The Original Workplace Disruptors Would Like Some Love, Too
Posted On February 14, 2016
I’ve written a lot on the blog lately about how many workplaces are shifting – some, perhaps too quickly – to attract millennials. A recent Forbes article, however, argues that employers would be wise to not forget about Generation X. Writer Natalie Burg, a former downtown development professional, cites executives and human resources professionals who note that Gen-Xers are valuable in managerial roles because they can relate to both Baby Boomers and millennials, and alienating them through fast-tracking company policies toward millennials can result in a leadership void. But how to ensure, as you seek to attract the most talented… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Workplace
The Job of the Workplace to Fulfill Every Desire?
Posted On February 2, 2016
How important is workplace atmosphere to a millennial? Apparently it was important enough to at least one of them to blow off one of the premier employers in her desired profession. Hannah Gordon, a journalism student at St. Bonaventure University, recently shared her thoughts about a visit to the New York Times in a letter to TAPinto.net. The Times is considered by many journalists to be the pinnacle of the profession, a place to which the most ambitious reporters and editors aspire. Gordon, however, saw it differently, noting her disappointment at finding a “near-silent newsroom” instead of “the bustling, comradery-filled… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Generations, Work, Workplace
Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down Those Walls. But Ease In To It, Please.
Posted On January 25, 2016
We’ve written quite a bit in this space recently about adjustments in the workplace to appeal to millennials, who now make up the largest percentage of the workforce. But lest you think that just dumping the cubicles for couches and standing desks makes for an easy fix, heed the advice of Simon and Garfunkel: Slow down. You move too fast. We’ll excuse any millennials who may not have gotten that reference. It was from a tune called the 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) that was recorded a couple decades before you were born. But the wisdom would be well-heeded… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
The Gen X Manager – Need To Know…
Posted On January 14, 2016
You’ve by now read plenty of advice in this space on how to adjust to a millennial workplace. Millennials have surpassed Generation X as the largest generation in the workplace, and changes are being made to accommodate them as Gen X and Baby Boomer managers seek to retain the best and brightest among them. But even through more than one-third of the workforce is now made up of millennials, according to the Pew Research Center, that still leaves two-thirds that isn’t. While millennials are ambitious and upwardly mobile, many of them are working for Generation X managers. And so, millennials… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
Coach v Mentor? Hard to argue with that…
Posted On January 3, 2016
As a card-carrying member of Generation X who also participated in sports from elementary school on up through high school, I get a very clear picture in my head when someone uses the word “coach.” There is a whistle, a certain comically ugly style of beltless shorts, a lot of physical exertion and pain, and usually a lot of yelling. That’s not to say I questioned their methods. All the wind sprints and all the yelling were designed to make me and my teammates better athletes. The fact that most of it failed miserably reflects more on me than on… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace
Give a purpose. Show the purpose. Sell the value.
Posted On December 1, 2015
Many millennials view the workplace differently than their fathers and mothers did. They want their jobs to be fun and fulfilling. They want to work for a company and in a profession that they can believe in. And, according to a recent Forbes article, many business leaders find their millennial hires don’t want to do sales. Of course, these things may be related. We can perhaps excuse Baby Boomer and Gen-X managers who think those millennials should perhaps feel fortunate that they have a job at all. But that’s no way to retain employees. And a report from the University… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, WorkplaceRestlessness knows no generational bounds.
Posted On December 1, 2015
In the 1996 film Trainspotting, one of the characters deliberately tries to tank a job interview without allowing the interviewers to catch on, in order that he might remain on government assistance. Among his strategies, all of which prove wildly successful, is to describe himself as a perfectionist. “For me, it’s got to be the best or nothing at all,” he says. “When things get a bit dodgy, I cannot be bothered.” This quote, minus the ulterior motive and deliberate deception behind it, would seem to be the impression many Baby Boomers have of millennials in the workplace. They have… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace“Stop doing their homework.”
Posted On November 24, 2015
I was reading a Washington Post piece recently about helicopter parenting recently when a line in the story stopped me in my tracks. At the end of a short list of easy-to-use tests to determine whether you are a helicopter parent was the admonition: “Stop doing their homework.” Parents are doing their kids’ homework? Where were these parents when I was in middle school? As crazy as that sounds, we all know parents nowadays who coddle their children, who hold their hands through every challenge, who refuse to let them fail. And yes, some of them probably do their homework… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, iGen
Generation X isn’t doing well at this preparing for retirement thing.
Posted On November 2, 2015
Forbes recently cited several surveys and polls that found Gen-Xers falling behind with or completely ignoring their financial futures. A Harris poll commissioned by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that 25 percent of the Gen-Xers it surveyed had no sources of information for retirement and 45 percent didn’t even want to think about it. Forty-six percent of the Gen-Xers surveyed by Allianz Life in May were essentially playing it by ear until they hit retirement age. A Northwestern Mutual report found that 82 percent of Gen-Xers don’t believe they’ll be able to retire comfortably and 18 percent don’t… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X
A Sharp Stick in Your Eye. And My Eye, Too.
Posted On October 22, 2015
So apparently, millennials don’t like to be referred to as entitled. Los Angeles Times columnist Chris Erskine found out as much when he created a “millennial pledge” in a recent column. Framed as a list of action points “signifying a ceremonial crossing into adulthood,” the list hits on several themes familiar to the popular picture of millennialism. Dress up for that interview. Be on time. Put down the coffee and take that part-time job, “even if I feel like it’s beneath me.” Put down the phone. And when you do pick it up, how about making an actual phone call?… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials