5 Ways to Work with Gen Y

An article by Danny Bradbury indicates that Gen Y’s tech skills can be a dangerous problem if they don’t know how to a) behave themselves (i.e. think Facebook pictures of drunken brawls or worse) b) keep the company computer systems safe (i.e. “You shared what? A hacker just got in! or “That email you opened just knocked out the company computer systems thanks to that worm virus!”).

Danny’s article outlines these 5 steps to keep everything straight (technologically anyway).

1. Create a demilitarized zone. Make sure your databases and email servers are in a protected area like a virtual LAN (VLAN). It’s that or create a non-administrative user account for the employee.

2. Use gateway protection: Say when, who or where – you control the door to the system.

3. Embrace mobile computing: Use virtual private networking technology (not for the faint of heart) for extra security.

4. Set a usage policy: This is particularly true of social networking sites like Facebook. Behave online as you would behave in the real world – that’s how I try to do it nowadays.

5. Cater to their needs: Make things engaging and interactive through blogs, wikis or company Facebook groups.

There is one other suggestion I could think of:

6. Use Macintosh systems: If you really want to avoid 90% of the viruses, worms or trojans you can use Apple Mac systems. Since Apple’s market share is so small most virus writers attack Windows PC computers (practically 90% of the rest of the world). Well this is a strategy that’ll work for now…

Originally From…

Five ways to tempt and tame Gen Y – Management – Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com: “The Facebook generation can be dream employees – if you know how to manage them. Danny Bradbury offers tips for keeping them under control and productive.”

(Via Silicon.com.)

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