Your Next Employee May Be Unlike Anything You Have Seen Before
Related Article: Generational Differences in the EMS Workplace - Part 1
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I began my full-time EMS career in 1976 working for Bill Leonard and Medical Services Inc. (MSI) in Eugene, Oregon. To a young rookie employee, Bill was larger-than-life and the company took pride in its “paramilitary” approach. Since most of the employees were of the war veteran and “baby boomer” generations, that approach worked fine, for the most part.
On their first day, new employees were sent to the uniform shop to buy $150 worth of specific gear with their own money. The new employees made the purchases without question because the openings at MSI were rare (I was on a waiting list for 7 months) and we were happy and proud to have the job; I cringe to think about the uproar that would cause today.
There was a culture of structure and obedience in the organization, and more importantly, a sense of comfort in that atmosphere in those days. We were taught the “MSI way.” We always placed the cot blankets with the folds facing the bench seat. We never used a towel on the ambulance windshields (we used newspaper instead). We never questioned why — we just did it.
The Generation X and Y employees of today’s workforce likely wouldn’t be that complacent or compliant. They would ask, “Why?” and would keep asking it until they received a good answer or they would leave for greener pastures. While independent thought among the lower ranks can serve as an annoyance to EMS managers, it certainly puts the pressure on organizations and managers to understand the complexities of today’s generational differences.
Four million people a year are turning 21-years-old, and many of them are looking to healthcare and EMS for employment. This influx of a new generation into the workplace will force a change in an industry that is known for being slow or resistant to making changes. However, we will have to understand these generational differences among employees in order to succeed at continuing to provide emergency services to an expanding nation.
Defining a generation is always tricky; it’s impossible to avoid stereotyping and painting a group of individuals with a wide brush. But I’ll attempt to do so nonetheless, drawing on impressions formed by my general observations, discussions with peers, and some published works. They are not meant to generalize the attributes of every single person in a certain age group – merely to paint a picture that illustrates the generational differences EMS operations need to be aware of.
Generation X
The Generation X population today is approximately 29 to 43 years old and was born between the mid 1960s and the late 1970s. This generation is more likely to have divorced and more permissive parents than previous generations. They were the original “latchkey” kids. Their thoughts and stances were influenced by the tidal wave of information they regularly encountered growing up; unlike the “boomers,” they have always had television and cable. They also were raised in a climate of greater distrust of institutions (i.e. Watergate, Iran-Contra, Enron) and have dealt with a greater rate of societal change than ever before.
The result of living in this environment has caused this generation to process information much more quickly and differently than the boomers. Generation X employees are generally more cautious with institutional relationships and they don’t necessarily want to “pay their dues.” They tend to be independent by nature and are truly “free agents” who seem to want instant gratification. EMS organizations find them easy to recruit and hard to retain.
This generation often believes it is misunderstood by employers who see them as “slackers,” firm in their sense of entitlement. They tell us that they are more than their tattoos, shaved heads and piercings. They consider their intelligence to be a defining characteristic, deserving of respect and thriving on challenge.
Generation Y or “Why” or Generation “Me”
The Generation Y population today is approximately 8 to 29 years old and was born between the late 1970s and the late 1990s. This generation is larger than the Generation X population by about 35 million people, and probably makes up the majority of your workforce. They are the sons and daughters of the boomers and were the first to be born in the age of computers. Their generation cycled quicker than the Generation X population and their rate of change has accelerated.
The Generation Y employees are sharp, smart, demanding and adventurous. They want to work, but they don’t want work to be their entire life. As they take their first jobs, they will continue to be the fastest-growing segment of the workforce; the percentage of Generation Y-ers in the workforce has risen from 14 percent to 21 percent over the last 4 years.
Generation Y employees are dependent on technology and an instantaneous delivery of information. They have similar values to the war veterans generation in that they are optimistic, confident, sociable, driven by strong morals, and have a sense of civic duty. They also have financial smarts — 37 percent of them expect to begin retirement planning before they reach the age of 21.
The Generation Y employee will not tolerate jobs that don’t take their needs and personal lives into consideration. They will job-hop to increase salary and benefits; loyalty is not an issue — the highest bidder wins. This generation is not afraid to change because many of them are not carrying the same survival risks that past generations did. In the book Boomerang Nation, author Elina Furman relates that one-half of this year’s college graduates have moved back home, 44 percent are still there and 34 percent of those 18-34-year-olds still get cash from mom and dad. This type of safety net allows the generation to look at employment with a different perspective.
What are employers to do?
Whether we believe that all of the above descriptions are completely accurate, it would be foolish for EMS operations to pretend there aren’t legitimate generational differences that have to be addressed. Employers have to face the realization that the workforce has changed, and it is not necessarily better or worse than before, but just…different. We are dealing with a younger, more educated, more carefree workforce that has been raised in a different environment and has a different set of personal priorities.
There is no template for dealing with these differences because every workforce has a different generational make-up. But there is a great deal that informed management can do in order to improve the relationships with employees who have different expectations, to not do so can be disastrous.
The number one issue I see EMS organizations facing today (behind reimbursement and funding issues) is employee recruitment and retention. It is not unusual to find an organization with turnover rates over 30 percent, resulting in managers who spend a majority of their time trying to find potential employees. Constant turnover usually contributes to poorer performance at all levels of an organization. Understanding the generational differences of the incoming workforce can lead to better employee retention. To not pay attention to these differences and the need to alter managing practices will only exasperate the problem.
There is an incredible amount of pressure placed on managers and field supervisors who are charged with reversing this problematic trend. By all accounts, the younger incoming workforce has the talent to excel; they are quick-thinking, multi-tasking individuals who must be given the right environment in which to flourish. A failure to do so will push the employee to another organization. Without change, this industry will continue to have high turnover rates, high levels of dissatisfaction and poorer performance.
Management must be educated about the generational differences and the changing expectations from both their perspective and their employees’. It is no longer reasonable to expect blind loyalty and obedience “just because we say so.” Today’s generations expect to know why something is being done a certain way. Smart managers today are building non-traditional workplaces that exhibit some flexibility, where possible, that emphasize respectful relationships and focus on retaining talent.
Informed employers understand that today’s employees grow restless without feedback, and rebel when an organization misuses or wastes the employee’s time. They understand that micromanaging this multi-tasking workforce would be a deviating motivation killer. The good organizations are being creative and are trying to avoid generational conflicts by accommodating employee differences, creating workplace choices, operating a sophisticated management style, respecting competency and initiative, and by nourishing retention. As EMS employers prepare for this onslaught of young employees, and wonder if they can change fast enough to accommodate the different expectations, they remember the “Millennium Kids” Generations are right behind the Generation Y population — and they will be as different as well!
Steve Athey has worked in the ambulance industry since 1971 and has managed large and small workforces comprised of employees from all generations. Steve, a baby boomer, has raised a Generation X child, a Generation Y child and, with his wife Ann, is currently raising their Millennial child, Tess.
References
- Furman, Elina. Boomerang Nation, How to Survive Living with Your Parents the Second Tie Around, New York, NY. Simon and Schuster, 2005.
- Tulgan, Bruce. Managing Generation X, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2000.
- Twenge, Jean M. Generation Me, New York, NY: Free Press, 2006.
- Zemke, Raines, Flipczak et.al. Generations at Work, New York, NY: American Management Association, 2000.
