Workforce Development - A Good Investment?

Is Generation X Ready to Take Over from Baby Boomers?

Whereas Baby Boomers were the last generation to go out behind the barn and cut a switch because we mouthed off to our mothers,  Gen-X kids  would quickly remind us that charges will be filed or they'll suffer mental anguish if they are so much as verbally reprimanded. Is the difference in upbringing a factor in their ability to work and lead ?

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Myths about Gen X in the Workforce - They don't want to grow up

The Reality:

They really don't know how.

The youngest generations in today's workforce are facing a delayed adulthood. They are getting married later, having children later and just generally facing the "real world" later. This isn't the result of a mutated maturity gene, it just is. And if we are being completely honest, Boomers had a lot to do with why it's happening.

First, as parents, Boomers had a tendency to coddle their children and use their own good fortune to make sure their children didn't experience adversity. Second, as career models, Boomers demonstrated the toll of working long hours and "paying one's dues" in a way that made their children less likely to follow in their footsteps. Millenials today look at the corporate ladder and think, "there must be another way."

My advice to you—don't waste time wishing they were different. Don't spend your energy comparing today's youth to the desires and drive you had at age 18. These employees are not a reflection of you, nor are they an earlier version of you. And again, that is okay. Your task is to take this new understanding and use it to reposition how you interact with, motivate and reward your staff.

Take attire for instance. Your 18-year-old self would have gladly donned whatever uniform was necessary to fit the company mold. Be it pressed khakis and a tie or a specific corporate uniform, fitting in was part of the package. Today's youth wants to stand out. They want their individuality to shine through even when required to provide a consistent standard of service and performance. Balancing corporate needs with individual desires takes some creative thinking.

Home Depot is one company that has addressed this dilemma at a very basic level—company uniforms. They simply require that all employees wear a standard Home Depot apron. Be yourself underneath (within reason) and show the customer that you are on the Home Depot team with this bright orange apron. Is there a standard that you can adopt to accommodate individual preferences? Something to think about.

Thanks to Cam Marsten for research cited in this article

Myths about Gen X in the Workforce - They have no respect for authority

The Reality:

They have great respect for leaders and loyalty. But no, as a rule they don't respect authority "just because." For the younger generations, every ounce of loyalty and respect must be earned. But when it is earned, it is given fiercely.

In fact, loyalty to the individual is the number one reason Xers and Millennials stay in the job, especially during the first three, tenuous years. Dissatisfaction with the boss is the number one reason they quit. So in order to increase retention, managers must take a flipped view on leadership—it is no longer enough to hire the right people and show them the way, now you must BE the right person to win their affection. Sounds a little touchy-feely for the workforce, yet the faster leaders understand this new relationship, the sooner you will see the reward in the way of increased retention.

There is one big caveat to the "be the person they want you to be" approach to leadership, however. Millenials have a tendency to seek tight bonds—they want a boss who is close, caring and aware. And you can be all that. It is very easy to cross the line between "boss as advocate" to "boss as friend." That is a slippery slope. It can be especially tempting in situations where managers and employees are close in age. When activities outside of the office become too regular, too casual or largely social in nature, it is time to examine how this will affect your role as a leader. What Millennials need most out of a boss is a guide, not a social life.

Thanks to Cam Marsten for research cited in this article

Myths about Gen X in the Workforce - They don't want to put in the hours to get ahead

The Reality:

They are willing to put in the time to do the job, however they are uninterested in "face time."

Gen Xers and Millenials view time as a currency. While Baby Boomers tend to see time as something to invest, the younger generations view it as a valuable currency not to be wasted. These are the generations that demand work-life balance and paid time off. They want to get the job done, then put it behind them and enjoy life.

Boomer managers have a tendency to lose the interest of their Millenial employees by looking too far into the future. Millenials live in timeframe based on right now. Their world has proven that nothing is a guarantee—from nationwide layoffs to war to soaring divorce rates—and have decided that there's not a lot you can count on.

As a result they are not interested in promotion plans for five years from now. They don't even want to know what will happen at the end of the summer. Life is uncertain. To reach the Millenial employee and reduce turnover, make it certain.

Tell your employee that you have a plan. Take pains to ensure it is in a timeframe short enough for them to envision. Be prepared to fulfill your promise—once fooled, forever jaded. This approach feeds into their reality, while simultaneously building trust and buying you more time. Reward small successes along the way, string these milestones together and you will soon realize longer tenures among your staff.

Thanks to Cam Marsten for research cited in this article

Myths about Gen X in the Workforce - Younger generations have no work ethic

The Reality:

Younger generations have a self-centered work ethic. This is not necessarily the negative that it may seem at first. Millenials are dedicated to completing their task well. They have not been raised in a way that demands them to look around and see what should be done next. Instead they ask "what is my job" and go about figuring the best, fastest way to complete that task. Then they consider themselves done. This is a key differentiator between your employees and yourself.

The younger they are, the more your employees view their jobs as "something to do between the weekends." For most, early employment has nothing to do with a career path; it is a way to earn money to have fun in their free time. And that is okay.

When you understand what motivates your employees you are better able to set mutual expectations for success. Instead of being frustrated that your youngest employees are not interested in climbing your corporate ladder, embrace their true motivation—reliable spending money—and use it to your advantage. When you tell an employee, "I understand this is not your lifelong career, but to earn the paycheck every week, here is what I expect…" they are much more likely to respond than if you try to motivate with promises of promotions and titles down the road.

Understanding that being at the job isn't as important to Millenials as completing the assigned task also opens up new opportunities for motivation and reward. Younger employees are very likely to respond to offers of paid time off.

A leading retail organization has recognized this new way of thinking with its "Working Hard Card." When managers witness an employee rising to a challenge, exceeding expectations or otherwise giving 110 percent, they can hand the employee a "Working Hard Card" on the spot. Each card is worth a set amount of paid time off to be used at the employee's discretion. It is a simple strategy that rewards employees in the currency they value most—their time.

Thanks to Cam Marsten for research cited in this article

Podcast - Understanding the Generations in Today's Workforce

The Boggs e-Learning journal announced the 1st in a series of two Podcasts featuring yours truly, speaking on Understanding the Generations in Todays Workforce

Check it out - it is (at the risk of shameless self-promotion) pretty informative. 

Could Mom and Dad help keep young workers in the workplace?

Economists predict that a glut of job openings will wreak havoc on the economy, not to mention happy hour.
There have been plenty of blue-ribbon panels, forums and focus groups to address this issue, but none has answered the basic question: How do we persuade the best and brightest to stick around and help solve this looming worker shortage?

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How Podcasting figures into the Workforce Development picture

Our friends over at Workforce Developments recently posted an insightful article called "Podcasting for career development."  This article sheds new light on an increasingly popular way of delivering information to learners. 

If you aren't familiar with this area, Wikipedia describes Podcasting this way:
A podcast is a digital media file (or a series of such files) that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers.^[1] Like 'radio', it can mean either the content itself or the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. The term "podcast" is a portmanteau of the name of Apple's portable music player, the iPod, and broadcast; a pod refers to a container of some sort and the idea of broadcasting to a container or pod describes the process of podcasting. More about the name itself can be found in the history of podcasting article.

Gen X May Struggle to Fill Baby Boomers' Shoes

Generation X managers may struggle to fill Baby Boomers' shoes as they retire over the next 10 years and company leadership transitions to the younger group, according to new research, involving 24,000 midlevel managers found that while both groups were able to meet performance outcomes, they arrived at them very differently

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What a difference a few years makes

Consider for a moment what’s happened in just the past dozen or so years. Google came out of beta in September of 1999, a scant seven years ago as of this writing, but we might as well rewrite the calendar to place it at the year 0 BG (Before Google). Ten years ago, a cell phone was a device for mobile workers and the wealthy. Most people who had a connection to the Internet had a 24k bps analog modem. But people coming into the workforce now cannot recall a time without broadband connections, color screen multifunction cell phones, 3-D video games and  MySpace.com.

That's an excerpt from Neil Raden, the founder of Hired Brains.  Neil recently published an excellent whitepaper entitled  "NextGen Software or Software for the NextGen?" A copy is available for your review.  Download nextgen_software_or_software_for_nextgen.pdf where he elaborates on the dramatic shifts not only in the advancement of technology, but the seemingly insatiable appetite for newer, faster, more complex stuff.  Poses a huge challenge for owners and managers of firms that take a conservative approach to technology.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Opportunity Cost Associated With Most Job Appraisals - not sure I agree

Dave Bogg's wrote a recent article in his The Boggs e-Learning Chronicle blog    In this article , "Opportunity Cost Associated With Most Job Appraisals"  he's put forward the idea proposed by James Adonis who wrote a recent article that bashes 6 month or 12 month standard performance review handed out by most HR departments in his article, "Appraisals Lack One Thing: Performance".

Adonis advocates continuous feedback recommending short, monthly reviews, and other techniques as an alternative to the 6 month or 12 month standard performance review.

While that idea seems innocent enough, it unfortunately, is hardly that simple. 

You see, we must talk about performance feedback systems in the context of the "generation" that you're dealing with.  As you know, we have four very distinct generations in todays workforce, and each have far different life experiences, perspectives, work habits and values.  They also have far different expectations regarding how and what type of feedback they seek. 

Here's some basics about Feedback in todays more complex workforce.

If you are in Management or HR you must also recognize and change the way you communicate expectations and provide feedback across generations. For example, for a traditionalist: “no news is good news.” is acceptable feedback. A baby-boomer generation worker expects feedback once a year and lots of documentation. X'ers may drop by and say “sorry to interrupt but how am i doing?”, while Millenials are thinking “I expect performance feedback whenever I want it at the push of a button.”

To add to this, you may also experience cultural variations on feedback expectations.  We'll save that for a future post.

Sheds a slightly different light on things, does it not?

The Techiest Generation

Of course Gen Y is comfortable with technology. Their technology actually works. A Gen Xer remembers the days when it didn't.

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Generation X in Job Limbo

So the ever-popular belief that Gen Xers were born lazy and that ’s what has been holding them back in the workplace isn’t true? Shocking? It’s simply a numbers game. However, many believe and make a strong argument that plenty of decent jobs exist for Generation X out there.

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Are you stuck in middle management hell?

A generation of workers can't get ahead - because aging boomers above them won't budge. Generation X, it would seem, is in danger of turning into the Prince Charles of the American workforce: perpetual heirs apparent awaiting the keys to the kingdom.

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Fewer kids urged to follow in parents' footsteps

More parents are leaving their children a new kind of legacy: No career footsteps to follow. "Going into the same field as your parent is less common than it was" in the past, says Darrell Anthony Luzzo, president-elect of the National Career Development Association

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What Do Gen Xers Want? What the Top 100 companies offer...

If you're a manager with people reporting to you who were born between 1964 and 1977 - or if you belong to that cohort yourself -- you probably already know all too well that Generation X, as it's often called, just doesn't respond to the same carrots and sticks that motivate its elders.

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