Managing Generations - How Do Generation Y Learn?

There a number of theories and generalisations about how Generation Y (Gen Y) prefer to learn, compared with earlier generations. Most of them are based around the differences in their collective upbringings, founded on the rapid advance of consumer technology during their childhoods. How valid are these theories and how can you make use of them to optimise the learning experience for Gen Y employees?

First, don’t pigeonhole

While these theories exist and are founded on a combination of research, experience and logical extrapolations, it is important to remember that the lessons will not apply equally to every Gen Y employee. In fact, there is research to suggest that, contrary to some prevailing schools of thought, there is no real difference between Gen Y and everyone else, and that the very concept of a digital native, for example, is wrong. There may be greater similarities found by gender and nationality than by birthdate. Additionally, each individual, like all generations, is likely to have particular learning preferences and find different learning approaches more effective. That said, there are some trends which appear to broadly apply across Generation Y.

Play the game

Psychologists have long known the value of play in learning from an early age. While we may think the concept of ‘edutainment’ is new, games company Atari were producing educational games for their 2600 console back in the 1970s, so games and learning are not a new partnership. However, what may be new is the idea of transferring that relationship from childhood into adult learning.

Gen Y have grown up with unprecedented access to computer and console games of astonishing complexity and rapidly increasing quality. Games designer Jane McGonigal estimates that a 21 year old may have spent as much as 10,000 hours gaming.

Transferring this natural inclination to workplace learning doesn’t mean you have to commission Rockstar Games to produce your next educational programme, though. There are simpler ways to introduce some of the competitive elements of gaming into learning. For example, introducing scoring on tests, with leaderboards and even a prize for winners, could be enough to harness that competitive spirit. It’s about finding ways to apply game-thinking to learning exercises.

Feed their feedback desire

Gen Y crave instant feedback due to their experience with ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ throughout their online life, so the theory goes. While this may be true, there is also research that shows most employees crave more feedback from their managers, regardless of their age. Whether it is specific to their generation or not, Gen Y will likely respond well to some form of immediate feedback on their learning experiences.

Adding scoring, as suggested above, is one way of doing that. For example, designing e-learning that allows them to test their knowledge as soon as they have completed their learning, or allows them to do so periodically as they progress, could be beneficial.

Let them find their own way

Gen Y may well be more self-reliant than previous generations when it comes to finding information. They are used to being able to simply ask Google for the answer to any question and, failing that, to use resources like Twitter, YouTube or Wikipedia to access the collective knowledge of the internet. As such, providing them with all of the information or learning they will need, when and where they need it, is definitely advisable.

Allowing employees the freedom to access the internet and social media to seek information or learn the skills they require will also match their instincts. If you can do this, make sure they stay within your organisation’s rules on internet usage.

If possible, you can also appeal to their natural habits by providing a varied bank of educational resources, including text, videos, audio files, infographics, e-learning etc., which employees can search and explore as necessary.

Much has been made of the idea that Gen Y have shorter than average attention spans but a greater capacity for multi-tasking due to their internet behaviour. Whether this is true or not, research has shown that the optimal length for an educational video is six minutes or less, so keep them under this bar.

Facilitate collaboration

Finally, Gen Y are natural collaborators - big on teamwork and consulting with others. They generally like to work in groups and to discuss learning with peers. There are a number of ways you could facilitate this, whether by arranging periodic meetings that bring together groups who are all learning the same skills, to setting up message boards or communities of practice where they can chat and interact with each other for advice and opinions.

One potential way to bring together a number of the different threads of Gen Y’s learning habits would be to split members of a training programme into teams, score them on their learning and bring the results together into a team score, which is then ranked against other groups. Each team could have their own meetings or perhaps a private message board where they could discuss their progress. The Global Corporate Challenge, which is designed to get people more active and healthy, is a good example of how this can be done, albeit with a different application.

While this scenario may not be practical in your specific circumstances, it serves as an example of the many ways you can vary your approach to learning and development in order to cater to Gen Y’s particular habits and expectations.

Summary

The jury is out on whether Gen Y really are different in how they learn or not. However, some of their preferences and habits, such as the need for feedback, collaboration and information on-demand can be used to help create more varied and engaging learning activities. Not only might you find that approaches such as gamification are more effective in training your younger employees, but the variety of options available may appeal to older employees, too. This could help to improve your development practices across the board. If you’re not in a position to directly affect the organisation’s learning and development procedures, try to think creatively about how you might introduce just some of these elements within your own area of responsibility.

Reference:

Dr Christopher Jones and Binhui Shau, The Net Generation and Digital Natives

Nick Shore, ‘Millennials are Playing With You’ at: blogs.hbr.org

Ty Kiisel, ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme – Millennials in the Workplace’ at: www.forbes.com