Bridging the Generational Gap: Challenges

In the previous posts, I discussed the Matures, continuing the sequence; we met the Baby Boomers, Generation X or GEN X, and Generation Y or GEN Y.

Mixing the generations in the work place has its advantages and it challenges, as each generation has its own strengths, as well as some solutions offered. Generational differences, affects how people communicate, might affect misunderstandings, high employee turnover, absenteeism, difficulty in attracting employees and gaining employee commitment.

The challenge is the clash of communication styles and work ethics that can create cultural chaos. Members of each generation may not be especially interested in learning about new perspectives or ways of doing things. Another obstacle is the amount of change that inter-generational mingling at the Workplace brings with it. Many people resist change, feeling more comfortable leaving things the way they are. Diversity of any kind often brings tensions.

Generational differences can affect everything, including recruiting, building teams, dealing with change, motivating, managing, and maintaining and increasing productivity.

The advantages are that Teams and groups can gain an edge if they learn how to help each other: for example older employees can stay motivated to utilize their wealth of experience and talent, and learned to trust and leverage the younger ones skills.

Understanding the key themes for each age group, which we discussed in previous posts, can build a base for understanding and can reduce stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. This is a great opportunity to share our experiences, ideas, skills and innovations. We also demonstrated how each generation (Matures, Boomers, Gen X & Gen Y) was affected and shaped by the times they lived; now we can reap the benefits each generation has to offer by understanding them, learning to communicate better, increase productivity, better face changes and develop a more respectful workplace.

The first challenge we need to face is to attack the myths and stereotypes about each generation. Stereotyping people based on their age is a common problem, and it breeds suspicion and distrust, the most common myths are:

• Stereotypes about Gen Y is that they are self-absorbed, and feel entitled as they rather trade high pay to flexible schedules and a better work-life balance and avoid working long hours and overtime
• Younger employees might view infrequent, more subtle feedback from older colleagues as proof that they are cold, distant, passive-aggressive or unwilling to communicate
• People quit learning when they get old, they are rigid and dogmatic, and stop being creative.
• Older employees resent to be told what to do; well don’t we all? Older people stopped being creative:
• Older people are less productive and just waiting to retire, they have higher absenteeism and accident rates
• Baby Boomers define themselves by what they do professionally, they sacrificed a great deal to get where they are in their career, so they believe that both Generation X and Generation Y should pay their dues and conform to a culture of overwork. Baby Boomers may criticize younger generations for a lack of work ethic and commitment to the workplace.
• Boomers believe in ranks and may have a hard time adjusting to workplace flexibility trends. They believe in “face time” at the office and may fault younger generations for working remotely.

Examples of Communication gaps

• When a boss tells a baby boomer need to get the report done when they get a chance, they hear it as an order to be done now, when Xer hears it as an observation, will get to it on time
• Appraisal time: Mature manager offers a nice monetary bonus for a project well done. Gen X is ungrateful as they didn’t I get it 6 months ago when the project was finished. Gen X needs immediate gratification.
• A GEN X manager tells a Boomer that he has been working too hard and should take some time off to take his family on vacation. The Boomer answers that he doesn’t work for vacation but to get promoted and get ahead.

A diverse team of different generations working together to recommend a solution to a nasty problem, the cons of the situation is that after two weeks nothing is done as:

1. The Matures are looking for hand written notes and step by step request to follow
2. Boomers don’t like to work independently, and want meetings, expect to work 24/7
3. Xers don’t want to hear about work out of work
4. 4Yers don’t want any meetings, Emails only.

Next post is the final one; we will discuss the inclusion culture, case studies as well as suggested solutions.

Till then, remember Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 

Diversity: Bridging the Generational Gap: Baby Boomers

In the previous posts, I discussed the Matures

Picture credit to Bloomberg Business Week

In the previous post, I discussed the general characters of the Matures Generation. Continuing the sequence of the generations, we meet the Baby Boomers who were born in a post-war era. The Vietnam War erupted, the civil rights movement was shaping up, and taking on a life of its own. The cold war started, John and Bob Kennedy, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr., were assassinated. Woodstock was the event of the century. The Baby Boomers era also marked the beginning of the Women’s movement and the emergence of Feminism.

The Baby Boomers period was a very complex one in terms of how this generation’s world was affected and is reflected in their behaviors, values, beliefs and characters. The Matures laid the groundwork for the United States to become an influential member of the world community. The Boomers came behind them, with their intense work ethic and their competitive nature; they got  US productivity to the forefront of the world community.

Today, the Boomers are in control of business, government, and culture. They are the CEOs of most companies, executives, faculty professors, supervisors and managers; they dominate the workplace.

Boomers are still working very hard, but questioning whether it was worth it, as they have seen massive layoffs and downsizing caused by the tough economic conditions. Boomers are currently changing their outlook on work, and reexamining their values concerning work, family and culture.

• Baby Boomers’ generation marked the highest birth rates ever in the US.

• Famous examples of the Baby Boomers’ generations: Bill and Hilary Clinton, The Beatles, President Obama, Oprah, Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Bill Gates and Steven Jobs.

• Their music rocked. Rock and Roll was an expression of their generational identity. They listened to the Beatles, Motown sounds, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, and The Supremes. The real revolution was the transistor radio that was portable and could be carried everywhere. Colored TVs as well as the Peace symbol also mark the era.

• Workplace: Boomers started the “Workaholic” expression. They care about getting the job done no matter how long it took. They believe that teamwork is a key to success, as well as building relationships. They love face to face long meetings. They are competitive and defined by their works and their work ethics.

• Family: Work came first; they worked very hard and for very long hours. That affected their families, hence the high rate of divorce of the Boomers’ generation. Two income homes started to bud, as women entered the workplace in big numbers.

• Leadership: They changed the McGregor’s management style from Theory X to Theory Y, a participative and collaborative style of management. They respect power and achievements.

• Culture Ethos: Individuality, the “ME” generation. Rebuilding was their motto. Demanding personal freedoms, individually seeking personal fulfillment. They looked at education as a birthright.

• Communications: Somewhat formal and through structured networks. They choose face-to-face conversations, and practice diplomacy.

• Recognition and motivation: Public acknowledgement and career advancement counted the most. They love to hear how much they are valued and how much they are needed. Success is displayed by certificates, trophies and plaques.

• Technology: Necessary for progress and advancement.

• As a customer: They worked too long and too hard, interested in products that save them time and put them in control of their lives. They want products customized for them, the individual. They want also want products that reflect status and success. Famous brand names reflect these qualities: Mercedes, BMW, Cartier etc…

Generation X will be discussed in the next post.

Till then, remember Diversity starts at home,

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 

Success tip#1: Leadership Styles

Last weekend I facilitated a workshop for the City of West Hollywood, CA at their Women leadership Conference about leadership skills and Team building which gave me the idea for the Leadership blog series, this being the 1^st one.

A leader is someone whom others trust and consistently look to for guidance. Age or status within a group may create assumptions about who will lead, but a true leader inspires loyalty, earning the trust of others. Leadership is a responsibility but also an honor.  Leaders can be managers, but managers cannot necessarily be leaders.  A manager does things right, while a leader do the right things.  A leader inspires, and a manager coordinates.  Leaders come in all shapes and forms

A team is a group of people working for the same purpose or to achieve a common goal, they share the same principles and ideas.

Leadership principles

1. Creating Positive Influence, positive change, having the Right Positive Attitude.
2. Setting the Right Priorities.
3. Modeling Integrity.
4. Problem Solving.
5. Developing people and Staff.
6. Charting the Vision.
7. Practicing Self-Discipline.

Leadership Styles 

The most prevalent of these theories are briefly described below:

1- The X/Y Theory: Developed by Frederick Herzberg, an influential psychologist who became well known for his work in the 1970′s. The X/Y theory states that:

X:

• People inherently dislike work and incapable of accepting responsibility
• They must be coerced or controlled to do work to achieve goals
• They require authoritarian management s they are lazy

Y:

• People view work as being natural as play and rest
• They will exercise self-direction and control towards achieving goals they are committed too
• They learn to accept and seek responsibility, require less management

2- Empowerment Theory: Developed by Elizabeth Moss Kanter, an education expert who sees that authority should be decentralized and made up of independent  groups, their combined efforts empowers them.  She also saw that selecting leaders from women and minorities will empower them and will inspire workers from those groups to excel.

3- Action Centered Leadership Theory. John Adair, who wrote a book Effective Leadership, developed the idea that leaders inspire by communicating their own enthusiasm and commitment to their employees.  He believes in three approaches to leadership, namely: Task, Group and Individual.

4- Contingency Theory: It states that effective leadership varies according to the way it is applied and to whom it is applied.  The type of leadership style one chooses is “contingent” upon the environment in which one leads.

5- Informal Leadership Theory: Is against management and appointed leaders.  It stresses that all members of a group share responsibility and take turns by assuming leadership roles when they are able to or as they are asked to do so by their peers. Rotating responsibility wherein leaders are voted into positions for a six month or yearly term until the next election when another group takes over responsibility for certain leadership tasks.

There are three main styles from which all others are built, they are:

1. Authoritarian
2. Participative
3. Delegative

A combination of all three of these basic styles will yield the best results. Here are the basic elements of the three leadership styles.

1. The Authoritarian (or autocratic) Where the leader makes decisions by himself with no input from his team.  It should be used as infrequently as possible and only in situations where there is a strict deadline. It is not meant to encourage managers to dictate and demand or to berate their employees.  The sole responsibility for vital decisions is placed upon the leader when the situation warrants quick action and results.
2. The Participative (or democratic) Leaders tend to seek the input and opinions of their staff on matters that are not of immediate urgency, based on the information they have received.  The final decision ultimately lies with the leader.
3. The Delegative (or free reign) allows qualified employees to make decisions on their day to day work without the help of the leader or manager. This style lets the manager focus on more important problems or issues. This style requires the leader to have trust in his staff and their ability to make smart and wise decisions. However, if an employee makes a bad decision, a good leader will take responsibility for the action rather than placing blame on his or her staff member.

I will be discussing Leadership skills and Team building management cross-culturally, as well as the Maslowian triangle in my next posts.

Cheers,

Sahar Andrade

www.saharconsulting.com

www.linkedin.com/in/saharandrade

www.twitter,com/saharconsulting

www.facebook,com/saharconsulting

6 advantages of Workplace Diversity

 

Workplace Diversity

Why should 0rganizations and businesses care about Diversity & Inclusion now?

Diversity and inclusion affect not only the businesses’ people and operations internally but also their customers, suppliers, and other external stakeholders.

The most important key ingredient in this shift is:

A)    The changing demographics in the US. Minorities, now roughly one-third of the US population, are expected to become the majority by 2042. Considering consumer purchasing power in 2013, Hispanics will account for 9.9 % of all US buying power; African-Americans will have an 8.8% share; and Asians will represent a 5.4% share, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender) will reach a  buying power of $835 billion by 2013 (as per some surveys)

B)    Globalization, and the changing faces—in terms of language, culture, and religion—of both customers and workers will represent an even more diverse mix.

C)   Generational gaps: The new trend the trend of people living longer and retiring later, resulted in four distinct generations working side by side—conservatives, baby boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y or Millennials—each with its own mind-set, work habits, technology attitudes, and customs.

D)   Increasing number of dual-income families and single working mothers

Leading companies know it’s essential to consistently maintain diversity as a top business imperative over a period of, at minimum, five years before diversity can gain traction and become part of the way those companies do business.  True diversity is not just about the mix that constitutes the workforce; it’s also about a company’s customers and business partners.

                                                                                  

Advantages of Workplace Diversity:

Businesses are recognizing the need and importance of investing in diversity and inclusion as part of their overall talent management practices and to continually challenge their organizations to make the connection between those principles and their corporate performance..  Diversity is especially crucial in today’s global marketplace, as companies interact with different cultures and clients.  The payoffs touch every area of the business by potentially resulting in increased creativity, increased productivity, new attitudes, new language skills, global understanding, new processes, and new solutions to difficult problems. greater agility, better market insight, stronger customer and community loyalty, innovation, and improved employee recruitment and retention.  The businesses that fail to see the importance of Diversity and inclusion might find themselves unable to attract and retain the kinds of customers, employees, and business partners that constitute our changing world in 5 to 10 years

Among the advantages of diversity in the workplace are:

1. Increased Productivity: Diversity and Inclusion brings in diverse different talents together working towards a common goal using different sets of skills that ignites their loyalty and increases their retention and productivity
2. Increased creativity and Problem solving: With so many different and diverse minds coming together many more solutions will arise as every individual brings in their way of thinking, operating and solving problems and decision making
3. Attract and Retain talent that add a competitive edge to any organization.  Feeling included and appreciated increases loyalty and feeling of belonging.  Language skills pool is increased and propels organization forward either to compete in the International global world or to increase its diverse customer base
4. Help to build synergy in teams and enhances communication skills that brings in new attitudes and processes that profit the whole team
5. Applying the proper diversity& inclusion management strategies does not only save money on litigation expenses generated by discrimination lawsuits but is the right thing to do for the business.
6. It increases market share and create a satisfied diverse customer base by relating to people from different backgrounds.  It does propel the United States and its status to claim its place and success in the global business world of the 21^st century

The advantages of diversity& Inclusion embracing affects the base line revenues of any organization and can be the make or break of any business.  Ignoring the effects or the existence of diversity in this global new market will only keep organizations back loosing on all the productivity and most important profitability of any business and its core of existence.

Cheers,

Sahar Andrade

www.saharconsulting.com

www.linkedin.com/in/saharandrade

Customer Experience Management

Customer experience Management (CEM) is adopted by many organizations nowadays involving the customer to brand and personalize their Marketing efforts/ messages by creating a dialogue with the customer to analyse their expectations, needs, and wants.

Customer Experience: is the sum of all experiences a customer has with an organization/ their goods or services, over the time of their relationship. A Customer experience can be either Positive or Negative, It can also be used to mean an individual experience over one transaction. 

A Positive customer experience is achieved if the customers personal needs were met while being  treated with care. A Negative one is just the opposite, then the customer will never give a second chance.

An organization’s ability to deliver a Positive experience will keep custonmers coming back, developping loyalty to the organization and its products hence increasing their spending, it sets itself apart in the eyes of customers as it meets their wants and needs.  

Building Positive Customer Experience is a process that involves brand management, customer service, strategy, integration of technology, training of the employees and applying the proper Marketing Mix.

 

Unfortunately, Negative experiences outnumber Positive ones approximately in a ratio of roughly two to one. Memorable Positive service experiences are often attributed to Initiative taken by individual employees to satisfy the customer.  Negative service experiences were also attributed to individual employees attitudes like ignoring the customers, making them feel unimportant, argued with fellow employees or had a rude demeanor, but they still gave the employees the benefit of the doubt blaming the culture of the organization:

 

Every experience is very personal, same experience for two people can generate two different reactions, even the same person experience can be good at one point of time and bad at another one.

 

Human Interaction regulates whether the customer experience has been good or bad, web interactions are still confusing and do not offer a clear reaction.  Automated systems (IVR) leave the customers a feeling of not being totally fulfilled even if their experience was flawless

 

“Good enough” experience is not acceptable anymore for today’s customer, they EXPECT excellent Customer experience and are willing to pay for it.  They already know (KNOWLEDGE) what they want, what they need and how, even before engaging in the transaction.  CONNECT with the seller is last on their list for their experience.  When offered products of lesser quality, Customer expects deep discounts or added-values

It is very important to define how the customers define customer experience as for some it is the price versus quality, human interaction, shopping experience, customer service, help center, how to use it, web navigation etc…

 

Here are some points to better the Customer Experience

1.      Segmenting the Experience design to focus on certain targets with same conditions/ needs/ wants

2.      Target the correct segments to optimize their experience

3.      Exceed the customer expectations to avoid ripple effects

4.      Surveys have to be closely monitored & Feedbacks analyzed to know the customer priorities, spending habits, decisions

5.      Allow the front-line employees to take decisions to accommodate the customers needs on the spot

6.      Reward the employees that are recommended for best customer service

7.      Train employees properly and regularly

8.      Let employees know what is accepted and what is not accepted as good behavior in treating the customers.

9.      Communicate very clearly the Corporate mission, goal and culture

10.   Be real, customers can sense if Customer experience is not a priority for the company

11.   Do not let the customer pay for poor Corporate communications, where every department carry their own policy

12.   Think as if you were the customer: Help them buy a product, do not sell them one

13.   Claim responsibility for the products, do not let the customer jump through loops for customer service

1. Do not intimidate the customer with technical mumbo-jumbo to facilitate his experience

 

Keep tabs on the progress of the Customer Experience to stay in the game.