With the release of the recent Pew study (here) and the Washington Post piece about Millenial work ethic (here) lots of people are thinking about what the upcoming influx of Millenial workers will mean for business. Combined with the nearing massive retirement of Baby Boomers, Millenials joining the work force in larger numbers as the recession recedes certainly means that the culture of "work" will change. Unlike many big shifts in business, this is one we can't claim to be surprised by. But how do we prepare? We thought we'd ask Rebecca Ryan, founder of Next Generation Consulting and a globally acknowledged expert on leadership development and intergenerational management.
KEP: Rebecca, thanks so much for being willing to answer some questions about all of the hullaballoo around the huge generational shifts which are about to occur in business. First, things first. Just to dispel some common myths...what is it about the way Millenials and Gen Xers work that gives the impression that we're lazy? Surely it's a misunderstanding but is it something we helped create?
RR: Well.....The Pew report had a ton of great insight in it, but the media is a little fixated on this "lazy" story, I think because it reinforces a bias that every generation has about the younger generation.
What IS newsworthy is that Pew report was able to demonstrate that - for the first time since Pew has been studying generations - Millennials actually AGREE that they're not as hard-working as their elders: Xers, Boomers and Traditionalists. In previous studies, younger generations have asserted that they work as hard as their elders, so this was a big deal that Milllennials agreed they don't work as hard.
I think every "older" generation thinks the next generation isn't as good as they were, but I think we need to move past "how we're different" and focus on "what can we work on together," because the world needs fixing. And it's going to take all of us.
As long as we're on the topic, the Pew Report also made another noteworthy observation that hasn't been picked up in the popular press: there is no longer a "values clash" between generations. When Pew started studying differences between generations in 1969, the "generation gap" was really a difference in values. Boomers had very different views on civil right, "free love," and "give peace a chance" than their Ward-and-June Cleaver parents. Now, the "generation gap" is much softer...our values are more similar, and the only really pronounced gap is a technology gap. And you, Intellagirl, are the expert on that!
KEP: The Baby Boomers are set to retire in the next few years. Some companies are estimating that up to half of their workforce will be leaving full time employment. This means that there will be a huge leadership gap to fill. How can Gen Xers be better positioned to a) fill their shoes and b) learn as much as we can from the Boomers before they're all off to their Florida condos?
RR: Well, I think we need to really keep an eye on Boomers. Pew did another study, Recession Turns a Graying Office Grayer, that showed that Boomers are delaying retirement by four years. The trickle down effect is that a lot of Xers and Millennials who are anxious to take on more responsibility at work may be stuck, stalled or stifled. (Sarah, feel free to pull any juicy bits from my article about this phenom.)
Research shows that it takes up to three years to transfer what one person knows to another person. So, if you're expecting a mass Boomer exodus, you should make sure that you're intentionally putting Boomers next to their successors, to ensure that the knowledge transfer will happen.
But I don't want to give the impression that Boomers should be shoved out the door. As the Pew research shows, Boomers want the social and psychological benefits of working. We just have to figure out a way to do that, that doesn't starve our next generation of leaders from having experiences that will make them great leaders. I advocate for intergenerational teams of problem solvers. Anyone who's going to inherit a solution should be at the table when that solution is designed.
KEP: Finally, what's business going to look like when the Xers are in charge and the Millenials are moving up the ranks? Do you think the ways businesses are run will be different? Will the next generation put their own flavor on what it means to work, to manage, to move ahead? Or will we all get older and adopt a Boomer mentality?
RR: Every generation makes their mark. Boomers flattened the hierarchy and made the decision making table accessible to more people, e.g. women, african americans, etc. I think Xers will shape our workplaces into more pragmatic organizations where decision are made more quickly, based on what will work, not what comes out of an 8-month committee process. You see some of this with Pres. Obama, our first Gen X prez. I also think businesses will once again discover their souls. Millennials want to work for companies that stand for something. To keep them engaged, we'll have to figure out that "shareholder value" is not the only reason to wake up and get to work.
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The crest of Google Wave has come and gone. Just over a year ago there were people on Ebay clambering to buy an invitation to the service and now, not even twelve months later, Google has announced that Wave was not a success and that it will be shut down. Whether you jumped on the Wave bandwagon or not we all have to wonder whether it's even worth it to get acclimated to a new tool if the owners/creators of that tool can just shut it down leaving our data and our work hanging out to dry. It would be easy to use such a case to justify only using enterprise tools that live on company-controlled servers that may not be the best tools for the job but are at least under our control. It would be easy but it wouldn't always be right. First, investing in large enterprise solutions means that you've put all of your very expensive eggs in one vendor's basket. If the tool turns out not to be what you need after all, well you've gone too far to turn back. Next, now that you've got that expensive tool suite you have to maintain it, the servers it lives on, and the staff necessary to keep it up and running. Again, more huge investments in something that can become out of date or unnecessary pretty darn fast. Finally, buying one solution doesn't mean that it will properly fit every need in your organization. Just because the marketing department finds it to be useful for collaboration doesn't mean that R&D will see it as a good fit for their needs. As temporary as they may be, web-based applications allow firms the opportunity to test drive tools with low commitment. In addition to being free, these tools are often easier to use and accessible from anywhere your employees choose to engage. There are, of course, dangers (security, privacy, regulatory compliance etc) but these can all be overcome with proper planning. What do you think? Are online tools too temporary to be relied on? Does your organization use web-hosted tools?
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