60% of New Grads feel underutilized and dissatisfied with their work

Aug. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- Apr 07, 2010 – TORONTO – 2009 Gen-Y Employee Engagement Study found that 60% of Generation Y employees feel dissatisfied that their skills and knowledge are not being valued at work.  The preliminary study was performed by Leadership Reframed, a Toronto-based leadership consulting firm.

“Employers only gain by having a more thoughtful Gen Y talent management strategy.  In return this will save them money in rehiring and retraining, build a pipeline of future leaders and give them an unreplicable competitive advantage by leveraging their new grad’s unique ways of working”, says Daneal Charney, who lead this study and co-authored Hitting Stryde: An Early Career Survival Guide.

Key Findings:
•  New graduates report a polarized perspective of their first real jobs.  Sixty percent feel dissatisfied that only 20-40 percent of their skills and knowledge are being utilized while the remaining 40% feel challenged and engaged in their new roles.
•  New graduates experience a culture shock when they transition from the classroom to the boardroom.
•  Gen Y-es are more likely to be upset or think about leaving their employers if the brand promises they were sold is not aligned with their actual work experience.

The study, which begun in January of last year, leveraged qualitative focus groups and in-depth one-on-one interviews to cast light on the state of employee engagement among recent Gen-Y graduates. Lead by Leadership Reframed founder Daneal Charney, the study focused on Canadian adults aged 18 to 30 who were awarded undergraduate degrees from January 1st, 2004 to December 31st, 2008. Eighty percent of participants were from G13 universities.

“This should not come as a surprise to employers. Gen-Yers aren’t cut from the same cloth as other generations,” outlined the Leadership Reframed founder. According to the firm’s research, an average of 9 out of 10 adults from Generation Y care a great deal about whether employers deliver on their brand promises to employees, versus 2.5 out of 10 adults from the general population.

Other key findings included the overwhelming level of dissatisfaction among Gen-Y employees with respect to the utilization of their “Web 2.0” skills including online research, social media and web-based communication more broadly and the prevalence of a feeling of “cultural shock” among Gen-Yers during their transition from university to the workplace.

“Organizations who want to be Gen-Y Employers of Choice need to pay attention to this study. Engaging this generation cannot be done by offering a checklist of programs, but rather by creating meaningful, challenging work that allows individuals to make a real contribution,” advised Charney. The complete report of the 2009 Gen-Y Employee Engagement Study will be available later this Fall.


About Leadership Reframed:
Founded in 2005, Leadership Reframed is Canada’s pre-eminent leadership consulting firm. Through leadership development programs, high-potential coaching, coaching education, mentorship programs, and real-time feedback tools, Leadership Reframed helps businesses unleash the potential of their best and brightest young talent.  Their client list includes Loblaws, Intel, Globalive Communications, The Randstad Group and Proctor & Gamble.

Contact:
Daneal Charney
CFO of Leadership Reframed and co-author of
Hitting Stryde: An Early Career Survival Guide with 110 Career Shortcuts.
daneal@leadershipreframed.com
www.leadershipreframed.com.

# # #

Changing times require a fresh perspective on leadership. Reframe the way you manage your Gen Y for superior business results. Leadership Reframed is an independent company serving Employers of Choice for recent Gen Y graduates.