Leveraging Flexibility in a Multi-Generational Workplace · Multigenerational Workforce (Murphy,...
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Leveraging Flexibility in a Multi-Generational Workplace October 10, 2016
Transcript of Leveraging Flexibility in a Multi-Generational Workplace · Multigenerational Workforce (Murphy,...
Leveraging Flexibility in a Multi-Generational Workplace
October 10, 2016
Presentation Overview
• Introductions
• What does Johnson Lambert Know?
• Generational Generalizations
• Why NOW is Different & Requires a New Approach
• Ideas and Strategies for Consideration
• Time for Questions
Introductions
• Sara Huddleston, Director of Human Resources
•Vanderbilt University • B.A. in German & Communications
• M.Ed. in Human Resource Development
•Joined Johnson Lambert in July 2006
•Gen X
• Allan Autry, Tax Senior Manager
•Catawba College • B.A. in Business Administration with focus on Accounting
•North Carolina State • M.A.C
•Joined Johnson Lambert in September 2009
•Millennial
What Does Johnson Lambert Know?
• Public accounting firm found in 1986
• Over 70% Millennials
• Approximately 85% of new hires come through campus
recruitment
• Strong internship and pre-internship programs
There is an expectation for flexibility in the workplace!
This is What the Future Looks Like
WIIFM?
• Why are YOU here?
• To be the employer of choice
• To build credibility with clients & strengthen trust
• To have a high client retention percentage
• To be able to provide superior customer service
If You Weren’t Already Convinced…
• According to 2007 AARP report Leading a
Multigenerational Workforce (Murphy, 2007), these are
some of the benefits for organizations that proactively
address multigenerational workplace issues:
• Strengthen corporate culture
• Improve competitiveness (alleviate “brain drain”)
• Better recruitment outcomes
• Higher levels of employee engagement
• Increased retention
Generation Generalizations
Stats Traditionalist Baby
Boomer
Gen X Millennial
Birth Years 1925-1945 1946-1964 1965-1982 1982-2000
Age 71-90 years 52-70 years 34-51 years 16-33 years
Numbers 20 million 75 million 65 million 83 million
Diversity ?? 28% 49% 43%
Influences WW II, Great
Depression
Civil Rights,
Vietnam
War, Cold
War/Russia
Watergate,
energy
crisis,
latchkey kids
9/11,
Internet,
school
shootings
Why Generalizations Don’t Serve You or Your
Organization
• Did you know that 18 generations have been tracked in
the US since the 1600s?
• Did you ever feel like the adjectives used to describe your
generation don’t match up so neatly with you or other
fellow members of your generation?
Learning from the Past
• Linear progression of history vs. concept of “Fourth Turning”
(book by William Strauss & Neil Howe)
• Each generation comes of age every 20 years
High
Awakening
Unraveling
Crisis
Turning Points
• Consider the 80-100 year cycle
• Revolutionary War (1770s)
• American Civil War (1860s)
• WWII & Great Depression (1930s/1940s)
• ??? (2010-2020)
Why NOW is Different
(and Requires a New
Approach)
Management Model
• Significant changes in management
• U.S. was primarily agricultural and entrepreneurial workforce
(prior to 1900)
• Industrial Revolution (1800s) – increased need for
management
• 1911 “Principles of Scientific Management”
• Concepts of job descriptions, strategic planning, delegation of
duties through hierarchy, and Human Resources
Henry Ford Assembly Line
Engage the Machine?
• How do you engage a machine?
• What’s the difference between the Model T assembly line
and your organization?
• Gallop Corporation Poll (tracking stats since 2000)
• 3 in 10 employees are actually engaged
• 2 out of 10 employees are DISENGAGED (actively/intentionally
making workplace worse)
Abundance
• Material AND information abundance
• Resources are available in ways they never were before
Diversity
• Not new, but becoming more prevalent/the norm
• We are more networked with each other
Greater Focus on Children
• Adults and children occupy/share the same space
• Greater parental focus on children
Impacts for the
Workplace
Power Shift
• “Social Internet” gives power to the individual
• Customer is KING
• Anyone can be an entrepreneur
• Agency: “subjective awareness that one is initiating,
executing, and controlling one’s own volitional actions in
the world”
More Discerning Workforce
• More Options = More Competition
• Why be grateful to just have a job when you can pursue
something that is more fulfilling?
• Pressure is on for employers to up their game
Flat Organizations are In
• Millennial Generation has had access to adults their whole
lives
• Leadership must understand their customers (internal and
external) in order to quickly innovate
• Transparency is new norm
• Front line decision making
Ideas & Strategies for
Consideration
Flexibility to Hire for Fit
• The smartest person on paper may not be the best fit for
the job
• Hire for potential and aptitude
• Provide training for systems to be used
• Provide coaching to continuously guide
Flexibility for When/How Work is Done
• Alternate Work Arrangements
• Technology considerations (connectivity, security, etc.)
Flexibility to Experiment
• Requires culture of catching someone doing the right
thing, instead of punishing for getting it wrong
• “Beta” test – users try product and improvements are
made based on their feedback
• Pilot tests – use small group (1 office or 1 team) to try new
idea and report back on findings
Flexibility to Self-Direct
• Spark engagement by allowing greater control over their
work, or a project
• Allow employees to OWN assignment, but with a lifeline
• Provide guidelines, but allow them to come up with new
approach or solution
Flexibility to Share Information
Rather than hoarding information, share it strategically so
it ends up in the hands of people who need it to make
informed decisions
Instead of “knowledge is power,” consider “sharing is
power” (Gen. McChrystal’s 2010 TED Talk)
Access to information is directly tied to ability to make
informed decision and take action
Flexibility to Manage the Individual
• In order to invest in your employees, you MUST invest the
time and effort to get to know your people
• “Best practices” are not best for everyone – tailor to YOUR
organization and individual’s skills/goals
• Performance management – the new frontier
Closing Thoughts
Flexibility does not mean unstructured
Reinvention is essential
Consume information whenever possible
Customize new ideas to fit organizational/individual needs
Stay Flexible!
Time for Questions
