At the same time, the pace of change of information technology is accelerating at an exponential rate: cloud computing, teleprescence, remote work stations - the list grows daily. The need to be tech-savvy has gone far beyond Silicon Valley; 21st century leaders in every industry will strategically embed and adapt informational technology within their organizations and throughout their markets or they will cease to exist.
We are arguably in the midst of the biggest workplace paradigm shift since WWll. The manufacturing based economy of the last century has given way to an economy driven by increasing globalization and accelerating innovation in communications and information technology. This is often referred to as the new 'Knowledge Intensive Economy'. And in this new economy the knowledge is the talent - and those who have the top talent will win.
Successful 21st century organizations will evolve from traditional command and control hierarchies to more responsive and flexible collaborative organizations. But they must retain acquired expertise and decision making capacity while they embrace rapidly evolving technology throughout their organizations and markets; They must capitalize on their traditional strengths while embracing change.
Could the multigenerational workforce be the "just-in -time" talent solution to the challenges of the new 'knowledge intensive' economy'?
The Boomers (46- 65 years old) are still leading many of today's organizations; They are the repository of accumulated market, technical, and corporate wisdom. They have 'paid their dues' and expect respect and recognition for their considerable accomplishments. Although some of the younger boomers are highly fluent with today's information technology (eg., Bill Gates!) it is not a widely held competency of that generation, beyond e-mail and PDA's.
As the Boomers mature, they want to step back from the workaholic culture that they invented - but they are not ready to retire. They will provide the stability critical for organizations to evolve from traditional heirarchical models to the more responsive collaborative models demanded by globalization and rapidly developing information technology.
Gen Y (30 years old and younger), and to a lesser extent the smaller Gen X cohort (31 to 45 years old), live on the cutting edge of information technology. They do not know a world without facebook, twitter, and team work. They live in a universe of information transparency. Boundaries between work and home are blurred. They are smart and tech-savvy, and they want to make a big impact - now! They believe in working smarter, not longer. Although inexperienced, they are coachable. These are the future owners, and consumers, of the 'new knowledge economy'.
Despite much commentary to the contrary, the two largest generations, the Boomers and Gen Y, share a number of core values. Gen Ys are, after all, the beloved children of the boomers. Those shared values will be the foundation of the adaptive and responsive organizations required for 21st century leadership. They are:
(1) The desire to 'give back' - to their community, to society, to the planet. Both Boomers, as they mature, and GenYs, raised on an ethic of service, want to make a contribution beyond their professional responsibilities. And they want it to mirror their values, to be meaningful in a larger context than just their job or even their employer.
(2) The desire for work/life balance and the professional flexibility to achieve it. Whether they are contributing to the 'greater good' or exploring non-professional passions or hobbies, both Boomers and GenYs want the flexibility to pursue personal fullfillment, as they define it. This may mean the ability to work remotely, the option of sabbaticals, Results Only Work Environment (ROWE), or even phased retirement.
(3) Teamwork - GenYs do not like to work in isolation. Although they are frequently accused of being isolated with their electronic devices, they are in fact accustomed to being constantly connected. And boomers were the first generation to move toward a more collaborative, less hierarchical structure, organized around teams. In a collaborative team culture, opportunities abound for cross generational mentoring, transferring both acquired expertise and informational technology across the generations.
Those 21st century organizations that leverage specific generational strengths around these shared multi-generational core values will not only accelerate their organization's adaptive capacity; They will also attract the top talent of every age group.
And in an increasingly knowledge driven economy, it is all about the talent.By Mary Lawrence Wright, CEO, Career Compass Worldwide
http://www.careercompassworldwide.com/
Next Issue: Creating a multigenerational culture and the companies that are leading the way.
The headline of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Dec.18 - 24, 2009) shouts "HELP WANTED" and is subtitled "43 of the regions 50 largest employers hiring now." Notably, the greatest need is in healthcare, followed by education and financial institutions ending in a close third.
ReplyDeletePittsburgh epitomizes the transition from a steel and coal-driven economy to its hi-tech, healthcare and education-based knowledge economy. Our city needs to be able to attract and retain talent to continue to drive our out-of-the-ashes recovery. And it's all about multi-generational talent management and recognition of what the Ys can bring to work to sustain our economy.
Pittsburgh can attract the talent, but is not able to retain it. Of all the spin-off companies from Carnegie Mellon (best guess from the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering is at least 24.) Isn't that great? But...we can attract and teach, but can we retain our talent? It's questionable...........one of the premiere start ups, SimOps Studios, relocated to San Fransisco after only two years. How do we retain our talent?
ReplyDelete"Any promise or talent is only as good as its execution." The talent alone isn't enough, especially if the work isn't being executed properly or in a timely fashion. I think the Ys strive to combine talents with many other facets of their life; we don't want to just be good at one task at the office, or one hobby - we want to be good at it all.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the 3rd point noting that we are constantly connected, I would argue our "constant contact" has not improved quality of relationships, rather has hurt them. Ironic that some people who say they are "so busy" and "too busy to make plans with others" have such an active Facebook profile. It's constant contact and so many vehicles to keep in contact, but sometimes it seems very few people take the time to foster deep, meaningful relationships anymore.
Although this blog post is not only pertinent to Pittsburgh, the concept of a multigenerational workplace could prove especially effective in a city such as Pittsburgh which is transitioning from its previously booming rustbelt economy.
ReplyDeletePittsburgh must work to retain talent and businesses through marketing. Technologically savvy start-ups that focus on web based marketing endeavors are at the center of Pittsburgh's economic revival. Despite the seemingly laid back, Gen Y attitude of many up-and-coming businesses such as Branding Brand, their work with advanced technological innovations has set a new precedent for the way in which business and marketing is conducted.
Online marketing through social media and other interactive forums has allowed for people to be constantly connected. I disagree that this is detrimental for the quality of relationships a least in regard to business. The constant connection being discussed in this blog is in regard to the workplace and business pursuits not friendships. It has allowed businesses and consumers to be engaged in a conversation rather than a business just shouting a meaningless marketing message to disinterested audience.
The multigenerational workplace must adopt interactive practices and become engaged with consumers in order to be successful in a constantly evolving economy and business climate.
Pittsburgh is getting a lot of buzz with respect to being a new economy. But the exodus of Sim Ops Studios, noted above, raises an important question about talent retention. Are Pittsburgh universities, particularly CMU, developing 'knowledge' grads simply to export them to other cities and countries (see CMU's Information Networking Institute INI)or are they partnering with locally based companies to economically develop the Pittsburgh local and regional economy?
ReplyDeleteSecondly, with respect to boomers, what efforts are technology leaders, like CMU, but also corporations like Google, Microsoft, Cisco, etc. making to specifically enhance the technological skills of boomers in the workplace? What are Pittsburgh headquartered companies doing?
Branding Brand is a great example of a GenY company with embedded technology, but who do you think are the 'best practice' corporations, universities, organizations in Pittsburgh with respect to embedding and leveraging technology in the multi generational workforce? Or, perhaps more importantly,is there a role for the boomer generation in an evolving steel to knowledge economy like Pittsburgh?
The Boomers seem to think that the Ys are inconsiderate and rude, unwilling to commit to a time, a schedule or a particular event. The Ys hate schedules, abhor clocks and think that the Boomers are sometimes demanding and controlling. The question becomes "I look at this issue or situation from behind my eyeballs while you look at this issue from behind your eyeballs. How do we ever see 'eye to eye'?"
ReplyDeleteI don't know why everyone complains about the Ys. I don't know about the rest of you, but our kids are great, hard working and respectful. They all finished college in four years and got right to work.........maybe it's because I was so hard on them growing up. Maybe I didn't hover...One question I always asked was "Which drycleaner is hiring you this summer?" No pampering in this house. Did you ever think that we made the selfish, self-center Ys the way that so many of them are? The Boomers did it!
ReplyDeleteA very thought provoking article that paints a compelling business case.
ReplyDeleteIf I might, there are a few thoughts that I would like to offer for consideration:
First, some Business Leaders will be overwhelmed by the myriad of new developments in the knowledge sharing arena. You may therefore wish to include two potential "health warnings":
First - while there is indeed a mystifying number of new developments it is NOT a viable option to simply ignore them (wish them away) and focus on business as usual. The game has changed.
Second - some Leaders may want to embrace it all - a shotgun approach to get ahead of the curve. This is probably more dangerous than doing nothing at all to be honest. Leaders must understand their technology options and focus on those (and only those) that genuinely complement the value proposition of their business.
You can't simply invest your way to greatness and I speak from experience. I worked 27 years for a global energy company that had the financial muscle to attempt this route. Unfortunately the result was hugely disappointing as the shotgun approach spread talent and financial resources too thinly and ultimately undermined organizational focus. A very expensive learning experience....
Finally, I believe that there are potential inflection points that you may also want to consider:
1) Given the recent global financial meltdown how might this change the way companies attract and retain talent?
Will the GenY's prefer "cash now" to maximize their financial independence? If so, this would run counter to an economic recovery that will rely (in part) on transitioning from the pursuit of short-term profits to ensuring long-term sustainable growth.
Might there be a re-emergence of defined benefit programs to bridge this gap?
2) The demographics of lesser developed countries is even more skewed than GenY in the "West". The percentage of GenYs relative to their national populations is considerably higher in places like India, Indonesia and China (the latter perhaps to a lesser extent due to the previous "one child policy"). The availability of IT / communications resources in these (and other) countries is expanding rapidly as costs decline and governments adjust their development focus.
These points may not be critical to your article but the latter in particular is a massive challenge to the dominance of the US economy.
The increasing global population skewing toward GenY, noted above, raises the question of the continuing workplace relevance of any generation older than GenY! GenY's are already skeptical of the Boomers 'experience' as is typical of all younger generations. But the increasing global availability of IT and Communications technology, combined with a rapidly evolving 'knowledge' base, gives new meaning to 'knowledge is power'. And the GenY's have the best and quickest access to the knowledge.
ReplyDeleteSo, what is the ongoing role of GenX,Boomers, and older generations ('Silents', and 'Veterans') in a quickly evolving global knowledge driven economy? Will GenY's be assuming leadership roles as early as 2020, even in those Organizations that are not 'hi-tech', but are knowledge dependent?
And will the recent global recession (at the hands of the boomers...)and the nascent economic recovery hasten the departure of pre GenY generations from the workplace?
I will agree that more and more businesses are emphasizing the value of GenY and depicting boomers as reticent.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it must be noted that boomers are responsible for setting the bar when it comes to work ethic. Despite being depicted as "slaves to the clock" boomers have established the importance of hard work. Some GenY's made find strict schedules unappealing and not conducive to the creativity and innovation that is at the crux of today's multigenerational workplace and technological/knowledge shift.
I think that it is essential to keep in mind the perspective of both GenY and the boomers in the multigenerational workplace. The typical business is no longer hierarchical structure where the older you are and the longer you've been with said business the higher your position. Instead the emphasis is on your knowledge of the constantly evolving state of technology and the way in which it can benefit your business.
This does not mean boomers are no longer qualified for leadership roles within a business. It just means that boomers as well as GenY's must treat the workplace as a constant learning experience rather than a static environment. As Steve said you cannot ignore the changes occurring. Both generations must always stay abreast of technological innovations in order to assess their worth in regard to their respective business.
Aside from understanding the perspectives of GenY and boomers in the workplace and the way in which the workplace is changing, do you think that there are other ways to establish "middle ground" between GenY and boomers?