Generation Y will account for about 70 million full-time U.S. workers in 2012, estimates Gilbert Melott, a former restaurant human resources executive and founder of Nextvoice247.com, an online leadership forum based in Chicago. On the tail end of that wave will be those youths landing their first hourly jobs, but on the front end are young adults who have already moved into management. Operators need to adapt their approaches for developing this generation, and that means more use of social media, said Melott, who was the chief people officer and later vice president of operations for bakery-cafe chain Così Inc. Melott launched Nextvoice247.com last June as an online community for emerging leaders and young entrepreneurs. The site provides resources and wisdom from authors and chief executives. It’s also a chance to “teach young people the things I was not taught when I was 26,” Melott said.
What do you wish you had been taught when you were 26?
That you have a responsibility to the whole business, and whatever you do, take a strategic approach. Think about the bottom line and how your strategy will affect multiple layers in the organization.
What do operators need to do for the younger members of their workforces?
We need to think about what drives them and how do we manage the relationship [with them].
How does social media fit into this?
Social media is social currency. It’s how you communicate with your employees and interact with them and how you get them to understand the customer. If you’re still transferring [training material] from a CD to the Web, and not in a way that’s interactive, you’re not there.