Procurement Professional is the official publication of CIPS Australasia

#105 - Gen Y not ready to take over … yet.

23 Jan 2010

The story fronting The Age recently  http://www.theage.com.au/national/gen-y--30-charmed-tech-savvy-and-ready-to-take-over-20100108-lyy6.html  suggests Gen Y’ers [born between 1980 and 1994] are ready to lead. To take over. To skip Gen X [born between 1965 and 1980] and move to the top. To become business leaders. Now. 

But that is not the view of typical middle manager’s in most large companies (Gen Y’s bosses). And not the general view in procurement either, from anecdotes that The Buyer hears. Which is shame as the baby-boomers [born between 1945 and 1965] start retiring en masse now – from this year onwards, taking the corporate memory with them. Gen X seem ill qualified and ill experienced to lead - partly because the BB’s didn’t write anything down, or were actually inventing how to do things in the pre-data entry era. They have not captured the corporate memory.

There is much written about Gen Y -  Peter Sheahan’s book being perhaps the most original and most celebrated  “Generation Y: Thriving and Surviving with Generation Y at Work” ... see also www.petersheahan.com . The Buyer has met a few good Gen Y’ers working in procurement that seem to buck the trend. In fact, role models for their generation. But they are few in number and the profession needs masses more. But, mainly, Gen Y stand accused by many of being spoilt, mollycoddled, poorly educated and ambitious without substance. Of demanding reward without true effort or attainment and of needing the security of groups, technology and causes.

The Buyer doesn’t enjoy arguing against youth. They should be encouraged and given the resources to perform at their best as a rule; and they often surprise with their ingenuity. But Gen Y as a whole just don’t seem to get it. The work ethic is missing, the sense of entitlement galling and the idea of instant success unrealistic. They think everything is [or should be] free, that process is success [not results] and failure is impossible [because it has been abolished in the schools]. In a nutshell, they sometimes don’t seem ready to apply themselves and earn success, but expect it on a plate. 

The irony is that Procurement needs Gen Y. They could make or break the profession with mainstream business. They are capable of bringing real professionalism if they are prepared to learn how to do business. They have enormous potential. Gen Y not only have to take on formal learning but, crucially, have to apply themselves and bring their confidence, soft skills and tech savvy to bear.

In return the profession has to sell itself to Gen Y – they can reasonable ask “why join procurement?”. After all procurement is not known for its sex, money or glamour! Procurement offers a broad based business education, a chance to be at the heart of things within large organisations and a way to make a real difference. The Gen Y’ers have to be convinced it is not a business backwater.

Today there are only marginally over 300 people in Australia & New Zealand with full membership of the peak body – MCIPS at CIPSA. This is a globally recognized standard of professional competence in the subject of procurement. But it is a career start-point, not a reward or a medal for a great career in procurement – so 300 is way too few. The only mitigating factor is CIPS short tenure in Australia [post 2004-5], and the few courses at universities in procurement or supply chain that were available in the past – though this has changed recently: CIPSA say there will be 22 courses at Aussie Uni’s in 2010 offering MCIPS accredited courses. 

But procurement people, particularly, have much to learn because of the eclectic nature of where procurement people are sourced from – like accounts, engineering, operations and general admin roles. In order to be taken seriously and to make a difference when taking a career development move in your twenties or early thirties you have invest in training & development to meet your new responsibilities; to learn your new profession quickly. Which is something Gen Y are good at. They learn quickly. Better get to it then.

The Buyer – posted 23 January 2010

The views of THE BUYER are personal and are not necessarily those of Procurement Professional magazine, BTTB Marketing nor CIPS.