e-Tips

The message from the professionals to young workers and students continues to be work hard, persevere, reach out, and you do have to “pay your dues.”

I attended a Conversations in Journalism conference recently at the Columbia University Journalism School. (The majority of conference attendees were younger generations women with a significant representation of young men and a lesser number of Boomer women.) The two panels described below were particularly relevant for cross-generational perspectives – a favorite topic of mine to convey to my community of multi-generational professionals. Note: the views here are applicable way beyond the media industries, so I encourage you to keep reading and find your relevant takeaways.

An all female panel of Gen Y/Millennials titled “Young and Hip in the Digital News World” expressed some expected views and some perhaps unexpected. Here are points I consider worth sharing to a wider audience.

• They like working in social media because people express themselves more fully and form communities around interests.
• The young panelists said they feel “icky” about branding themselves, and it feels fake. But they admitted they are doing it because cultivating personal brands is important for getting jobs and increased pay.
• Ability to express themselves, to have a “voice” is very important to them, and some feel freer now than previously to do so. They and their readers are being more open about aspirations.
• Verbal harassing is quite common, especially for women, and in such cases individuals should go to their editors and their organizations for support. Some reporters don’t even read the comments. There is a trend by the media to heavier moderating of comments to combat this problem.
• In a discussion of gender pay inequities, we learned that young reporters and editors have led the way to establishing unions, structures for starting salary floors and increases when responsibilities grow, vehicles for sharing compensation information and how to negotiate. They are building organic communities with social platforms such as Slack. All of this is creating benchmarks for pay.
• A poll of the audience revealed, not surprisingly, that few people have had frank conversations with colleagues about pay. Money is still the last taboo topic.
• A few at major media companies expressed resentment toward the assumption (though it provides them job opportunities) that most social media editors should be young and female as that is creating a new ghetto, and they are not taken as seriously as they should be.

Another panel dealt with mentoring and leading, and the panelists except for one were seasoned professionals. A few key points:

• Some major media companies have no systems or structures for mentoring or career paths, though panelists emphasized that their colleagues were friendly and helpful when asked for specific help.
• Now individuals are required to do so many things that it is difficult to find a mentor. They need several mentors to cover the broad sweep of responsibilities and get career path guidance. So they tend more than ever to be talking to people across departments and functions. (This is counter to the specialization trend that had been prevalent for many years in many industries and does have benefits.)
• One panelist who has been at one company for many years and has had many mentors said that young people today are more demanding than in the past about mentoring, and they are self-directed about asking for help.

Specific advice offered to people in early careers and students emphasized:

• Take initiative, and network widely. There is a lot of crossover among genders and generations in mentoring and networking.
• Talk about money in a way that isn’t offensive. Get over the fear of such conversations, and know your worth.
• Learn to approach people in order to go after what you want. Don’t expect it or them to just come to you.
• Nothing is too small. Be willing to do what is needed. Be valuable to co-workers, managers and networkers.
• You are likely to have to sacrifice personal time at times to get where you want to go.

The impression we are left with is that there are few short cuts, tech tools are helpful, but even for the “young and hip” it’s mostly about hard work and building personal relationships at work.

Please share what resonates with you, and let me know.

Phyllis

©    Phyllis Weiss Haserot, 2016.

* The generational chronology for easy reference: Generations are defined by the similar formative influences – social, cultural, political, economic – that existed as the individuals of particular birth cohorts were growing up. Given that premise, the age breakdowns for each of the four generations currently in the workplace are approximately:

Learn about our *Generational Wisdom for Mentors and Mentees* programs as well as multi-generational team facilitation. Call 212-593-1549 or e-mail pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com.

For coaching, training and special programs on inter-generational challenges for and among 4 generations in the workplace and maximizing the potential of young professionals, call or email Phyllis for an exploratory talk or complimentary coaching session at 212-593-1549 or pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com

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