3-22-10 Age Diversity, Part 2

Last week I talked a little about why the executive needs the older workers on his/her team… because they bring a significant level of knowledge and experience along with a vast network to the table (3-19-10 A Couple of Things to Consider). Now on the other hand, you absolutely NEED the young kids on your team as well. Why?

Rarely a day goes by that there isn’t some type of article or news story on the “graying of America“ (or insert your country here as it is happening all over the world!). The average age of the workers in the industry where I worked was about 47 or 48 years old. It doesn’t take a genius (or a news report, for that matter) to tell us that our workforce will be retiring in droves over the next few years. And there certainly aren’t as many numbers in the next generations as there has been in the boomer generation. So you will be competing for a much more limited resource. You had better be hiring them now and getting them hooked on your industry and company so that you have the needed people when your boomers retire.

Beyond the availability of people, you also need the kids (I always called them the “baby engineers” or “baby mechanics”) to bring a different point of view to your business. To understand the different point of view, here’s a social experiment for you to try. Right now, act like you are ringing a door bell. Which finger did you use? Next, ask someone under the age of 25 to act like they are ringing a door bell. Which finger did they use? If you are a boomer, you likely used your index finger. The younger person? They likely used their thumb.

So what’s the point? The kids have spent a significant amount of time on gaming --- using their thumbs way more than we boomers ever thought of. As a result of their gaming and other activities, they typically have a very different way of looking at and accomplishing things than do the boomers. If you take advantage of that different world view, you can bring a freshness back to your business. Status quo is often the death knell for a business. The younger worker can help you to avoid that.

So what do you do to keep your younger workers engaged?

You absolutely have to listen to them. No one likes to be marginalized, that’s for sure. But in the case of your younger workers, remember, they have come from a much smaller family (fewer siblings) where they’ve had lots of attention from their parents. They expect the same in the workplace. And frankly, they deserve it --- if you are looking for new and fresh ideas.

It is important to help them learn about the importance of establishing a network. As I’ve said before, that is how real business gets done. As their executive, you should spend time helping them get this network going.

And finally, its time to give them some responsibility. You will never know if they have to capability to be one of the leaders if you don’t give them the responsibility and then help them grow into it. If you don’t stretch and test them, you will likely lose them to some other company that will.

So to the Generation X and Y folks in the audience, did I miss something? Speak up and tell me…… I still have lots to learn about this.

Cheers!