The Y Factor: How to play the generation game and win the war for talent

Being a member of that select group which doesn’t watch The X-Factor, I had rarely pondered on its name. But on reflection, its name is misleading: the show’s contestants come largely, not from Generation X, but from Generation Y, the cohort born after 1979. And the show reflects something of that group’s reputation: brimming with confidence, this is the generation that is more self-assured and more demanding than its forebears. The showbiz world is actually going crazy for The Y-Factor – and now, too, the business world is starting to dance to tune of Generation Y.

The buzz around ‘Y’ is huge because their arrival into the labour market coincides with that other great challenge of our times: talent management, which now has a global dimension. Global markets and the information age mean companies must do all they can to find and keep the very best people from wherever in the world they can find them. But to do this they must also nurture and project an image which stands up to the scrutiny which this group will apply to them. Y have the confidence and freedom to be choosy, and prospective employers are rightly devoting time and thought towards meeting their expectations.

So how far does the stereotype hold true? Recent Ipsos MORI research among British workers reveals a clear gap between Generations Y and X, the latter being those born between 1966 and 1978. Asked if they prefer to work for an employer with a strong track record in social and corporate responsibility, 46% of Y sign up to this concept – significantly higher than the 38% agreeing among X.

When it comes to concrete job opportunities, a significant proportion of Generation Y are more than happy to pass over an employer if the whiff of negative publicity lingers around it. 29% of Y admit to having turned away from such employers, compared to only 21% of X.


So what does this mean for managing your reputation as an employer of choice? If your organisation is committed to behaving responsibly, and being seen to behave in line with this commitment, then these findings should all be music to your ears. And fortunately, there is still plenty of time to communicate your good works to Y. Many are still at school and university, or just embarking on their career paths, so their views on companies’ reputations are still being shaped.

Their greater scrutiny of your reputation and ethics also goes hand-in-hand with greater use of technology to do this. Y are the most plugged-in generation yet. They happily use the internet to research job opportunities: 86% of Y have done this, versus 72% of X and only 54% of the baby boomers (born between 1947 and 1954). Much of what they access remains employer-sourced information, such as corporate websites and online jobs listings. But blogs and social networking sites are harder to control. 6% of Y have consulted blogs to probe an employer’s reputation, while a growing proportion (currently 14%) use networking sites to register their career aspirations.


Such sites represent both a challenge and an opportunity: employers need to  counter negative associations and try to generate positive word-of-mouth buzz from the inside, outwards. Our research reveals that knowing someone who works for an employer has a significantly greater effect on others' perceptions than, say, advertising. For example, 72% of the British public say they are more likely to believe the word of someone who works for a company than a brochure or advert when hearing about that company’s contribution to society and the environment.

It is also true that familiarity tends to drive favourability, so it is essential to get your name out there as an employer, and be known for the right reasons.  Get on the shopping list - do not assume that you already are - and use research to map where you stand versus your competitors for each of your target recruitment groups.

Understanding the rules of this generation game can reap rewards in the talent war – cultivate your employer reputation and harness the power of new technology to nab those top brains who do investigate you and do care about what you stand for. To mix gameshow metaphors for a moment, achieving this could make the difference between winning a Simon Cowell record deal… and a Brucie cuddly toy.

For more information, please contact at mei.lock@ipsos-mori.com

To learn more about our Generation Y please follow this link to our round-up latest thinking in employee research