Gen Y: Will it blow up Jones Day

The model - and it's a very successful one - at Jones Day is to be secretive about compensation, ranging from base salary to bonus.  That could blow up if Gen Y gets in that law firm and takes power [power is taken, not given.] 

In BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK, Brian Kropp reports that Gex Y, that is those between 22 and 29, aren't so concerned about compensation in an absolute sense.  A number in a vacuum doesn't mean much to that gen.  What does count is how much they make relative to their peers.  Therefore, they are likely to demand and probably get organizations "to share specific pay ranges, bonus amounts, and in some cases, the specific pay amounts of employees."

Another characteristic of Gen Y is their focus on outcomes not how the work is done.   That could severely challenge most law firm cultures which are based on tons of face time.

Comments

[Lebron James]

You are forgetting another very, very important part of the odd and successful Jones Day culture, a part of the culture not unlike the culture of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Jones Day's "managing partner" is actually the pope, with one exception: the pope doesn't get to choose his successor. Steve Brogan or Pat McCartan or Dick Pogue (the source, in National Lawyer, for the pope crack) or any past almighty managing partner of Jones Day hears only what he wants to hear, and that would not include grumblings from pissant junior non-equity partners and below about Jones Day's lifelong secret compensation plan. And any equity partner at Jones Day would never complain about the secret system.

[Dood]

Eric,

Maybe you should add Merriam Webster to your list, and take off Trump (Trump was the original "too big to fail" - he'd be bankrupt, if he didn't get into such ridiculous debt that the banks had to help him dig out).

[Eric Abner]

I am a member of Generation Y and I don't agree with Bloomberg Business Week on this one. I don't care how much my friends make. I only care about how much money I make. My heros are people like Bill Gates and Donald Trump.

http://www.edleeabner.com/Pomona.html