Generationally Savvy

The New Career Ladder is a Lattice

Instead of the linear progression of past models, today business career may look more like a lattice of moves that include ascents, descents, lateral moves and holding patterns in times of decreased engagement capacity.

Being willing to be flexible is not always easy, but according to Deloitte’s research the benefits of: “reduced acquisition and retention costs, increased employee satisfaction and productivity and greater loyalty through optimal career-life fit” are worth it.

The one size-fits-all career ladder has run its course. Today’s knowledge worker is looking to begin a dialogue from Day One/Interview One about the options, avenues and possibilities they can explore and experience during their tenure at your organization.

In fact, the capacity of your leaders, human resource professionals and recruiters to effectively engage in these conversations directly impacts the length of time a top talent will spend with your company.

Traditionalists joined a company and stayed with that organization for 30 – 40 years. A gold watch and retirement package for a job well done was the norm. You wouldn’t even think of asking about a promotion for the first five years, and even then you were informed about the promotion.

Baby Boomers entered the workforce with a similar expectation that they would build a career in one organization, perhaps two if a really great opportunity came up, but loyalty and longevity would be rewarded in the end. They put in long hours, lots of face time and played the progressive “titles” game: Associate, Senior Associate, Manager, V.P., Senior V.P., Regional V.P. etc.

Gen Xers watched their parents play the game and listen as they complained bitterly over the dinner table, only to watch their parents be let go without warning in the recession of the 80s. The sacrifices made in the name of future promotions went up in smoke and the Gen Xers’ trust of “leaders” and belief in “the rules” went with it. They began to make their own career paths, including leaving the corporate ladder all together to start their own businesses in higher numbers than any previous generation.

Millennials have been the participants and recipients of customized lifestyles from Baby Einstein learning programs to Select Soccer Leagues to College and Life Coaches. Their Boomer parents have plotted, policed, pressured and politically maneuvered their children in to schools, internships, and elite programs to create custom experiences their whole lives. As Millennials enter the workforce, they have high expectations of the welcome they will receive and the options they will have to continue growing and having new exciting experiences.

Organizations that want to attract and retain Xers and Millennials  will need to be willing to continuously match their needs and evolving life circumstances. Many times it will include creating the flexibility for Xers and Millennials to move in and out of organizations or up and down hierarchies as life priorities and demands shift. Anna Liotta

Learn how to galvanize your employees by implementing the  

Core Principles of the Generationally Savvy™ Workplace.

 

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"What Makes the Generations Tick and What TICKS Them OFF!".

 Generational  Leadership and Sales Training

February 25, 2010 9:00am - Noon - Antioch University,  Seattle 

Tuition: $397

Early Bird Tuition: $347 (1/31/01)

 

For more information visit us at www.resultance.com.

 

Work / Life Balance is NOT a Perk.

Beginning this year, there are more Millennials (GenYs) alive than Baby Boomers. A big shift is occurring and many organizations are not prepared.

 

Despite tough economic times, many employees, leaders and volunteers still expect to be able to create a balance between their work and life.

 

In a report released recently by Accenture, two primary qualities were identified by Millennial Women as key to workplace success. First was the ability to balance personal and professional lives and second was a job where they can make a difference.

 

More than half of the Accenture respondents defined success as doing meaningful work, while maintaining balance between their personal and professional lives (cited by 66 % and 59 % respectively). 

 

Work / Life balance is not a new concept, nor a unique desire of the newest generation of workers entering the workplace, the Millennials.  

 

Baby Boomers entered the workplace with high ideals of creating balance, but soon buckled down to 50-60+ hour work weeks to compete against their eighty million peers.

 

Fourty-four million Gen Xers entered the labor pool during the recession of the 80's and 90's and had high hopes, but little leverage as they faced a talent pool already overflowing with Boomers. The brief bubble of the Dot.com era gave the Xers a little window to impact the creation of more relaxed corporate cultures which still show up today in many of the companies that are ranked on the list of the Best Companies to Work For.

 

Now as Millennials enter the scene we have a double whammy. The talent needs are rising and shifting. As the economy picks back up, leaders recognize that the 44 million Gen Xers are not interested in a work-centric lifestyle that doesn't allow them time to be with their kids and prevent a repeat of their latch-key childhood.

 

Baby Boomers are reaching the retirement age at the rate of 10,000 per day for the next nine years and many of the Boomers that remain or want to remain active in the workforce past that point do not have the technical skills to address the future needs.

 

While Baby Boomers "lived to work," Millennials "work to live". Millennials still feel like they've got options and they are willing to change jobs, careers, cities and states if it means they can have balance and make a difference.

 

As organizations begin to compete for top talent and employee retention, the willingness to address the work/life balance equation from the perspective of Gen Xers and Millennials will become integral to their success. Anna Liotta

Learn how to galvanize your employees by implementing the  

Core Principles of the Generationally Savvy™ Workplace.

 

REGISTER

 

"What Makes the Generations Tick and What TICKS Them OFF!".

 Generational  Leadership and Sales Training

February 25, 2010 9:00am - Noon - Antioch University,  Seattle 

Tuition: $397

Early Bird Tuition: $347

                     

For more information visit us at www.resultance.com.

Generational Differences - What Shaped Millennials (Gen Y), Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and Traditionalists Way of Seeing The World

  We know that it would be great if everyone saw the world the way we do, but the fact remain (until further notice) that others see the world a "little" differently especially when they are from another generation.

Press Play to Listen--->          

I sat down with a friend recently to share a little bit about the basics of the unique way Millennials, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and Tradtionalists all see the world.  Listen in as we discuss what happens in each generations formative years from 8 to 18 that shapes how they see the world, who they trust, and what they believe in, or at least use as a strong reference point, for the rest of their lives. Anna Liotta                                                                                        

 

 

Retaining the Generations - How to Stop the Talent Revolving Door

 Understanding each generation's different career expectations and "plans" can save you serious money and vital time.

Business leaders today are grappling with a two-sided challenge.

1. How do we attract top young talent?
2. How do we retain that talent? (a question even more vital to long term success)

We all know that the investment of recruiting and acquiring a new team member can be significant. Often times those investments become even more substantial when you factor in onboarding costs and decreases in productivity that are frequently part of the game while a new team member finds their footing in the organization.

 

Becoming a fully-functioning, revenue producing, member of a team can easily take 3 to 12 to 18 months from a new hire's start date.

And now we have a new wrinkle that managers and leaders are just begining to realize. For many Millennials 12 to 18 months is about the time they are thinking about looking for a new opportunity or challenge; either at your company, or (gulp) if you're not ready to help them find it here, at the competition's.

 The reality begins to sink it...  

                We are not in Kansas anymore Toto.                                

To find out more about this, click on the audio player and listen in as I discuss the impact and opportunities of understanding the generational perspectives on careers and share some insights on how to stop the talent revolving door from decreasing your bottom line. 

Posted by Anna Liotta

What Generational Statistics Tell Us About the Need to Get Along in the Workplace

Do we really have to get along?

It’s a funny question, but one I am asked more often than you would think. Sometimes I’m asked quietly by a consulting client or sometimes it comes from a bold attendee at a keynote presentation during Q&A.

Last May, I was speaking at an insurance conference in Phoenix, Arizona and a gentleman (we’ll call him Baby Boomer Bob to protect his privacy) stood up and stated/asked with all sincerity, “I don’t like the way these Gen-Xers and Millennials act. I’ve got enough clients who are Baby Boomers. Can’t I just ignore the younger generations and do things the way I like them?”

Bob is probably speaking on behalf of a lot of you out there. It’s often true that how other generations view things and approach problems can sometimes be confusing, exasperating and well, seem completely WRONG!

	2006		2016
GENERATIONS	Ages	% of Labor Force	Ages	% of Labor Force
Traditionalists	61 - 78	15.6%	71 - 88	7.6%
Baby Boomers	42 - 60	32.4%	52 - 70	27.2%
Gen Xers	28 - 42	22.8%	38 - 52	33.2%
Millennials	7 - 27	29.2%	17 - 37	32%

Alas, if you were hoping to wait the storm out…the generational mixing pot is not going to simmer down anytime soon. I was chatting with a new friend at the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) in the Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment (whew that’s a mouthful). She shared the Labor Force report projections for 2006 -2016 and it looks like we will be together for a good long time.

Let’s take a look at the numbers of where we are now and where we are going in the next eight years. I think you’ll agree that investing in understanding other generations is going to be mission critical to your success

Currently in the workforce we have four generations actively working, often side by side.

The BLS researches the demographics and trends in 10 year segments. If we start with what things looked like in 2006 and then project out to what the 2016 mix will look like, it gives us a good preview of the generational mix on the horizon.

In 2006, our Traditionalists were 61 -78 years old and 15.6% of the active workforce. While many expected our Traditionalist to be exiting the workforce entirely the BLS projections have Traditionalists continuing to be a strong presence in 2016, contributing 7.6% to the overall labor force.

The Baby Boomer wave entered the workforce with a big splash in the 1970’s. With high fertility rates and record levels of women participating in the labor force, we saw rapid growth of the labor pool until 1999. In 2006 the Boomers, 42 to 60 years old, filled 32.4% of the labor force.  However, they will not be moving into retirement as quickly as their predecessors. In 2016, Baby Boomers are projected to fill 27.2%, of the work force more than doubling Traditionalists participation rates at this stage of their working life.

A number of trends reported by the BLS are going to keep Baby Boomers active in the workforce:

• Increase in the number of individuals living longer, healthier lives
• Higher levels of education resulting in people participating in the workforce longer,
•  A move away from defined benefit pension plans toward defined contribution plans which gives workers more incentive to remain working and contributing longer.

And if these three were not enough, many Baby Boomers will be putting off their retirement for all of these reasons combined with the devastating impact of the current economic crisis on their retirement funds value.

Generation X began to enter the Baby Boomer dominated workforce as youths in the 1980’s with limited success. In 2006, at ages 28 – 42, Gen X squarely shared the prime age-worker stage with mid to late Baby Boomers as 22.8% of the workforce. In 2016, Gen X will briefly become the majority shareholder making up 33.2% of the work force. Gen Xers will be 38 to 52 years old leaders and prime age workers and bridging the abyss between senior Baby Boomers and energetic, innovative Millennial rising stars.

Our Millennials (Gen Y) have entered the workforce at a slower pace than any other generation. A number of factors impacting their entrance include: personal choices, rising family incomes, competition for available jobs, and increased numbers of young people attending and staying in school longer. In 2006, the Millennials were 7 – 27 years of age and filled 29.2% of the workforce. By 2016, they will be 17 – 37 years of age and make up 32% of the workforce.

Bottom line, the workforce is currently and will continue to be an “age diverse” mix of four generations. Organizations seeking to leverage the knowledge of senior workers and capture the energy and optimism of the younger generations will be smart to invest in understanding the way each generation prefers to learn, lead, communicate and work to get the job done. Or you could just wait and see if it all works out, but I wouldn’t recommend it…

Playing Their Song: “The Art of Generationally Savvy Selling”TM

^{February 9, 1964, the Beatles appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" sending thousands of Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) across America into screaming convulsions, and bewildering millions of Traditionalist (born before 1946) parents.}

It’s common knowledge that the music of one generation does not necessarily appeal to the tastes and sensibilities of the next generation. Each generation has unique perspectives on what is appealing and what is "raunchy music". Because there’s really no right or wrong end of the argument when it comes to art appreciation, music has been created to suit each generation’s ear.

A business "art form" that has similar nuances of generational tastes and preferences, but is often overlooked at best, or expensively mismanaged at worse is "The Art of Generationally Savvy Selling"TM. Each generation has distinct opinions on how they like to be "sold" or "advised" in their purchases of anything from stocks to socks.

A major mistake many companies and business leaders make is training their people to sell or advise in a fixed generational style. "What?" you say, "I didn’t even know I was selling in a generational style." Exactly my point; usually sales trainers and advisors are unaware of the generational style they are training or working with because it’s often their own personal generational style, or the style preference of the management member who designed the training.

It’s no longer sufficient to have a "one sales approach fits all" and expect it to appeal to every generation. Each generation has a very different process and gestation cycle that they go through in deciding who they like and trust and with whom they want to do business. In order to "make the sale", "acquire the new client", or "bring new assets under management," advisors, sales executives and business development people need to be facile in the generational codesTM of the person they seek to attract as a new client or customer.

Let me give you an example…

Baby Boomer Jane, Executive, Vice-President in a large professional services company, wants to set up a meeting with high networth Gen Xer Max. Baby Boomer Jane repeatedly telephones Gen Xer Max and finally catches him when his administrator patches her through to his cell.

Jane asks if it’s a good time, and Max says, "I’ve got five minutes right now." Jane thinks to herself, "That’s not nearly enough time to do justice to my work," so she responds, "How about scheduling lunch sometime soon?"

Max inwardly groans, "No, not another networking lunch." He tightly replies, "If you can come to my office, I can carve out 20 minutes in two weeks." Jane thinks, "We’ll only have time to get to know one another. I wish we could meet socially to get to know each other, but at least it’s a start." Jane responds, "Great, that works for me."

Two weeks later Jane shows up in Max’s office ready to get to know Max and share about her philosophy, approach and vision for serving her clients. Max has just returned from back to back road trips, working on a client proposal till 2 am and dropping off the kids at daycare at 7am. He’s ready to get to the bottom line of what Jane has to offer.

Jane sees a picture of Max’s kids on his desk and opens up the conversation by asking Max how old are your kids?" Max says succinctly, "Five and two." Jane continues on to ask more about his family and other "relationship developing questions". Max is desperately watching the 20 minutes slide by and thinking, "Would she just get to the bottom line? What does she have to offer me? I don’t want to swap personal stories and anecdotes. I want to know what she can offer me. She’s an expert; now I’d like to see some expertise."

Twenty-five minutes have passed and Max interrupts Jane’s current anecdote illustrating her passion for client service to say, "I’m sorry, I have another appointment waiting." Jane attempts to make a follow-up meeting, perhaps over coffee, but Max can’t get her out the door fast enough.

As Jane walks away she is thinking, "I can’t believe how abruptly he ended the meeting. I thought we were really getting to know each other." Max is thinking, "Why couldn’t she just get to the bottom-line of what she could offer me. I know she is an expert; I did my due diligence before the meeting. Why did she waste 25 minutes of my time with small talk and her ‘approach to client service’? If I didn’t think she’d deliver good client service, why would I have talked to her in the first place?"

What we have here is "a failure to communicate" generationally. Max wanted to get to the bottom line of what Jane had to offer, not get to know her personal life and philosophy. Jane was trying to build a strong interpersonal relationship, something Max desperately tries to avoid, or at least reserves for people who have demonstrated their value first and a reason to trust them.

Who was using the right approach? Actually the more useful question is, "Who was trying to attract the other person to use their services?" Baby Boomer Jane wanted Gen Xer Max to engage her services. When you seek to attract, grow or retain someone, YOU, (a.k.a. Jane in this story) the person selling or advising need to shift from YOUR generational default style to work in the other person’s (a.k.a. Max in this story) generational style.

When you effectively communicate and interact in the generational style of your prospect through the four stages of the Sales Cycle, you will have a distinct competitive advantage.

To learn more about each generation’s style and what they look like in the Sales Cycle check out the Four Part Series on "The Art of Generationally Savvy Selling"TM coming in my Generationally Savvy Newsletter.

^{By Anna Liotta}

Business Leaders - Ignore at your Peril the Lessons of "The Brand Called Obama"

Often times leaders want to know, how do I communicate my message and initiatives in a way that will activate Xers and Millennials wholehearted participation?

The April 2008 Fast Company article "The Brand Called Obama" by Ellen McGirt illuminates how Obama has employeed inclusive rhetoric, authentic calls to action, and leveraged social media tools to connect with the younger generations in their generation style.

McGirt asserts, "The promotion of the brand called Obama is a case study of where the American marketplace-and, potentially, the global one - is moving."

Whether you agree politically with the platform and policies of Barack Obama, as a manager, leader or co-worker in today's marketplace you will be impacted by the bar of expectation he is setting for today and tomorrow's leaders.

Craig Newmark, the Founder of Craigslist captures the essence of Obama's use of a new way of thinking called "adaptive leadership," by saying "I see him as a leader rather than a boss." A leader, he notes, gets people to do things on their own, through inspiration, respect, and trust. "A boss can order you to do things, sure, but you do them because it's part of the contract."

Take a moment to check out this article. Whether Barack Obama wins his party's nomination, a difference has been made in the leadership and business landscape that Americans will be feeling for years to come.

By Anna Liotta

Generation X "Box" and Beyond - Part 2 of 2

The gamer generation has, in an important way, grown up in a different reality than the rest of us. The billions of dollar and hours they have spent in the virtual worlds has shaped how they relate and influenced their belief of what they should do to "make it" in "the world".

Part II - The WAY IT IS in the Gamer World

How People Relate

• It’s all about competition - You're always competing; even if you collaborate with others, there is some character or score to beat.
• Relationships are structured - To make the game work, everyone must play a role such as competitor/ally, or boss/subordinate.
• We are all alone - The gaming experience is basically solitary, even if played in groups.
• Young people rule - Young people dominate gaming. No attention is paid to elders. Paying your dues takes a short time.
• People are simple - Their skill may be complex, multi-dimensional, and user-configurable, but their personality types and behaviors are simple.

What You Should Do

• Rebel - Edginess and attitude are dominant elements of the culture.
• Be a hero - You always get the star's role; that is the only way to succeed or get satisfaction.
• Bond with people who share your game experience, not your national or cultural background - It's a very global world, in design, consuption, and characters. It creates an expectation of diversity in business life as well.
• Make your own way in the world - Leaders are irrelevant and often evil; ignore them.
• Tune out and have fun - When reality is boring, you hop into the game world. The whole experience of gaming is escapist.

Along with these new "rules' of engagement and gaming come expectations about what the workplace will be like i.e. diverse, fair, immediately interactive and welcoming to the new ideas and creations of the newest member on the team.

Business leaders looking to attract, grow and retain younger talent need to ask themselves, "Are we ready and willing to play the game?"

 

By Anna Liotta

Generation X "Box" and Beyond - Part I of 2

If you’ve been reading along, it’s no surprise to you that each generation has unique forces in their lives shaping the way they make decisions and approach the world.

One of the major forces impacting the way Gen Xers and Millennials see business and beyond, is growing up in the time of video games.

The rules surrounding games create a world and reality that departs from the "business as usual" model of what we know today as Corporate America. Although it may seem to Baby Boomers and Traditionalists that "games are games" and business and play should not be confused, the rules of gaming are filtering into the way Xers and Millennials make daily business decisions. 

In "Got Game" published by Harvard Business School Press, we see how being a “Gamer” has influenced Gen Xers and Millennials systematic approach to working and learning.

Drawing on the work in "Got Game" by Beck and Wade the following rules illustrate the lessons games are "teaching" Xers and Millennials about "the world".

Part I

• The Individual's Role
• How The World Works

Part II

• What You Should Do
• How People Relate

Part I - The WAY IT IS in Gamer World

The Individual's Role

·         You’re the star - you are the center of attention of every game.

·         You’re the boss - the world is very responsive to your every choice and wish.

·         You’re the customer and the customer is always right - the experience is design for your satisfaction and entertainment; the opponents are tough, but never too tough.

·         You’re an expert - you have the experience of getting really, really good at something.

·         You’re a tough guy - you can't be hurt - no matter how many crashes and spills you take.

How The World Works

·         There’s always an answer - you might be frustrated for a while, but keep trying - it's there.

·         Everything is possible - you do amazing things and see other players defeat hundreds of bad guys single handedly.

·         The world is a logical, human-friendly place - games are basically fair. Events may be random, but not inexplicable.

·         Trial and error is almost always the best plan - It's the only way to advance in most games.

·         Things are (unrealistically) simple - you can figure a game out, completely. Games are built on models. Even complex models can be figured out.

These rules set-up the player to feel that high-risk and jumping headlong into uncertainty are the ways to win the game. The more you "die trying" or "crash and burn" the faster you develop mastery.

Check back for Part II  on - How People Relate & What You Should Do.

 

By Anna Liotta

Shift Happens Video - The Impact of the Future

Often times as we go through our day to day lives it can be difficult to imagine how the future will really be different than today. We know that global forces are impacting us more than every before, but we ask, "Will that really make a significant difference in my lifetime?".

Here is a video clip that helps paint the picture a little more vividly about the coming reality and the generations that will witness and participate in it.

By Anna Liotta