By Jeff Mariola

"All Baby Boomers who grew up during the period between 1946 and 1964, are
afraid of technology." "Gen Y/Millennials (born between 1982 and 2001) don't
want to work hard." Have you heard these stereotypes? As a "boomer" who oversees
thousands of people in North America and Europe, I believe there are inherent
challenges in managing divergent generations of colleagues, but the
opportunities for growth and renewal are far greater.

Generation Y will account for the majority of the workforce by 2025 and with
it they will bring the marketplace a work style that's different from any
previous generation. "Managers currently struggle to understand, collaborate
with and integrate Gen Y employees into their teams." says Gustavo R.
Grodnitzky, Ph.D., who works with corporate leaders and organizational teams to
create work environments where success and prosperity can flourish.

What should managers be doing to attract, engage and retain this generation
who will be our future leaders? We recently surveyed our colleagues across North
America, and found that the majority of people classified as "boomers"
incorporated personal computers, laptops and tablets into their daily life and
were anything but "afraid" of technology. Alternately, while it is commonly
accepted that virtually all Millennials embrace everything technological, some
of our millennial population prefer face to face interaction versus the
Internet. While it is an accepted practice to attribute stereotypes to broad
demographic swatches of humanity, it is short sighted and limits everyone's
opportunity for growth.

The Department of Labor projects that by age 32, today's young adults will
have had about eight jobs, an average of about 1 ½ years at each company. What
can a company do to keep these future leaders engaged to minimize their urge to
jump ship? "Looking at the 2010 census data, there is no escaping the
demographic reality that 84 million Baby Boomers will soon be retiring – with
only 68 million up-and-coming Gen Y workers to replace them," says Dr.
Grodnitzky. "This will create an unprecedented employee 'vacuum' that increases
the demand and competition for Gen Y employees.

Where will we make up the difference? Every company in every industry will
have to be looking at Gen Y to fill the gap. Gen Y has the demographic fortune
of timing. They are in the right place at the right time as there is no escaping
our demographics."

The following are some "best practices" that my company employs to attract
and retain Gen Y/Millennials workers to our company, which also honor and
empower our Gen X (born 1965-1981) and Boomer employees, which I hope may be of
value to your organization.

"Decisions are made in a team environment for the Gen Y generation," says Dr.
Grodnitzky. "They crave communication. Online social networks allow them to
reach beyond geography and establish relationships with others easily." While
the Gen Y population is more tech reliant than any other generation and reach
out to friends and colleagues online, they also crave in-person, real life (RL
in netspeak) connections. Our company's cross generational workshops and overall
company culture fosters a team dynamic that values the input of everyone. When a
new colleague is hired, they are assigned a mentor, with whom they can call on
at any time to ask questions, get advice – without judgment. The new colleague
can select their own mentor if they don't jive with the selected
one.

Just as Boomers are attracted to social activism, the Gen Y generation finds
great meaning and purpose in being part of a cause and being central to the "big
picture" of positive environmental and social changes. During 2009, we started
on a journey to a more sustainable future. While we had long recognized and
promoted the environmental benefits of the services we offer, especially
interior plants, we realized that as a company we needed to manage ourselves in
a more sustainable fashion. That is why we measured our carbon footprint in
North America, the British Isles, the Pacific region, Europe and South Africa
and implemented a comprehensive carbon action plan. As a team, we worked to
reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions from our vehicle fleet and the
energy used to heat, illuminate and cool our buildings.

In the game of life, our universal goal is to fulfill our calling and exit
having achieved our life's purpose. Every person needs help, encouragement and
guidance in this "game of life" and creating a work culture that is fun,
engaging and helps each person recognize their true potential. We are rolling
out Sales Advantage, a new interactive e-learning technology in the form of an
online game that walks a person through the entire sales cycle including lead
generation and how to effectively communicate with prospects that empowers
prospects to tell you what they want and how they want to be sold. "People are
learning and having fun navigating this system," says Shannon Tipton, Director,
Learning and Development for Ambius.

"I believe one of the ways we fail children and young adults today is that we
continue to educate them in the same fashion that was devised during the
Industrial Revolution," says Tipton. "Everyone is seated in a row, facing
forward with the wise leader pontificating about a subject from their
perspective. Today's young generation in the workforce does not want to be
mentored in this fashion.

Many Millennials won't even interview at a company if they don't have access
to their mobile devices, tablet and Internet. Restricting them from viewing
social media applications such as YouTube, Facebook or Twitter during company
time alienates them as these tools are not simply for finding out what your best
friend had for lunch, but are links to their professional
networks."

"All work and no play make Jack a dull boy" is a proverb recognized by the 76
million-strong Gen Y generation who demand balance. "Work-life balance is a Gen
X construct," says Dr. Grodnitzky. "Gen Y thinks work-life balance is bunk
because it requires them to separate their work life from their personal lives.
Gen Y believes in living a 'blended life' which means that everything they do
has meaning and is important – hence, the importance of purpose and cause – and
it doesn't matter where the work gets done but that it gets done. The desire to
work from anywhere using technology fits the blended life paradigm of Gen
Y."

They are drawn to work environments where they can work with friends, not
just associates. They don't live for work, but rather work to live and
prioritize family and friends over their career. "Offering flexible scheduling
improves morale and helps our colleague achieve a more holistic work life
balance," says Tipton. "Encouraging employees to work from home and leverage
technology to work anytime, anywhere clearly is an important for helping
colleagues honor a work life balance."

"Change is the fundamental constant in business - just as it is in life,"
says Dr. Grodnitzky. "A leader's ability to effectively manage change ensures a
competitive advantage in any dynamic business environment." A successful
organization is defined by what steps they are taking to nurture the leaders of
tomorrow.

As President, Jeff Mariola leads Ambius' European and North American
businesses. Ambius offers a full spectrum of services to enhance the interior
space for the hospitality, healthcare, retail, and commercial industries. Ambius
services include ambient scenting, interior landscaping, holiday décor,
decorative wall art and fresh fruit and flower deliveries to businesses in 18
countries in Europe, North America, South Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
Ambius is a division of Rentokil Initial plc (LSE: RTO). Jeff Mariola can be
reached at jeff.mariola@ambius.com.