Part One
Part Two
Part Three

You are half way through learning about the generations that make up today’s workforce. Today, we will discover what makes the nearly 41 million Generation Xers tick. I can conveniently be called an expert on this topic because I am a Gen Xer myself.

When I facilitate training on the generations I ask each audience member to write a memorable moment from their childhood on an index card. If I were writing on an index card I would definitely record the Challenger Disaster. I remember being in class in Middle School. My teachers had taken a particular interest in the launch because for the first time in history a school teacher was selected to be a part of the crew.  We watched as she trained to be an astronaut and through the experience we learned that we were capable of greatness.

I vividly remember watching the launch live, seeing the billows of smoke and hearing the countdown. Unfortunately, I also remember the explosion that occurred just as the rocket appeared to reach the edge of the bright sky. This event caused me to understand the greatness and tragedy of live coverage on television.

Generation X is the generation of MTV, home computers and the onset of the AIDS epidemic. Gen Xers were the first kids to be left at home alone after school because in many cases both parents were entering the workforce. These latchkey kids were quickly schooled on stranger danger. In addition, this generation was introduced to pranks involving Halloween candy, which caused a frenzy of candy sorting and X-raying.

The latchkey activities made this group very independent. I remember coming home from school each day, picking up the mail and starting dinner, all before starting on my homework. I learned if I wanted french toast for dinner I could have it, as long as I could teach myself to make it.

The Halloween candy scare and AIDS epidemic also made the Gen Xers a fairly skeptical bunch. They typically do not take things for face value. They want facts!

This independence and reliance on facts makes Gen Xers entrepreneurs and great managers. The Gen Xers will figure things out on their own and they are open to feedback that promotes both personal and professional growth. They are not intimidated by authority figures, but they do respect the chain of command. This generation will manage people older than them with ease. They do not see age as a barrier.

One thing to keep in mind, the X Generation is half the size of the Boomers. Someone will need to fill that gap. Those folks are called the Nexters and we will talk about them in our next session. The Nexters are almost as large as the Boomers and they are coming on strong. You do not want to stop reading now.

To read part one click here
To read part two click here

Our discussion of the Vets in my previous post took us from age 70 and beyond. Now let’s look closely at the group that came after the Vets. They are called the (Baby) Boomers. As you may have already figured out this generation spans an age gap from about 50 to 69 years old. The Boomer generation is the largest generation among the four we will talk about in this series. In fact, there are approximately 80 million boomers in the United States. When the war ended, the husbands came home to reunite with their doting wives and you know the rest. Alas the Boomer generation.

Unlike their parents, the Boomers were not subjected to a long-standing economic downturn. As a matter of fact the Boomers were introduced to luxury inventions, namely the television during their time. Yes, the Vets had the silver screen, but the Boomers had the convenience of watching Hollywood creations from the comfort of their own homes. Inventions like this gave the Boomers an idealist view of the world. They are the generation that believes that as individuals they can do anything and as a result anything is possible.

The Boomers not only remember Woodstock, they were there. Over 500,000 of them attended this festival all in the name of love, peace and quality music. Authorities in the state of New York were terrified that if the numbers grew larger than 50,000 to this festival there would be rioting and problems with crowd control. In true Boomer fashion the show went on for three days with no major problems. The Boomers believed that they could do it and they did, but they exceeded expectations in every way! That embodies the Boomers today. They work long hours. They do not understand the concept of nine to five. Furthermore, they believe that the reward that comes from all that hard work is money, prestige and titles.

The Boomers did experience hardship that likely explains some of their work hard mentality. They were the generation that dealt first hand with the conflict in Vietnam. Talk to any Boomer and ask them to tell you one or two things they remember about growing up. Nearly all of them will mention Vietnam. Many of the Boomers tragically did not survive this conflict, however those that did they will never forget. Like their parents that Boomers have a true sense of loyalty, with one difference. They do not want to be forgotten either. They will work hard, but they want something to show for it. As long as they feel like they are receiving the rewards that they deserve they will be long-time, hard-working employees.

I hope this overview makes you want to learn more about the Boomers. After all they make up a large part of our workforce and many of them are supervisors or managers. An organization that recognizes how to motivate the Boomers will benefit with retaining their strongest leaders.

Don’t stop reading now. Stay tuned for part four in this six part series. Next we will talk about a generation that I know very well. Generation X.

To read part 1 – click here

Is your seatbelt on? Let’s get started with our discussion about the generations that exist in today’s workplace by learning about the Vets. As I mentioned in the introduction the Vets start around age 70 and just keep going. Now, you are probably asking yourself why is it important to talk about senior adults if this blog is intended to help employers manage employees. The answer is simple. The Vets make up 5-10% of the U.S. workforce and many of them are coming out of retirement. Their knowledge, skills, abilities and life experiences should not be dismissed. They have got it going on!

The Vets are a frugal group that believe working hard and doing good work is its own reward. Did you hear me? They believe that work in and of itself is the reward. Could someone please run and tell the Boomers about them? I digress. We will talk about the Boomers later.

The Vets survived two World Wars. I mean really, isn’t one world war enough per generation?  In addition, one can presume that this generation’s propensity to be frugal comes from the fact that they also lived through the Great Depression. If you have ever heard the phrase a penny saved is a penny earned you can likely thank your grandparents or a member of the Vet generation. This is their creed.

The Vets are loyal. This is the group of employees that stop looking at the help wanteds once they have a job. They know that grass isn’t greener on the other side, because they have been to the other side and back, maybe more than once.

They are productive. They stick with it and finish the task no matter how cumbersome or monotonous. This is the group that likely coined the phrase, pull yourself up by your boot straps and get going! They are tough cookies and because work is its own reward they will tough it out through the good times and the bad.

The Vets believe strongly that they should work for the common good of the entire group. This, no doubt comes from their experiences during War and economic collapse. Had they not worked together for the common good they may not have survived the times. They know the agony of defeat, but they also know the thrill of victory through hard work, perseverance and cooperation.

If you work in one of the lucky organizations that still have some Vets in your workforce learn from them. Model their behavior. Find out what motivates them. Ask them for insight. Respect them and seek to understand them. This generation has so much to tell us, but they will not until we ask.

It is impossible to capture all of the complexities of one generation in a short blog. Hopefully this will prompt you to do more research on the subject. I look forward to our next adventure with the sons and daughters of the Vets – The Boomers. We are on cruise control now.

There are so many workplace topics getting attention these days, but none more than generational diversity.  Four generations are sharing the workplace and that leaves plenty of room for error when it comes to inspiring those of all ages. The motivational factors that exist in each of these generations are varied and complex. Therefore a manager who is not aware of the generational gaps may find themselves struggling to drive performance, improve attendance and most importantly positively influence the employee experience. This will be the first in a six part series about generational diversity.

Let’s start with the basics. For the purposes of our discussion we will name the four generations.

• The Vets – Ages 70 +
• The  Boomers – Ages 50-69
• The X Generation – Ages 30-49
• The Nexters – Ages 18-29

Keep in mind that there are many vernaculars for each of the generations, so you may hear the Vets referred to as Traditionalist and the Nexters called Generation Y. It is all the same thing and it is important not to get hung up on what we call each group. Rather we should seek to understand what defines each group so that we can ultimately discover what drives them. We will spend the next several sessions together discovering the characteristics and life events of each generation. These discoveries will help us to determine what motivates each group, how manage the people from each group and how to effectively communicate with each group.

This is the part of the blog where you should stop reading (for a moment), jump up and down, and say “Show me the money!” Any organization willing to dig into these generational characteristics and learn to manage people according to what defines them, will win in terms of the bottom line. Retention will increase, absenteeism will decrease, employee morale will skyrocket and your bottom line will become big and fat. If ever there was a time that you want to hear those two words used together it is when discussing your bottom line!

Are you ready to get fat and happy? Join me on our journey to discover what defines them so you can discover how to drive them. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

I totally stumbled into HR.  I majored in business management in college because I had no idea what I wanted to do just knew it wasn’t anything medical, economical, financial or science related.  I graduated, needed a job and got one as an HR generalist.  The rest is history. After 10+ years however, I can not imagine doing anything else.  I truly love HR – here’s why.

The umbrella of human resources is large enough that people can be individuals, passionate about very different things, but still be part of the HR community.  Some love benefits while others can barely explain FMLA.  Some get really pumped about interviewing candidate after candidate on the search for the right fit while others would rather stick a pencil in their ear than conduct another interview.  Others love employee relations, compensation, training and the list goes on.  It is truly awesome that you can work as a generalist and do a little in each area or you can specialize and focus on just the part that you enjoy the most.  On a team of five HR professional’s, each of them can be driven by very different aspects of the job and yet still function as a team (probably better than most).

As you can probably tell from my posts, I love the employee relations/engagement side of the house.  I love seeing employees fall in love with what they do and the company they work for.  I thrive off taking a difficult situation and turning it into a positive.  I enjoy diffusing what could be drama filled sessions by simply encouraging and facilitating communication.  This energizes me, motivates me and keeps me coming back for more.

My former co-worker and friend, Stacy Spradling, is passionate about generational differences in the workplace. I have heard Stacy speak about this on multiple occasions and know that it is near and dear to her heart.  She has written a few posts about it and I’m honored to share them on my blog starting tomorrow.  If you have generational gaps in your workplace, you won’t want to miss this.

So now it’s your turn.  What aspect of HR do you love?

Over at HRRingleader, Trish wrote a post titled Using Upward Feedback to Improve Employee Engagement.  It got me thinking about the flip side of “managing up”, the side where managers/leaders have to take the feedback.  Leaders taking the feedback seriously may be harder than getting employees to give it.  However, this type of feedback can be some of the most valuable that a leader ever receives and the exact feedback they need to really improve their performance.

Here are a few reasons why upward feedback is important.

1.  Those who report to you either directly or indirectly, see a different side of you than your supervisor.  Your interactions with them are less likely to be focused on impressing them or covering your bottom.  Through your conversations, they understand what motivates you and what concerns you.  You are more likely to be your genuine self and not a projection of what you want your boss to see.  All of this makes your employee’s experts in your leadership behaviors – ones that help your success and ones that don’t.

2.  Employee’s often have the best ideas.  When interviewing a VP candidate once, he said that the smartest thing he ever did was bring one of his employees in his office and give him a pen and paper.  He then asked the employee to dump everything that was sitting on his brain at that time about what he, the department and the company could be doing better.  He was amazed at the results. He was given four pages of ideas, some of which he admittedly would have never thought of, to improve performance.  Many of those were implemented and the “employee brain dump” became a regular habit of his.

3.  Given the chance, most employees will not use this time to slam you.  Of course when you ask for feedback you have to be ready for anything.  However, in most cases, employees are thankful for the opportunity to provide feedback and do so in a constructive manner.  Those that don’t typically don’t have much helpful information to provide anyway.

There is great value in seeking feedback from those other than a direct supervisor.  Leaders should be willing to ask for, listen to and act on constructive feedback from many sources.  Once they are able to discern what is valuable, constructive feedback and what is not, positive effects can be seen in engagement, performance and future success.

Being a mom has changed my life.  Before my son was born, climbing the corporate ladder was very high on my priority list.  I worked very hard and long hours, traveled A LOT and spent most of my time talking or thinking about work.  Part of my way to define who I was, was through my work.  B, as we affectionately call him, has changed all of that.

Now please don’t misunderstand.  I want to work.  If you have read my posts this week you know that it is very important to me to stay relevant in my field to ensure that I am a worthy candidate when the time comes.  I have learned that I can not be a long-term stay-at-home mom.  Bless those who do, but it’s just not for me.  Once this season of my life is over, I will return to the working world. I will work as hard as I always have.  I will give 100% to any company who adds me to their workforce.  I will ensure that each task is completed to the best of my ability.  I will go above and beyond.  I will stay late and come in early.  I will be a genuine leader, trusted co-worker and valued employee.  I will do all of those things, but one thing will always take priority – the cutest 8.5 month old little thing EVER.

I have watched family members and friends put their career first and alienate everyone around them.  They have success, wealth and power, yet they know nothing about their kids and haven’t had a real conversation with their spouse in months.  Maybe that is ok for them, it isn’t for me.  Once upon a time all of those things were important.  Now, not so much.

I guess in thinking through all of this relevance stuff this week, I have come to this conclusion.  I am not going to apologize for taking time off with my son.  I am doing my part to ensure I am still educated in my field, but if I am viewed negatively because I seized an opportunity to stay home with my son, so be it.  My priorities have changed.

Yesterday, I talked about my fear of being looked at in a negative manner due to my taking some time off during my son’s first year.  I worry that when I begin my job search, recruiters or hiring managers will be concerned that I may not be as up to date as I should be. It’s something that I will probably worry about until I actually begin interviewing and can actually see people’s reactions, but until then I thought I would share what I’m doing to ensure that I am as up to date as possible on current events in my profession.  If you are out of work, these may be helpful to you as well.

1.  Read, read, read.  These days there are websites, blogs, books and even YouTube videos about every profession out there.  Bookmark a few and read them often.

2.  Conferences, webinars and memberships.  If you have the financial resources and time you should maintain your professional memberships and attend conferences or webinars.  If you have a professional certification that you need to maintain through continuing education, this will help you to stay current.

3.  Former co-workers.  Keeping up with former co-workers who are still working is a great way to ensure you are up to date on all the current events.  Pick their brains about what the hot topics are right now and then do your research to make sure you know all you need to.

4.  Social media.  This one goes without saying.  Social media seems to be the answer to everything these days.  Twitter, Linkedin and maybe even Facebook will provide great information and resources to dig further if necessary.

As you can see from this list, remaining relevant is actually the easy part.  Convincing hiring managers that you have done so may be a little more difficult.  It is discouraging that recruiters and hiring managers prefer the passive candidate and view those who have been unemployed for a while as someone who is not a “preferred” candidate.  The thought process seems to be that those unemployed for a lengthy period of time have done so through some fault of their own.  I’m ashamed to admit I have worked under this assumption in the past.

I doubt I can do anything to change a seemingly universal mindset.  All I can do is ensure that I am as current as if I had been working the entire time and hope that someone will give me the opportunity to prove it.

I had a couple of talks last week with different people about remaining relevant when you are out of work.  I have been on this side of the unemployment line for five months now and I worry that when I get serious about looking for work, that time away will be seen as a negative.  While I can not help the reason I’m unemployed, I was laid off, I am somewhat controlling the extra time off.  With the ever-changing world of HR, will a potential employer consider me out of touch?

It’s one of the reasons I started this blog, to show that I still know what I’m talking about even if my days are now filled with baby talk and diapers.  Now that I think about it that’s not that different from my last job, but I digress.  I am keeping up with all the latest changes, trends and news affecting HR.  I may not be practicing my skills daily, but I feel pretty confident that my knowledge is current.  Still, I worry.

I’m usually on the other side of unemployment.  The side that offers jobs, not searches for them.  I know that if I had two candidates, all things the same, but one was currently in a job and one had been out of work for a while, I would chose the one working.  I know in dealing with hiring managers that “taking time off to raise the kids” is sometimes viewed negatively.  As if a woman loses a little credibility.  Absurd, but true.  So because of all this, I worry.

So what do you think?  I would love to get some recruiter perspectives here.  Do you view candidates who have been out of work for legitimate reasons negatively?  Is there a certain time frame associated with that?  Meaning, is three months ok, but once it gets to six or seven you start to question if they are out of touch?  Are you likely to lean towards candidates who are currently working?  Does the economic times we are in impact this at all?

Anyone want to help ease my mind?!?

Like most of the world, I have been captivated by the images of the Chilean miner rescue over the past several days.  Every time one of the men surfaces and their families rush towards them overcome with emotion, I tear up and hold my son closer.  I can not imagine what they have gone through.  There are a lot of people writing about the miners.  Bloggers with much more skill than I are writing paragraph after paragraph detailing the hope and encouragement that these miners represent with such eloquence that you feel you are there with them.  I’m not even going to try to capture the emotion with my mediocre skills.  I’m just going to ask these two questions.

Could you be trapped, underground with your co-workers for 69 days?

Could they be trapped with you?

Now obviously no one wants to be trapped underground with anyone.  But when you think of your co-workers, does the thought of being trapped in a conference room, much less underground make you want to poke your eyes out?  How do you think they feel about being trapped with you?

Just something to ponder…..