Managing Different Generations

Also in the same e-mail from ASTD:

Bridging the Gap: Managing Workers From Different Generations
Nevada Journal (08/01/08) Foley, Kathleen

There are currently three generations that make up the majority of the American workforce, and each requires a different managerial approach. The Baby Boomers currently account for 41 percent of the workforce, while Generation X accounts for 29 percent and Generation Y accounts for 22 percent. To recruit and retain each generation, employers must meet their different needs. Baby Boomers are much more concerned with good long-term-benefits than their younger counterparts, who are more interested in higher short-term salaries, challenging assignments, and flexible work schedules. Additionally, Baby Boomers are more focused on loyalty to the company, have strong work ethics, and simply do what they are told. Gen Xers, on the other hand, are more comfortable with consistent training and more flexible environments, while Gen Y wants to be challenged and wants to see the reason for their tasks. These different perspectives can make it difficult for the generations to work together, making it essential for managers to encourage communication and teamwork between employees of various ages. Formal and informal mentoring and cultivating a team-oriented environment are two successful strategies for pursuing that goal. Not only will cooperation between generations create a more harmonious workforce, but also it can help groom younger generations for future promotions.

Recruiting the Older Worker

An interesting article hit my e-mail box from ASTD. It addresses a topic that is starting to gain steam: recruiting the older worker:

Older Workforce Requires Variety of Recruitment Strategies
Penn State Live (07/08/08)

Penn State, the American Management Association, and the Human Resources Institute examined the recruiting, retention, and training policies used by 208 employers across the United States. The number of younger workers eligible to take up open positions vacated by retiring Baby Boomers is small, but companies must remember that older workers that stay on the job are doing so because they cannot afford to retire or they are interested in pursuing meaningful work.

The Penn State study reveals that employers utilize a variety of strategies to recruit and retain older workers. About 58 percent of employers offer older workers flexible schedules, while nearly 50 percent of companies offer older workers cash incentives. Nearly 32 percent of employers surveyed stated they keep in touch with older or retired workers by inviting them to holiday parties and other events. As for training, researchers discovered that older workers are best trained together as a group, and training programs should be tailored to connect previous work experience and knowledge with new material. Moreover, the study revealed that older worker respond more readily to newspaper advertisements and referrals and enjoy extended lunch breaks and employer-sponsored health fairs. Additional data gathered by the study can be found in the book “Working Longer: New Strategies for Managing, Training, and Retaining Older Workers.”

Benefits of a 4 Day Work Week

Here’s a nice video about Brevard Community College.  It talks about how they moved to a 4 day week for classes and how it has increased moral and productivity.  Additionally, absenteeism is down as well.

Video on Yahoo News

With the energy crisis coming back in full swing, we might see more of this happening.  And it just might be time for it, too.

Keeping up with Technology – The Blu-ray Disc is here

Earlier this year, Blu-ray came out the winner in the highly publicized high-definition format contest. Edging out its rival HD DVD, this means that the Blu-ray Disc can deliver true high- definition (HD) 1080p resolution on a compatible television.

Important note: This will become the universal standard as the replacement for the DVD.

The Blu-ray delivers up to 1,080 lines of resolution on a compatible HD television. It can hold up to 10 times more data than a DVD even though they look virtually the same. The extra space on the disc is required to deliver outstanding visuals and better sounding audio tracks.

Equipment wise, a Blu-ray player is needed. These players should have the capability to play current DVDs. And a PlayStation 3 video game console will also play Blu-ray discs.

You’ll probably see this new Blu-ray technology used with movies. But its just a matter of time until it arrives in our offices in some form or another.

Interested in keeping up with technology or having a training program that involves technology?

Contact: knowosad@TheGardnerAssociates.com

Or visit our website for more information.

To Blog or not to Blog?

It seems as though that question is being asked by professionals in the workplace learning and performance profession. 

While doing some research last evening, I found that ASTD listed an article Learning and networking with a blog by Tony Karrer, in the #1 spot under Trends for Training, copyrighted 2007.

Blogs will play a unique role in the next few years for information sharing.  Perhaps To Blog will override Not to Blog.

Myspace goes Madison Avenue

I was quite surprised to get a bulletin from “Tom,” the myspace guy who welcomes you when you sign up for a page.  Here’s what it said:

missed them? or want to see again go here:http://www.myspace.com/superbowladswe have all the superbowl ads this year

Actually, not all of them made it up.  But the majority of them did.

In case you’re not familiar with Myspace, Wikipedia defines MySpace as:

a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos internationally. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California, USA, where it shares an office building with its immediate owner, Fox Interactive Media; which is owned by News Corporation, which has its headquarters in New York City.

As of February 3, 2008, there are over 300 million accounts.

That’s a lot of people that will have instant access to those ads!  Obviously the connection here is Myspace being owned by FOX Interactive Media – the SuperBowl was telecast on the FOX Network last night.

Quite a new trend developing here.  Advertisers will get a second life on their investment by megasources like myspace having them featured on a separate page. 

I think this was a brilliant move on their part.  FOX does a great job of cross selling and using their products.  Good example of more and more from television that is appearing on the internet.

Negativity in the Workplace – Toxic or Not?

You go to work everyday. 

You envelope yourself in the atmosphere. 

You try to become a part of the culture that prevails.

But what happens when that culture is negative?  How does it affect your productivity?

Studies have shown that negativity in the workplace can have a significant impact on productivity.  But its not an easy cycle to break out of.

I am currently in the process of researching new approaches to handling this situation.  It is my hope that I will have some strong programs available in the very near future to offer to my clients. 

Taking the first step on breaking this cycle is admitting that the problem exists.   Solutions come next.

Face the Music

A few days ago, I attended the December meeting of my local chapter meeting of ASTD.  The feature of the evening was a group known as Face the Music.

Like their brochure says, they are a “totally unique offering, an interactive musical edutainment.”  They feature a band called Face the Music Blues Band and they play some really nice jazz selections.  But what they do is get people working in teams to create a blues song that laments some sort of complaint, gripe, or angst from their job. 

Templates are provided to help the budding songwriters and the band members serve as coaches in the writing process.  I was amazed that in a short period of time, my group wrote a song, rehearsed it and was ready to perform.  And perform we did in front of the group.  Truly there is strength in numbers because it was my first time as a adult singing in front of a group of peers.  And it was fun. 

Here’s a sample of what we wrote:

The Out of Time Blues

Wake up real early and I’m already running late,

They’re at the finish line and I’m still at the gate,

Ain’t got no time, but got lots to do,

Nighttime’s coming and project’s almost due.

I found this to be a clever and fun way to get people to enjoy working together.  We had many laughs coming up with rhymes and talking about what issues of the day would best work in the song. 

Very clever concept this gang Face the Music has.  And a most interesting way to spend an evening.

www.FaceTheMusicBlues.com

Business Issues Spotted on T.V. Shows

Last evening, I watched the latest installment of Survivor in China.  They’re down to the final 8 and that’s when discussion of team loyalties always seems to come up again.

In the past few seasons, the teams have stuck to their plans to vote along team lines and eliminate people from the team that can’t produce enough votes to block them. 

Last night was an exception – the team lines failed and one of the strongest players was voted out.  Now that the teams are no longer supporting themselves, it will throw the next few episodes into turmoil.   Makes for great television, but certainly not what we would want to have occur at work with our teams. 

The second show I saw was “The Office.”  One of the subplots dealt with handling people’e birthdays in the office.  As the office manager left, he put someone in charge who had a different idea of how to handle the birthdays from the normal way.  The idea was met with great discomfort from the office staff, so much so, that the original method was reinstituted.

Now of course, the manner in which this was presented was very funny.  But there were a lot of elements of truth underlying it.  People do resist changes in routines with which they are comfortable.  However, here, the ability to have one’s own birthday recognized, rather than celebrating in a group birthday format was the crux of the matter. 

The show made a very interesting point:  Group recognition has a time and a place.  Providing individual recognition is every bit as important for a manager to do.

Persuasion is an Art Form

Persuasion – what is it?  According to the dictionary:

1.  When you persuade, you get somebody to do something – to succeed in convincing somebody to do something especially by reasoning, pleading, and coaxing.

2.  convince somebody of something – to make somebody believe by giving good reasons for doing so.

If I had my pick of which one of those two definitions would have appeared as #1, I would have chosen the second one.  But I don’t write dictionaries so its not my choice.

“To make somebody believe by giving good reasons for doing so,” seems like a logical way to for people to respond to each other.  If logic is in place, and good reasons are presented well, that’s half the battle in any discussion.

More to come on this topic in future posts.