Managing the Generation Mix™ - Part I
By Carolyn Martin, PhD & Bruce Tulgan
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Here at RainmakerThinking, Inc., we've become known as leading experts on young
people in the workplace -- first Generation X and now Generation Y. Today's young
workers have no baggage from the workplace of the past and seem more comfortable in
the new high-tech, high-speed, super-fluid, fiercely competitive business world. Why?
They've never known it any other way.
But what about the Baby Boomers and those of the Silent Generation, who still account
for more than half of the workforce? Those with more age and experience are decades
into their careers and they are well aware of the profound changes transforming the
working world. Some are happy to change along with the real new economy, while
others are digging in their heels and pining for the old rules of business (dues paying,
seniority, and job security).
The generational clash playing out in the workplace today is not merely a matter of
young versus old. This clash pits the old-fashioned expectations, values and practices
of stability against the new reality of constant change and the consequent need for
agility. In this economic downturn, some observers expected that the upstart free-agent
movement would be stopped dead in its tracks and we would all go back to the
paternalistic business as usual employer-employee relationship. But look what’s
happened instead: Employers in every industry have demonstrated their new
organizational agility -- downsizing and restructuring on a dime to adapt to changing
market conditions.
How are employees reacting? Those who were already thinking like free agents are
saying, "I told you so. I must fend for myself aggressively because there is no such thing
as job security anymore." Those still digging in their heels are more terrified than ever.
What's the punch line? In the real new economy, every worker of every age must
become more self-sufficient, flexible, entrepreneurial, and techno-savvy to remain
viable. That’s not a generational preference. That’s just the order of the day. The new
generation gap at work is a mirror of the various individual responses to this order and a
reflection of the fundamental tension between the need for stability and the need for
agility.
If you are experiencing a clash between the young and not-so-young in your
organization, don't treat it as just another diversity issue. Use it. We recommend the
following action plan:
(#1) Clear the air. Hold a team meeting and ask individuals to focus on two key
questions: What do you feel you have to offer that will be of particular value to those of
other generations? How can YOU benefit from the differences of other generations?
(#2) Get everybody focused on the shared mission. What is the organization’s mission?
What is the team's mission? What is your individual role?
(#3) Make sure everybody understands that the arbiter of all differences hereafter will be
the work itself. What decision helps us get more work done better and faster?
Managing the
Generation Mix™ |
Managing the Generation Mix (HRD Press, 2002) by Carolyn Martin,
PhD and Bruce Tulgan will be available January 31.
For more information about the book, the training program, or the keynote
presentation, please contact
Mark Kurber via phone (203.772.2002 x110) or
email.
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