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
Are we creating the standard of a poor work ethic?
Posted On October 28, 2015
Last time, we looked at the millennial backlash toward the “entitled” stereotype. In a recent column for linkedin.com, bestselling author and sales leadership consultant Lisa Earle McLeod argues that perhaps it’s not the millennials who need to adjust, but the workplace itself. Writing with her millennial daughter, cum laude Boston University grad Elizabeth McLeod, she notes that one of the biggest disconnects for millennials in the workplace isn’t that they expect too much, but that employers expect too little. Written as an open letter to management from a resigning millennial, McLeod’s number one reason for that “resignation” was that low… Read More
Categories: Uncategorized
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
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”
Posted On October 7, 2015
Some of my favorite commercials are the Hotels.com ads with Captain Obvious. When the hotel guest locks himself out of his room while wearing nothing but his underwear, Captain Obvious says: “Most people wear pants.” A quick read of a recent MarketWatch article on the biggest financial mistakes typically made by Generation X and Generation Y might make even Captain Obvious himself say, ‘Well, duh.’ They aren’t saving. They don’t get professional help. They aren’t taking full advantage of employer 401(k) matches. They aren’t investing, and they aren’t saving outside their 401(k). You don’t say? A look inside some of these issues,… Read More
Categories: Uncategorized
Millennials Fiscally Responsible
Posted On September 8, 2015
Last time, we looked at the benefits of financial benefits of millennials spending a couple extra years at home after leaving college. Now, Forbes tells us that millennials may be way ahead of the rest of us in terms of fiscal responsibility. The magazine recently noted a T. Rowe Price survey that found millennials doing a better job of tracking their spending, sticking to a budget, and even taking advantage of things like 401(k) plans. Among the survey’s findings: 75 percent of millennials surveyed say they track their expenses carefully, compared to 64 percent of Baby Boomers. 67 percent of… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation Y / Millennials
From “Give me a chance” to “You get one chance.”
Posted On September 2, 2015
Last week I received the following email: We are a small company with a diverse workforce and recently hired a team (4) of recent college engineering graduates as Sales Engineers. The generational differences are creating challenges that are affecting productivity and morale and we are searching for ways to help all of us to overcome these differences with better understanding and support. Workplace challenges amongst the generations continue as they have for the past twenty years. I see no slack in the demand for solutions. And the solutions vary depending on the size and ability of the employer. For… Read More
Categories: Workplace