It’s still all about the relationship

December 15th, 2008 by Mike Knutson

I was struck last week by the number of “Gen Y experts” marketing their knowledge to businesses. “Are you struggling to relate to your Gen Y workers?” becomes the opening to their sales pitch. “If so, we’ve got the answers, and you can’t afford to figure it out yourself.”

Not all Gen Y experts, however, are quite so brash. It was refreshing to read one expert, Kanna Hudson, suggest that although Gen Y (also called Millennials) are unique, all people really need to do is follow three simple steps:

Step 1. Call up your local Millennial, or, if you’re at work, visit your local Millennial’s cubicle

Step 2. Get to know him or her.

Step 3. If desired, proceed with normal human relationship

Maybe that’s the “poor man’s” Gen Y self help guide, but I think it’s a particularly powerful message to any rural community or civic group that is interested in engaging Gen Y in their community. It affirms the message I presented in “How to engage Gen Y in Rural Communities” by suggesting that building a relationship is the place to start. But it also reminds us not to make working with young people difficult. After all, they are humans too.

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