Jan/Feb 2008
Mind the Gap
BY EVA KAPLAN-LEISERSON
For the first time in history, four generations make up the U.S. workforce. The Silent Generation (ages 63–81), Baby Boomers (ages 44–62), Generation X (ages 27–43), and the Millennials (ages 17–26, also called Generation Y or Generation Next) are all bumping up against each other in organizations across the country.
Like the generations before them, members of Generation X and the Millennial Generation must be recruited, retained, and managed. But these younger generations exhibit some unique characteristics that, experts say, require different approaches than have been used in the past. What are the interests and needs of young engineers, and what do they mean for engineering organizations and older engineers trying to keep companies staffed?
Such questions are not simply theoretical. Chuck Underwood, founder and principal of The Generational Imperative, a management consulting firm that trains U.S. businesses in generational workplace and marketplace strategy, stresses that not understanding generational differences can hinder a company's ability to recruit, retain, engage, and manage the best employees.
His message is especially critical for fields, such as engineering, that are desperate to add workers. Underwood says he is "getting an awful lot of work from the engineering industry," which leads him to see two causes of the pending engineer shortage.
The first is sheer numbers. For every eight Boomers, there are only six Generation Xers, Underwood says. But he also hypothesizes that engineering missed the mark in attracting Xers to the field. Industries that missed with Generation X "absolutely must succeed with the Millennials," Underwood says. "No industry can afford to miss with two consecutive generations."
How can the engineering profession ensure that it attracts and retains members of the younger generations? By understanding their motivations, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as the sources of those traits, Underwood says. Companies that do so can then manage those employees in ways that maximize their productivity and fulfillment.
The first step to understanding "the young engineer" is recognizing that young engineers are not a homogenous group. Dawn Edgell, P.E., 33-year-old young engineer representative on the NSPE Board of Directors, explains that "even though we all qualify as young engineers, [interns and young graduates] definitely see themselves a lot differently than I see myself, or as I would when I was a young grad." Those differences are best delineated along generational lines.
According to Underwood, the Millennial Generation brings tremendous "spirit, enthusiasm, and optimism" to the workplace. Adam Hardy, E.I.T., 24-year-old project engineer for Milhouse Engineering and Construction in Chicago, notes his generation's open-mindedness, energy, and adaptability.
Hardy also describes a mentality of collaboration and cross-discipline work among the youngest segment of engineers. Underwood says Millennials are typically team-oriented, mainly because they came of age in a time of network computing.
However, Millennial workers have been portrayed by the media as cocky, narcissistic, and overly ambitious. Underwood says those impressions can come from a sense of entitlement and unrealistic expectations many Millennials have about pay and promotion. Hovering "helicopter" parents, who developed overconfidence in their kids, are the cause of those traits, he explains.
Generation X, on the other hand, has a reputation for being skeptical, cynical, and closed off. Underwood says these characteristics can be attributed to the difficult childhoods many of the generation's members had—growing up in a time of skyrocketing divorce rates, high-profile leaders resigning in disgrace, and mass layoffs.
But Underwood says Gen Xers are starting to "blossom and bloom." They are advancing at work, starting families, and purchasing homes, he explains, changes that are turning their attitudes positive.
Commonalities and Differences
Gen X and Millennial engineers share several traits, although they manifest in slightly different ways.
One key value for both generations is career growth and advancement. In surveys by the Young Engineers Advisory Council of NSPE's Professional Engineers in Private Practice and by HR Advisors Group, young engineers ranked career opportunities or career growth as their number one motivating factor.
In both surveys, that factor trumped salary. The PEPP-YEAC report notes that the importance of career growth and advancement opportunities doesn't appear to change as young engineers progress through their careers from zero to 12 years of experience.
However, the reasons behind the motivating factor are different for the two generations. The youngest generation of engineers is driven by both a thirst for learning and a desire for respect. Says James Mathis, P.E., 31-year-old engineer for Williams Gas Pipeline in Texas, "Younger engineers?are looking to broaden their skills and learn as much as they can." Hardy explains a major concern is getting to the point where he will be respected as much as senior engineers.
For Xers, whom Underwood notes are most concerned with their home life, the desire for career advancement comes out of a different motivation. Mathis says, "When I first graduated, [my focus] was primarily wanting to do great things. Now with a family, I want to provide as well."
Another common value between the two generations is work-life balance. While older generations lived to work, the younger ones work to live, explains Jeff Vankooten, senior consultant at the Center for Generational Studies.
For Xers, this manifests in a reluctance to work long hours—a key difference with previous generations such as Boomers, says Michael Vinarcik, P.E., a 38-year-old interior trim engineer at Ford Motor Company. He attributes the difference to the harm Xers saw long hours do to their families growing up.
"Xers aren't afraid to say, 'I have more important things to do than spend 80 hours [at work]," Vankooten explains. They may even turn down a promotion if it requires too many hours.
Underwood says industries that typically have work surges, like construction, can have trouble attracting Xers because of their reluctance to work extra hours. One Gen Xer told Underwood that he quit his construction job because he didn't know he'd have to work 70 hours a week in the summer, and he didn't want to miss his son's Little League games.
Younger engineers may not have as much of a problem with extra hours. Bobbi Claybrooke, E.I.T., president of Claybrooke Engineering and chair of PEPP's Young Engineers Advisory Council, says the council's survey showed that engineers just coming into the workplace are more likely to work long hours because they don't yet have families.
These Millennials achieve work-life balance in a different way—by not being closely tied to any organization. Underwood explains that Millennials are unwilling to commit to employers and likely to leave on a whim. "They're using this first decade of adulthood to experiment and have fun," he says.
Technology is another area in which the two younger generations share both commonalities and differences. While both Gen X and Millennial engineers have grown up with technology, Underwood explains that Xers are simply comfortable with it while Millennials are "married to it."
The youngest generation of engineers name the Internet as a top tool they use to gain information at work, but Gen X engineers are more cautious. Vinarcik says that while the Internet can provide quality resources, it's important to remember that most of the information isn't peer-reviewed and may be "of questionable value."
Another difference in how members of the youngest generation use technology is the expectation of speed. Hardy, 24, says that for him, the emphasis on technology is about "getting the right answer as quickly as possible."
In contrast, Edgell notes that upon entering the workplace, "I did e-mails, but it took a little time. I didn't have instant messaging.... I had to wait an hour for a fax to come through." She explains that the online world now leads the youngest engineers to expect everything immediately.
Gen X engineers also express concern about how an overreliance on e-mail and instant messaging affects communication. "We are getting a serious degradation in written and oral communication skills," says Vinarcik. "The accidents with Columbia and the Challenger are proof that poorly communicated engineering concerns can lead to disastrous consequences."
In addition, Vinarcik believes that younger engineers, who are used to relying on technological tools such as AutoCAD, are "almost overly virtualized." Use of computer modeling has led young engineers to lose some of the intuitive feel for whether a design will work, he says. "Sometimes you look at something and you don't need $2 million worth of CAD to know that it will flat out not work."
Vinarcik allows that the Millennials are more adaptable to new technologies, but suggests that they also try to get some hands-on design experience.
Employer To-Dos
How should employers adapt to attract and retain young engineers? One key strategy is being flexible. Erin Wagoner, E.I.T., a 26-year-old project engineer for Stantec Consulting Services, points out that it's more expensive to find and train a new employee than to work around a qualified person's needs.
The construction company that ultimately hired the Xer whose son played Little League is doing its best to accommodate the father's game schedule, Underwood explains. Because the company is making an effort, the father is willing to work a little more, he says.
Edgell, a geotechnical project manager at Patrick Engineering in Lisle, Illinois, explains that engineers in her age group don't want to be tied to their desks from 9-to-5. She will leave work early and then work from home at night, a schedule that allows her to communicate with clients overseas. Edgell says her employer's flexibility has led her to turn down other job offers.
Edgell has one concern though. It took a year for her to get a new laptop so she could work offsite. She asks, "Can the company keep up with the speed I'm running?"
Another important retention strategy is giving young engineers challenging projects that allow them to develop their skills. This is especially important for the Millennial engineers who are so driven to learn and advance.
Hardy stresses the importance of having ownership over projects, even if they are small or relatively easy ones. That gives a young engineer a sense of importance and allows him or her to feel worthwhile, he says. Desire to prove worth was a top 10 motivator for all young engineers in the PEPP-YEAC survey.
"Young people want managers to give them room to grow, allowing them to develop their leadership skills," says Wagoner. "They also want to know that [managers] have confidence in their abilities."
However, companies need to be careful that young engineers don't flounder without necessary support. "Too many firms want to hire someone to be a workhorse but don't want to invest the time to mold and shape very good engineers," says Claybrooke. If a firm is bringing in young engineers, she says, it must have a structured mentoring plan.
Mentoring is a key concern of many young engineers, especially the Millennials. Wagoner says that senior engineers are the best resources that young engineers have, and that communicating and networking with them are the best ways to gain information and learn. "There's not really any substitute for their transfer of knowledge," she says.
The Center for Generational Studies' Vankooten puts it another way: "You can't download wisdom instantly from the Internet or Google it."
Mentoring is an important way to train young engineers to replace the older ones and ensure sustainability of a company, says Wagoner. Hardy notes that younger engineers can mentor as well, teaching older engineers about new technology.
"I think the strengths of one generation help another generation and vice versa," says Mathis. Vankooten agrees. "If you combine [the older generations'] wisdom with [the younger generations'] energy and idealism, that's a potent combination," he says. "So the point is to break down the walls between the generations, and say 'We're not that different.'"