Authors inspire millennials to step forward

‘Hear Us Out’ co-authors Amal Kooheji and Sajeda Al Asfoor urges the millennial workforce to help devise a plan for revamping how the organisation should shift from a very traditional atmosphere to a forward-thinking, all-embracing one, characterised by flexibility and empowerment. In each chapter of their book, various views of the authors are expressed, with a rich secondary research summarized for the reader to learn from where all chapters end along with a tips section for the HR practitioners and managers to benefit from.

“The book ‘Hear us Out’ is a journey of a millennial in a typical 21st century yet conventional organisation which cannot seem to keep pace with its changing workforce. Corporate cultures are determined by management’s ethos and mission, but it is the ingrained beliefs and values of people that truly determine that match between what management wants and what reality is,” Amal said. Amal wants organisations to value the opinions of the millennials as the force of change is stronger than anticipated. “Millennial workforce have much more influence in all marketplaces and hence, organisations must start listening to them, rather than listening to their consultants that draw up their plans in their boardrooms,” Amal told the Tribune.

“Authority will undoubtedly be in the hands of millennials soon, as their economic influence grows, and their numbers devour the workforce.” ‘Hear us Out’ touches the basics of the millennials’ journey and attempts to guide leaders and human resource practitioners to what millennials need, how they think, and what their aspirations are, in an attempt to influence policies and procedures to suit them to become more productive, thus yielding higher results in peaceful work environments. “This book is an account of the journey of a millennial that was recruited into her dream organisation and then faced various challenges.

Coinciding this journey is also the account of A Gen Xer who is faced with the challenge of living in the baby boomer’s world and battling with the demands of the new millennial workforce. She takes charge, tries to control her frustrations with this generation, and takes a bold step into trying to empathize, understand, and give this generation a chance to lead the way,” Amal added. “The chapters represent the five stations that any employee typically has to experience in the world of work. These stations are recruitment, induction, training and development, performance appraisals and last but least, is the exit or stay dilemma which touches on the issue of staff retention.” The journey of the millennial in the book is a typical one showing the frustrations but also showing the realistic views of the Gen X manager.

“The journey ends positively since the conversation between them and the comprises reached in all the chapters which are the journey, enables the Gen X manager to create the collaborative mindset with the executive management team which empowers the millennial to speak out for themselves and recommend what the organization needs,” Amal said. “The idea behind the book came from the need for the current management to pay attention to certain aspects of leadership styles in their organizations. There is a lot of unhappiness in our view in the workplace, where there are a lot of people who are not being productive because they don’t see the purpose.”

Amal says that the millennial generation specifically looks for a purpose beyond other dimensions as their predecessors, and it is very important to draw the attention of Generation X and the baby boomer’s generation. “Those in the leading roles and in the decision-making seats in the boardrooms need to realize that, younger people will come, where they have totally different expectations. Life is changing and exposure has tremendously affected the way millennials think, therefore it is of paramount importance to shed light on the generational differences and try to gap them,” Amal said.

“Moreover it is very important to bridge the generation gap because it will only then lead to productivity and happier people in a healthy working environment. A lot of individuals want to grow with an organization, and achieve the bottom line of those organizations whether it is profitability or service.” While writing the book, Amal and Sajeda faced challenges on how to convey their message to the readers in a simple way. “The challenges faced while authoring the book was natural as a co-authored book. We faced challenges to reach a consistency in writing and also on how do we send our message across in an uncomplicated way,” Amal said.