Publication:Sea Talk Autumn 2008/Interesting Gen X and Gen Y in Reserve service

By LCDR Antony Underwood

The Civil Patron of the Reserves Professional Study Program, Mr Maurice Newman, says that, although the financial services sector employs some of the brightest people on the planet, that the private sector, including the finance sector, “shouldn’t be seen as a role-model” for Navy in leveraging part-time work.

Mr Newman is currently Chairman of the Australian Securities Exchange, Chairman of the ABC and Chancellor of Macquarie University.

In his speech to the Naval Reserve Symposium on February 1, Mr Newman highlighted societal changes bearing on private enterprise measures to leverage the part-time workforce in the financial sector.

These include:

• Attitudes of employers and employees to national service and volunteering

• Changes in the level of education, attitudes and work habits in the progression from the Baby Boomer era through the times of Generation X and Generation Y;

• The rapid rise in the number of female graduates from tertiary institutions; and

• The “mercenary culture” of those employed in the financial services sector.

Mr Newman said male and female members of Generations X and Y require “a very different management approach”; and he warned that managers who were unable to adjust would render themselves obsolete.

One manifestation of the generational change in culture and ethics over the past 25 years, he said, was suggested in tensions between the old and the new which surfaced in the recent Australia/India series of cricket tests.

“Today, exploiting loopholes, being within the law but not in the spirit (of the law) is generally considered fair enough,” he said. “- less so 25 years ago.

“Now that ‘whatever it takes’ justifies the outcome, the law these days is what primarily defines the boundary between right and wrong.

“What the cricket episode demonstrates is an unease with the practice that what the rules don’t specifically prohibit is lawful and it seems there’s a growing realisation in the public’s mind that ‘that ain’t cricket’.”

In reference to national service and volunteering, Mr Newman said: “Once upon a time, government departments and agencies could count on employees trading off public service for salary.

“This is becoming harder to achieve and many senior public servants are now leaving to join the private sector.

“It wasn’t so long ago that our best and brightest economics graduates would seek employment in the Treasury or the Reserve Bank. This is no longer so.

“The days when businessmen would be seconded to the public sector and vice-versa, while never a thriving practice, has virtually disappeared.”

Mr Newman said there has been “a profound shift in people’s attitudes, ethics and core values” over the past 25 years.

“The trend is unmistakable and relentless,” he said. “It is certainly a different Australia to the one I grew up in – which is not to say it’s better or worse, but simply different.”

Mr Newman said that he has noticed, as Chancellor of Macquarie University, that there has been a rapid rise in the number of female graduates and their level of scholastic achievements.

“Women are dominating graduations – it’s across all disciplines,” he said, “although more pronounced in the social sciences, but by no means confined to them. It’s also regardless of ethnicity. Women are regularly taking the Vice-Chancellor’s Medal for Excellence and are more than equally represented in post-graduate degrees.”

Mr Newman added that the full-time student cohort of 30,000 at Macquarie, his university experience was a good sample and consistent with what he was hearing and seeing happen elsewhere.

“It does beg the question of what the boys are doing if they’re not graduating from universities – perhaps they’re joining the Navy but, even though more females are enrolling, given the equal gender distribution across the nation, that wouldn’t explain the overwhelming number of women graduates, nor their generally higher scholastic achievements.”

It was inevitable that the new gender mix would bring cultural change to the way that organizations are managed, Mr Newman said.

“It will raise questions regarding the role of males in the workplace and society,” he said. “Managers who are unable to adapt to these changes will declare themselves dinosaurs and either make way for new managers who are sensitive to contemporary expectations and are able to create and environment whieh remains attractive to their best and brightest, or they will fail.

“Make no mistake – whether male or female, today’s Gen X and Gen Y require a very different approach from management. These people are demanding, they’re highly mobile and they want respect and authority at an early age.

“They can be openly critical of their superiors and are intolerant of unfair behaviour or perceived injustices.”

Mr Newman referred to a recent study which found that 68.1 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds said they intended to look for a new job in 2008 compared with 26.1 per cent of those aged over 55.

“It is true that, whether they are full-time or part-time, they will be more likely to stick at a job for longer if the employer’s values resonate with them,” he said, “however, so far at least, they do not seem to be seeking a long-term career with any employer.”

Mr Newman said that the ‘rules of engagement’ for the financial sector were ‘somewhat atypical’ of most industries.

“There, a culture of ‘whatever it takes’ is endemic and compensation arrangements often reward bad behaviour,” he said. “Employees are urged to increase the share of a client’s wallet and the concentration is on short-term results.

“The present fallout from the US sub-prime mess is an illustration of how obsession with immediate return can lead to imprudent practices, especially when sound fundamental principles are disregarded in the pursuit of personal bonuses.”

Some senior managers in financial services earned in a week what the average person earned in a year, Mr Newman added.

He said many financial services firms “employ some of the brightest people on the planet”.

“They include rocket scientists (literally), mathematicians, medical doctors – in fact anyone who has a high intellect and is capable of withstanding concentrated stress and what is euphemistically called ‘constructive tension’ in what is in effect a nakedly competitive internal environment.

“Many of those attracted to this mercenary culture – and all age groups are – see money as an end in itself.

“They display no real loyalty to their employer and their services are constantly on offer to the highest bidder,” he said. “Now, while an organization is performing well and their compensation, both relative and absolute, is in line with their expectations in the market, they will stay.

“Should their employer suffer a downturn compared to its peers, these people are likely to jump ship.”