Search funds: a fast track to the boss’s seat?
Posted On May 29, 2014
I was listening to NPR the other morning, and this story came on during the Planet Money segment. It tells of two young Harvard Business School grads who turned down job offers to instead solicit search funds, where investors back individuals in their efforts to search for a new business opportunity. Not very different from a private equity group paying a salary to deal finders, but different enough to take notice. These are young folks, Millennials, with very little business experience. Also, they are not just looking for leads on businesses ready for acquisition; they are looking for businesses to… Read More
Categories: Entrepreneurship, Generation Y / Millennials
Older and younger workers have similar interest in workplace flexibility
Posted On May 27, 2014
Technology has enabled a virtual world that Boomers and Matures never imagined, and one that Millennials and Xers have come to expect–especially in the white collar workplace. Why should someone be tied to a desk all day if their peers are not in the same office, or even the same time zone? What difference does it make if I work from 7-2, take a break to handle afterschool duties, and then resume working at home from 8-10, as long as I meet my deadlines? This unorthodox balance of the personal and the professional, and the underlying message that time has… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Matures, Workplace
Overheard at Wendy’s…
Posted On May 22, 2014
Child: May I please have a double cheeseburger, fries, a coke and a vanilla frosty. Mom: And he only wants ketchup on that burger. I’ll have… Child: (sigh) I am 13. Mom: So? Child: So, I can order for myself. Mom: Except you didn’t. You forgot to tell them how you want it. Child: But you don’t have to fix it for me. Mom: (pause) You know, you’re absolutely right. And with that 45-second exchange, faith in the next generation is restored. Perhaps iGen will arrive at the job site with a sense of responsibility and ownership after all (assuming… Read More
Categories: Generation X, iGen, Parenting
Ready or not, here they come…
Posted On May 13, 2014
iGeneration. Yes, they are only just entering their teen years, but if time is flying as fast in your house as it is in mine, you’ll agree that this generation is just around the corner and headed soon to a workplace near you. What are they going to bring the equation? There has not been a lot of research yet on this generation, after all they aren’t even eligible for summer jobs in most states, but there has been an abundance of conversation about the way they are being raised. If the study of the generations has taught me anything,… Read More
Categories: iGen, Parenting
Millennials and Boomers may work alike, but they don’t vote alike. Or do they?
Posted On May 8, 2014
I am frequently asked whether the differences in the generations are true differences or simply differences between ages. It is also a common belief that individuals grow more conservative as they grow older, however statistics do not necessarily bear that one out. The Pew Research Center recently reviewed 30 years of voting trends, comparing the percent of young (age 18-29) and older (age 65+) voters who voted democratic in each election between 1972 and 2012. With the exception of the 1972 Nixon election and the 2008 and 2012 elections of Barack Obama, the gap between the ages has only been… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation Y / Millennials, Voting Behavior
A new take on engaging employees
Posted On May 6, 2014
Anytime you set about offering advice on a topic, someone will be out there offering opposing advice. When you hire a contractor to work on your house – he invariably points out what the person before him should have done differently. So, it’s not surprising that there are some differing views on how to handle the needs of different generations of employees in the workplace. My first book on managing across the generational divide is titled “Motivating the ‘What’s In It for Me?’ Workforce” and focuses on ways that business leaders can adjust to engage Gen X and Millennial employees…. Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace