The document discusses Generation C (Gen C), people born after 1980 who see themselves as digital natives. A roundtable was held with over 20 Gen C employees to discuss their career experiences and views of the public and private sectors. Gen C expects fast, honest engagement from employers and wants transparency in career paths. Local governments need to understand how Gen C consumes media and promote opportunities using social media to attract Gen C workers, who will comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025. Simple actions like reverse mentoring and involving Gen C in leadership development can help public sectors appeal more to Gen C.

1. www.themj.co.uk 31
P
enna in partnership with the Public
Service People Manager’s Association
(PPMA), recently organised a round table
debate with more than 20 Gen C employees
to give their view on this question and others.
These articulate and passionate young people
shared their insights and experiences on their
careers within the public and private sectors
and more specifically local government. The
discussion topics ranged from what the future
holds for Gen-C to the multi-generational
challenges inherent in the attraction strategies
of both the public and private sectors.
Chaired by Leatham Green, programme
director for people and change at East Sussex
Council as well as the talent lead at the PPMA,
other participants at this event included a cross
section of Gen C’ers from Penna, Manpower,
the Local government Association (LGA) as
well as past and present competitors of the
PPMA and Manpower Rising Star initiative.
So who exactly are Gen C and why should
we pay attention to them? Whilst Gen C can
been described as a lifestyle as opposed to
an age group, this generation is comprised
primarily of millennials, those born after 1980,
but they can span other generations whose
members see themselves as digital natives.
Gen C members are changing the landscape
of employee engagement; they are motivated
by honesty and integrity, culturally liberal and
politically progressive. But most importantly
they are always switched on, empowered
by technology, and connected due to their
constant interaction on social media with their
peers. Gen C tends to measure their work
experiences by asking: ‘How will this feel?’
As a consequence, this generation expects
fast, honest and constant engagement with
any future employer. Whilst this poses some
challenges for most employers especially local
governments, a great opportunity exists in the
ability to tap into their unique motivations.
How can you recognise this generation?
Gen C are defined by the way they consume
information in their environment; they are
constantly interacting and conversing in cyber
space. The answer to any question is only
a few taps away, but despite their constant
consumption, they also have a strong need
to create and add value to content, which they
then share and curate online. Whether you
consider this mind-set advantageous or not, by
2025, 75% of your workforce will comprise of
Gen C workers; we need to understand how we
can best manage the inevitable evolution of our
working norms.
The use of social media or creative visual
content to satisfy the appetite of Gen C is also
crucial. Local government, for example, needs
to understand how people are consuming
media. Gen C, along with being motivated
by the contribution of their work, like to be
confronted with a transparent career path.
Organisations need to take advantage of this
and use their creative resources to highlight the
wonderful and varied opportunities available to
them in public sector roles. Some councils are
doing fantastic work around profiling lesser-
known job roles, translating the information
into visual bitesize chunks to be fed to Gen C
across various channels such as Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter and other social media
channels.
Much has been written about the need for
councils to embrace a digital agenda to interact
with its citizens and improve efficiencies. But
even more pressing is the need to interact
and communicate with future employees. Our
Gen C participants called for ‘inspirational
techy leaders’ who throw down the gauntlet
and reinvigorate how they are connecting,
creating and curating their online presence.
They also described how they follow leaders
of organisations on social media to assess
if a company is the right ‘fit’ for them. Yet the
majority of local governments are absent in this
space.
Simple solutions such as reverse mentoring
from digitally savvy employees to senior
management would demonstrate a willingness
to learn and develop.
Another issue that arose in our debate
was the notion of leadership and talent
development. Many organisations are pouring
a great deal of resources into planning for
what ‘good’ looks like in their organisation.
Very often, through their seniority or number,
older generations tend to be the focus of such
activities. We are left with frameworks created
and based on people who in the next 10-15
years will have retired. As one of our Gen C
debaters suggested: ‘If you’re constructing
a road map for the future, it has to be future
focused with input from your future leaders.’
Some programmes already tackle this
issue head on, a current initiative provides
A-Level students with the opportunity to gain
some practical work experience and enter
into dialogue with hiring managers in local
government. This affords both parties the
opportunity to experience first-hand how each
other operates within the working environment
and what their expectations are. Unsurprisingly
most of the students initially declined when
asked if they would consider local government
as a future employer. After spending some time
in the environments and getting exposed to the
suite of skills and opportunities available, many
changed their outlook and were more inclined
to consider a career within local government.
The resounding theme throughout the debate
was the urgent need to do more to connect
with Gen C and promote the value of local
government careers to them. There is a need
to tap into their psyche and communicate how
this ticks many of their ‘ideal employer’ boxes.
Traded services and a challenging financial
landscape provide the opportunity to develop
strong transferable commercial skills, set
against the backdrop of community provision.
Flexible working patterns, clear career
progression and a positive work/life balance
all tap into the Gen C’s wish list for a future
role. We cannot shy away from the challenge of
digital and the role of HR as marketers. Local
government has so much to offer our future
workforce; we’re just not shouting about it. n
KateO’GormanandHannahHarmanarefrom
PennaRecruitmentSolutions
www.penna.com
appointments l Recruitment retention lappointments l Recruitment retention l
Will the public sector be the
employer of choice for
Generation C?
Kate O’Gorman and Hannah Harman look at the future generation of employees
and what local government can do to attract them