'How has the Y Generation changed HRM practice Thesis Proposal

'How has the Y Generation changed HRM practice - Thesis Proposal Example It is for this reason why, today, specific personnel are assigned with responsibilities on employee retention. Central to this drive is the human resource department because most people-related activities are based on its policies and processes. (Finnegan 2009, p43) In an organizational attempt for employee retention and turnover, human resource managers have to examine, understand and manage the issue and that an effective management can positively impact the cost on recruitment, training, socialization and disruption, including a number of other indirect costs. (Phillips and Connell, p1) In this respect, a fundamental concern in employee retention is how the so-called Generation Y affects HR practices. This is issue emerged out of the principle that generations of employees differ in their characteristics, and, hence, have different needs, desires, behavior, expectations and requirements needed to be satisfied. Background: The Generation Y Generation Y refers to those people born f rom the 1980s to the 1990s. Some academics are more specific, placing such births between 1980 and 1995. (Tsui and Lai 2009, p39) They are also known as the â€Å"Echo Boomers† â€Å"Millenials,† â€Å"Netsters† among other names. They are, however, distinguished from Generation X and, more recently, the so-called Generation Z. ... Generation Y, meanwhile, are those people born between 1995-2009. (Vaiman and Vance 2008, p66) There are about sixty million Generation Y-ers and that all of these would have entered the workforce by this decade. (Stone 2005, p266) Vaiman and Vance stated that Generation Y employees are in great demand and that they constitute 20 percent of today’s workforce, and poised to reach 40 percent in just five years or less. (p66) The characteristics and values of this group are well documented. For instance, Lamb, Hair and McDaniel (2008) outlined a comprehensive profile, explaining that a Generation Y-er is: Impatient since they have grown up in a world that is always been automated and that they have access to computers; Inquisitive because more than their parents about computers and technology and that this is actually a source of pride; Family-oriented due to their stable childhood as a result of parents that are deeply interested in family life; Opinionated as they have been enc ouraged to share their opinions at home, at school and the community; Diverse as this generation saw the largest number of races within America and there are a good number who claim to have come from more than one race; and, Time Managers since their entire lives have been scheduled – from playground to soccer cam to Little League. (p76) Put another way, Generation Y is supposedly a product of homes with doting parents, typified as soccer moms, parents who prep their children for the right schools, and parents who typically have a high degree of involvement in their children’s near-term and longer-term activities, plans, and goals. (Lloyd, p161) It is not, hence, surprising