One of the questions that will be addressed on the Fanny Keefer show called Studio 4 http://www.studio4.ca/ will be which generation wants to dress up for Halloween.

It seems that there has been a resurgence of the interest in dressing up for Halloween and Gen Y is driving this. This is a generation who has adopted the Boomer music tastes, the Boomer nostalgia of driven in movies and the childhoods of Boomers that included dressing up for Halloween.

My Gen Y daughter is so excited about dressing up at work with all of her work mates. She has been shopping for her costume for over two weeks. Interestingly though she has also been cost concious and did not want to spend too much on a one day dress up event.

Boomers and Gen X ers seem to be joining the fun feelings of Halloween as well and this year if it seems that more people are planning to dress up than usual.  

 In our times of global uncertainty and coupled with our heavily scheduled lives it would appear that ALL of us are looking for opportunities to lighten up and have some fun. Dressing up allows us to pretend to be someone else who is somewhere else and adds some levity to the workplace.

Years ago it was frowned upon for employees to dress up because it might be viewed as unprofessional. Now depending on the industry, workplaces find that customers enjoy seeing people dressed up and it adds interest for at least the one day.

For example my local Starbucks staff dressed up last year and the atmosphere was jovial, light and added to the sense of community that Starbucks is known to want to create.

I dont know about you but I wont be dressing up because it would be for my own benefit since I work out of my home office. Although I could skype my e-staff and we could see each others costumes via webcam. Hmmmm might not be a bad idea……..

There was an article in the Vancouver Sun a week ago that stated more Generation Y’s want to be self-employed than to work for an employer.

The Gen Y group ( 25 and younger) are creative and unstructured. They like the flexibility and autonomy that they perceive self employment will give them. They are highly successful at starting businesses because of their technological knowledge. In addition they use the principles of Malcolm Gladwells book “The Tipping Point” in that they leverage their connections through Facebook, My Space and other networking forums.

In regards to today’s employers attracting this elusive generation keep in mind that the Gen Y’s are looking for workplaces that offer entrepreneurial thinking along with training so that they can succeed quickly.

One could argue that every generation wants to be entrepreneurial but it is Gen Y who is least afraid of the risk factors. Part of that is that they have built in security with most Gen Y’s living at home until the age of 26 on average. So if they dont bring in revenue one month it doesnt mean life or death.

Employers can capitlize on the inherent desire of Gen Y’s to create, innovate and run their projects by providing interesting work and encouraging new and different ways of doing things that have been done the same way for a long time.

Be prepared to one day be working for Generation Y if not full time, at least on a project basis. Unless of course you yourself have the entrepreneurial bug and then you will be hiring or marketing to them. Bottom line- we need to tap into their way of thinking and into their knowledge on networking.

I was talking with an expert in employee engagement and leadership and an avid blogger David Zinger. Check out his blog at www.davidzinger.com and he made an interesting comment. He does not believe in generational ‘differences’ rather he believes there are more things in common than there are different. I found his viewpoint fascinating and he is right.

When I write and do my presentations on generations in the workplace I share the unique values and beliefs of each generation that is shaped by the era that they grew up in.  The learning point is certainly that although we have differing values the goal is to learn to respect the differences, learn from the differences and create solutions that factor in all of the various generational viewpoints.

Please do check out David’s blogs, he is a fabulous writer and valued contributor to the leadership marketplace. Turns out we were both right!

There are a number of hot phrases out there right now that seems to indicate the revolution afoot in regards to the workplace.

Some of the key phrases that are being bandied about are:

“workplace of choice”

“generations at work”

“war for talent”

“control freak bosses”

More and more organizations are finally realizing that becoming a workplace of choice is not a neat statement for flash and dazzle and employee appeal. It is a real and daunting goal for companies to put action behind the talk and get things in place that make their workplace attractive for recruitment. Further to that putting programs in place that are focused on retaining the top talent that is absolutely required in order to gain competitive advantage.

There is a revolution afoot in regards to the generations in the workplace. Gen Y although a smaller segment of the work population are pushing for reform. They want greater use of technology to simplify work, they want to be treated well for their contribution, they want the training to succeed and do not want to be put in a sink or swim situation, they want fun and love, yes love, in the workplace. Gen X has been pushing this wave and the combination now of both Gen X and Y and their influence is making its mark on organizations who have been heavy with boomers.

The war for talent is expected to continue way into 2017 as predicted by Fast Company magazine way back in 1997. In other words, we aint seen nothin yet. I predict that the war for talent will escalate even further as more boomers decide that they want to work flex hours, take full year sabbaticals AND choose to work on a contract basis only so that they can control their life and schedule like an entrepreneur. The shape of how companies offer work, compensate for work and keep workers is not just shifting its a seismic shift.

Lastly, the ‘control freak revolution’ we are in is a direct revolt from all generations of no longer being willing to work for control freak bosses. The new leader is flexible, open, creative, team oriented and values diversity of opinion and talent on their team. All of the items of workplace of choice, generations, war for talent are reliant on companies having phenomenal leadership.

The good news is there is still time to revolutionize the way we operate and to provide the needed learning and tools to our leaders and teams so that they can navigate the jungle.