Generation Y refers to people born between the late 1970s and early 1990s. This is a population characterized by some unique behaviors in various industries. In the non-profit workforce, generation Y exhibits some behaviors that organization managers need to pay attention to attract and retain the workforce. A research article by Jasmine McGinnis presents hypotheses and facts on the behaviors and trends among employees in both profit and non-profit industries. The article was first presented at the Southeast Regional Conference for Public Administration in 2009. The article earned the W. H. Collins award as the outstanding doctoral paper of the conference. This paper aims to critique the article by Jasmine.
Nonprofit organizations help by providing goods and services that are crucial, but other organizations are unwilling to provide due to various reasons. Some of the reasons include high risks, low-profit margins, and insecurity. One of the factors that affect the growth and vitality of the nonprofit sector is the ability to attract and retain the generation Y employees (Naim & Lenka, 2018). In the previous generations, employees were motivated by both compensation and non-compensation benefits in equal measure. According to available management literature, nonprofit managers are encouraged to enhance the non-compensation characteristics of their jobs to attract and retain the young generation. However, the different approach and preferences by generation Y must be put into consideration for the betterment of the nonprofit industry.
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Main Purpose
The main purpose of this article was to enhance the understanding of wage differentials in the nonprofit sector to promote attraction and retention of the Generation Y workforce. The author used data from the American Community Survey from 2001 to 2006. A total of 178,000 young and educated employees were involved in the study. All the participants were aged 30 years or below with at least a Bachelor’s degree. It translated to 178,765 observations; 151,985 for-profit employees and 26,780 for nonprofit employees (McGinnis, 2011). Because of the importance of nonprofit organizations, Jasmine was concerned by the changes in behaviors of Generation Y workforce. As a result, this research was conducted to help determine the behavioral patterns which would help managers to ensure continued growth and good flow of young and energetic workforce.
Key Question
The key question that the author is addressing is: Which measures do nonprofit organization managers need to take to attract and retain Generation Y workforce?
Before beginning the research, the author noticed a new trend in the behavior of the new generation workforce in the profit and nonprofit sectors. According to research conducted by Cornelius, Corvington, & Ruesga (2008), young people are currently leaving their positions more frequently than in the past. Also, nonprofit jobs are characterized by low salaries and wages. This is a key factor leading to the observed migration from the nonprofit sector by generation Y. With this in mind, Jasmine embarked on the study to determine wage differentials in nonprofit organizations and how the differentials affect the decisions of young employees. The results and recommendations of the study can be adopted by the organizations’ managers when developing human resource strategies.
Important Information
The most important information in this article is supported by four hypotheses. Hypothesis one implies that nonprofit organizations pay fewer wages than profit organizations. Before conducting the study, this was a general finding drawn from other research articles. This hypothesis is supported by a finding that most of the organizations in the nonprofit industry are concentrated in industries with low pay (McGinnis, 2011). They venture in areas where profit companies neglect due to the associated risks and low returns on investment. Despite the risks and low pays, the goods and services are important and must be provided. Because of the nature of services provided by the organizations, past generation employees used to get satisfaction by producing different qualities and type of products from profit organizations.
In hypothesis two, the author was aiming to establish if it is true that nonprofit organizations have lower wage differentials between men and women than profit organizations. Jasmine found that there is more gender equity in terms of wages in the nonprofit sector than in the profit sector. Women in profit organizations earn about 6.3% than their male counterparts (McGinnis, 2011). The finding by the author was in agreement with the previous articles and the second hypothesis. The study also found lower differentials in wages as well as lower compensation for graduate education between minority and whites in the nonprofit sector than the profit sector.
From the study of wage patterns and generation Y workforce, the author concluded that the young generation is not thrilled by nonwage compensations. These compensations were the motivating factors behind joining nonprofit organizations. They no longer apply, and soon, organization managers will need to focus on other compensation measures to maintain a young and educated workforce (Cornelius et al., 2008). The sector has achieved much in ensuring wage equity among its employees. Now it is time to become more appealing through wage compensation strategies.
Key Concepts
The concepts that we need to understand in this article include the importance of nonprofit organizations, the changing nature of workforce especially among generation Y, and compensation systems in both profit and nonprofit industries (Bishow & Monaco, 2016). Understanding the importance of nonprofit organizations helps to get the author’s perspective of analysis. The study recommends that managers in the industry must find new compensation mechanisms because the organizations must continue to grow to provide the basic and quality services in high-risk areas (Cornelius et al., 2008). The young workforce is willing to provide their services but with a promised job satisfaction, good wages, and chance to develop their careers.
Main Assumptions
The main assumption underlying the author’s thinking is that every potential employee has the freedom of choosing whether to work in profit or nonprofit organization (McGinnis, 2011). It is true that once an individual has the necessary education and experience, it will be easy to secure or attract some job offers as per the current unemployment rates. However, there is little freedom in choosing a sector to work in for those who are still developing their careers. Employees can only move to an organization of their dream once the opportunity presents. In some way, people become comfortable in their positions, thereby, increasing retention chances (Bishow & Monaco, 2016).
Main Implications
This research article has implications in the future of the nonprofit sector. No organization can survive without employees. To attract and retain the employees, organization management must ensure that the employees are satisfied and focused on their jobs (Naim & Lenka, 2018). By taking the authors’ line of thinking seriously, organizations must change their compensation approach from non-wage to wage compensation. The generation Y comprises of the young and educated workforce who are brought up in the inventive technological era (McGinnis, 2011). This generation is more interested in the benefits they get by working in an organization than the pride that past characterized the past generations. If nonprofit organization managers ignore the authors’ reasoning, there is a likelihood that the sector will struggle in attracting and retaining the generation Y workforce.
Main Conclusion
The article by Jasmine presents and analyzes research results on the compensation pattern in the profit and nonprofit sector. Most nonprofit researches conducted before focused more on nom wage compensation as the motivating factor among nonprofit employees. Generation Y presents a new set of a young and educated workforce. However, they are unique in the sense that they are motivated more by wage compensation than other forms of payment. Therefore, nonprofit organizations’ management must adopt new measures.
References
Bishow, J. L., & Monaco, K. A. (2016). Nonprofit pay and benefits: estimates from the National Compensation Survey. Monthly Lab. Rev. , 139 , 1.
Cornelius, M., Corvington, P., & Ruesga, A. (2008). Ready to lead? Next generation leaders speak out. Annie E. Casey Foundation: Baltimore .
McGinnis, J. (2011). The young and restless: Generation Y in the nonprofit workforce. Public Administration Quarterly , 342-362.
Naim, M. F., & Lenka, U. (2018). Development and retention of Generation Y employees: a conceptual framework. Employee relations , 40 (2), 433-455.
