Motivating Gen Y accountants
26/08/2010
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The young finance professional of the 21st century has a confident and clear vision of their career progression, demands job security and is motivated by money.
A new survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Mercer, “Generation Y: Realising the potential”, of over 3,200 individuals from 122 countries shows that more than half of young finance professionals seek to use their finance training in broader business careers.
It presents a wake up call to employers of finance professionals to embrace the career aspirations of the youngest generation and offer dynamic career routes that capitalise on their finance skills, or risk losing future talent.
While the survey reports that most Gen Y finance professionals suggest they are satisfied with their current role, concerns are expressed regarding the future, with half suggesting their organisation is not able to offer them sufficient career development opportunities.
“Generation Y employees around the globe are taking their careers into their own hands – focusing on their prospects for development to ensure their own career progression,” Chris Johnson, UK Head of Human Capital at Mercer said. “This has implications for the way the finance profession builds its talent pipeline and how organisations should attract, develop and retain their young finance talent.”
Jamie Lyon, from ACCA, and co-author of the report, said that while Generation Y finance professionals are hard working, they want quick and transparent rewards. Gen Y finance professionals also value experiential learning more than e-learning.
“Managing the career expectations of Generation Y and being transparent about career development will be key to delivering on the career promise. If employers get this wrong, there’s a significant retention risk, particularly if global economic conditions start improving,” Lyon said.