Gen Ys Are Workpace Innovators, Not Rebels

I’ve never thought of myself as a creative person. I don’t have any super-cool special talent. I can’t sing (unless I want to kill people)…I can’t play an instrument (unless the recorder in elementary school counts) and well, THIS is an example of my best artwork…

I know, please save your applause until the end!

But lately I’ve realized that I most certainly AM creative! Score! I have about 7.45 million thoughts and ideas throughout my day and so I write them down. My purse is full of post-its…

In terms of the workforce, some people have the ability to look at things around them and figure out ways to make them better. They look at processes that are set in place and question them when things don’t make sense. Many Gen Y workers have this ability. We can figure out ways to speed up almost anything. Why? Well some people seem to think it’s because we’re lazy.

I prefer to think it’s because we’re awesome.

So what’s the problem? The problem is that some people in management don’t like this. God FORBID we suggest a better way of doing something! How dare we try to veer away from rules and procedures that have worked “just fine” for years!— “Just fine” isn’t awesome, just saying.

And so we’ve been labeled the “workplace rebels”. However, I’m pretty sure that whoever coined that phrase was a bit inebriated when they did so. I believe the word they were looking for was innovative.

Here…I’ve saved you 2.3 seconds and Googled the definition for you:

innovative [in-uh-vey-tiv]. adj. – The only kind of employees that will allow your organization to get to the next level. The kind of employees that should be listened to and encouraged (regardless of their age). synonyms: super awesome people; the kind of people we should all try to be; Steve Jobs

Because if we’re not being innovative and trying to make things better and we adhere to ALL the rules, how lame is that?

How does an organization grow? How does it stay up to date with the latest trends?

Let me just throw a question out there. Don’t most companies have  a Performance Improvement department? And their job is what, exactly? Oh yea…to improve performance!

So if the Performance Improvement department was to find a new way of doing something that saves the organization time, therefore saving it money, I’m pretty sure this would happen…

Well that’s a little strange to me. No one sees THEM as rebels. No one tries to stifle THEIR creativity. So why do that to Gen Y? Why not take a little time to listen to them? 5 minutes is really all it takes…then you can go play golf.

Take advantage of your innovators. They’re not trying to screw stuff up.

We’re trying to make things better… for everyone.

For this post, YouTern thanks our friends at GenYGirl!

About the Author: Kayla Cruz graduated college at the age of 20 with a degree in Health Services Administration. She is currently working as a Regulatory Coordinator in Clinical Research while pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Administration specializing in Human Resources. She has found she’s most passionate about helping young professionals navigate through their first few years as GenYers in the workforce. Follow Kayla on Twitter!