Let’s start a revolution: I know you can do it.

Speech given on 22nd

of September, during Kick-Off Meeting Young Cargill Netherlands, by Squarewise

Consultant Martine Verweij

Disclaimer- There only three things I would like to share with you.. which I will repeat at the end. So

don’t worry if you fall asleep or want to multitask during this talk. I am one of you. I understand.

So how did I get here. Basically that is not a very long story. Jan van

Vilsteren, a good friend of mine, asked me to be here today. Over dinner

about two weeks ago, we discussed what I was going to say in front of all of

you. And more importantly. What I wasn’t supposed to say. As dinner

progressed and the second and third glass of wine were served, I realized

that I was actually being given all the freedom. NO boundaries. Complete

freedom of speech. What an amazing feeling. So here I am. With this

incredible opportunity to do exactly as I please. Be the stubborn and

arrogant me; make bold statements about my generation. And the

generations that are blocking us from being exactly as we please to be and should be to create most

value.

I can tell you all how amazing you are and then I mean; those of you

that are actually going to be part of Young Cargill. That you are sitting

on a goldmine of innovation potential. That the generation Y is the

best thing that ever happened to Cargill. That you should start a

revolution today, unleash all your creative powers and rethink your

future. For I know you can do that. You can multitask, process

uncountable streams of information at the same time, you are

tech savy, have iPhones and the newest applications, you

twitter and invent your own shoes on Nike.com.

You care about the environment and about the future of your

organization for you know that you are the generation that will

need to save Cargill from its fatal destiny; you can still change

the course of things and make Cargill a truly CO2 neutral, tree-

saving and people friendly organization. For that is what you

care about. You are the employee 2.0!

You are Generation Y asking; why do we do things the way they are being

done right now? Why can’t we be a faster, trendier and more responsive

organization? But also, why I am not being petted on my head more often.

Being told that I’m doing great or that I need to do better? Why does

nobody ask me what I want when it concerns my career? Why can’t I go

abroad to the country of my choice on a fat expat salary and bring my girl-

or boyfriend. And when I’m there, half a year of sabbatical would be nice.

To do that trip around the world that you were dreaming about. Why does

nobody listen to me?

You sir. I think I lost you. You see this group of young people and think; this

bunch of self-confident young inexperienced

employees. A bit like grasshoppers. They come and

go as they please. Don’t stick around. Get bored.

And still want a lot when they are there. You’re

thinking that they should be thankful that the

company hired them. Giving them a chance to

learn a true profession. And that takes time. You

cannot rush these kinds of things. Young people

nowadays want a new challenge every five

minutes. The first couple of months they come

running to your desk saying boss; I can handle more, give me more, what can I do? Shouldn’t we go into

this. Can’t we be doing that? You don’t always have more work for them so you thank them and send

them back to do what they were already doing. And they drift off. Then suddenly, a few months later,

they are less motivated. Going home early. Working from home now and then or not as chatty during

lunch time as they used to be. And you think; see, that’s what you get from all that energy. Now you

understand what is to have a 9 to 5 working life. You’ll realize that you cannot be changing everything all

the time.

So what’s happening with these people? Do they really

lose their concentration and motivation so fast? Don’t

they have the persistence to stick it out? To make

something of it. Have some patience? And now this.

Uniting in some kind of young Cargill network; what

good can come of that. They might even want to talk to

other networks of young professionals. Compare

working climates and job tasks. For sure they’ll think that

the grass is greener somewhere else and we’ll have to

start all over with our talent management process.

Guys, what’s happening here? Why is this going wrong?? Well. That’s a very good question. And one

that I can answer, but to which the solution is less simple.

First, let me get the facts straight. For what I’m telling you

here might not sound good to any of you. Even though it’s

actually a natural process and in the end the best thing

that could happen to Cargill, or any organization for that

sake.

All you managers out there that think; what’s happening!

Why do I not understand these people? Just stop worrying.

And think about yourself when you just entered the labor

force. You were different too.

For we are all unique! Every generation that enters a company is unique; and over time it

will have a very distinct impact on the organization. It will help the organization evolve.

Generation X, the one before my own, entered the workforce in the 80s, when

employment rates were low. Since then, they have always been looking to develop

themselves, learn more, new skills and competences, to be optimally employable. They

feel more commitment to the job they do than to the company they work for. They do

not care much for authority. But understand that authority is part of the job. They adapt

to the extent they need to adapt in order to do their job well. Babyboomers, the ones

that build up our and other countries after the second world war were the healthiest, and

wealthiest generation to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting

the world to improve with time. They were idealists. But did not have a very long term

agenda. In your organization they are the ones currently in power. Gregory Page is one of

them. As a generation they long for money, status and power. They believe striving for

money equals more wealth. Not only for themselves, but also for others. Except for a few of them out

there they do not see that this has been true in the past decades but is no sustainable measure for

development in the future.

And then you; the employee 2.0 or Generation Y. Gathered here today with some expectations. You

are a funny group; hard to understand for most managers for all of you seem to be different. But in

order to get some understanding about you I want to ask you a couple of questions. There is no right or

wrong answer. And since I am Dutch I can be a little bit direct.

• Do you like it here at Cargill?

• How long are you planning on

staying here and what does that

depend on?

• How many employers do you want

to work for during a lifetime?

• Did you know that there is a lot to

do about you. That you make

people wonder; they write books

about you. Research you. Do you

understand why?

Well, then maybe I should share some insights about you. Researchers

such as a professor that I work with, have found out that your brain works

differently. You are wired differently. Among others that makes you better

able to multitask and parallel process. You also prefer thinking in images

and associations rather than in plain text. Ever realized that you always put

in much more images in powerpoint presentations than your superiors

would do? Do you have difficulties reading lengthy reports? It is all in your

brains. Don’t worry. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. We aren’t here to

judge.

There are other things that make you hard to grasp to

many. And explain that many call you spoiled.

You want different things from life. You want a flexible and favorable

work-life balance. Your friends, your sport and family are truly important

to you. You are ambitious, but work is just one of the things that makes

your clock tick.

You have different expectations from work. You want constant

feedback. You want to develop yourself by being challenged. You know

you can do it and otherwise you’ll learn how to do it. With computers you could also always figure it out,

so you’ll do the same at work. You are pretty self-confident. Nothing wrong with your attitude so to say.

What else?

..You want to customize; from your Adidas or Nike shoes to your job description.

You find it hard to understand that not everything can be customized according to

your liking. Holiday trips. Pension schemes. The way you talk to your bank and the

way you want to talk to your government. You want it to be on your terms. And

why not. Technology is ready for mass-customization. Why not make everybody 100 % happy instead of

only a few.

.. You want to scrutinize; know exactly how and why. There comes the generation

Y again. You see straight through when your boss is holding something back. That

eats you up in side. You live for the truth and demand transparency. Are you being

fooled. Treated as a kid; you’ll strike back. Whether it’s online on a restaurant

review website where you share your frustrations about the lousy waiter or on

YouTube where you massively support the honest performance of a woman such

as Susan Boyle.

..You want fun. Why not have fun at work. You want to like your job. Life’s too

short. Fun is necessary and useful. It was shown in a recent study that

companies of whom the employees are likely to call each other friends

perform much better. Hierarchy and power distances are passé. You want

to tap your boss on the back and joke around with him when he does not

understand the newest iPhone application he downloaded. The loyal and

supportive you will help him understand it quite soon, but having a good

laugh about it makes you happy. Corporate politics and ways of working, might seem like a fun game to

you in the beginning, but when your career moves start depending on it, this kind of game is hardly

appreciated any longer. You get frustrated and demand transparency. Otherwise you’ll start your own

company, just like 70 % of American high school kids are thinking about these days. That’s just more fun.

..Last but not least; you are a networker and a collaborator. You share

knowledge, give rather than take all the time and know that you cannot

do it all by yourself. You share on Wikipedia. And take from Wikipedia.

You know your limitations. How could you know it all? Knowledge

creation is going so incredibly fast! By the time you finished your studies

half of what you were taught was already outdated.

Imagine a company with a workforce like that!

Engaged and committed to tap into all resources

available. Eager to learn. Happy and fun to work with. Honest about what they

have their doubts about and not afraid to suggest the necessary changes. It’s a

generation that is not afraid to make mistakes and wants to get tapped on the

fingers in a friendly way. That’s how they learn. Furthermore, they are believers. If you present them

with a vision of where your company wants to go and they fall for that, they will want to help you reach

those goals. Organizations can be their religion, their sense of

community. How helpful is that!

That brings me back to what I started with, namely, that every new

generation in an organization is a good thing. You are needed so that

the company evolves; so that Cargill can start to respond more

effectively to the challenges that large multinationals are facing in this

global world in which our planet is in desperate need for a new and

sustainable balance. You are the ones that have the creativity and the energy to break rules. To create

new systems and business models. And that you sometimes get tired; of the realization that you might

not have a pension waiting for you when you grow old. That climate change is on the news every other

day and that you do not know have to solve that, even though you know we’ll have to. That the ageing

society amounts to enormous pressure on our health system which you will have to pay the price for.

That’s okay. You can and should have fun too. Life’s short and there’s only so much within your circle of

influence. Especially if you’re on your own.

But wait.. look around you. There’s somebody just like you sitting in front of

you. Next to you. Behind you. There are 60 of you here in Amsterdam… and

I think what happened today is that you formed some kind of small club

together. Now let me tell you a secret. You aren’t the only one who is

uniting. Other Young Professionals do the

same in their companies. Your bosses do the same in the more

important meetings for which you need some stars and stripes on your

blouse to be able to participate. Everybody is uniting in some kind of

group. So it’s you against them. Let the battle begin!

Right. Think again. You are not the kind of generation that wants to

battle. You are all collaborators. Networkers. And you like your boss. He is human too. He can’t help

being born in different times. And besides, imagine you’d have to change this place without him..

So that brings me to the three things I really want to say to you today. The rest of what I said, you can

forget. I won’t mind. I am not easily offended. But listen to these last three points. They’ll help you and

the rest of you out there do what you should be doing to save our country and the world.

Ready?

Here they come.

1. Every day again, realize that it is good to see things differently; you are different; the world is

changing and so should your company!

2. Now if you want to make a difference, don’t stop by signaling what you see is old and needs

refurbishment; think in solutions and be pragmatic. Help those older folks out there to see the

light. They need to be inspired too.

3. Use your power. You are a networker; you can multitask, you can parallel process, and are not

afraid to make mistakes. You are tech savy and have a thing with images. Use that. Convince

your superiors. Unite forces and create this movement for change when you think that is

needed. And last but not least; use your sense of humor. You’ll need it and it’ll definitely make

things easier. Nobody will be able to refuse you anything. The good thing is that no other

generations before has ever been so self-confident so it will not be your lack of nerves that will

stop you.

So that’s it. My recipe for success and revolution. Now go and be like Bencom founder Ben Woldring or

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. You have the potential. Now just be yourself and be happy.

Thank you for your attention.

Martine Verweij, Squarewise