As an educator, I work with passionate and brilliant young people every day.
At educational institutions like AIHM, we learn as our students learn, because we take a lifelong approach to our personal and professional development. In settings like this you can enjoy a journey of constant discovery and fresh inspiration. In many ways, the emerging generation of future leaders stand out as radically different from those who came before. Academic research studies and the anecdotal experience of professors and others who interact closely with today’s young adults confirm that when it comes to those who are now entering the workforce their aspirations, values and career goals stand in stark contrast to the generations that have come before.
What makes today’s young people different?
Before hearing from some of the young leaders who will join tomorrow’s workforce, take a moment to ask yourself a question:
What are the strengths You bring to an organisation?
If you can, grab a piece of paper and write your strengths down. Done? Now, look over your list.
Have your employers recognised you for these strengths? Have these strengths been factored into your promotion or new projects? Have you ever been complimented on these strengths? How did that recognition make you feel? Valued? Seen? Appreciated? If yes, you’re not so different from the younger generation of leaders that are soon to graduate.
Young adults embarking on their careers now are looking for employers who value them as individuals. While most of us want the same thing, the youngest generation of adults aren’t afraid to say it. This is a value they champion. It’s something they seek out in employment opportunities. Their well-developed sense of self and understanding of their strengths are qualities that can be nurtured to enhance their professional journey and how they bring value to your organisation.
The importance of being treated as an individual
AIHM’s Employer Forum is an evolving series of events that kicked off with a launch at AIHM’s Bangkok campus on 9 February 2024. This inaugural event brought together employers as well as students to bridge the gaps between employer expectations and employee motivations in the emerging talent pool. The initial Forum event in February welcomed over 50 participants—including Human Resources and People & Culture leaders from a variety of leading international companies. Since then, another event has been held, and more are in the planning stages. As part of these Employer Forum sessions, participants are invited to watch a pre-recorded panel discussion with several of AIHM’s bright, young student leaders. In these sessions they discuss their goals for the future, their initial employment experiences in hotel company internships and what they’re looking for in a potential employer.
Several clear trends in this generation’s motivations have arisen in these events. One of the most prominent themes: a strong appreciation for each person’s individuality. The one-size-fits-all approaches of the past no longer work for the rising stars of tomorrow’s workforce. They’re more than willing to throw themselves into their work and to innovate new initiatives that drive unprecedented results…you just must give them the environment and opportunity to unite their individual passions with company objectives.
As AIHM student Kanpitcha ‘Front’ Prapasnithikul explained, the generation that is just now embarking on their careers want to be valued not just for their work but as a person. Embracing diversity is also important to them. The celebration of individuality and differences is an essential part of their worldview and their expectations of those around them.
The new generation also wants to be recognised and supported in their individual professional journeys. They seek opportunities and companies that will allow them to try out multiple things in their career journeys until they find the niche that is the best personal fit for their passions. Again, this strong sense of self should be seen as the strength it is. If you’re going to dedicate years or potentially decades to a company, why shouldn’t you be doing something that you are passionate about? Why shouldn’t it be an ideal match for your talents?
Written in the Clouds: Real-Time Research on Employment Dynamics
AIHM’s Employer Forum sessions are making use of technology to gather real-time data and react to initial findings immediately. As our discussions unfolded, participants were able to use their phones to answer questions, with instant visualisations of responses appearing on screen. See the sample below, a word cloud that weighted responses proportionally to how frequently they were given.
Yes, this is the same question I posed to you at the beginning of this article. What are the greatest strengths you bring to an organisation? Do any of these qualities match the strengths on your own list? We all deserve to be treated with respect for our individuality; the new generation are happy to insist on it.
The future of the AIHM Employer Forum
AIHM is continuing to conduct these interactive sessions with new audiences. That said, we already have mounds of data being generated and multiple insights ready to share. In fact, AIHM expert and facilitator of learning, Dr. Yuth Thongcharoen is conducting long-term research on generational differences in the workforce and how to bridge these gaps. Making use of the data from the Employer Forum sessions, his original research and analysis will be adding knowledge to the global academic conversations around this topic. Fellow academics may wish to follow his research as it is being developed and shared through scholarly journals and conferences. In the meantime, he’s kindly shared some relevant highlights from his literature review below.
If you want to know what the next generation’s rising stars desire in an employer in addition to an embrace of individuality, stay tuned for more AIHM Higher blog posts. In the weeks ahead, I’ll be publishing several more posts in this series. We’ll highlight the top motivations of new professionals and the ways you can collaborate with and empower them to achieve more, to achieve it faster than ever before, and to forge the innovations that will meet the world’s changing needs.
AIHM Employer Forum 2024: Student Panel
Do you have 20 minutes to hear from some of the industry’s rising stars? Watch the AIHM Employer Forum student discussion on YouTube to learn from representatives of the next generation.
Academic perspectives
AIHM expert and facilitator of learning, Dr. Yuth Thongcharoen is researching the next generation’s motivations and how we can bridge these generational differences as new young professionals emerge into the workplace. To explore what other scholars and researchers have to say about the next generation’s valuing of individuality, dive into any Dr. Yuth’s suggested readings below.
Carter, T. D., & Walker, W. D. (2018). Retaining, cultivating, and investing: Strategies for leading millennial managers. The Journal of Government Financial Management, 67(2), 20-25.
Lyons S, Urick M, Kuron L, Schweitzer L. Generational Differences in the Workplace: There Is Complexity Beyond the Stereotypes. Industrial and Organizational Psychology. 2015;8(3):346-356. doi:10.1017/iop.2015.48
Meng, J., Reber, B. H., & Rogers, H. (2017). Managing millennial communication professionals: Connecting generation attributes, leadership development, and 147 employee engagement. Acta Prosperitatis, 8, 68-83, 119. https://www.turiba.lv/storage/files/8-acta.pdf#page=69
Valenti, A. (2019). Leadership preferences of the millennial generation. The Journal of Business Diversity, 19(1), 75-84. https://doi.org/10.33423/jbd.v19i1.1357
Join the next AIHM Employer Forum
Are you interested in supporting an upcoming AIHM Employer Forum event? Let’s connect to discuss the opportunities we have for likeminded leaders to participate and collaborate on future initiatives and events like these.
Director of Global Partnerships
AIHM & Minor Education
