How To Manage The New Workplace Reality

With clear caution against stereotyping people by age, Valerie M. Grubb has written an incredibly insightful book on how to manage the new workplace reality. A reality driven by the fact that by 2020, 25 percent of the labor force will be over the age of 55, and Generation Z is just now entering the workforce. All of which will drive a clash of cultures that demands a new management approach.

Key takeaways from Grubb's new book, Clash of the Generations, include:

Old habits - not old people - kill innovation, and pairing veteran workers with younger ones has proven to spur innovation at many companies.
Learning is a lifelong pursuit, and motivating senior team members to develop their skill sets is just as important as mentoring new and mid-career members of the team.
Employees and managers worry about job stability, and taking part in developing individualized career plans for your talent is a critical way to retain them.

In the book, you'll learn about:

The New Workplace Reality
Defining the Generations
Fostering a Culture of Inclusion
Setting the Stage for Great Performance
Being an Inclusive Manager
Promoting Growth Opportunities
Managing Differences in Work Ethic
Managing Different Work-Life Balance Expectations
Managing the Differences in Career Development Planning

And, you'll read some fascinating case studies about these organziations:

Chegg
Hy-Ko Products
TECT Corporation

Valerie M. Grubb

Today, Grubb shared with me her answers to these questions about a workplace with Baby Boomers Generation Xers, Millennials and the soon-to-come Generations Zers:

Question: When do you believe most businesses will fully experience the impact of Generation Zers?

Grubb: The latest generation, commonly referred to as Generation Z, Post-Millennials or Nextsters, were born in 1998 so businesses can expect this new group of employees to show up any day now (either as interns or full-time employees).

Question: How best should a leader pro-actively prepare for that impact?

Grubb: If your company is still struggling with how to manage the Millennial generation, it’s time to get serious about your management practices and training! I have five recommendations that leaders can immediately implement:

Demand inclusivity – all voices matter, not just those new to the office or with more senior experience. By ensuring everyone is heard, your teaching respect for all which can positively affect employee motivation and engagement.
Understand that work ethic means very different things to each generation and this includes time in the office. Both Millennials and GenZ are incredibly entrepreneurial and will expect more independent work environments. So ensure your leaders are managing employees by the goals they accomplish, not by the hours in the office.
Train your managers on the value of appreciation. Millennials certainly brought the concept into the workforce but GenZ will take it to a whole new level. If your managers are stuck in the old ways of motivating and engaging employees (including not rewarding and appreciating employees), even previously successful managers will start to experience turnover.
Focus on development opportunities from the moment your GenZer (or Millennial) shows up in the office. If they are not learning, they’re looking for opportunities at your competitor. Take advantage of that strong desire to learn by offering professional development opportunities from formal training to informal mentoring options.
Step up your communication game. GenZ and Millennials are going to assume that no news = bad news, including that management doesn’t care about them. That can spell trouble for even the best of companies and it’s something leaders can immediately implement.

Question: When a leader helps to facilitate mentoring within his/her organization, what works best?

Grubb: Pairing Baby Boomers with Generatioon Xers, Millennials or Generation Zers? Any why?

Both! Learning occurs up, down and sideways, so focus on the goals of what your trying to get out of the mentoring relationship, then pair up the generations to accomplish the mission.

Boomers and Xers can gain a significant leg-up on technologies and the interests of younger workers by being paired up with Millennial and GenZers. On the flip side, more senior employees can help Millennials and GenZers with what it takes to lead in a corporate environment (and how to move up that timeline).

As long as both employees walk into the partnership with the right attitude (that we both have something to learn), your mentoring programs can result in a more engaged and motivated workforce (and one that’s smarter too!).

Grubb is the founder of the consulting firm Val Grubb & Associates Ltd. During her career, she served as vice president of NBC Universal and played a key role in creating both Oxygen Media and IAC.

Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Comments

Best Reasons For Doing Employee Exit Interviews

Don't be the guy in the picture when an employee leaves your company. Instead, conduct exit interviews and surveys. Leigh Branham explains in his book, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave , what the most favorable conditions are for conducting the interviews and surveys. And, if you need convincing to read the book, take a look at these 11 best reasons for listening and gathering the data when an employee leaves : Bringing any "push-factor" root-cause reasons for leaving to the surface. Alerting the organization to specific issues to be addressed. Giving the employee a chance to vent and gain a sense of closure. Giving the employee the opportunity to provide information that may help colleagues left behind. Providing information about competitors and their practices. Comparing information given with the results of past surveys and employee data. Detecting patterns and changes by year or by quarter. Obtaining information to help improve recruiting. Possibly heading off ...

Seven Ways To Stay Motivated

To learn how to stay motivated, read High-Profit Prospecting , by Mark Hunter . It's a powerful read that includes counterintuitive advice and cutting-edge best practices for sales prospecting in today's business world. Today, I share one of my favorite sections of the book where Hunter describes his seven things motivated people do to stay motivated : Motivated people ignore voices in their lives . These might be people in the office and friends who have bad attitudes. They're out there, and if you're not careful, they'll control you, too. Motivated people associate with highly motivated people . Just as there are negative people in the world, there are also positive people. Your job is to make sure you spend as much time with the positive people as possible. Motivated people simply look for the positive in things . Positive people count it an honor to live each day, learn from others, and impact positively those they meet. Positive people take...

Why Your Middle Managers Are So Important

The book, Power To The Middle , shows how managers are the crucial link between a company’s ground floor and top brass. “Too often company leaders view middle managers in a negative light as expendable employees who can slow down productivity and overall strategy,” explain the book’s authors and McKinsey partners Bill Schaninger , Bryan Hancock , and Emily Field . “However, new KcKinsey research reveals that this outdated perspective needs to change and that well-developed managers are the strategy that companies must prioritize to succeed today,” they add. Most importantly, by the end of their book, the authors sum up their insights and provide a playbook that will help senior leaders let go of the command-and-control mindset that has hobbled their managers for so long. The authors define middle managers as the people who are at least once removed from the front line and at least a layer below the senior lead...

Chick-fil-A Serves Up 11 Leaders On May 6

On May 6 , the quick-service chicken restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A will serve up more than chicken. Because, that's the day when the chain's President and COO Dan Cathy brings together 10 influential leaders during a one-day leadership " Leadercast " available at hundreds of locations around the U.S. and overseas. "We desire to influence leaders at every level within an organziation. Whether you are leading a team of 2,000 or just yourself, the Chick-fil-A Leadercast is designed to help you use your voice to create positive change," explains the organization. I am a big fan of Chick-fil-A because of its customer service. It is also known as a company that has built its success on core values and its focus on developing leaders . I also like that employees respond with "my pleasure" instead of "no problem" when customers say "thank you." Chick-fil-A says leaders can express themselves with five voices (described below i...

10 Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership -- John C. Maxwell

Soon I'll post my full review of John C. Maxwell's latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership . In the meantime, here are some of my favorites quotes from the book that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust. The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes. In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter. In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catal...

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

How to Be a Leader – 9 Principles from Dale Carnegie

Today, I welcome thought-leader Nathan Magnuson as guest blogger... Nathan writes : This is it, your first day in a formal leadership role. You’ve worked hard as an individual contributor at one or possibly several organizations. Now management has finally seen fit to promote you into a position as one of their own: a supervisor. You don’t care if your new team is only one person or ten, you’re just excited that now – finally – you will be in charge! Unfortunately the euphoria is short-lived. Almost immediately, you are not only overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a team, but you quickly find that your team members are not as experienced or adroit as you. Some aren’t even as committed. You find yourself having to repeat yourself, send their work back for corrections, and staying late to fill the gap. If something doesn’t change soon, you might just run yourself into the ground. How did something that looked so easy ...

Important Questions To Ask Your New Hires

In Paul Falcone ’s book, 75 Ways For Managers To Hire, Develop And Keep Great Employees , he recommends asking new employees the following questions 30, 60 and 90 days after they were hired: 30-Day One-on-One Follow-Up Questions Why do you think we selected you as an employee? What do you like about the job and the organization so far? What’s been going well? What are the highlights of your experiences so far? Why? Tell me what you don’t understand about your job and about our organization now that you’ve had a month to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Have you faced any unforeseen surprises since joining us that you weren’t expecting? 60-Day One-on-One Follow-Up Questions Do you have enough, too much or too little time to do your work? Do you have access to the appropriate tools and resources? Do you feel you have been sufficiently trained in all aspects of your job to perform at a high level? How do you see your job relating to the organi...

29 People Who Taught Us Life Lessons In Courage, Integrity And Leadership

The 29 profiles you will read in Robert L. Dilenschneider’s new book, Character , are about people who are exceptional exemplars of character. They’re inspirational because they used their abilities at their highest levels to work for causes they believed in. Because of character, they influenced the world for good. The dictionary defines “character” as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, the distinctive nature of something, the quality of being individual in an interesting or unusual way, strength and originality in a person’s nature, and a person’s good reputation. “But beyond these definitions, we know that character is manifested in leadership, innovation, resilience, change, courage, loyalty, breaking barriers, and more,” explains Robert (Bob), “Character drives the best traits in our society, such as honesty, integrity, leadership, and transparency, and it drives others to exhibit those qualities.” Profiled in the book ar...

Coach Campbell's Leadership Principles And Winning Approach

Trillion Dollar Coach is about Bill Campbell , someone you likely never heard of, who coached several of the biggest names in Silicon Valley during a 16-year tenure, and who’s behind-the-scene wisdom helped created over a trillion dollars in market value. Authored by Eric Schmidt , Jonathan Rosenberg , and Alan Eagle , they share that from Steve Jobs and Dick Costolo to Larry Page and Sundar Pichai, these big names in Silicon Valley give credit to Campbell for much of their success. Campbell, who died in 2016, started his career as a football coach at Boston College and Columbia then switched to business in 1979. As leaders at Google for more than a decade, Schmidt, Rosenberg, and Eagle had the benefit of experiencing Campbell’s executive coaching firsthand. In addition, for the book, the authors interviewed over 80 people with whom Campbell also worked. Through stories from those interviews, Trillion Dollar Coach features specific strategies and action ste...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog