Presented at
Northwest Call Center Professionals and
Help Desk Northwest Seminar
Moderated by Ivy Meadors, CEO, High Tech High Touch Solutions,
Inc.
Do you have employees or young adults under twenty-four who are
aspiring leaders? The Millennials, commonly known as
"Generation Y", are the next leaders of our corporations and
government agencies. It is important to know how to effectively
help prepare and develop these young minds for their future
potential.
The following panelists are openly sharing information to help
others understand their generation better, to hopefully create
many new opportunities for others in their same age group.
Click to go directly to
resources for developing young leaders.
Jennifer Jeffery
Nintendo
Call Center Representative
My name is Jennifer Jeffery, and I am currently a student at the
University of Washington in Seattle. I am double majoring in
English and Comparative Literature, and I plan on graduating
with my B.A. in June '06. I attended high school at Emerald
Ridge in Puyallup, WA, where I was involved in student council,
DECA, and played on the varsity basketball team. I graduated
with honors in 2003, at the same time that I graduated from
Pierce College, where I earned my two year degree while in high
school, through participation in the Running Start program.
While in high school, I also made the decision to attend an
archaeological field school in Southwest Colorado, where I
spent three weeks excavating, doing lab work, and studying the
history of the Native Americans who inhabit that area.
My love of travel, as well art, history, and literature, has
informed many of the decisions I've made, and continues to
inform the goals I have for the future. Upon graduation from the
UW, I plan to take a year off to decide what my next step will
be, though I hope to eventually attend graduate school and earn
my PhD in English Literature, and have considered joining the
Peace Corps.
For the past two years, I have worked in the call center at
Nintendo of America, initially employed through Parker
Services, until more recently, when I was hired on by
Nintendo. Working part time while also attending school
has allowed me to pursue my education without having to take out
any student loans, a fact which makes the prospect of my
graduation in a few months that much more exciting.
With only a few more classes to take, and having recently
completed my honors thesis, I am looking forward to pursuing any
new opportunities that may arise in the next year, as well as
the chance to contemplate what path my life will take from here.
Kristiana N. Jimenez
Costco Wholesale
Business Delivery Manager
I grew up very
poor and moved schools a lot! In fact between 3rd and
4th grade, I went to 6 different schools! I attended
Shorecrest High School and was on the Crew Team (rowing). Since
I was in 6th grade, I babysat in order to pay for my
school clothes and supplies. When I was 15 ½, I got my first job
at Nordstrom and since then, have always held a job to pay for
school clothes, supplies, etc.
I was always
very active in my church growing up. I participated in all of
our musicals and choirs and even helped lead the music worship
for our Youth Group. I was on my church’s volleyball team and
built houses for the homeless in Mexico every summer. I also
volunteered to work with the elementary students and
choreographed their musicals.
When I
graduated High School in 1999 I had no place to live so I was
forced to work full time. I heard of Costco and how well it paid
so I decided to seek employment at the Aurora Village warehouse.
Since then I moved to the Corporate Call Center as a phone rep.
I worked really
hard and made some goals right away. I was selected to
participate in our Supervisor in Training program then was
promptly promoted to supervisor; I was only 19. I was a
supervisor for 4 years and I worked hard towards my next goal:
Manager. I was promoted to Manager in October 05 at the age of
24.
At this time, I
am the youngest person in management in the Call Center and one
of the youngest managers in our company. My next goal is to
enroll in classes at Bellevue Community College so I can seek a
position in upper management in the next 5-10 years.
Corissa Meadors
Student
My name is Corissa Meadors. I am 16 and a junior at Milwaukie
High School in Milwaukie, Oregon. Between sixth and ninth grade
I always babysat in the summer to earn money to buy school
clothes, and even now do odd jobs, usually cleaning, at people's
houses as needed. I'm very motivated to do well in whatever I do
and am constantly setting goals for myself - my shortfall,
perhaps, is trying to do too much at once. I've struggled a bit
because of my stutter, and went to speech therapy throughout
grade school, to no avail. Despite this, my speaking skills and
especially foreign language skills are very good.
In school, I am active in the French Club and Writer's Club, and
I also tutor schoolmates after school in French and occasionally
help out with the Japanese tutoring. My main interest is foreign
language: next year I will be taking my fourth year of French,
doubling up third year and fourth year Japanese, and beginning
Spanish. When I get to college I want to major in foreign
language, and possibly minor in business. I like to keep my
options open. After college I would like to travel, especially
to Europe, so I would be looking for a job with international
opportunities.
Kevin Osborne
My name is Kevin Osborne. I am currently 18 years old and a
senior at Mercer Island High School. I am planning to go to
Bellevue Community College for two years and then transfer as a
junior to a University. There was a time when college seemed a
distant dream. Four years ago, I was apart of a severe special
Ed program to accompany my anxiety. I was constantly told I
would never get into college or have any success in life. Today,
I am in all general Ed classes including Chinese honors. I am
also in the National Honors Society and running in Track &
Field.
My interests are engineering and Chinese. I plan to
revolutionize the way we travel with aerospace technology and
the use of hydrogen fuel. Also to do something with
international affairs with Chinese if time permits. I am man of
ambitions and determination believing that there is always
something better to reach for.
Josh Peterson
Starbucks
My name is Josh Peterson and I currently work for Starbucks in
the Customer Contact Center as a part of the Starbucks Card
Department. I was born and raised in Winlock, Washington, a very
small town of about 1,200. I am very lucky to have two very
hardworking and supportive parents that have instilled in me a
strong work ethic. Growing up my family had a credo when it came
to an undertaking: “Be it big or be it small, do it right or not
at all. Once a job has begun, see it through until it’s done.”
After high school I attended Yakima Valley Community College. At
YVCC I was a student athlete and worked towards my transfer
degree while playing basketball for two years, contributing to a
college basketball championship my sophomore year. In 2003 I
transferred to The Evergreen State College to continue my
education and play two more years of basketball. I am still 8
credits short of my BA from Evergreen, which will be completed
this July. Once I have completed my remaining credits I will
have two major emphases in Business Management and Education,
with a minor in Ethnic Studies. At Evergreen I was the Student
Activities Coordinator and was the co-captain of the basketball
team my senior season.
My experience both in the classroom and in athletics has been
essential to becoming the person I am today. Understanding the
concept of teamwork and working together towards a common goal
is what a business needs to do to be successful. In the next
5-10 years I can see myself moving up within Starbucks. The
company is growing by the day. I am proud to be a partner and I
look forward to advancing within the company.
Annie Reimer
I was born in Toppenish Washington and grew up in the Spokane
Valley. My mother and father divorced when I was about 12. I
had to help take care of my brother since my mother was working
full time. Every other year, after my mother and father
divorced, my brother and I were transferring schools, although I
managed to keep good grades and even stay an athlete and play
the flute.
After settling down in Seattle, I graduated high school four
months early and went into the Air Force for one year, I wanted
to become a police officer; unfortunately it didn’t work out as
well as I planned. I came back to Washington with a new
perspective on how things should be done in life.
Ivy Meadors met me while I was working at Blockbuster and gave
me a job offering and also a chance to be mentored. As I worked
for Ivy she gave me the opportunity to go to school as well.
This last month I finished a quarter at Bellevue Community
College for English and Math. I am moving to Japan in the next
couple of months, which won’t stop my learning. Even though
unfortunately I won’t be employed with Ivy I will still go on to
make her proud of me by staying in college and working full
time.
I want to try and become a disease research doctor and a
humanitarian. I am willing to put in the long hard hours that
it will take as long as someone will give me the chance.
Ivy Meadors - Moderator
High Tech High Touch Solutions, Inc.
My name is Ivy Meadors. I grew up in a very small town in
Oregon and graduated high school in the largest graduating class
in the history of our school - there were 87 in the class. One
of my first jobs was working a switchboard. Without a college
education, my mentors' guidance and belief in me were crucial to
my achievements as the founder and CEO of High Tech High Touch
Solutions, Inc., a trade show producer and consulting firm
specializing in help desks and call centers.
My roots in the industry came during my practitioner tenure at U
S West Communications and IBM. Then over the past 12 years I've
consulted around the world for Fortune 100 companies, spoken in
7 countries, written a monthly column for Customer Interface
Magazine, been published in numerous industry magazines, and
authored our online newsletter, eSharings, an incredibly
rewarding role sharing information with over 9000 readers
worldwide. Last year I became the owner and producer of the
Help Desk Professionals Conference and the Government Customer
Support Conference, which is as a result the only woman owned
tradeshow / events company in our industry.
I've been honored with the Service News Award for being one of
the 25 most influential people in the service and support
industry, and have periodically received the honor of being one
of the Top 10 Legends in the Help Desk Industry. As co-founder
and President of the Northwest Call Center Professionals
Association and President of the Help Desk Northwest User Group,
the privilege to share information with others has been
extremely rewarding.
My passion is keynote speaking and seminar leading, and I would
like to think that my delivery is engaging, thought provoking,
with a spontaneous style. I try to deliver presentations rich
with content, forward thinking, and offer unconventional ideas,
alive with humor and real-life examples. It is an honor to
carry the title of Professional Speaker as recognized by the
National Speakers Association. I tend to form strong opinions
and while others may not always agree with my position, they
will be moved to reflect on different viewpoints as I challenge
the norm and promote the exceptional.
None of these successes would have been possible without the
extraordinary people who mentored and coached me throughout my
life. Having ambition to succeed is great, but people who truly
care and see potential in an individual make it possible to
realize those aspirations. I hope you will make it your goal to
mentor and develop a young leader to reach their goals and
dreams.
resources
for developing young leaders
“High Tech High Touch Solutions’ goal is to revolutionize the
service and support business by generously sharing information
with others.”
The following resources come from High Tech High Touch
Solutions, Inc.’s ™ (HTHTS) research on the topics of the
different generations, leadership, mentoring and personal
behavioral considerations. Any product or resource listed or
discussed is not necessarily a recommendation of High Tech High
Touch Solutions, Inc. ™. The content of this document is
intended for informational purposes only.
If you would like to have a presentation delivered at your next
event or corporate meeting on the topic of Developing Young
Leaders, or other subjects relative to call centers, help desks
or leadership, please let us know.
Ivy
Meadors
CEO
High Tech High Touch Solutions, Inc.
Ivy@hthts.com
1.
Generations at Work – Managing Millennials
http://www.generationsatwork.com/articles/millenials.htm
2.
Generations at Work – The Boomers and the Xers
http://www.generationsatwork.com/articles/boomx.htm
3.
Inscape Publishing – Learning Instruments (excellent
tests available here – check out the listening profiles test)
http://www.inscapepublishing.com/instruments.asp
4.
Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation
(generational discoveries and activities)
http://www.millennialsrising.com
Example results from their research:
"Boomers did progressively worse at school, from one
birth year to the next, accounting for fifteen of the
seventeen years of the famous SAT slide. Millennials show
early signs of doing progressively better at school, from
one birth year to the next."
“Among all living generations, they think Generation X
has the worst reputation, the World War II generation the
best reputation, and Boomers a mixed reputation. By a
five-to-one margin, they agreed that the elderly G.I.
Generation had a "mainly positive" reputation. By the
two-to-one margin, they agreed that Generation X has a
"mainly negative" reputation.”
"Leading-edge Millennial girls are the generational
pathbreakers, setting the standards for their peers,…
showing more progress than boys in nearly every area."
5.
Young Leader Opportunities
http://www.foxx.house.gov/index.cfm?SectionID=39&ParentID=26&SectionTypeID=2&SectionTree=26,39
6.
The Herman Group: Excellent newsletters and resources.
(Ivy knows Roger Herman – excellent speaker and author.)
Example from recent newsletter:
“Employers are actively recruiting entry level workers who will
be moved up in the company, succeeding those existing employees
who will be promoted. Promotions will come as a consequence of
growth, replacement of departing talent, and/or employee
retention strategies. Older workers are asked to stay as
employers realize the irreplaceable value of their knowledge,
wisdom, and experience.”
“Recent reports tell us that leading Japanese companies have
begun preparing to hire next year's graduates. Their intention
to recruit large numbers of new graduates is a radical change
from their restrained hiring in recent years. The employment
market in that country is now characterized as a “seller’s
market” by the Japanese media. Hiring plans announced by
employers include Toshiba’s plans to hire 1,570 new graduates,
marking the first time in 13 years the electronics manufacturer
has taken on more than 1,000 new graduates at once. Honda
expects to hire 1,120 new graduates, its first mass recruitment
in 16 years. Financial institutions also intend to employ many
recent graduates. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. plans to hire
2,350, while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. plans to hire about
1,100.
The employment situation in once-stable Japan is complicated by
the tendency of more than 30 percent of young workers hired
after graduation quitting within three years. The trends we have
highlighted are increasingly global in perspective.”
http://www.hermangroup.com
-
Career Insights online system offered by The Herman Group:
http://www.hermangroup.com/insights/products/index.html
-
Do you know what makes Executives stressed? As seen in
BusinessWeek, Harvard Management Update, Forbes & Executive
Excellence:
2,000
senior executives recently said the most stressful (and
career-threatening) challenges are:
-
Getting employees to embrace and initiate change, without
any weeping or wailing
-
Filling the organization with A Players, not "good enough"
employees
-
Growing and selecting managers that can execute and achieve
results
-
Getting employees to act like "owners" instead of "renters"
-
Getting everyone to understand and execute the strategy
without resistance or excuses
-
Ready or Not, Here They Come:
The Millennial Generation Enters the Workforce (Resource:
The Police Chief)
“The
second planning failure that contributes to the lack of
qualified leaders today is that organizations have by and
large failed to consider the generational transition of the
workforce. In order to ensure the ability to recruit and
retain the most promising of the Millennials, leaders of law
enforcement must begin recognizing how the different
attitudes and perceptions of this new generation will affect
the workplace. This knowledge will have to translate into
action plans and be applied to practical training and
development programs to address the needs of the new
generation. These challenges will strain law enforcement’s
traditional manners of thought and action.”
http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=707&issue_id=92005
-
GenerationWhy – Eric Chester, Speaker and Author expert in
Generation Y
The expert in the field of
developing young leaders, Eric Chester, wrote the following
poem. Please do not reproduce, as it is copyrighted. Eric
is also the author of “Getting Them to Give a Damn.”
We have copies available
for purchase from High Tech High Touch Solutions, Inc.
Please take a moment to
visit Eric’s website for more information.
http://www.generationwhy.com.
He’s an incredible person and an outstanding speaker.
Please let him know we suggested you contact him.
Generation Why
by Eric Chester©
Our
kids are so different from the one’s our folks raised.
They don’t obey without reason,
they’re not easily fazed.
Their test scores have fallen,
about school they don’t care.
They’re street smart, brand
conscious and socially aware!
They don’t leap to their feet to
show elders respect,
after all there’s “that image”
they’ve got to protect.
They often make headlines and the
news is not good --
Yes, Generation Why is surely
misunderstood.
The Boomers cry out that “teens
don’t know their place --
when you try to correct them,
they’re right in your face!
They’re lacking in patience; they
are easily bored.
The effort’s not there, but they
demand the reward!
We’ve given and given and what’s
so unnerving . . .
they keep asking for more -- as
if they’re deserving!
They don’t understand me -- so
who is to blame?
‘Cause I’m doing what I’ve always
done, but the results ain’t the same!”
But let us be cautious,
non-judgmental, and wise
and draw on compassion to see the
world through their eyes . . .
The airwaves are jammed with sex,
violence, and rage.
It’s brought to extinction “the
innocent age.”
Real heroes among us, but who
gets applause?
Celebrity icons with character
flaws.
You can break all the rules and
if you get caught
a “not guilty” verdict is easily
bought.
The music is bleak and the lyrics
keep humming --
“Just live for today ’cause
tomorrow’s not coming!”
Though often maligned what
reports fail to mention
(about these sixty million kids
craving love and attention)
is the talent they possess and
the drive to make better
the world where we live and our
time here together.
What they need are role models
who’ll turn on the light
-- and show by example what is
morally right --
who know they seek answers and
will attend to that need.
You and I are those people, and
it’s our time to lead.
There’s promise, I tell you, just
look in their eyes.
You’ll see hope for the future in
our Generation Whys!
Eric Chester & Generation Why
(303) 239-9999 e-mail:
info@generationwhy.com
We invite and
encourage you to submit resources to include in this list that will
help others in their service and support efforts. Simply email
us at
solutions4u@hthths.com to share your suggestions. We
appreciate a link exchange whenever possible, but this is not a
requirement.
Disclaimer:
Our website contains links to sites on the Internet, which are owned
and operated by third parties. High Tech High Touch Solutions,
Inc.™ is not responsible for the content of any such third-party
site. A resource included in our lists does not imply a
recommendation. Sources are simply intended to provide a
resource that may contribute to your work efforts, or personal and
professional development.
