From Gaga to Springsteen Managing the Generation Gap at Work

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From Gaga to SpringsteenManaging the Generation
Gap at Work
Breakout Session 611 David Sotolongo RTI
International July 20, 2010 400 515 pm
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Lets tune in to WIFM.

• What are the primary differences among the 3
  generations in the work force?
• Whos at fault, if anyone?
• How can Boomers adapt?
• Who is Lady GaGa anyway?

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Lets Meet our Generations

• Baby Boomers 1946 to 1964
• 80 million (40 of workers)
• Springsteen and Jaggar
• Star Wars and Annie Hall
• Woodstock and Disco?!

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Lets Meet our Generations

• Generation X 1965 to 1980
• 40 million (36 of workers)
• Nirvana, Pearl Jam
• Say Anything, Waynes World
• Google, YouTube, MySpace
• Dot.com

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Lets Meet our Generations

• Generation Y/ Millennials) 1981 to 2001
• 72 million (16 of workers)
• Black Eyed Peas, Lady GaGa
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall,
  Paranormal
  Activity
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Are Boomers ruining all of the social networks?

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The myth of the Gen Y/ Millennial Slackers

• The companies that succeed over the next two
  decades will be the ones that can most inspire
  (Gen) Y. This is the most educated and
  technologically savvy generation ever.
• Jobfox CEO, Rob McGovern

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Which Generation Are You?

1. Boomer?
2. Gen X?
3. Gen Y/Millennial?

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Those spoiled, bratty boomers ?

• Grew up in an era of unprecedented prosperity
• Rebellious in youth, but traditional in the
  workforce
• Spend less time with their kids
• More senior moments thus, KGB and ask.com

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Test for the Boomers

• 404
• 411
• 9
• 99
• BRB
• GANB
• HBB
• ILICISCOMK

• KPC
• NIMJD
• PAL
• PICNIC
• RMLB
• RU/18
• RU BRD?
• WRUD? TAB?

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Boomers Are Trying to Hold On to Old Management
Methods

• Praise is earned, not guaranteed
• Work your way to the top
• Respect the chain of command
• Wait your turn
• Balance work and family life by keeping them
  separate but still work too much!
• Clueless about the service industry gap
• Dont understand that phone calls and emails are
  so last century, dude

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Gen Y/Millennials Come from a Very Different
Background

• Feedback is expected constantly
• Often came from over-protective, helicopter
  parents
• More comfortable communicating via technology
  than face to face (either at work or socially)
• Work day is 24/7 but so is their social life
• Look at organizational structures as flat, not
  hierarchical
• Never knew a world that didnt have remote
  controls
• IWIWIWI and IWIHIWI

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Gen Xers Are Caught In- Between

• Grew up in an era of feminism and working moms
• Suffered the post-Boomer recession, which led to
  more cynicism
• Comfortable communicating via technology or face
  to face
• Tend to have a more structured view of
  work/family
• Independent, resilient, and very creative
• In the end, tend to be more like Millennials than
  Boomers

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Balancing Work and Home Lives

• Integrators (Gen X/Y)
• Telecommute
• Laptops, cell phones, PDAs, TM, IM, Twitter
• Can flex between work and home easily
• Facebook at work and at home

• Separators (Boomers)
• Keep work at work
• Dont tend to use technology as much
• Cant alternate quickly between the two spheres

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BOOMERS How do you connect with your friends?

1. Call them on the phone
2. Email them
3. Facebook updates
4. Text message/Tweet

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GEN X/Y How do you connect with your friends?

1. Call them on the phone
2. Email them
3. Facebook updates
4. Text message/Tweet

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The Legacy of the American Boomers Work, Work,
Work!

• Americans did not use 438 million vacation days
  in 2007
• Companies who are in the European Union must
  offer workers at least 20 days off per year
  sometimes more
• In Portugal, workers get 22 vacation days plus 13
  holidays

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BOOMERS How Much Vacation Did You Take Last
Year?

1. 4 or more weeks
2. 3 to 4 weeks
3. 1 to 2 weeks
4. Less than 1 week

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GEN X/Y How Much Vacation Did You Take Last Year?

1. 4 or more weeks
2. 3 to 4 weeks
3. 1 to 2 weeks
4. Less than 1 week

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How Much Do You Telecommute?

1. All the time
2. Around half the time
3. 1 or 2 days a week
4. Never I like the free coffee at work

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Overachievement Has Seen Its Day Come and Go

• David McClelland discovered the three primary
  drivers for motivation
• Achievement
• Affiliation
• Power (influence)
• All three are present in everyone
• McClelland and others argued achievement was the
  key to successful leadership
• Created an interesting experiment to prove the
  point
• Jack Welsh personified this leadership style (GE)

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The End Justifies the Means

• The achievement drive soon became the
  overachievement drive
• Cutting corners, cheating, whatever it took
• Nationally, it worked stock market took off,
  productivity soared, innovation rose
• But the slow erosion of ethics took hold, and
  soon we got

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Meet the Old Boss
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Tell-tale Signs Your Boss Is an Overachiever

• Gives little positive feedback
• Impatient with under-performers
• Micromanages!
• Sets the pace and expects everyone to follow
• Totally goal-driven people are secondary to the
  achievement of the goal

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Personal Power vs. Socialized Power

• Personalized Power
• Controls
• Manipulates and coerces
• Looks out for their own interests

• Socialized Power
• Persuades
• Involves others democratic
• Focuses on the team

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Does Your Boss Use Personalized or Social Power?

1. Personalized Power
2. Social Power
3. Sitting right next to me, so I am not answering

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The Legacy of McClelland and Welsh

• The power of this leadership strategy created a
  Survivor Tribunal mentality
• Ranking your employees
• Cutting the weakest from the tribe
• Grow or die
• Immediate goals more important than long-term
  ones

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Old Rules vs. New Rules

• Be the big, bad, dog
• Be 1 in your market
• Shareholders are in charge
• Rank your staff, form your A Team
• Be charismatic
• Admire our might

• Be agile and flexible
• Find your niche (Good to Great)
• The customers are in charge
• Hire passionate people
• Be courageous
• Admire our soul

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Old Boss vs. New Boss

• Pushes people
• Dictates
• Manages
• Angry
• Coercive
• Cares about numbers

• Motivates people
• Persuades
• Leads
• Passionate
• Collaborative
• Cares about people

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Becoming the New Boss Wont Be Easy

• Keep all leadership styles in your hip pocket,
  but know how to use them wisely
• Understand the differences in generation gaps
• Adapt to new technology and communication styles
• Let go of the old Boomer leadership principles
  and embrace new ones

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Create a Great Place to Work

• Allow new ideas into your policies
• Provide enough freedom for staff to make
  decisions
• Set the bar reasonably high and hold people
  accountable
• Reward staff continuously for excellent
  performance
• Be clear about expectations
• Stress the success of the team
• Be family friendly, all the time to women and
  men!
• See www.greatplacetowork.com (US) and
  www.greatplacetowork.co.uk (UK)

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If you have a boomer boss who uses personalized
power, try these out

• Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly
  the same outfits. Always wear them one day after
  your boss does.
• Repeat every idea your boss expresses in a baby
  voice while moving your hand like a chattering
  mouth.
• Finish all your sentences with, in accordance
  with prophecy.
• Use a large hunting knife to point at your visual
  aids.
• In your next Progress Report, write
• My Secret Agenda
• 1. Trample the weak 2. Triumph alone 3.
  Invade Iran

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I Thought This Presentation Was

1. OMG LOL, hes my BFF
2. It was okay
3. Sorry I was asleep what was the question
   again?
4. Is it happy hour YET?

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Bibliography and Sources of Inspiration

• Workplace Wars (Ladies Home Journal, May 2009)
• Leadership Run Amok The Destructive Potential
  of Overachievers. Scott Spreier, Mary Fontaine,
  and Ruth Malloy (Harvard Business Review, June 1,
  2006)
• What Leaders Really Do. John Kotter (Harvard
  Business Review, December 2001)
• Tearing Up the Jack Welsh Playbook. Betsy Morris
  (Fortune, CNNMoney.com, July 11, 2006)
• Great Xpectations of So-Called Slackers
  (Time.com, June 9, 1997)
• Are Baby Boomers Killing Facebook and Twitter?
  (PC World, May 2009)
• Gen Y in the Workforce (Harvard Business Review,
  February 2009)
• Are You a Micromanager? (Federal Computer Week,
  October 20, 2008)
• What Would Shakespeare Tweet? (USA Today, June
  10, 2009)
• Managing by Remote Control (Raleigh News and
  Observer, November 30, 2008)
• Email Lives But Do We Need It? (Federal
  Computer Week, July 13, 2009)
• Are You a Micromanager? (Federal Computer Week,
  October 20, 2008)
• 10 Trends A Study of Senior Executives Views
  on the Future (Center for Creative Leadership,
  White Paper)
• What Gen Y Really Wants (Time Magazine, July 5,
  2005)
• A Nation Transformed by Women (The Progress
  Report, October 19, 2009)
• No Rest for the Worked Americans Prefer to be
  on the Job Rather than Taking Vacations
  (Philadelphia Inquirer, February 17, 2008)
• Service Gap Fuels Shopping Tensions (Philadelphia
  Inquirer, December 25, 2007)
• A Bad Boss Can Hurt Your Heart, Study Says
  (Boston Globe, November 30, 2008
• Facebook What is it Good for? (Federal
  Computer Week, April 20, 2009)

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My Millennials
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Questions? Complaints?