Dear Debi, I agree with @Kamal, they need materilistic motivation and quick gratification. No one from those young adults want to lose time for not important for them things or without bonus. Probably they follow the motto "time is money". They expect from others a lot service and are pragmatic oriented. This is no optimistic image of young Polish. perhaps someone will draw different ?

Debi: I think the management need to adjust for that as seen in the case of Microsoft, Google, Apple, as the successful companies that followed different procedures. Some of them are:

1. Let the employees know the whole picture and let them know their part in the overall picture.

2. They are very eager to get their career move in quick steps. So developing a number of steps and titles in the jobs to convince them that their career is progressing.

3. It is also important shower well deserved praises and encouragement and provide a very quick feedback on any matter they desire.

4. Offer More Flexibility in working environment, times and schedules. Don’t worry about time but plan should be based on tasks.

5. To help with their career progression provide opportunities and help for Education and Professional Development.

6. Give them freedom to choose projects of their choice so that they will try to excel when they are really motivated in the project.

Kamal and Beata

I fully agree with both of you about their concern for money. Relations are far less important, though they are more secular and tolerant of others' individuality and diversity. But when their work is done, Beata is right, they look the other way, and think it useless to spend any time on things they think are not relevant.

I will tell you a story: Recently an intelligent student of mine came to my room, and discussed issues for nearly an hour. Since I teach HR, I gave her some tips for managing people. When she went back, I received a long mail from her, saying something like this: "When I came out of your room, there were tears in my eyes. I thought I met God....."

She passed out, she got a fabulous campus placement and was posted in Mumbai in a leading company. Sometime after that I was invited in Mumbai in a seminar sponsored by her company. When she saw me there from a distance, she turned her face, projecting as if she had not seen me, and she thought it would be just useless to waste her time on me.

I have seen most of them behaving like that, though it would be unfair to say that every Y is like her. But Gen Y is largely like that, which is of most serious concern even to parents.

Nageswar: I fully support what you say. Most companies today are precisely doing that so as to motivate them.

Google has provided 18 different types of restaurants that provide free food, freedom to bring their dogs to the workplace, couches all over if they want to sleep, massage rooms, facility for washing machines, barber, and what not.

In the process they are a 350 billion dollar company due to their highly motivated and engaged employees.

This definitely is a new step in the direction of newer ways of motivation of Gen Y.

Dear Debi, thank you for drawn image in your story. I had a few similar situations in relations with my former students too, when finally I felt instrumentally used.

You are right saying, that not every Gen Y is like that. Thank heaven !

You asked of ways of motivation for Gen Y, I would say they need ethics and moral education courses first, as an obligation.

@ Kamal, motivation factors for Gen Y is more materialistic than for the older generation. This may be partly attributed to the high cost of living in these days.

Yes, I agree with Profs Mahfuz and Kamal. The prices of houses has soared tremendously may be up to 10 times, what it was 20 years ago.

Prof Debi, I think that Gen Y look for LUXURY and have a great FEAR of hard times, unlike the Baby boomers who take everything in their stride. So, yes, 'managers will need different sets of abilities to motivate them for higher productivity compared to what they are used to doing for motivation of people from the earlier generation'.

I think that different social conditions generate different motivations. In deatil, the "revolution of the flowers" of our youth can not be compared with the severe economic crisis that makes uncertain the future of today's youth. I do not think that they have no ideal, just that they find it much more difficult to demonstrate them when the troubles for everyday life takes over in a decisive way.

As has been said the Y-generation is more materialistic and less values compared to the previous generation. I am not sure about other countries but I have seen this in India. May be the remedy is to inculcate better cultural values and more grounding in ethics would help them.

Nageswara: The impact of Macdonaldization on them is quite severe, which they get from the TV, the Internet, films, and changed living style of people in their neighborhood. Their values are different. I do not know if they are ready to accept the values of the older generation that the parents want to inculcate in them. The sense of entitlement amongst them is very high.

The aggressive attitude is also visible in their actions. Last night a french friend of mine phoned me to tell a sad story. She lives in Athens, Greece and has another country house on a Greek island, which remains locked. Her lone 21 year old daughter went to the island house with her friends after two hours of sea travel, but after reaching there she discovered that she was given the wrong set of keys of the house by her grand mother; so all of them came back dejected. After reaching home she smashed the 46" TV. My friend was is deep shock and was wondering how to manage her

But there are many positive aspects of Gen Y, compared to Gen X and baby boomers. In Google, you mentioned, it is this Gen Y which has taken the company to be a 350 billion dollar company. Their motivation is indeed a complex question.

Dear Debi, what a story..

Debi: Very interesting and unfortunate behavior. As you said, I also noticed that many feel that they are entitled for everything and need not have to work for it. That is the unfortunate part, otherwise they are more capable and able to do a number of better things. I think we have missed something in their development process either in our families, society or in the education system.

Gen X grew up in a collective society, when parents had more children and possibly a house, on the other hand, Gen Y has grown up more or less in an individualistic society where parents with a single or two offspring, have focused on amassing property more than required. They are a misunderstood generation, for which I hold the Gen X responsible, who has set them to focus more on competition than cooperation. In reality they are more interested in challenges; and to them, respect is more associated with knowledge than age.

Managers need to focus more on culture than strategy.

See lmxlotus.com

Generation Y like to communicate and they want to be seen and appriciated. In one thesis our students found out that gen Y expect their leaders to be their mentors more than " bosses".I also think that this generation could be helped by more knowledge about ethics, values and what makes a culture sustainable. I believe that one strong motivator for gen Y is to have leaders who are seriously interested in listening, supporting and demanding when needed. An other motivator is to let the young people take more responsibility in different projects.

In China, we distinguish generations by each 10 years. Generation Y may equals to the generation borned after 1990s.They are more self-centered and creativity. They pursue self-realization and freedom. The motivations should be different from those for generation X, since X are more obeying to social rules. It's better to interview some generation Ys to get their answer. However, for me, I think giving them more high-level assignments, clearer promotion path, more flexibitlity, and treat them more equal, are the motivations they want. I recommand some articles maybe interesting to you. Barnes, 2009, Benson and Brown, 2013, Colin, 2011, and Sessa, 2007.

I thank that Gen Y need new leadership style. 

Genetic variation in humans exists and for different ages

variety  in the motivation program will cover all employees motivating needs because it must initially be designed on the basis of motivation needs