Sunday, May 19, 2019

Who invited all these people? Multi-Generational Leadership in the workplace.



We now have five distinct generational cohorts in the modern workplace. With young at heart Traditionalists wanting to still make an impact, Boomers delaying retirement and post-Millennials now emerging, it is getting interesting out there! Throw in us grumpy GenXers and a whole bunch of wacky Millennials, I have been thinking out loud about what interesting times we now live and lead in!

Recently, I had an opportunity to present a workshop on Multi-Generational Leadership for the alumni of a prestigious business school with my great colleague, Kelly Noble (the most un-Millennial, Millennial I know!). Just presenting to such a life-span diverse audience was fascinating along with the dynamics that emerged. Whereas there is an entire cottage industry of speakers, books, and curriculums that highlight the Millennials in the workplace, such efforts are insufficient because they only address one cohort, albeit now the majority one. In order to be leadership effective, therefore, leaders need to attend to key principles in leading a cross-generational teams. These are purposively broad since we need to be very nimble in our approach. Essentially, leaders who have age-diverse teams should focus on the following:

Generationally Inclusive –
It all starts with the driving belief that ALL ages add value to workplace. Unfortunately, even in this time to heightened sensitivity to diversity issues, age discrimination is rampant and the most unchecked and unmonitored. The very fact that some career advisors encourage older candidates to not include years of graduation and employment chronology is telling. Instead, as leaders we should hire for and focus on candidate’s assets versus any age-assumed deficits What a great opportunity we must capitalize on the years of experience and wisdom of perhaps an older candidate and the innovative digital skills and energy of younger ones. Within work units we can match older team members with younger ones for intentional “Mentoring/Reverse Mentoring” where skills and wisdom are cross-pollinated.

Constantly Adaptive –
As leaders, we need to be incredibly nimble and adaptive when it comes to leading, especially when leader across cohorts. Do we have Leave Policies that now capture the preferences of modern-day parents? Do we allow team members the flexibility to care for their aging parents? Is work scheduled and located in such a way that it allows for flexible schedules and time zones but at the same time fosters consistent contact and interaction among team members. Are we encouraging “micro-internships” for younger workers so that they can gain the skills they are so often accused of not having?

Skills-Based Instructive –
The multi-generational workplace is the perfect conduit for 360 Learning up, down, and across generations. Organizations and units that are not learning are soon out paced.
As a leader, you should ensure that communication, tech/digital skills, people-facing communication/interpersonal and business process skills are front and center along with industry-specific innovations.

Talent-Focused Innovative –
Whether you realize it or not, the improved economy has started a veritable “arms race” for talent. If we want the best person for the roles we need to fill, then we need to expand our notions of the “ideal candidate”. We need to be focusing more on what is RELEVANT versus what is RECENT. In other words, there could be skills and competencies some candidates have already mastered. Accordingly, we should hire for: what author and speaker Tim Elmore calls the 3 Cs - Competence, Character, and Chemistry as opposed to age assumptive skills sets. In short, our focus should be on what candidates can DO versus what they ARE!

Contribution Celebrative –
Perhaps one of the most important leadership maxims is that “what you reward gets repeated!” We should be cautious about what we are over emphasizing and what we are over-looking. We can do that by expanding our view of what constitutes a noteworthy “contribution”. Our reward systems and metrics cannot exclusively rely on money metrics. We should also include new innovations, increased efficiencies, client satisfaction and retention, etc. In such a structure, younger, less experienced team members know they are making significant impacts along with their more business savvy seniors.

The bottom-line is this. If you have been in your role for nine months, you “own” that job. Your success will eventually be dependent on the team you have assembled. Make it great one by making it an inclusive one!

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I invite you to contact me.

Yours in leadership,

Bill Faulkner
Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com
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