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The choices
of a new generation

Recruiting, motivating and retaining 'Nexters'
can help protect your newspaper's future

By Jim Killam
Communications Coordinator

Every year, researchers at Beloit College issue a list of facts about the current class of college freshmen. Here's a sampling from the last couple of years:

The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as World War I, World War II and even the Civil War.
There has always been MTV (and Madonna, for that matter). But the expression, "You sound like a broken record," means nothing to them.
They have no significant memory of the Reagan years, the Challenger explosion, the breakup of the Soviet Union or a world without the Internet.

While the list always makes the rest of us feel old, it also sheds light on a group very different than its predecessors - Veterans, Boomers and Generation Xers. "Generation Next" -- those born after 1980 -- will be the largest group ever to hit the workforce. To recruit, motivate and retain "Generation Next," managers and editors will have rethink almost everything they've used successfully with the older groups.

If you haven't felt the cultural shift yet, you will. In college media, it's here. Compared to five or 10 years ago, students today are busier and they feel more stress. Many are "high-maintenance" -- they need constant rewards, constant feedback, constant stimulation. Teamwork motivates them more than individual accomplishment; they don't mind being followers as long as there's a strong leader and a clear direction. Ironically, they often don't want to be that leader.

They're less patient than their predecessors -- you won't sell them on the idea of "paying their dues" with low pay or bad beat assignments. They're incredibly good at doing more in less time. They like short meetings and detest having their time wasted. They're motivated by short-term goals. They'll spend countless effort and hours on a task if it means personal and career growth.

They crave free time and flexible scheduling, but that doesn't mean they're lazy -- just that they work to live rather than live to work. Many fear long-term commitment, largely because they saw their parents' marriages fail. As a generation, research shows Nexters are more moral (though often unsure about why), more likely to be socially active (though probably not via politics), more likely to volunteer for charity and generally more optimistic. They're loyal to people they respect, but rarely to the company they work for.

So, how can newspapers recruit and retain Nexters?

Continuing training will be one of your biggest selling points - potentially even bigger than pay. Nexters want to work for someone who can help them grow professionally. Occasionally bringing in a trainer from outside your company scores big points. For great advice about training, see the "No Train, No Gain" site.

Job titles may mean less to this group than simply knowing they're making an impact. They crave feedback on their work, and won't stay long in a newsroom where it's not a priority. Managers need to be mentors and role models, and they also need to identify other, older staffers as such - and maybe even pay them a little extra for taking on that role. Even though Nexters may approach their career differently than the older generations, they respect those from whom they can learn something. Research shows they find particular affinity with the veterans generation, born between 1922 and 1943.

A fresh approach to news coverage will attract bright grads. Rethink your beat structure: Does it reflect your readers and your community as well as it did when instituted? Create special project teams (even small ones) as rewards for good, everyday work. Be prepared to sacrifice routine, insignificant coverage sometimes in order to focus on work that will be far more memorable.

Nexters are comfortable with technology, and they'll think you're hopelessly backwards if you don't give it to them so they can work more efficiently. That means fast Internet access - at their desks, not at one isolated "library" station - cell phones, pagers and probably laptops and digital cameras.

Don't expect Nexters to automatically coexist peacefully with Xer and Boomer bosses. Jan Childress, director of student publications at Texas Tech University, offered this advice at a recent college media convention:

Generationally friendly companies shape their workplaces around the work being done and the people doing that work - not a predictable, regimented office. Dress codes are relaxed. Chain of command isn't the big deal it used to be. The clear goal: decreased bureaucracy.
Good managers assume the best of their people. It's expected that they hired the best possible people. Treating them that way, regardless of age or experience, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Economic downturn or not, there's still a labor shortage in journalism. Keeping your people is every bit as important as finding them - and it's done by making your newspaper a "magnet for excellence." Even if the pay is relatively low, you'll keep people longer if you offer training, coaching and special assignments.
Vary leadership style by situation. Some decisions have to be made by the manager, with consultation. Others can come from consensus. A less-rigid management style and structure appeals to Nexters.

Of course, all of this research -- true though it may be -- is broadly generalized. Nexters aren't from another planet, and expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Still, good management and good newspapering boils down to understanding people. Knowing the basic lay of the land is a good start.

Jim Killam is adviser for the Northern Star, the daily student newspaper at Northern Illinois University. Contact him at jkillam@niu.edu.

Sidebar: Ways you can connect with young journalists.

The choices of a new generation

The choices
of a new generation