Since May 2008, Generation Y blogger and entrepreneur Ryan Healy (the co-founder of Brazen Careerist) has suggested 20 ways that Gen Y – who are also known as Millennials – will change the workplace.  Healy added his last 10 ways just last week on the Employee Evolution blog.

Squarely in the "pro" column of the continuing pro-con debate about Gen Y's value in the workplace, Healy says his latest top 10 list underscores his premise that in the face of a collapsing economy, "This next year or two will be a defining time for our generation, and I believe it will shape our world view and work view in many ways."

You can read his original top 10 list here and his latest top 10 here.  What strikes me most about the latter list are these predictions of Gen Y's impact in workplaces, and in business as a whole:

• Transparency will beget more employee loyalty than ever before
• More pay cuts and fewer mass layoffs
• Leadership will be a team effort
• Entry-level employees will be teachers as well as students

Can you spot the theme among these predictions?  It's the notion of "all for one and one for all" from The Three Musketeers, or what we refer to in defining the themes common to our Top Small Workplaces as an employee ownership mentality.

The upside of this is, from a leadership or HR perspective, is that you don't have to be a member of Gen Y to benefit from what will likely come true from Healy's predictions, if generational membership in workplaces plays out over the next few decades as the Census Bureau is forecasting.  You just have to respect them, talk openly and honestly with them, recognize them for their contributions to your bottom line, provide opportunities for them to learn and grow in your business, and help them as much as you can to manage their work/life balance.

This is not that hard, as our Top Small Workplaces demonstrate and will openly tell you.  Oh, there's work that's needed to create outstanding team building and employee engagement, no doubt about it, and it takes the vision and commitment of leadership.  But it's not rocket science.

And really, you should be using the building blocks to create a winning workplace, which I outlined above, to attract and retain workers from all generations, not just Millennials.

What do you think of Healy's predictions for how Gen Y will change the workplace?  How do you see employee engagement best practices affecting their likelihood of coming true?