Managing Gen Y talent in Project Teams [PMI]

IT industry being knowledge driven is highly human capital intensive. The proportion of Gen Y individuals in IT companies is significantly high, as the average age of the workforce is below 30 years, and this pool of talent is growing at a faster rate. Consequently, Gen Y has become an important stakeholder in any project. Hence, a systematic approach in managing this pool of talent is important for a high success rate in projects.

Today’s Gen Y individuals have a different outlook towards their work. They set high expectations for themselves and work with great enthusiasm towards achieving their goals. Notable characteristics of Gen Y are a greater preference to working in teams, and a higher proficiency in working with social media tools and technologies. They are well educated, skilled in technology, self-confident and are capable of multi-tasking.

This article explores the current challenges faced while dealing with projects having a sizable Gen Y population and the best practices to manage Gen Y based on our experiences in large IT projects. The approach addresses Gen Y talent lifecycle management from a project management perspective, covering Gen Y induction into project teams, work allocation, monitoring, skill development and performance management. These lifecycle phases are analysed from the three crucial dimensions of technology, process and people. Critical levers are identified and explored in detail for each of these perspectives including the mechanism for effective governance.

Published in: Project Management Institute (PMI), National Conference, India, 2013.