Posts Tagged ‘communication’
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
The very word “success” conjures up different images and different feelings for different people and rightfully so. It is a highly personal concept. Success for one person is very different than success for someone else. Any study examining successful salespeople will conclude that they come from different backgrounds, have various levels of education. However, those same studies show that there are some qualities that successful salespeople have in common. One of those qualities is their need to achieve excellence.
Successful salespeople have high expectations of themselves and they set high goals. Goals help you to identify what is important to you. They help establish priorities and balance. Goals provide you with a process to most effectively plan the realization of your life’s dreams. They enhance achievement, add meaning to life, and often provide much needed reminders about things you should be doing. Another success quality is positive self-image. Though you may be unaware of it, you possess a mental picture of yourself. Further, you think and perform exactly like the type of person you visualize yourself to be. A positive self-image, a positive picture of you, is a critical and necessary ingredient to success in sales.
If your image of yourself is positive, skilled, knowledgeable, and able to communicate in terms that make people want to do business with you, then chances are good that your behaviors will be consistent with success. If you doubt your ability or lack confidence, then chances are that your behavior will create doubt in the minds of potential customers. If you want to improve your level of success, begin by improving the way you think. Simply put: to have you must become. You cannot perform consistently when you have a conflict with your basic self-image.
Knowledge will also be an important cornerstone of your success. You will want to be able to position your product or service for maximum competitive advantage. You must be informed and knowledgeable in numerous areas: product knowledge, general knowledge, industry knowledge, competition, skills knowledge, and self-knowledge.
Another quality of successful salespeople is their exceptional ability to communicate. Effective sales interactions focus on the customer’s needs. Sales are made because the customer clearly understands how his or her needs are going to be met. Your ability to understand what the customer’s needs are and how and why they feel the way they do, will enable you to tailor your process to your customer. The ability to ask the right questions is also very important. Listening skills are critical. Knowing when and how to respond to the questions and needs of each customer will directly affect your success. Your ability to understand and apply the basic principles of effective communication will directly influence your sales performance.
Preparation and attention to detail can also help you to achieve higher levels of success in today’s competitive environment. Proper planning prevents poor performance. Be proactive rather than reactive. Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. If you want to maximize your efforts, develop a strategy for every sales call. Thorough and precise planning makes prospects feel like they are dealing with a professional. Generally, successful salespeople have many more failures than unsuccessful salespeople. The difference is that successful salespeople refuse to give up. They keep trying. They know why they are good and they are committed to getting better!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit http://www.resourceassociatescorp.com/ or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: communication, planning, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, Sales, self-image, Success
Posted in Sales | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
Public speaking skills are important, but most people devote far too little time and energy developing listening skills. Nature is clearly telling us that we should listen twice as much as we talk as we have two ears and one mouth. It is impossible to find out what someone else is thinking if you are doing all the talking. Listening is a key communication and empathy skill. Keys to becoming a more effective and empathic listener include:
Take the time to listen and be attentive – Often we are so preoccupied in our “busyness” that we only pretend to listen. Take time to really concentrate. Listen with both ears. When a team member comes into your office or stops you in the hall, stop what you are doing, make eye contact, and really listen. You will be surprised how much more effective the exchange will be and how much time is saved in the long run.
Be quiet – You can’t listen if your mouth is moving, so be quiet while the other person is speaking. Wait until they complete their thought or sentence before you begin to ask clarification questions or answer the question at hand. If you rearrange the letters that spell listen, you get silent. Remember that when someone else is talking with you.
Listen with an open mind – Selective listening limits your ability to learn, grow, and achieve. Listening with an open mind increases your ability to understand and respond effectively. Your openness will create such noticeable rapport that the other person will be inclined to listen to you with equal sensitivity.
Listen for emotion – People tend to repeat those things that are important to them. Listen not only to what they say, but how they say it. Voices express emotion through pitch, intonation, hesitation, and speed of delivery. By listening to what people say and how they say it, you will discover the feelings behind the words.
Listen for retention – How often have you wanted to tell a good joke or story that you had heard but you simply couldn’t remember it? On those occasions you probably wished you knew how to increase your memory retention. Well, there is a way. While you are listening, occasionally summarize in your mind the highlights that you’re hearing. This will increase your understanding and your retention. Verbalizing your summarized thoughts from time to time throughout the conversation will also confirm accuracy.
Pay close attention to non-verbal communication – 55% of communication comes from our body language, 38% is contained in our tone of voice or how we say, what we say and 7% of communication is actually the words. When verbal and non-verbal communication conflict (saying something different than what is physically portrayed) the non-verbal will always be heard over what is said verbally. If a team member comes to you for advice and you tell them you have time and are concerned but you continue to shuffle papers on your desk, sneak peaks at your computer screen, or make side notes, what does the person really hear? Do they hear that you are truly concerned, or that you really don’t have time to listen? Body language can be subtle or very obvious and you don’t have to be a genius to read it. Recognize how the body language of others makes you feel and you will instinctively know what it means. Good communication is critical to the success of any team.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through leadership development and executive coaching. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: active listening, Body Language, communication, Emotion, open mind, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, Retention
Posted in Communications | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Innovation has become a popular topic in business over the last several years. However many companies confuse improvement with innovation and they are not one in the same.
Improvement is evolutionary where innovation is revolutionary. “Innovation is about creating breakaway differentiation, it’s about creating superior economic returns and it’s about creating what author Geoffrey Moore describes, as ‘an outcome competitors are either unable or unwilling to match’.” (Peter Lefler founder of The Spruance Group)
In order for a company to achieve innovative ideas the company needs to foster a culture of personal innovation. Every employee, team member, or contributor within your organization can enable innovation. They are living every process, talking with every customer, working on every production line, so they know very clearly what works well and what does not work. And, if asked they can tell the organization how it can be done better! The question becomes what process does your management team have in place to ask your employees what they believe the organization can do better?
Innovative opportunities are constantly squelched by poor organizational goal definition, poor alignment of actions to goals, poor participation in teams, poor monitoring of results, and poor communication as well as access to information. Help your people be part of the solution and contribute to a higher level of organizational success.
In a recent project with an insurance company, a cross functional team was brought together to evaluate, rework and present a low cost, no cost solution to shorten their policy approval process which was currently 13 days. They knew the industry average was 12 days. The team worked together for five days. By Friday afternoon the team was presenting to management a no-cost, reworked process taking the existing process of 13 days down to three days. Once the team was given the objectives they went to work and as a team saved the organization 10 days and a significant amount of money. They did not just present improvement … they innovated the process.
Allowing your employees to contribute means they are participating and taking responsibility for accomplishing goals. It’s important for each team member to have a clear understanding of his/her part in helping the team accomplish its goals. Utilizing employees with different strengths creates high performing and innovative teams. The key to employee contribution and innovation is in creating a culture in which people are encouraged to challenge, question, and try new things.
Creating an innovative culture is not a switch that can be flipped overnight. There may be resistance at first because changing a culture is never easy. However, in this case the change and the results are worth it. Communicate the organization’s goal and objectives and communicate the details of those goals frequently. Put a process in place that offers a safe way for employees to share ideas for improvement and innovation and always provide feedback. Establish cross-functional teams to evaluate important business processes and listen intently to what they have to say. If management stays committed to the cultural change, you will see the insecurity and resistance dissipate fostering some of the best innovate and revolutionary ideas your company may ever have seen.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: communication, contribution, improvement, innovation, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, revolutionary, Success
Posted in Business Management, Communications | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
 No matter how well informed you may become, no matter how much knowledge you acquire in your field, it is important to remember that very few have ever accomplished more or gone far in any endeavor without the assistance and cooperation of many people. Leadership, goal achievement, and effective communication are inseparable, and they are all inextricably tied to trust. Valueship provides the values, direction, and strategy that support and guide behaviors.
Open and honest communications are always important, but in times of major change, communication is critical. When people are unsure and insecure and feel as if they don’t know what’s going on rumors and innuendos abound, and blame generally gets placed on management. Not knowing is worse than knowing (even bad news). Take the time to communicate face-to-face if possible, one at a time. This gives you an opportunity to show your concern and respect. It also gives you and them the opportunity to address questions and feelings, as well as discover the best solutions. What and how you communicate is critical.
Communication is the exchange of ideas between two people. It involves more than telling. Effective communication is “connecting.” Effective communication results in understanding and it involves feeling. It is an active two-way process. It is not accurate to think that when we communicate with others, we transfer a precise piece of information from one mind to another. Words in and of themselves do not have explicit meanings that are unaffected by other influences. Instead, people have meaning for them. The meaning that any one person places upon words is influenced by gestures, expressions, intonations, and beliefs.
It is in the sharing of ideas and thoughts and emotions between 2 or more people that communication occurs. Exchanging facts or data is only part of the process. The feelings and emotions that develop during the course of any transaction strongly influence the behavior of those involved, and ultimately the outcome of the conversation. Human behavior is rarely a result of strictly logical and rational thought. Effective communication hinges on our ability to make emotional contact with the listener.
Once you understand the role that emotions play in communication, you can begin to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. This is called empathy, and it is a quality that can be cultivated by developing genuine interest in other people. It is far easier to do this when you are authentic, genuine, and honest.
Empathy is not to be confused with sympathy, nodding your approval, or simply agreeing with another person’s point of view so as to appear understanding. Empathy is recognizing the fact that others are entitled to their beliefs, just as you are, that they have certain needs to satisfy and goals to achieve, just as you do. Communicate with both words and actions that reveal genuine interest in people as individuals and in what they say and feel. They need to know you appreciate their efforts and their accomplishments are recognized. Knowing their needs, you can chart a career path designed to give them what they want and contribute to the overall achievement of the organizational goals. People respond positively to this type of leadership because they realize that they are actually only doing what you sensed they wanted to anyway.
For some reason, many people believe that the ability to speak articulately is an important prerequisite to successful communication. St. Francis of Assisi said that we should “Seek first to understand then to be understood,” It is impossible to find out what someone is thinking or feeling unless we listen to what they are trying to tell us. In valuing others, what others are trying to tell us, we establish value for what we are trying to communicate to them. By valuing others we add value to ourselves.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: communication, empathy, Francis of Assisi, Leadership, RAC, resource associates corp, Resource Associates Corporation, strategy, Values
Posted in Communications, Leadership | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
 “Your listeners won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” - Anonymous
One fundamental truth about effective communications is that people will not believe what you say if they don’t believe in you. Credibility is the cornerstone of successful communication. To be an effective communicator, you must be believed. To be believed, you must be credible. To be credible, you must be authentic. To be authentic, you must be genuine. You must be you! Accordingly, authenticity is a state of constant evolution. The authentic person is someone who knows who they are, who they want to become, and what their core values are. Authentic people value themselves and give value to others. They are usually confident and open, trusting, trusted, and believable.
Authentic also means genuine and trustworthy, and trust is vital. People trust you when you are honest with them. Honesty is a critical leadership trait. People need to know you have no hidden agendas and that you honor your commitments and promises. Trustworthiness and believability are synonymous. You can’t have one without the other. To communicate persuasively and effectively you must earn trust, and to earn trust, you must be believable. So, how do you do it?
The first step in being more believable is being yourself. By knowing yourself and understanding your own fears, anxieties, goals, and aspirations, you will be able to relate more closely to others. The key to understanding others is self-understanding. People are more inclined to hear and believe someone who is honest and genuine. Belief is acceptance on faith. Some people will believe you on first impression. Others will need more time. They’ll want to get to know you and need to realize promises kept and will want to know that you walk the talk.
Most people learned early in life who should be trusted. Generally it was those people who were easy to understand and read. People who were happy, warm and caring made you feel good, and you trusted them. Others whose competence and confidence in you and gave you confidence to grow, were also people you trusted to help you achieve goals. These are the same qualities you look for today. These are the qualities others look for you to exhibit. Learn to recognize and speak the language of trust. Strength in your voice, confidence and openness in your posture, and genuine interest in your expressions are all qualities you can use to create trust. Use your personal energy, enthusiasm, and facial expressions along with your words. When you coordinate your vocal tone with your words, with your actions, and with visual messages, you are more likely to be trusted and believed. Trust is one of the most basic but most powerful tools for change.
Many will hear everything you do and say. Your words and actions should be consistent to send the message you want to send. Your personal values and beliefs will be evident through your actions and behavior more than by your words. The only way to communicate values is to act in accordance with them. You can write volumes about the right way to treat people or speak about customer focus or cost containment, but if you publicly berate a staff person, or make a customer wait while you finish a personal matter, or blatantly waste supplies, your message will be what your behavior shows, not what your words say. The more congruency there is between your words and your actions the more people will trust you. As Jack Welch said, “Trust is enormously powerful in a corporation. The only way I know to create that kind of trust is by laying out your values and then walking the talk. You’ve got to do what you say you’ll do consistently and over time.”
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Authenticity, communication, Jack Welch, Leadership, RAC, resource associates, Resource Associates Corporation, trust, Values
Posted in Communications, Leadership | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
After running several errands, my husband and I stopped at a local chain restaurant for dinner Monday evening. We typically eat at the bar as there are several TVs lining the header of the bar, and its provides a great way to catch up on the day. We noticed very quickly that the service was slow, but we waited patiently for the server to move in our direction. As we waited, I started observing the bar area and there was one server handling the area. The bar area seats 30 people and there were 15 people seated in the bar totaling 9 parties. It was clear from the body language of the server that she was growing frustrated. The server made her way to us and took our drink order, gave us menus, and proceeded to tell us that she was swamped based on the number of people she had to take care of leaving us with the underlying impression that the service was not going to get any faster or better. I watched her communicate the same message to the rest of the parties sitting at the bar as she served drinks and took orders. (By the way, she never delivered food. Another server from the kitchen delivered the food when it was ready. And, her customer population did not grow the entire time we were there.)
Talk about setting up expectation! I looked at my husband and asked him, ‘Wonder what she would do or say if she had a full bar of customers to serve?’
Often times in the restaurant industry customers make an immediate contribution to a server’s compensation. I wonder if in any of this particular server’s training anyone shared that concept with her. Her attitude and behavior clearly communicated that the 15 of us were too much for her to handle and quite frankly an inconvenience to her evening.
This story is an example of situations that happen every day and it is unfortunate on two levels. The customer expectations were not met let alone exceeded impacting our decision to return and the server dramatically impacted her financial success based on her own inappropriate attitudes and behaviors. Not a good experience for the customer, a possible loss of the customer for the restaurant, and a personal financial loss for the server.
There are two great articles in the March issue of T&D magazine highlighting Chick-fil-A’s views on developing employees, developing future leadership, creating customer loyalty, and being innovative. Dan Cathy, the company’s COO states, “Our sole source of capital is customers. That’s it.” Chick-fil-A has reported their 42nd consecutive year of sales growth and the restaurants aren’t open Sundays.
I don’t think it really matters if we are talking about restaurants or any other industry. Dan Cathy is correct. Customers are every business’s sole source of capital. Every team member and every contributor inside your organization directly impacts your organization’s relationship with your customer. The culture of true customer service and creating customer loyalty is in Chick-fil-A’s heritage.
What does your organization need to do or do differently in order to create an organizational value of exceeding your customer expectations and creating a loyal relationship? Have you ever quantified the financial benefit to your organization? I encourage you to evaluate the answers to these two questions, as it may be an enlightening exercise!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve high levels of excellence and success by adopting customer loyalty strategies as a critical success factor of organizational success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: ASTD, capital, Chick-fil-A, communication, Customer Loyalty, Customer Service, customers, Dan Cathy, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, server, T&D Magazine
Posted in Customer Loyalty | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
By the time you read this post, the snowstorm of Feb 10, 2010 that dumped 18-24 inches over much of Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania will be old news. However, the circumstances surrounding that day make for a great case study in productive behavior and how often actions speak louder than words.
Case Study: A mid-sized manufacturing firm whose sales team is struggling to meet forecasted sales objectives.
The day before the pending storm there was quite the commotion in the sales department about what the next day would bring, how much snow were they really going to get, will the roads be okay to get to the office, will we have the most difficulty getting home, and what are we going to do? The sales manager took the bull by the horns and made an executive decision and told the team the following. “Because we seem to be in for a huge storm and driving to and from the office will be a safety issue here is what we are going to do. Everyone will have the choice to work remotely from home tomorrow. Please feel free to take everything with you in order to make your calls from home. The team was given a measurable outcome that needed to be accomplished to consider the day productive. If a member of the team choose not to take their work home or did not meet his/her productivity number, then he/she would have to use a personal day. Let’s not waste time worrying about what tomorrow will bring. We can’t control the weather and we now have a plan in place. Let’s make the rest of today productive.”
The storm hits and for 24 hours they were blasted with unyielding snow. Worst storm since January 1996 the endless news reported. By mid-afternoon the major area highways and turnpikes were closed down to all traffic. The digging process was long and arduous for most.
How did the sales team fare, and what do their behaviors tell you?
- One salesperson actually braved the elements and made it to the office. That individual had a very productive day and met all of the objectives needed prior to trudging back home.
- Three sales people properly prepared and took all of their appropriate work home in an effort to work remotely the day of the snowstorm. Two out of the three folks could not make it to the office the day after the storm because they were still snow bound. However, they continued to work from home and focused on what they needed to accomplish.
- Two sales people decided not to take their work home making the decision to use a personal day. One remained snow bound for a second day and the other made it to the office.
With lagging departmental results and a sales team that says they are motivated by financial gain you might imagine the sales manager is dealing with a high level of frustration. What do the choices, actions, and behaviors of this sales team tell you?
There has been a great deal of research on the process of communication. Communication is much more than just the exchange of information. I believe communication is more deeply about what we are “saying” when there are no words coming out of our mouth. Albert Mehrabian, a researcher of body language in the 1950’s, found that the total impact of a message is about 7 percent verbal, 38 percent vocal, and 55 percent nonverbal. According to Mehrabian, our behaviors and body language make up over one-half of the message we are communicating.
Anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell’s conducted an original study of nonverbal communication. Birdwhistell made some similar estimates of the amount of nonverbal communication that takes place between people. Like Mehrabian, he found that the verbal component of a face-to-face conversation is less than 35 percent and that over 65 percent of communication is done nonverbally. Barbara and Allan Pease of Pease International analyzed thousands of recorded sales interviews and negotiations during the 1970’s and 1980’s showed that in business encounters, body language accounts for between 60 and 80 percent of the impact made around a negotiating table and that people form 60 to 80 percent of their initial opinion about a new person in less than four minutes. Mehrabian’s, Birdwhistell’s, and Pease’s research goes a long way to confirm that our choices of body language, behaviors, and actions send the real message about what an individual values or finds to be important.
Here is a quick and easy test. The next time you are in a meeting of your peers, sit back and observe. You will begin to clearly see the physical messages people are communicating by watching facial expressions, posture, and other body language queues. This simple exercise will confirm that there is no doubt—actions speak and sometimes scream much louder than words. Similar to the sales team described above, actions are a key indicator of focus. Now let’s make it personal to you. Have you taken a good look at your nonverbal body language and messages you are sending? Are you communicating the message you want sent when you are not saying a word?
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit http://www.resourceassociatescorp.com/ or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Actions, Birdwhistell, Body Language, communication, Manager, Mehrabian, Nonverbal, Pease, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, Sales, Verbal
Posted in Workforce | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Understanding how generational gaps or differences affect the success of business and industry is becoming an increasingly important issue.
Everywhere you look within business media somebody is sharing research, experiences, or opinions on the generational divide and specifically how it relates to Gen X and Gen Y as they enter today’s workforce. In order to fully understand how organizations can create and manage a culture where all generations interact and communicate effectively we need to understand all current generations in the workforce.
According to the AARP 77.5 Million Boomers will be vacating corporate America within next five years (2008). 56% of our current national leaders are Baby Boomers. Conversely there are only 46 Million Gen X and Gen Y’s to take the place of those vacating Boomers. These numbers reflect why business and industry need to be so concerned about brain drain and develop a strategy to combat it. Key questions to be reviewed when determining your organization’s current position on the issue and potential strategy include:
- How can your organization effectively manage potential brain drain?
- What processes have you put in place to have your intellectual capital remain as your experienced people create an exit strategy?
- How can your organization effectively work with and manage the merging minds of existing Boomers and the new employees from younger generations?
- How can your organization become an employer of choice for the 46 Million Gen X and Gen Y’s currently in or entering the work place as competition for their talent will become fierce?
“A generation is shaped by the events and circumstances its members experience at phases in life, beginning with childhood. Common generational traits initially develop as a result of social attitudes toward children and child rearing norms at the time” (William Strauss and Neil Howe – authors of Generations and 13th Gen). Generational overviews simply mean that certain behaviors are more typical of each group.
An interesting statistic shows that 68% of Baby Boomers feel younger people do not have as strong a work ethic as they do, and that makes doing their own work harder. 32% of Gen Xers believe the younger generation lacks a good work ethic, and that is a problem. 13% of the Gen Yers say the difference in work ethic across the board causes generation friction. They believe they have a good work ethic for which they’re not given credit.
Isn’t it fascinating that every generation believes the other “generations” are the problem? Perhaps an appropriate strategy should be to help coworkers understand the differences as well as the advantages each generation brings to an organization. Mastering the benefits of different mindsets, approaches, and opinions is what makes good companies great. If everyone thought alike the innovation we see in the world today would have stagnated long ago. Companies and organizations need to embrace generational diversity and use collaboration to harness the best of all minds.
Let’s take a look at some of the differences in order to properly educate and embrace the value of each generation.
The Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 and are categorized in two group based on the world around them during these designated time frames.
Baby Boomer #1 (1946-1955)
- Major Events – The death of President John F. and Robert Kennedy as well as Martin Luther King, political unrest, walk on the moon, Vietnam draft, anti-war protests, sexual freedom, drug experimentation, civil rights, and the beginning of the women’s movement
- Key Characteristics or Traits – Experimental, individualistic, free spirited, and social cause oriented
Baby Boomer #2 (1956-1964)
- Majors Events – Watergate, The Cold War, states lower drinking ages, oil embargo, raging inflation, gas shortages, and President Carter’s decision to reinstitute military draft registration
- Key Characteristics for this Generation – Less optimistic, government distrust, general cynicism
Overview of the Baby Boomers
- Rejection and the redefinition of traditional values (Traditionalist-previous generation to the Boomers)
- Healthiest and wealthiest generation
- Often self absorbed, very focused, and workaholics
- Committed to one company or organization
- Focused on success as defined by possessions and wealth
- Women establishing careers, creating the juggling act between job and family, creating latch key kids
- Amassed a lifetime of experiences and knowledge which needs to be passed on
Summary
Baby Boomers have a great deal of knowledge to pass on to younger generations, and passing on the information and intellectual capital is vital to any company’s success. Organizations must create a culture where all generations can learn from the value of another generation—older to younger and younger to older. It is imperative to growth and success.
Let’s take a look at Gen X and see how they are different than the Baby Boomers. What similarities exist and what assets does Gen X brings to the work place?
Generation X (1965-1976) or (1961 to 1981)*
*(depending on what research you read)
- Averages 3-5 years in any one organization
- Tend to be free agents
- Distrusting of corporate motives
- Technologically savvy, pragmatic, and competent
- Efficient at managing themselves
- Received very little formal training in the work place, learned on the fly
- Will not sell their souls to the job 24/7
- Work and life balance more important than money and advancement
Gen X Retention Ideas
- Flexible schedules, interesting work, sense of purpose, minimal bureaucracy
- Continued learning and development
- Values feedback, clear communication, and recognition for a job well done
Gen X Management Ideas
- Tremendous capacity to process a great deal of information and concentrate on multiple tasks
- Don’t hover over their shoulder
- Craves time with their boss and they never get enough feedback
- They are problem solvers and self starters
In addition to educating Gen Xers about generational differences so they can better understand the Boomers and Gen Y, capitalize on their flexibility, self starter ability, and minimally required supervision. They will get it done with the proper measurements in place so get out of their way and let them do it!
Let’s take a look at what makes Gen Y unique?
Generation Y (1982-2005)
- Fortune magazine deemed Gen Y the highest maintenance but potentially highest performing generation in history
- View themselves as entitled
- Outspoken
- Have a high inability to handle criticism
- Technologically sophisticated
- Well positioned to address global issues and inclined to view the world as a vast resource
- Driven to make a difference
- Racially and ethnically diverse
- Demands a fast track career and thirsts for positive feedback
- Work and life balance
Gen Y Retention Ideas
- Encourage their values and show you care
- Will work with organizations that are socially responsible
- Flex time, telecommuting, career incentives that permit talent to advance quickly
- Support the technology they use
Gen Y Management Ideas
- They want the best and they think they deserve it
- They do not want to be seen as children
- Forget gender roles … they have
- Show how their work will contribute
- Mentoring for them will be critical to success
- Will need help with communication and problem solving skills
- Will need help understanding their strengths and limitations
Companies need to take advantage of Gen Y’s global and diverse view. They may need a bit more mentoring and assistance with things like communication, but they are bright and extremely innovative. I believe the up front investment will create employee loyalty, and the organization will see a huge payoff throughout the relationship.
As the face of our workforce changes and Baby Boomers choose to move on, Gen X and Gen Y is the current and upcoming talent pool for organizations. Develop a strategy and a management philosophy that embraces the value and skills of each person based on the individual first. Then develop supporting strategies to create and maintain a culture that unifies all skills and values. By doing so you will build stronger teams, and stronger teams means measurable and positive outcomes.
Tags: communicate, communication, culture, divide, gaps, gen x, gen y, Generation, Success, Workforce
Posted in Workforce | No Comments »
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