant questions on Gen Y soon.

It was not a request we could take lightly. The seed of an idea was planted

in our minds and we decided that we should expand our offerings, hitherto

limited to ‘Best in Class HR learning’ events. On another occasion, our

respected friend and HR veteran, Marcel Parker (who is the Chairman with

IKYA Human Capital Solutions, one of our partners for this study)

suggested that a study of the Indian Gen Y Professional's aspirations is the

need of the hour for HR and business alike. Thus collectively, we resolved

to offer a comprehensive study on the Indian Gen Y professional (who is

urban and corporate) and his/her aspirations at the workplace became

stronger. There is a plethora of Research data available on Gen Y in US and

UK, but the same fell awfully short when it came to Indian workforce.

IKYA gladly and kindly agreed to support the monetary investment

involved in a project of this scale and partnered this endeavor.

We knew that the most important ingredient for this study would be the

availability of Gen Y professionals themselves, whom we knew MTHRG has

in abundance as members, despite the challenges of logistics and

outreach. Now all we needed was a credible and experienced Research

partner, who also would be some kind of an expert in the HR domain. We

did not have to look further than our friend Imon Ghosh (and the

legendary Academy of HRD in Ahmedabad), who readily and most

enthusiastically shared our passion for HR and fascination with Gen Y. This

dream that IKYA, AHRD and MTHRG dreamt together gave birth to the

report that you hold in your hands.

We knew this would have to be no ordinary study but one that delves

deeply into the minds and hearts of the Gen Y professional - also the

output would have to be a guide to thousands, perhaps thousands of HR

and Business Managers, as also Academicians and students for shaping the

future of HR itself. But to put this report in every professional's hands, we

had to make a decision that the Summary of this study would be available

freely and for free, despite the significant investment that such an in-depth

and detailed study calls for.

This Report, we hope, will act as an essential reference and even a guide in

designing (or re-designing) HR practices and processes, tailored to the

Indian Gen Y Workforce, which is the Talent engine of the world. We

dedicate this Report to the HR fraternity of this country, the various HR

bodies, especially to the hundreds of MTHRG members who contributed

and most definitely, to the Generation Y who are the 'why' for this entire

exercise!

Mr. Rajesh Kamath

(On behalf of MTHR Global core team- includes Keyur J, Preeti M, Ashish G,

Vipul A and Rajesh G)

We thank each member of our project partners for inspiring

and encouraging us during the challenges and obstacles a

project of this size inevitably faces!

ACKNOWLEDGING

PROJECT PARTNERS

IKYA Human Capital is the fastest growing HR solutions company in India, with

specialized service offerings in Executive Search, Recruitment Solutions,

Staffing Services, Training and project based RPO hiring, headquartered at

Bangalore.

Mr. Marcel R Parker is one of the senior most HR professionals in the country

with diverse experience in Management Development, Industrial Relations,

Performance Management and Strategic HR.

Contact: marcel@ikyaglobal.com

We acknowledge the generous support by Ajit Isaac, MD and CEO of IKYA, an

organization run largely by Gen Yer's and serving customers who hire large

numbers of Gen Yer's.

Mumbai based MTHR Global (More Than HR Global), a 9 years in action; non-

profit body is a rapidly growing HRD movement in Mumbai and India. "More

Than HR Global" is a New Age Knowledge Community where every HR

professional can benefit from and it is an excellent platform where HR (and

beyond) fraternity at any level can mingle and learn from each other.

MTHR Global has to itself many successful HR Events. Visit them at

www.mthrglobal.com/

Gen-Y research initiative: The members of the MTHRG Team supported us

during the data collection phase of the research study and were instrumental

in inviting participants for the qualitative sessions in Delhi, Mumbai and

Bangalore; and forwarding the survey links to all of MTHR Global’s many

members and their friends in India Inc.:

Mr. Rajesh Kamath, Ms. Preeti Malhotra, Mr. Keyur Jani, Mr. Ashish Gakrey,

Mr. Rajesh Gupta and, Mr. Vipul Aggarwal.

The Academy of Human Resources Development (AHRD) is India’s premier

institution specializing in human resources development for all

organizational forms. The Academy was founded in 1990 by National HRD

Network with the active support of some of the professors of Indian

Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, including Dr. T. V. Rao, Dr. Udai

Pareek, Dr. D. M. Pestonjee and a number of HRD professionals and

people-management oriented corporations. It was later registered as a

trust and society.

It started functioning with institution building support from the Ravi

Matthai Center of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A),

Bank of Baroda Staff College, Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad Management

Association (AMA). Its governing board, over the years, had been headed

by well known CEOs/academicians - Mr. M. R. R. Nair, Dr. Anji Reddy, Late

Dr. Udai Pareek, Dr. Anil K. Khandelwal and currently Dr. Sunil Maheshwari.

Besides research, consulting and management development programs, the

Academy of HRD runs a doctoral level Fellow Program and M.Phil level

Associate Program in HR & OD for working executives, management faculty

and consultants.

During the first half of 2011, the Academy of HRD signed an MOU with a

University in Ahmedabad to offer participants in its Fellow & Associate

Programs the option of earning Ph.D. and M.Phil degrees as well.

Discussions are on with other Universities in order to offer the Academy’s

F&A participants a broader range of options.

We are proud to acknowledge our association with distinguished experts

in the area of HRD, who apart from their busy schedule have guided us

through the research study and gave their reviews and suggestions, to

bring you the seminal research work on Indian Gen Y at the workplace

today, the first of its kind in India.

Prof. D.M. Pestonjee (CEPT and Academy of HRD),

Prof. Pradyumna Khokle (IIM-A & Academy of HRD),

Prof. Biju Varkkey (IIM-A),

Prof. Jignasu Yagnik (EDII),

Prof. Keith C. D’Souza (S P Jain Institute & Academy of HRD).

Research Team:

Mr. Chetan Marwah: Mr. Marwah is the core facilitator for the

qualitative segment of the Gen Y research project (with experience in

conducting over 300 qualitative research projects in over a dozen

countries).

Dr. Hardik Shah: Dr Shah (Assistant professor, Adani Institute of

Infrastructure Management) made significant contributions to the

quantitative segment of this project. Dr. Shah facilitated the research

design, analysed the pilot and main study data to validate the

questionnaire and analyzed the data.

Ms. Prarthana Alley: Prarthana played a key role by coordinating the

Gen Y research project across locations, conducting several qualitative

sessions and contributing to the drafting of this report.

Ms. Ruchita Bhingare, Ms. Pradnya More and Mr. Bhushan Bhoir from

Parle Tilak Vidyalaya Association (PTVA) Mumbai, who supported us

substantially in the qualitative research study.

AHRD’s support team:

Mr. Piyush Dwivedi, Mr. Harnish Joshi, Mr. Bhavin Joshi and Ms. Darshana

Jadeja who made substantive contributions while having other projects to

complete.

Without the unflagging determination and perseverance of our core team,

the hard work, irrespective of the challenges, this research project would

not have been possible.

Visit: www.academyofhrd.org

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