Mom's Lessons on Customer Service

	Cheryl Croce Sr. Consultant Veris Associates, Inc.

It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 10. It’s a particularly special one, as my younger sister will be celebrating her very first Mother’s Day. Both my sister and my mom have taught me what it is to be a strong and caring person.

In particular, there are many things I have learned from my mom that apply to how I approach managing projects. Whether she realized it or not, she gave me my first lesson in customer service.




One year, when I was younger, my mom prepared a holiday dinner. She made home-made manicotti, lasagna, meatballs, all the side dishes you can imagine, and a full turkey. It was a feast you might see in a Norman Rockwell painting (well, if Norman Rockwell had been Italian). My family gathered at the table, eager to dig in and enjoy the food.

My grandfather – her father – sat down, tucked a napkin into his shirt, picked up his utensils and surveyed the food in front of him.

My mom took great pride in her feast. That changed when my grandfather furrowed his brow and said,

“What? No ham?”

While my mom was less than thrilled about what he said, my grandfather practically licked his plate clean. To this day, she’ll bring up this story whenever we sit down for a holiday dinner.

The following are customer service nuggets of knowledge I garnered from that incident:

* Low hanging fruits – those projects we view as seemingly non-essential - are sometimes the sweetest to our customers.
* Understanding what is important to the customer takes active listening, observation and, on occasion, patience.
* As much as we strive for perfection, there’s always one person who isn’t going to be happy. If there’s something missing, it’s not the end of the world, and it’s not personal. You learn from the feedback, and deliver the unexpected at the next opportunity.


For all the moms and moms-to-be out there, have a wonderful Mother’s Day!


Interested in learning more about Customer Service? Attend one of our Customer Service Stars classes. These one-day classes will be held on May 20, 2009 and June 4, 2009. Click here for more details.


Copyright (c) Veris Associates, Inc. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Comments contents are the opinions of the person posting the comment (commenter) and not necessarily those or endorsed by Veris Associates, Inc. Veris Associates, Inc. reserves the right to remove any and all comments it wishes without any recourse of the commenter. Decision of Veris Associates, Inc. is final.

Incorporating IT Service Management: Digging In The Right Place

Cheryl Croce Sr. Consultant Veris Associates, Inc.

As I pored through research on IT trends, the economic impact on those trends and the forecasts over the past few months, a line from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark kept popping into my head:

“They’re digging in the wrong place!”

For those of you who have not seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, everyone in the movie is in a race to find the Well of Lost Souls, which houses the Lost Ark, which contains power that would be useful to any army. (Bear with me.) In order to so, they had to have the map to the Well of Lost Souls, which was inscribed on a medallion. The villains in the movie did not get the medallion; however one of their henchmen had the information burned on his hand from trying to grasp it in a fire-encapsulated building. The problem with the approach: he only had half of the information. The medallion had location information on both sides and, as a result, the baddies exhausted resources and man hours by digging in the wrong place.

It’s the same thing with the implementation of IT Service Management.

In today’s market, many IT organizations have embarked on the multiple-year investment it takes to implement IT Service Management so they may improve their quality of service to their business customers. Many of those IT teams focused solely on functions, processes and services.

While it increases the IT organization’s service delivery maturity, this approach is still missing an important component. The biggest oversight is the lack of organizational adoption of the compulsory cultural changes associated with executing the ITIL framework as part of IT Service Management.

How does an IT organization successfully incorporate IT Service Management practices into their way of working? How does it dig in the right place?

• Foster Cultural Awareness. When IT Service Management models are adopted, IT becomes a strategic asset during times of growth and economic downturns. IT Service Management is a culture, not a project. It is not only important for the IT organization to understand this, but it is also critical for the departments they serve (HR, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Purchasing) to know this, too.
  
• Talk is Good. While the ITIL framework provides a common IT language, understanding business-speak is equally important in securing the cultural adoption of IT Service Management. It is important for an IT organization to be well-versed in both IT Service Management processes and sound business management practices.
  
• Conversations are Better. By having conversations – be they round tables, strategy sessions, departmental meetings or social network discussions - IT organizations will have a better understanding of the Businesses they serve. They will drive their service strategies and service development, and will continually improve their existing functions, processes and services.
  
• Understand the Definition of ‘Value.’ An IT organization may have excellent subject matter experts, solid processes, standardized tools and defined measurements and metrics, but all of that means little to the customers they serve if it doesn’t demonstrate value to them. By doing so, IT will be able to capitalize, exploit and maintain their functions, processes and services to meet existing and forecasted business needs.
  
• Use a Lifecycle Approach. IT organizations further enhance its strategic value to its business customers by employing a Service Management lifecycle approach. In this manner, the IT organization embraces a business and IT alignment through the use of ITIL’s Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, and Service Operations best practices. In addition, ITIL’s Continual Service Improvement ensures IT isn’t resting on its laurels. It provides an IT team with the ability to create meaningful internal and customer-focused metrics and helps it provide purposeful and powerful reporting for management and executives.
  

IT Service Management is a discipline for the efficient and effective management of information technology systems, philosophically centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business. It is a culture, not a project, and provides sustainability to IT’s relationship with the business. By digging in the right place - looking beyond tools, templates and technology and seeing the cultural and business impact IT Service Management will have -IT organizations will be able to function effectively and get arms around their current operations.

Copyright (c) Veris Associates, Inc. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Comments contents are the opinions of the person posting the comment (commenter) and not necessarily those or endorsed by Veris Associates, Inc. Veris Associates, Inc. reserves the right to remove any and all comments it wishes without any recourse of the commenter. Decision of Veris Associates, Inc. is final.

Five Tips for a Great Performance Review

Cheryl Croce Sr. Consultant Veris Associates, Inc.

The anticipation.
The flop sweat.
The fear it won’t go as well as you want it to go.

It’s the annual performance review. Those aren’t the doubts of the employee. They are the uncertainties of the manager.

Everyone’s been there at least once. We’ve had memories of performance reviews, even when they were positive, where we wished the manager worded something differently, or clarified information in their message, or provided enough time for us to express an opinion about what was said. These are the reviews that scar new managers or propel them to vow they will ‘do right’ by their employees during evaluation periods. Then the time comes and they find themselves tongue-tied, nervous and unsure how to proceed.

One of the more weighty responsibilities of any manager is providing annual reviews to his or her staff members. They are a wonderful opportunity for both manager and employee to get one-on-one time and to discuss important career milestones and objectives, achievements, and opportunities for improvement.

While managers are given standardized documents and a process for capturing information about an employee’s performance, companies leave out how to process all the feedback, consolidate the message and deliver the positive and constructive information.

Some may debate delivering a performance review is more art than science; less formula and more finesse. To be sure, managers must possess a certain level of diplomacy when they convey what is in the evaluation. But, there are steps managers can take to ensure the experience is a just and fair one for their employees.

Following five straightforward rules of engagement, managers at any level of experience can deliver great performance reviews:

1. Be prepared before you walk into the review. In reality, there should not be any surprises to the employee if the performance review process is executed properly. There should not be any surprises to you as a manager, either. Employees expect managers to have a comprehensive, accurate picture of their performance during the year. Collect feedback from others who work with your employee, even if your company does not have a 360 review process. Do not disappoint them by consolidating the feedback without reading or understanding all of it. Go back to the contributors and ask questions if you are unsure of the information returned to you for your employee.
2. Focus on the strengths. Traditionally, there is polarity in the delivery of performance reviews. Much wasted time is spent on opportunities for improvement or focusing on weakness. Mention them and then move on. What is it that makes employees valued assets to the company, to the team, and to you? Emphasize those qualities, and discuss ways the employees can continue to flex their muscles in these areas.
3. When delivering tough messages, place the spotlight on behaviors and not the individual. No one likes to hear negative feedback, especially if it is a behavior they unintentionally exhibited. Assume merit and positive intentions, but address the damaging behaviors that impact individual employees, their colleagues and the company. In order to properly course-correct without retribution, you must be just and fair in the approach. Come prepared with specific examples of how the behavior, not the individual, caused issues and provide suggestions on how the behavior might be altered to create positive results in the future.
4. Use your ears as much as your voice. Allot time for employees to express their concerns and their expectations. As much as it is a review of performance, it is also a forum for them to talk about their career outlook and aspirations.
5. Develop a measurable and meaningful action plan. Close the chapter on the year in review, and look to the future. Explore career growth, and how their strengths may be applied in achieving both their goals and your organization’s objectives. Map out a strategy that has clear milestones and deliverables, and discuss how these will be achieved realistically. Don’t be afraid to add challenge to the plan, but make sure to tie deliverables back to the agreed-upon plan.
   

How about you? Do you have any managerial tricks of the trade you employ when delivering performance reviews? Share them with our reader community.

Lady Tech, Be Thyself: Authenticity As An ‘IT Girl’

Cheryl Croce Sr. Consultant Veris Associates, Inc.

I read two interesting articles over the weekend. They could not have been from more different sources, nor could they have been more interconnected. One was from the May-June 2008 edition of Psychology Today called Dare To Be Yourself. The other was the August 2008 Wired Magazine cover story, Internet Famous: Julia Allison and the Secrets of Self-Promotion. In Dare To Be Yourself, it is noted the basic psychological needs are competence, a sense of relatedness, and acting in accordance with one’s core self or, being authentic. In the Wired Magazine article, the Machiavellian subject pictures herself as the main character of a magazine profile, establishes her story through random blog/Twitter postings and in-person appearances at various ‘important people’ functions, then builds her internet street cred with every response from fans and haters.

There’s a part of me that appreciates Ms. Allison’s moxie. She understands the game of being famous and plays it like an expert. She certainly tapped into at least two of her psychological needs – relating and competence – to be successful in accomplishing her goal of being a cult figure. I leave the authentic part up for debate; while I think she’s mastered the art of promotion, I’m not quite sure if she’s promoting herself or the persona she wants her public to know.

The two articles made me think about my career in IT. I work as an IT infrastructure consultant. The majority of my counterparts and customer sponsors are men. Don’t get me wrong: I dig working with the men folk. I’ve not only learned a great deal about the process, politics, bits and bytes of information technology, but I am now relatively up-to-speed on all things sports. (Although, Ultimate Fighting still eludes me.)

I’m happy to say I’ve had good female IT role models, too. I’ve learned a lot from them and it’s wonderful to have colleagues who understand the ups and downs of the IT sisterhood.

Geekdom Stigma

However, while overall employment rates in IT rose in 2006 from 2000, the number of women employed in IT has dropped almost eight percent. It’s a little disheartening to think the sisterhood is declining. Anecdotally speaking, there are a few reasons women are leaving or choosing other paths. Some say it’s a cultural issue. Historically, IT has not been generally known for its flexibility, which is important for working mothers. Some say it’s the image IT promotes. I know this is shocking, but there are many women who do not want to emulate the persona of guys with pocket protectors who can quote episodes of Monty Python and Dr. Who verbatim. (Although, I am a staunch Lost fan and feed the frenzy among my co-workers and customers who also watch.)

In other words, these items in the IT world conflict with women’s needs to be true to themselves.

How Do You Relate To IT As A Woman?

So, what if you are a woman who enjoys the challenge of what IT has to offer? How do you relate to the “it’s cool to be a nerd” environment? How do you remain true to yourself in a culture that doesn’t necessarily scream female-friendly?

It’s not a question of competence – because you know you can do the job. It’s a matter of having that sense of community and of being happy as a woman in a male environment without giving up what it is to be you.

Wondering how to do that? Here are a few guidelines:

• Learn the game. Know the rules of engagement before you act – or react. IT shops can be frustrating if you don’t understand the players, the work practices or the politics. Reduce that frustration with observation, understanding the way you learn and work, asking questions and your role as it relates to the company’s objectives and the department’s needs.

• Embrace the IT Sisterhood – and Brotherhood. If you are feeling like you are stuck or in a rut, remember there are other women – and men - who have been there, done that and still wear the battle scars. Consequently, become part of the experiential and knowledge collective and share what you know with other colleagues. It makes for a great support system.

• Find your bliss. Don’t try to be something you are not. When you know IT is for you, don’t be discouraged if the IT shop you are in originally doesn’t match up to whom you are and who you want to be. IT is a beautiful thing in that you can go everywhere and anywhere with the profession.

I wasn’t sure IT was the right gig for me when it first found me. After a few years in the industry, I discovered the joy and beauty of process in IT services. Process development feeds my need to have daily work challenges and to be creative. For other women who I know, there’s nothing sexier than database development and administration, or building applications, or creating new web spaces, or developing web portals, or providing ITIL best practices training. It’s all about finding what’s right for you. It doesn’t necessarily have to be what people in non-IT fields define as an IT career.

• Feed the passion. Once you’ve found your bliss, don’t stop there. Read industry white papers, magazine articles and books. Register for classes. Find an IT networking group, whether it’s a formal organization or one you’ve established with your work colleagues.

Conclusion

It’s not about gender but about who you are that matters. Find your passion and pursue it. Whether you build applications, develop process, or work directly in the data center, do what you love. It’s true in any field but even truer in IT – if you stop growing, it becomes mundane and the little things begin to bug you. Embrace the bliss, reach out to others in your field, and make IT work for you.

What Do You Think

Let me know how you feel or what you think. Let me see your opinion. If you’re a woman or a man and this resonates with you – or if you disagree - voice an opinion. Hit the comment button below.

Getting Control of IT Shared Services - Utility Services Part 1

Cheryl Croce Sr. Consultant Veris Associates, Inc.

In this first article of a series of five, the author explores how to relieve three of the nine common pain points associated with Infrastructure request fulfillment. By doing so, companies can transform infrastructure request fulfillment from a checklist activity to an organizational strategic asset – request fulfillment as a utility service.

Start at the Beginning! Making Requests Make Sense

Did you ever notice it’s the little things that create the biggest impact? That’s the way our clients and prospective customers feel when it comes to Infrastructure Request Fulfillment.

In general, we know we must conduct thorough analyses, provide cost justifications and maintain the allotted budgets for larger projects. However, it’s the requests that stem from daily operational needs and organizational growth that come as the big surprise at the end of the budget year - things for which project allocations do not account.

The IT Pain Points

In the white paper, The Games We Play: Conquering the Challenge of IT Request Fulfillment, we identified the following common pain points Infrastructure teams and management experience when it comes to request fulfillment:

Shock to the System: The multiple ways in which Infrastructure teams receive requests - e-mails, telephone calls, taps on the shoulder, and help desk tickets.

“Needs” Brain Freeze: When customers forget there might be rules when they want it and they want it now.

Request Definition Wish Bone: Many customers don’t get what they want or need, because the requirements of the request were not collected or provided.

Purchasing Apple: That lump in your throat may be the realization you’ve overspent on purchases for equipment and third-party services.

Spare Parts: You didn’t realize you had the part already in stock. Or, there’s a part you’ve purchased that’s gone bad and you have no idea where you’ve installed it or what the serial number is for it.

“Architect’s” Elbow: Your technical team’s elbow grease is gone, because they’ve expended it. And you have no idea how, when or why. Change Management is missing from the equation.

Testing Butterflies in the Stomach: Testing is such a fundamental activity within System Development Lifecycle, because in general there are test labs. That’s not the case a lot of times with infrastructure related requests. So, a “let’s try this and hope it works” approach may be used when rolling new components into production.

Writing Communications Cramp: As much as we are connected (you might be reading this on your BlackBerry device or iPhone), it’s interesting we’re still not communicating.

Broken Hearts All Around: Customers look at the end result and say, “That’s not what I wanted. Now what do we do?” And when they say “we” they really mean you, which equates to re-work and exhausted, cranky staff.

Perhaps some of you now are nodding your heads, as these items may look familiar to you. Share your experiences with us: What have you seen in your workplace?

Most IT teams are deluged with requests through different means, and a lot of times this concept is not acknowledged. For example, when we interviewed individuals at a client site about how requests were received, we heard different responses. The CIO told us all requests came through the company’s help desk system. The staff members, on the other hand, told us they received requests not only from the help desk system, but also by e-mail, phone call, taps on the shoulder, hallway conversations, and internal meetings with their IT counterparts.

The Requests Cometh

The requests obtained outside the help desk ticket system are often quickly scribbled on post-it notes and in notebooks.

This ad-hoc repository causes three issues:

Inability to Prioritize Work is Shocking! Managers have no true view of where their team members are engaged, and therefore they assume they are free for major projects. As a result, managers didn’t understand why they have low morale or higher turnover, and team members are frustrated their managers don’t understand how to prioritize the workloads to meet customers’ demands.

We Know You Want It Now, But Is the Request Valid? Then there’s the question of whether a request is valid at all. We live in an “I want it now” society. We blink and technology is obsolete. We blink and our company has decided to go in a different direction. Now. Not tomorrow. Not when you can get to it. But now. That’s a difficult expectation to manage for IT. IT is a multiple personality. There’s the side of IT that needs to maintain its architectural integrity and protect its structure from changes that do not make sense for the environment. Then there’s the other side where customer service and fulfilling customer needs is inherent. How do you say no when clearly a request is a square peg in a round hole?

Request Definition - What Was That Middle Part? When IT team members are eventually able to get to the requests recorded outside the help desk system, they generally remember the broad scope of the request. However, there’s only so much memory can provide in terms of understanding what the requirements are. Depending on where the request came from and from whom, team members may be less inclined to go back to ask questions and instead, knock the request off their list of things to do. The end result of this approach is low customer satisfaction.

Fixing the Pain Points

How do you fix these pain points? We recommend the following:

Start At The Beginning. Establish a single point of entry into your request fulfillment process. No exceptions.

3 Es - Educate, Empower and Evangelize. At Veris Associates, we love how a good process can make a difference in a customer’s way of working. However, we also acknowledge process isn’t worth a hill of beans if you haven’t incorporated it into an IT organization’s and customer’s culture. Once you’ve established a single point of entry, educate your IT staff – including the CIOs, Directors, and Managers – about the single point of entry. IT Leadership will need to provide customers with communications on this expectation, especially if it is a new concept. As part of this awareness campaign, IT team members must be empowered to steer customers to the single point of entry.

Remove the Square Peg From The Round Hole. As part of the single point of entry, you may want to add questions to help you determine if a request is valid. For example: Is this request tied to a project cost code? Does this request tie to a business objective? Do you have funding? What is the business need? Do you have business and IT Senior Leadership approval?

Talk to Your Customers – They Won’t Bite! You want to know how to mend a customer’s broken heart? TLC – Talking. Learning. Communicating. Time and time again, we see top ten lists come out stating one of the top challenges IT faces is communication with the business. With the single point of entry, a need has been identified by your customers. This is your opportunity to start the conversation and gather information on what the customer wants and needs. If what they need doesn’t align with what was requested, you as the IT expert have the knowledge to provide them with alternative solutions. In the end, your customers appreciate it. You and your team will have a clearer understanding of what’s needed to fulfill their requests.

Make sure you grab a copy of our latest whitepaper: Games We Play - Utility Services with Veris. Simply register and the whitepaper will be sent to you.

Copyright (c) Veris Associates, Inc. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Comments contents are the opinions of the person posting the comment (commenter) and not necessarily those or endorsed by Veris Associates, Inc. Veris Associates, Inc. reserves the right to remove any and all comments it wishes without any recourse of the commenter. Decision of Veris Associates, Inc. is final.

Our Digital Creation: Generation Y’s Monstrous Leap into the Workplace

Cheryl Croce Sr. Consultant Veris Associates, Inc.

“…my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open…”[1]

With all of the recent news around the Millennials – Generation Y -- and their impact on the workplace, you would think they were creatures from another universe. Who are these kids, with their iPods and their Social Networks and their – gasp! – flip-flops? Why do they think everything can be solved with the click of a mouse? They think they’re heroes because they showed up and mentioned something about working ‘green?’

When I think of how seasoned professionals will ‘deal’ with Generation Y’s own theories of how work will be done and their contributions, I think of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The story is about the construction of a creature from borrowed parts, and the subsequent events when it becomes part of the Doctor’s world -- whether he wants it to or not. Ultimately, the novel resonates with philosophical and moral ramifications: themes of nurture versus nature…and ambition versus social responsibility dominate readers' attention and provoke thoughtful consideration of the most sensitive issues of our time.[2]

Imagine that – all that influence from a book authored by a nineteen year old.

Generation Y, similar to Frankenstein’s monster, is our generation’s creation; and the generation before us; and the generation before them. They are the product of years of revolution and evolution. We have a choice – and a responsibility – on how we integrate our creation into the workforce. We can either fear and loathe them as they enter the workforce, or we can harness their strengths and help them through their weaknesses. In the end, the Millennials will add value to our workplace, and teach us things we didn’t know we needed to learn.

Borrowed Parts: The Genesis of Generation Y

“Every thing must have a beginning ... and that beginning must be linked to something that went before.”[3]

From Baby Boomers to Generation Y, while our music, dress and political tastes may be different, we share a lot in common. Like each passing generation, Generation Y’s genesis is embedded in the social, political and environmental elements of previous generations.

For people of the Depression Era, it was very simple: If you didn’t work, you didn’t eat. Many turned to manufacturing and government relief work programs, as jobs in farming and mining were devastated by the collapse of the economy. People, young and old, had to make due with what they had, and children grew up quickly in order to survive. There were no computers to automate any of the work done at jobs or in homes.

While the Stock Market crash of 1929 defined the Depression-era workforce, World War II defined the Baby Boomer generation. A sense of patriotism and necessity drove ingenuity, resourcefulness and mass production…in many respects. The Baby Boomers are roughly 80 million strong; with a work ethic set firmly in the belief that if you work hard now, you can do the things you really want to do when you retire. While the Baby Boomers did just fine without the use of computers, one technological advancement shaped their world: Television. Just in time for this wealthy generation came a magic box that showed them exactly what they could buy, where they could travel, and what dreams they could accomplish, all in a wholesome package that cheerfully emitted the benefits of the good life.

Life wasn’t perceived to be as ‘perfect’ for Generation Jones, otherwise known as the Shadow Boomers, who were influenced by the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement. Rock music did for the Generation Jones era what television did for the Baby Boomers: it defined and shaped their way of thinking. For them, distrust and anti-establishment eclipsed patriotism and loyalty. Entrepreneurs were borne from the skills, independence and latitude that came from higher education as it became more commonplace. Instead of being the workers, they became the higher-educated, the shapers, and the process developers. We started to see the early usage of computers and the internet.

In a March 5, 2000 article[4], CNN’s Ian Christopher McCaleb talked with Jonathan Pontell, who coined the ‘Generation Jones’ phrase, about the generation’s concerns:

"We're concerned about things like school violence. These are our kids that are in the schools everyday facing potential danger."

"Yet, we've got people blaming us for the violence. You hear things like, 'Where are the parents?'"

"The parents," he continues, "are working. Americans are working harder than ever before, despite the economic boom. We work eight weeks more per year than many Western nations."

"We want to be with our kids," he insists, unlike Boomers, who practiced "non-participatory parenting" while seeking social and financial indulgence in the '70s and '80s.

"We're interested in things like flex time, and overwhelming number of Jonesers want a more family-friendly society."

Generation X had higher education, computers, the internet, and music television that put visuals to the music that fed their souls. There were more working moms, higher divorce rates, the dot-com rise and fall, and the end of the Cold War. Generation X continued to move away from structured 9-to-5 work environments to work-life balance and wearing – gasp! – jeans into work.

The Generation Y Creature

If we look at the borrowed parts – the best parts – of previous generations, we see the true beauty (and the horror) of the Generation Y creature. Generation Y has lived with computers and the internet all of their lives. Mobile technologies bring information to their fingertips in an instant. They are connected using these technologies and social networks, making them very much globally in-tune and peer-focused. However, with information at their fingertips, they are instant gratification junkies.

Their ability to be flexible and quickly adapt to any situation gives them an advantage in ever-changing work environments. They may get something done differently and in half the time. As a result, they value their free time – and aren’t shy about telling you.

Work-life balance is not a catch-phrase to them. It’s reality.

Matt Spitko, our resident Generation Y-er and Account Manager, provides additional perspective on this point: “My generation has watched its parents work too hard their whole lives, with what reward? Sure they might have ‘decent’ retirements lined up, but what about those 30 or so years where they sacrificed much of their waking lives to work? We understand where it comes from, but are determined to not be consumed by our work the same way our parents were. The present trend of corporate cost-cutting is bound to clash with the values of Generation Y, who will end up costing corporate America more in turnover if it does not take action to keep Generation Y-ers loyal. Generation Y will gravitate toward companies with comprehensive corporate cultures with quality-of-life perks, benefits and the lot.”

While education is important, the digital age and its associated technologies have also stemmed a new language where LOL, TTYL and POS (translation: laughing out loud, talk to you later, and parents over shoulder) are all acceptable ‘English.’ You Tube and viral marketing replaces television. Despite some seemingly immature behavior, Generation Y is financially knowledgeable. Many know what 401Ks and Roth IRAs are, how to use an ATM, and how to conduct banking on-line before they reach college.

“No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence. We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according to their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many delights which we enjoyed.”[5]

Generation Y children have been placed in the forefront. Parents are strongly influenced by their children’s spending preferences. In turn, parents are making a concerted effort to be involved with their children’s lives, and to protect them. Generation Y and their parents have been witness to the Columbine and September 11, 2001 tragedies. So, parents are heavily involved in items that previous generations would have viewed as independent activities: college interviews, job interviews, and sometimes even contacting employers about perceived ‘less than satisfactory’ performance reviews.

Perhaps one of the more compelling revelations in Frankenstein was that the Doctor was more monstrous than his creation. Was the Doctor ambitious? Yes. Did the Doctor have a God-complex? Perhaps. But, his intentions were to do something that had not been done before.

Arguably, there’s a bit of the Doctor in all of us.

That’s why Generation Y’s story parallels nicely with Frankenstein. While parents certainly aren’t trying to play God, they are trying to create an Eden for their children. But, as with anything, nothing is perfect or idyllic, and for whatever reason, it comes as a shock when children rebel, or are impatient, or don’t want to respect others.

Taking the Monstrous Leap with Generation Y (It’s Not That Bad…Really!)

As tradition dictates, this newest generation is rattling the nerves of their predecessors. They are impatient; want the same respect they get from their parents, and respect social networks and peer response more than the traditional boss’s “because I said so” response.

So, how do we ensure we - as ‘doctors’ and predecessors - and they - our Generation Y creatures - survive each another in the workplace? We’ll make use of some thoughts from Mary Shelley:

1. Accept the Borrowed Parts – Old and New

“…the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.”[6]

We were assembled differently; we were influenced by different elements. Like our predecessors, we may struggle with this generation’s elemental building blocks, because they are not the ones from our childhood. Be afraid, as you may be finding yourself saying, “Well, in my day, we used to…” Like it or not, we were them once. We were the curious new younglings emerging from school into ‘real world’ employment, and wreaking havoc on the previous generation’s way of thinking and doing things.

Just as we need to see ourselves, we need to take the leap and see who the Generation Y worker is. Deloitte provides the following profile of Generation Y[7] in the workforce:

• Work well with friends and on teams


• Collaborative, resourceful, innovative thinkers


• Love a challenge


• Seek to make a difference


• Want to produce something worthwhile


• Desire to be a hero


• Impatient


• Comfortable with speed and change


• Thrive on flexibility and space to explore


• Partner well with mentors


• Value guidance


• Expect respect

We need to embrace the ‘borrowed parts.’ Examine their potential, and imagine the possibilities.

2. Value Their Enthusiasm and Off-the-Wall Ideas

“Nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose--a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.”[8]

While we know they are impatient, we also know Generation Y workers can be focused if given a purpose. See what they’re made of and give them a challenge. Give them a single point of focus. Provide the rules, and the goal you need them to accomplish, and let them go to work – in their own way. Encourage them to work with teams.

With experience comes wisdom, knowledge and a temperance that minimizes our return to bad work habits. But that sometimes prohibits us from moving forward as ‘we already tried it before and it didn’t work.’ Leverage your experience and the Generation Y’s vigor. Maybe this time, because of a slightly different bent or newer technology, it will work.

3. Don’t Treat Them As Children, Even Though You Are Old Enough To Be Their Parents

“What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?”[9]

Believe it or not, the Generation Y creatures you hired are adults. You hired them because they filled your work needs. You don’t need to be a POS, but you can provide them with a mentor to make sure they have a model for how to dress, how to respond to customers, and how to employ the processes in place. At the same time, you can encourage them to move from student to teacher when they accomplish goals set for them.

Eventually, what you will find is that you have a happy, productive employee who understands your environment and the customers you serve, and you have someone who is encouraging you to embrace change in the way you work. So, put down the pitchforks and the torches. The Generation Y creature isn’t as fearsome as you might have originally thought.

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[1] Literary-Quotations. "Quotes from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus By Mary Shelley." [Online] 12 May 2008.
[2] "Frankenstein: Introduction." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 12 May 2008.
[3] Notable Quotes. "Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Quotes." [Online] 12 May 2008.
[4] CNN. "Overshadowed generation prepares to steer political agenda, author claims." [Online] 12 May 2008.
[5] Literary-Quotations. "Quotes from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus By Mary Shelley." [Online] 12 May 2008.
[6] Litquotes. "Frankenstein Quotes." [Online] 12 May 2008.
[7] Deloitte. "Who are the Millennials? a.k.a. Generation Y." [Online] 12 May 2008.
[8] Literary-Quotations. "Quotes from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus By Mary Shelley." [Online] 12 May 2008.
[9] SparkNotes. "Frankenstein: Important Quotations Explained." [Online] 13 May 2008.