Confrontation between two generations Todays youth are very different in their thoughts and psyche.

The new generation is more liberated and is far more aware of its rights and responsibilities. They report at work in smart casuals, flaunt their smart phones, tune in to their ipods, frequently chat with friends online and do their work they are the Gen Y employees. It is no longer that they are ready to sit and take what has been ordered to them by elders. Clashes between impatient Gen Y and payyour-dues conservative Gen X are understandably inevitable. But certainly the apparent conflicts and confrontations are highly manageable. We have 20 million young Indians who are born in to this post-liberalisation heritage and comfort and opportunity. They want to be heared and seen and air their own views and opinions on issues relevant to them. In short we may describe indian youth as views and opinions on issues relevant to them. As managers or senior managers belonging to Gen X you have got to consistently communicate with your junior employees and show appreciation and sensitivity. You have tell the young why your company is where theyll make their future. You do that being honest with them. Todays youth inherently want to grow and be challenged. They look for leaders who can inspire and guide them. They are ready to follow the words from leaders, unconditionally, but at times may confront them with searching questions. On their part, the organisational leaders who are senior X generation leaders, have to be intelligent, compassionate, and morally courageous. Above everything else. Gen X leaders have to have most updated communication, controversational and inter-personal skills. Inspite of their high performance attitude, the youth of today listens, seeks input and are given to influence. Looking at them closely, and finding many a contradiction in their behaviour and attitudes, quite some senior managers openly ridicule or even mock at them. But that is not universal. The youth, by and large, inspite of many self-contradictions, have been able to hold on their own quite notably and distinctively. In this prevailing general background of business, industry and commerce, four young persons, joined a large multi-unit production and marketing conglomerate as Executive Trainees. Two of them are males, the other two are young women and all are below 25 years of age. At the training stage itself they draw the industrys best salaries and perks. Their future assignments, the management announced clearly, would be decided after their one year period of training. All four of them are MBAs from indians top business schools. The management kept a close watch on their progress, performance, and individual styles of communication with others. It was observed that all of them singularly or collectively bear noticeable similarities in views, opinions and perceptions. Certain similarities are: All of them focus on expanding their capabilities. Job satisfaction matters to them more than the compensation they draw. They want regular feedback and instant recognition

They are more interested in new forms of learning such as e-learning and seek to extract maximum out of technology enabled processes. They have much less regard for existing hierarchical pattern of organisational working. They wont hesitate to job hop if there is any kind of mismatch in the existing organisation. In the same vein,management made a fact-finding study of a few managers with whom and under whose guidance the young brigade was primarily working. The findings are: Although not even middle aged, the managers are all catogorized as X generation managers by the four trainees. There are indications of verbal clash as well as mild confrontations time to time. The trainees have reservations about the communication styles of seniors which they find to be dominating and even threatening. Managers do not agree. Managers prefer face-to-face communication but the young trainees feel more comfortable with online interactions. Senior managers feel that the young trainees do not have a sense of accountability. Seniors feel that the young trainees do not have a sense of accountability. Seniors feel that the youth need intensive training in their conversational and listening skills. The way they do so now is creating confusion and bewilderment for others. The top management concedes that trying to keep up with the mindset of the new generation could be difficult and may not be entirely desirable. But appropriate understanding and a bit of compromise from both, will positively result in a more dynamic and competitive enterprise for each employee and each stakeholder in the organisation.