Chapter 8

Talkin’ ’Bout My Generation: Driving Engagement across Generations

In This Chapter

Focusing on Baby Boomers

Understanding Generation X

Making sense of Millennials

Putting it all together

Do you have teenagers or kids in their 20s? If so, have you ever tried leaving them a voicemail? Assuming your kids are like mine, they probably texted you back with a one-word response: “What?” Don't bother asking if they listened to the message — I can promise you, they didn't. See, young people today communicate differently than, say, Baby Boomers.

People of different generations don't just communicate differently. They also have different motivational drivers. Smart managers adjust their communication, leadership, oversight, recognition, and patience levels when leading a department populated by people of different generations.

Just who comprises each of these generations? And what do they want? For a run down, read on. This chapter focuses on the unique differences between the three generations that dominate today's workplace — Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (also known as Millennials) — and how you can best drive engagement with each group.

The descriptions that follow are merely generational generalizations. Expect some exceptions to the rule. That said, most employers (and employees) will recognize the truths in the traits associated with each generation.

Boom Baby: Attracting, Training, Engaging, and Rewarding Baby Boomers

Generally identified as being born between the years of 1945 and 1964, Baby Boomers are idealistic and have a tendency toward personal and social expression. The first generation to earn and possess more than their parents, Baby Boomers are typically ambitious, materialistic, and prone to being workaholics.

Questioning authority — a tenet for masses of young people in the 1960s and 1970s — is still very much a part of the Boomer approach to life and to work. Boomers are far more apt to challenge leadership than those who came before them, and also to embrace change. Boomers also remember when getting e-mail was a good thing, and not overwhelming.

Unlike their predecessors, Baby Boomers have largely opted against retiring at age 65. Why? For one thing, they like their jobs. Sure, if they'd worked in a coal mine or an assembly line for the last 30 years, they might feel differently. But many Baby Boomers work in knowledge-based positions, which are often quite engaging. Besides, with the demise of traditional pension plans — plus the fact that people are, on average, living longer — many Boomers have found that retirement at 65 is not financially feasible.

Attracting and hiring Boomers

Boomers are ambitious — always have been, always will be. That said, an emerging trend is Boomers’ increasing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Having successfully climbed the corporate ladder and accumulated the things their parents couldn't afford, Baby Boomers seem to have experienced a resurgence of concern about social and environmental issues. This reawakening is due in part to the importance of CSR among Generation Y workers. Indeed, working alongside this younger generation seems to have inspired Boomers to levels of activism they may associate with their youth.

Smart organizations include CSR activities as a hiring hook to lure Baby Boomers. Many older workers who view themselves as being “on the back nine” of their careers are more inclined than ever to bypass the big paycheck (and related pressure) to take on a job with a more altruistic theme. Other recruitment hooks for this generation include job variety, travel, opportunities to learn new skills, and opportunities to teach and mentor younger workers. For more on CSR, see Chapter 6.

Training Boomers

Everyone knows the saying “You can't teach an old dog new tricks.” But the thing about that saying is, it's wrong. You can teach an old dog new tricks. You just have to know what training method to use!

When it comes to training Boomers, you'll want to keep these points in mind:

• Include team activities. Yes, everyone says they hate team activities, role playing, and experiential exercises. But in course evaluations, team activities almost always get the highest marks. See, people say they don't like these activities, but I promise you: They dislike sitting in a chair for hours, being lectured to, and looking at PowerPoint slides even more. If done well, team activities can be incredibly effective ways to teach and engage Boomers (as well as other generations). In fact, based on research by the National Training Laboratories in Arlington, Virginia, hands-on training is effective with 75 percent of people, second only to teaching others.
• Let participants experience different team roles. Job rotation, even on a temporary basis, is a great way to reinforce learning with Baby Boomers. It will also build greater understanding of and appreciation for others’ jobs — the “walk a mile in her shoes” thing.
• Align training with the company's strategic plan. Boomers are goal driven. The more a company can link learning with organizational goals, the better. If employee engagement is a strategic goal of the company, Boomers are far more likely to embrace engagement-training initiatives. Having led employee-engagement workshops all over the world, I can say firsthand that training “stickiness” is greatly enhanced when the engagement workshop is connected to the organizational goals. Decoupling from organizational goals turns the learning opportunity into a “flavor of the month.”
• Allow time after training for participants to evaluate. The best evaluations to weigh the effectiveness of training occur 60 to 90 days after the learning event. Waiting two or three months provides you with feedback on whether the participants are applying the learning in their jobs.

Engaging Boomers

To engage Baby Boomers on your staff, you'll want to consider the following:

• Foster a non-authoritarian work environment. Boomers don't like being told what to do. An authoritarian culture will meet resistance at best, and disengagement at worst. At this stage of their careers, Boomers are set in their ways. They have — or believe they have — accomplished a lot. Not surprisingly, a democratic leadership style goes a long way toward engaging Boomers.
• Tap into their experience. Ask questions like the following:

  Asking these and related questions will engage Boomers. It shows respect for their years in the trenches.

  • “So, what do you suggest?”
  • “How have you done this in the past?”
  • “What has worked best when you've tried to do this?”
  • “How would you recommend we proceed?”
• Offer fresh assignments and other development opportunities. After years of climbing the corporate ladder, Boomers may be interested in lateral or even lower-level positions — if the positions will allow them to do new jobs or learn new skills. Shifting assignments will also boost innovation, because it invites new and different perspectives.
• Be aware of the challenges they face. Many Boomers wrestle with various personal challenges, such as paying college tuition for their children, subsidizing older children, and/or taking care of aging parents. In addition, some Boomers may be experiencing their own medical issues for the first time. Managers who are empathetic about all the things Boomers must juggle in their complex lives will be rewarded over time with above-and-beyond effort.
• Foster collaboration. The idealism that encouraged many of this generation to boycott the Vietnam War still kindles a desire to be part of “something bigger.” As such, Boomers tend to be highly engaged by working in partnership or as part of a team.
• Encourage expression. Boomers enjoy opportunities for expression. They're among the ranks of workers who are truly engaged by meetings — especially when said meetings involve the exchange of ideas that intrigue them.
• Engage in CSR. To engage Boomers, encourage social activism, volunteerism, and CSR activities. As Chapter 6 discusses, Boomers are looking for ways to give back.

Rewarding Boomers

Boomers respond well to the following types of rewards:

• Key assignments: Although people tend to associate the term reward with something monetary, that's not always the case. Why not reward a Boomer with an international assignment, a transfer, or a key slot on the company's five-year strategic planning committee? Leveraging and acknowledging Boomers’ experience is a benefit to both the company and the deserving Boomer!
• Acknowledgment of their accomplishments and their years of service: Chapter 17 discusses employee recognition as a key engagement driver. Public recognition, handwritten notes, saying “Job well done!”, and similar acknowledgments of an employee's accomplishments and/or tenure are important engagement drivers for all generations, including Boomers.
• Promotional opportunities: Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation ever, and they didn't build that wealth by accident. They are, and remain, quite ambitious. Many organizations fail to understand that ambition is a competency that must be leveraged among employees who demonstrate it. In this world of work–life balance, organizations often struggle to find the employee who is willing to take on a key position that requires above-and-beyond effort. Thankfully, Boomers have a history of climbing the next rung of the ladder, and many continue to be motivated by that next great promotion.
• CSR activities: Rewarding Boomers by enabling them to give back is a great engagement driver. For example, many Boomers would respond very positively to a paid week to build homes for the homeless with an organization such as Habitat for Humanity.

X Marks the Spot: Attracting, Training, Engaging, and Rewarding Generation X

The first generation to insist on work–life balance, this group, born between 1965 and 1980, includes more women, as well as men who have assumed more home and family responsibilities. Not surprisingly, Generation X was also the generation that pushed for paternity benefits and support for stay-at-home dads. This generation was the first to rely heavily on technology.

After watching their parents and older siblings get laid off or fired by an increasingly un-loyal corporate America, Generation X brought free agency to the workplace. What do I mean by “free agency”? Let's use a sports analogy. It used to be that a top-level athlete would play his whole career for a single team. Carl Yastrzemski, Al Kaline, Magic Johnson, and Dan Marino are but a few examples. These days, however, these athletes are in the minority. More and more athletes follow the money. At the same time, the franchises they play for are quick to trade or cut players. Loyalty is dead in sports, and in many ways, it's dead in business as well. Cradle-to-grave employment has been replaced by business free agency. Employers no longer offer the same long-term benefits and security to their employees, and employees are quick to quit a job to follow a boss, to pursue a new opportunity, or to stay home to raise their children.

Caught between Baby Boomers and Generation Y, Gen X workers are experiencing growing unrest. Because their Baby Boomer predecessors have delayed retirement (or opted out altogether), members of Generation X have been denied opportunities to advance. Their situation has been made even worse by the Great Recession of 2008–2009, which has resulted in fewer growth opportunities. And of course, there's Generation Y — soon to be the largest demographic in the workforce — breathing down Generation X's neck. It's no wonder many Gen Xers, who often view their younger cohorts as spoiled, lazy, and the recipients of way too much attention, feel stuck with no place to go! Nonetheless, they do represent the next generation of senior leaders. Figuring out how to attract, develop, and engage Generation X will be key to any organization's success.

Attracting and hiring Generation X

Members of Generation X have been frustrated by their career progression — or lack thereof. Having been pummeled by a deep and painful recession, Gen X is waiting for its next big opportunity.

In the years ahead, money will be more of a driver for Generation X than for its Boomer and Gen Y counterparts. More than any other generation, Gen X has borne the brunt of the collapse in the mortgage industry, and many still owe more on their homes than those homes are worth.

Fairness is also important to Gen X. Many Gen Xers feel that the cards have been stacked against them, and they're looking for an opportunity that evens the score — at least financially. (As you'll learn in later chapters, the perception of unfairness is a major disengagement driver.) Other recruitment hooks for this group include technology, benefits (after all, they're the ones now having babies), and development opportunities.

Training Generation X

Training is important to Generation X. They're all about development opportunities. When training members of this generation, you'll want to consider the following:

• Include lots of activities and individual report-backs. As with Boomers, building experiential exercises and activities into training opportunities is important. However, unlike their Boomer predecessors, Gen Xers are still looking to prove themselves and itching to show their stuff. It's a good idea to give members of Gen X opportunities to co-lead the training, take the lead on report-backs, and otherwise shine in front of their peers. “Teaching others” is the top way in which people learn; Gen Xers are primed to take the lead in teaching others while boosting their own learning during training events.
• Have more than one solution to case studies. Now more than ever, Gen X wants to be heard, seen, and given an opportunity to make its own footprint. Pressed between two sizable generations, Gen X has ideas and wants to share them. If you expect Gen Xers to follow suit or go along with the tried and true, you risk disengaging them and losing out on a significant learning opportunity. Best-in-class organizations bring together their high potentials (often disproportionately made up of Gen X) and invite them to tackle organizational challenges, explore new markets, or evaluate the business case to expand their product offerings.
• Align training with the company's mission. Members of Generation X are similar to members of other generations in that their training time can best be leveraged if they see a “line of sight” between the time necessary to train and the relationship of the training with the company's overall mission.
• Allow participants to provide feedback during the training session. Whereas Boomers are often more comfortable providing feedback after a training event, members of Generation X are more “instant” in their willingness (and desire) to provide feedback on the training they're receiving. Consider it “real-time” quality improvement for your training program.

Engaging Generation X

If you're tasked with engaging Gen Xers, consider these points:

• Don't pile it on. Boomers may be motivated by a heavy workload, but the opposite is often true of Generation X. Instead, independence and free agency are watchwords for Gen X. If they sense that these values aren't being honored, they'll likely become cynical about their jobs.
• Avoid meetings. Generation X was the first generation to grow up with technology. As a result, members of this group often prefer to communicate via e-mail (or electronic bulletins or newsletters) rather than attending meetings.
• Flexibility is key. Despite a perception on the part of some of their elders that they work less, Gen Xers usually make up for the time they've taken to attend a child's play or soccer game by working nights or weekends.
• Offer training and development opportunities. Right now, members of this generation are quite career oriented. They see themselves as next in line to take the reins. But as older workers stay on in the workplace, Gen Xers may grow impatient. To keep them engaged, you need to make them feel that they're learning and growing. Thus, training and development are huge engagement drivers for this group.

Looking to attract and engage more Gen Xers (and Gen Yers) to your firm? Use the sheet in Figure 8-1 to note what you do now in terms of CSR, workforce flexibility, innovation, rotation of assignments, and branding, and what you could do in each of those categories.

Rewarding Generation X

Here are some rewards that will help motivate members of Generation X:

• Time off: Gen X brought the concept of work–life balance to the workplace, and today they're at the age where they're working parents with dual responsibilities. Companies should occasionally offer the option of a financial reward or an enhanced vacation or time-off benefit.
• Professional development opportunities: Gen Xers see themselves as next in line and are often hungry for the necessary stretch assignment, executive education course, job transfer, or other opportunity to enhance their personal and professional development.
• Accelerated promotions: Early in their careers, it was common for Boomers to wait their turn for a promotional opportunity. For example, at one engineering company I worked for, project managers were required to have ten years’ experience. Generation X — and Generation Y, for that matter — will not and should not wait a certain number of years for a promotion. Instead of “putting in their time,” they'll simply quit and go elsewhere. Accelerating Gen X into stretch assignments will go a long way toward engaging this generation.
• Technology upgrades: Generation X grew up with technology and is tech savvy. If you saddle a Gen Xer with yesterday's technology, it will become an irritant. Giving a Gen Xer a laptop (instead of a desktop) may not, in and of itself, make her feel satisfied, but if you don't provide it, she'll feel unhappy. In other words, technology may not be critical to Gen Xers’ overall engagement, but not having it may lead to their disengagement.
• Participation on a prestigious committee: If Gen X represents the next generation to lead your firm, why not ask them to lead the next strategic planning committee or other high-profile organizational subcommittee? Not only will this help engage them, but you'll also benefit because their insights are different from those of their Boomer predecessors.
• Opportunities to present to the senior leadership team: Want to engage a high-potential Gen Xer? Ask him to attend — or better yet, present at — the next board meeting, senior management offsite, or executive leadership team monthly meeting. Presenting to the bosses will be highly engaging to your high-potential Gen Xers.

Y Ask Y: Attracting, Training, Engaging, and Rewarding Generation Y

Born between 1980 and 2002, this highly computer-oriented group is characterized by hope about the future, social activism, family-centricity, and the desire for diversity. Before the recession of 2008–2009, the average tenure of Generation Y, or Millennial, workers at any given job was a mere 20 months — significantly shorter than their older cohorts. Experts predict this behavior will likely recur as the economy picks back up.

Generation Y workers — which will soon be the largest workforce demographic (if they aren't already) — require a continuous flow of positive feedback. Remember: Members of this generation were somewhat pampered by their Baby Boomer parents. For this generation, trophies were awarded to both winning and losing teams; seat belts and car seats were required car accessories; and in some cases, the traditional A through F school grades were replaced by the gentler “below/meeting/exceeding expectations” metric.

Attracting and hiring Generation Y

Chapter 6 discusses the importance of purpose and the notion of CSR. Gen Y in particular wants to work for a “company that cares” — one that donates to charity, is concerned about the environment, and supports volunteerism. That means that if you're looking to recruit the best of the best among Gen Y, you really need to crystallize your company's “why” as part of your company's employee value proposition (EVP; see Chapter 10).

Millennials are also quite receptive to branding, and they're willing to work for a cool brand for lower pay. If you don't believe me, walk into any Apple Store. You'll see the highest engagement with the lowest pay anywhere. These store associates are willing to accept low wages for an opportunity to work for one of the coolest brands and cultures around.

Training Generation Y

As the youngest members of the workforce, Generation Y is perhaps most in need of training. When training members of Generation Y, keep these points in mind:

• Use technology and lots of variety in teaching methods. If you're speaking to members of Gen Y in a class setting, don't even think about using bulleted PowerPoint slides as your mode of delivery. Today's training professionals understand the importance of incorporating videos, movie clips, video blogs (vlogs for short), music, and other media into their presentations. For example, when training on team development and cohesion, you might show the movie Miracle, about the U.S. men's hockey team, which won the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics, followed by a highly interactive debrief. Your Gen Y attendees will respond far more favorably than the standard (and oh-so-Boomer) data-intensive PowerPoint slides.
• Don't have just one solution to case studies. Gen Yers, like their Gen X predecessors, feel they have lots to offer (no doubt due in part to the fact that their parents have been telling them how wonderful they are since birth). And in reality, they do. They'll push you to include in your case studies solutions that are rich in technology, mobile applications, cloud computing, social media, gamification (see Chapter 11), and other key trends that Boomers may just be reading about.
• Align training with the company's values and positive image. Members of Generation Y want to work for a purpose-driven organization. Linking training to your firm's values and brand will have longer-term leverage.
• Allow participants to provide feedback during the training session. Be aware that participants will expect praise for providing this feedback. Consider leveraging the many real-time feedback tools available to enable your employees to be active participants in the training event.

Engaging Generation Y

Are you tasked with engaging Millennials? If so, here are a few ideas:

• Harness technology for communication. Where Gen Xers are technologically savvy, Gen Yers are technologically dependent. Having grown up well after the advent of computers, the Internet, and mobile phones, Gen Y is accustomed to enjoying instant communication and having information at their fingertips. Note, however, that they increasingly eschew both phones and e-mail in favor of text messaging — important to consider if your company's communication protocol involves lengthy missives from the CEO.
• Allow for mobility and flexibility. Millennials are attracted to new technologies, especially those that grant them increased mobility. If your Gen X workers looked at the desktop computer as a dinosaur, preferring a laptop computer in its stead, don't be surprised to see your Gen Y employees take things a step further and request tablets to get their jobs done. Trust me: You'll recoup the cost by capturing their discretionary effort during non-work hours. And if telecommuting and/or flextime is an option, all the better.
• Allow for job rotation. Earlier generations saw job rotation as nice to have. For Millennials, however, job rotation is a must. Unlike some older employees, Gen Y is not particularly concerned with permanence or security. Instead, many view abruptly changing career directions to be perfectly acceptable solutions if they're dissatisfied with their jobs. If you want your Millennials to stick around, you must allow them to take on different jobs or do the same jobs differently.
• Give frequent feedback. Boomers may happily go years between performance appraisals. But recognition, praise, and constructive criticism are not only welcomed by both younger groups, but are means to motivate them. Gen Xers require a little more attention in this area, but will likely be satisfied with mid-year performance feedback in addition to their annual performance review. Millennials, however, are likely to ask, “How am I doing today?” When you have Millennials on staff, be prepared to offer constant feedback!
• Don't restrict Internet or social media use. Many organizations restrict employees’ use of the Internet and social media, citing employees who “waste time” using these technologies. But if your employees are downloading the latest Muse video off YouTube or socializing on Facebook four hours a day, you have a performance problem, not an Internet or social media problem. Too many IT departments look at the Internet and social media as a hardware issue (“They'll shut down our server!”) and block the use of these invaluable communications tools. The Internet, along with social media, can be amazing research, communication, branding, and engagement enablers. Plus, if you restrict their use, employees — particularly Gen Yers — will simply obtain access via their own mobile devices during work hours. Trust your employees to do the right thing, and more often than not, they will!
• Invite Millennials to serve on social committees. If Gen X brought work–life balance to the workplace, Gen Y is bringing work–life blending. Millennials are a social and networked generation, accustomed to connecting with a wide universe. For them, the walls between work and play are porous. They're hungry to bring their work colleagues into their social sphere. Engage them to participate and perhaps even lead your social committees, CSR initiatives, and so on. They're a ready and able committee waiting to be asked to help socialize your business.

Looking to attract and engage more Millennials to your firm? Refer to the sheet in Figure 8-2 and note what you do now in terms of CSR, workforce flexibility, innovation, rotation of assignments, and branding, and what you could do in each of those categories.

Rewarding Generation Y

The following serve as excellent rewards for Millennials:

• Professional development opportunities: According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCooper study, training and development is the most highly valued employee benefit among Millennials. In fact, the number of Millennials who cited this as their most prized benefit was three times higher than those who chose cash bonuses.
• Tangible rewards: Millennials have received trophies, ribbons, and other awards their whole lives — even when they lost. That makes them particularly amenable to tangible rewards, such as certificates.
• Regular feedback: As far as Gen Y is concerned, your annual performance appraisal process is, like, so yesterday. Instead, they need — indeed, they require — frequent feedback. They expect to be told they've done a terrific job, time and time again. In fact, some experts say that to truly engage members of this generation, they need to be recognized eight times a day.

Putting It All Together

As you develop your organization's engagement plan, you'll want to take all these generational differences into consideration. First, however, you should get a sense of how many Millennials, Gen Xers, Boomers, and even Traditionalists you have in your firm. Use a form like the one in Figure 8-2 to write down your numbers.

For help juggling the various priorities of each generation, see Table 8-1.

Knowing the traits commonly found among members of a particular generation can help you pinpoint what drives the individuals in your firm. One Gen Y woman I supervised was incredibly driven by recognition. Money was practically irrelevant to her. So, I made sure she had plenty of face time with executives whenever the opportunity arose. On the opposite end of the spectrum was a Boomer in his late 50s, who showed signs of becoming disengaged during a period when layoffs were necessary. Recognizing that this man's various financial responsibilities likely made security a key driver, I frequently went out of my way to reassure him that his job was safe.

The generations do have very different views on authority, teamwork, development, and work–life balance, but everyone — regardless of age — wants the following:

• Achievement: Taking pride in one's work
• Camaraderie: Having positive, inclusive, and productive relationships
• Equality: Being treated fairly in matters such as pay, benefits, and developmental opportunities

Smart bosses know that to boost engagement, they must build cultures with these three values in mind.