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!

3-17-10 Age Diversity, Part 1

I mentioned in a previous post (2-3-10 Executive Lessons in Sports) how important it is to remember your older “players” on the team. Across the board, our workforce is aging….. Many of the baby-boomers will continue to work for many, many years. And true, it probably isn’t politically correct to single out one group of workers based on age (but I never claimed to be PC here!). The fact is, every executive NEEDS the old-timers on their team. Why?

There are a lot of reasons. But here are a few that come to my mind……

First, they have knowledge and experience. You are now thinking, well DUH! But stop and think about it. When you need something big done, or something done quickly, or just something done….. Don’t you have a “go to” person? And I’m betting that this go to person is probably one of your older workers. They have the experience and they know what you need without you having to lay out every little step. Right?

Second, they tend to just quietly get things done. Not a lot of fanfare. Not a lot of hand-holding. They just quietly go about their business, generally accomplishing a ton of work. While you must have a few of the Type A, hair-on-fire-type of people on your team, you really need more of the “quiet doers”. Typically those are your older workers.

Third, they have the requisite network of contacts. In most organizations, business is conducted through a network of contacts. Longevity necessarily means that the person’s network is vast. This translates into ease of doing business.

And finally, along with knowledge, the senior workers typically know where all of the skeletons are buried. And while that has its own pitfalls, that knowledge is typically good for business. The older workers know which rats nests to tip-toe around. Yea, I know, you think that you want those rats nests cleaned up, not avoided. But be realistic, some just won’t go away, no matter what is done. So you want someone that won’t blunder into a problem that lingers over the decades.

So what is it that an executive should be doing for the older workers?

Well, first you have to keep them engaged. NO retirement-in-place. Not always an easy thing to do. But, if you consciously make an effort to make your older workers the “go to” people, you’ve made a start. And I don’t just mean that you are the one that goes to them. I also mean that you make the effort to direct others to these workers --- over and over. We all have egos and it feels good to be the “one” that people from all over the organization come to for a particular expertise.

Next, you have to tap into the knowledge, experience, and network. Of course, this means making sure they have the opportunity to use their knowledge, experience, and network. And it also includes the absolute requirement that they use this experience to train the kids in the organization. They WILL retire someday and you want the skeletons’ locations to be firmly entrenched in the minds of their replacements.

And finally, you have to reward them. It is so easy, as a manager, to skew the merit pool towards the kids. After all, the older workers already make a lot of money, right? And it isn’t like they are going anywhere else, right? Maybe. But if you don’t reward them, then you do run the risk of retirement-in-place. And remember, for a senior worker, an annual salary increase might not be the best reward. It is okay to talk with them about what rewards they would like. Perhaps a few extra days a month away from work is a better reward…Or a lump sum merit…. Or giving them the opportunity to take their spouse on the next business trip (expenses paid, of course). The point is, ask them. You will likely be pleasantly surprised with the conversation.

Next time? What to do with the workplace kids…….

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!