What does this mean?

Well I was just on “The Fanny Kiefer Show” today with my pals Stephen Hammond www.stephenhammond.com and David Gouthro www.theconsultingedge.com and the topic was ‘ageism’. The above statistic proves that although boomers are aging there is more and more of a demand for their skills, experience and willingness to work.

In my experience with the organizations I work with- there is not a bias against boomers rather they see boomers as a huge asset to their long term growth strategies. Age is no longer a detriment as companies focus on ‘performance’ as the true measurement.

If you organization is focused on getting results, keeping clients happy and workers getting along with each other then it means you are more interested in the right person regardless of age, gender or heritage.

A few questions to ask yourself and your organization around age in the workplace are:

1. What are the innate traits we are looking for when hiring for our company?

2. Who would be the right fit given their interests, stage in life and their motivations?

3. What are the results we are looking to create and how can we build a team that is committed to the results?

These questions will help the focus to be on ‘results’ and right fit. Age is not a factor.

I also like to take ‘breathers’ from my work in order to restore my perspective and energy. Summer has typically been a time for writing the next book, planning for the fall and winter. This summer I travelled a fair amount for work and pleasure but I took a break from the writing.

Many of you reading this must wish there were certain aspects of your work that you could take a breather from! Gen Y in particular responds much better to project based work with a beginning and an end rather than endless tedious chores that do not seem to lead to any specific achievement. Many Zoomers (progressive boomers) have gotten sucked in to the tedium partly out of habit but also because we didnt challenge the status quo.

Gen Y’s ask themselves on a daily basis if they are happy at work and if they are having fun. The minute the job becomes boring, non fulfilling or without reward they begin to lose interest and to look for another job. Gen X and Zoomers scoff at this apparent lack of commitment in the past but now are asking themselves the very same questions.

From a Gen X perspective this is the time of getting married, planning families, having families and dealing with the realities of life balance. There measure of happiness is based on how balanced they feel with their work time and their personal time. Gen Xers who work for companies that allow for flexibility are generally happier than those who work for rigid and policy laden companies.

From a Zoomer perspective depending on the age you are in the range of 46 to 62 you have been working for over 25 years and never thought you were allowed to be happy at work. That’s changing- more Zoomers than ever before are starting new businesses once they have retired from their long term employer. Zoomers who are still with their long term employers are looking to work differently- they want team based work- with options such as performance measures of success vs time measures of success.

Best Buy is an example of a company who has recognized that pay and reward for performance regardless of time investment is the way of the future. They have realized that when their employees achieve performance they are happier and they feel more in control of their time and success.

If you are not happy right now at work ask yourself the following questions:

1. What’s bugging me?

2. Is this something that could be fixed by talking to someone and asking for what I want?

3. Do I know specifically what I want?

4. Is it possible I am burned out? Overextended?

5. Do I have some sort of balance with my work and my life?

These questions will help to begin pointing you towards taking action to getting happy at work but to also look at what resources you need and who can help you.

Happy September!

A record number of babies were born in 2007 in the US according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The last time numbers were this high was in 1957 in the middle of the Baby Boom years.

The numbers are an increase from previous birth rates but nowhere near the Baby Boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The factors contributing to the higher birth rates include: more immigrants having children, professional women who have delayed childbearing until their 40’s and larger numbers of women in their 20’s and 30’s having higher than average number of babies.

This is good news for organizations worried about having enough people to do the work but if you do the math these babies won’t be joining the work force for another 20 years.

The trend towards family is a social pendulum swing that has moved from women scaling back on family to pursue a career back to a desire to have family while having a career.

What can business do with this information? Ask yourself the following questions:

Is our business family friendly?

Do we have a competitive parental leave policy?

Does our work lend itself to project based work that would appeal to working parents?

Gen X and Y want to work for companies that recognize the value of family and the desire to have work fit in with their lifestyle.

I often share with my audiences that the amount of knowledge that each generation has is only as valuable as the willingness of each of them to share their knowledge for the good of the team and the business.

The increasing pace of technological change in the workplace is driving the need for ‘reverse mentorship’ where the younger generations are sharing their technical expertise with the corner office.

The Gen X and zoomers (hip and groovy boomers) are sharing their on the job knowledge and ‘relationship skills’ with the tech savvy who do not see much value in picking up the phone or person to person connection. 

There is lots to learn from each other and the challenge is to create an ‘open sharing’ environment within the workplace.  

So how do we encourage the ‘download’ of what is in the brains of our teams? Here are 5 Ways to get the generations to share what they know:

1. Recognize that there is huge value in creating a respectful environment where it is ‘cool’ to learn from each other. Set up weekly ‘fireside chats’ where topics are discussed and ideas brainstormed with each generations input.

2. Gen X and Y want to feel important and included in the ‘loop’ allow them to be a co-mentor with a senior manager where they can exchange ideas on how to tackle big picture challenges such as client retention, how to use technology to increase revenue etc.

3. Set up a message board on your company intranet to post questions and set up incentives to increase participation rate. Separate it out into generational responses- this can be anonymous where you simply ask them to identify their generation in their post.

4. Be a performance based company not a seniority based company. As long as your culture is based on how long people have been there instead of how results are generated you will demotivate the Gen X and Y. Reward and recognize knowledge sharing as part of the performance review process.

5. Zoomers be open and willing to hear ideas from those with less tenure and with less experience. There is so much technological change that it is impossible to stay on top of all of the progress and changes that are happening. Remember that your Gen X and Gen Y are ‘wired’ for technology and what they lack in social skills they gain in knowing how to use technology to solve common challenges.

In Don Tapscotts book Wikinomics http://www.wikinomics.com  he points out that the future of work will be 100% reliant on collaboration, knowledge sharing and the willingness to pool resources. The time to prepare for the future is now.

1. Use social networking media such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter- these sites are fast becoming the ‘word of mouth’ central for twenty somethings (and Gen X and some boomers) to talk about jobs, opportunities and cool companies.

2. Make it easy for them to apply for a job on the internet- make it simple and be sure to answer all of their questions about the job in the job posting. Provide extra information such as what a typical day at work would look like, what they can expect from their leader and what they can expect in regards to time off, company activities etc.

3. Be honest about your technology policies and culture. Gen Y’s want to know when they are allowed to use their PDA’s at work and when they can check their Facebook. One major credit union in the US made it very clear that their Gen Y tellers could not use their Blackberries while working but in the break room the credit union provided desk top computers where the Gen Y’s can surf the Net or instant message friends during their breaks.

4. Offer training in a variety of ways that include: coaching, outside expert seminars, and online training. Gen Y’s have grown up on video games and online training is a form of training they are used to and can relate to quite easily.

5. Treat them like they are your friend. This is a tough one for most boomer leaders because boomers come from the school of ‘work is work’. Gen Y’s are far less formal and some call their parents by their first name, they use nicknames as ways to show collegiality and friendship. You won’t keep a Gen Y forever but be happy to have them as long as they stay. They will tell their friends through social networking whether you were cool to work for.

In my next blog post I will talk about keeping the Gen Y’s happy. By the way there is a great web site that delivers books in email segments and some of the books are free- Gen Y’s love it- check it out at http://www.dailylit.com

Firstly the sub prime mortgage situation has been going on for quite some time- mortgage lenders were greedy and the eventual fall out was inevitable. The media would have us believe that every state has a housing crisis and this is flat out not true. In fact some areas are hardly affected at all while others are indeed suffering the fall out of the sub prime situation. For example Portland is now in recovery in their new housing starts but Houston didnt suffer as much from the housing crisis due to other economic factors such as oil and gas export, technology research and inter state migration.

Thredgold reports that in first quarter 2008 there has been less painful job loss than was orginally predicted. There was a decrease in jobs in the manufacturing sector BUT a large increase in jobs in the professional jobs therefore offsetting negative job loss overall.

Consumer spending was weak but many contend this is due to the negative portrayal of the economic situation in the media. Oil and food prices are on the rise but researchers state that gas is highly subsidized by tax and will continue into the remainder of 2008.

The current jobless rate is 5% compared to 4.5% a year ago and one of the reasons job losses have been less painful is because they are due to companies being more selective in adding to their payrolls over the past 2-3 years.

A second reason is that employers are aware that both skilled and unskilled workers are difficult to find in the economy. As a result many employers have been willing to keep valuable employees on the company tab waiting for the current period to end. The labor market for good skilled workers will continue to be an issue for the next 20 to 25 years.

Overall we need to make sure we do not buy into misinformation or media hype about whether or not we are in a recession. Regardless of which industry you are in the opportunity is to re-think the way we do business, re-think our people strategy and ensure we are stimulating the economy from an abundant perspective.

We need to be grateful that our moms were positively controlling- since we wouldn’t be the person we are today without their influence.

I am trying to convince my 19 year old daughter Courtney that she should be grateful that I controlled certain things while she was growing up  

As we get ready to celebrate mothers day on May 11th I see a correlation between great leaders and great moms and dads. (I will talk about the dads in June when we near Fathers day)

Now I am not saying that a leader has to be a parent but I am saying that many of the principles of being a good parent apply to being a good leader.

Wasn’t it Mom who taught us the following?:

1. Dont say something behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t say to their face

2. For every good deed you do many more will come back to you

3. Never leave the house without clean underwear ( Ok that last one may not apply)

For the female leaders there is an element of our job as a leader that requires tender loving care or a ‘mothers’ touch. We do not however want to take on a motherly role at work or the people who work for us will resent us and rebel. (Just like our teenagers)

Instead we want to focus on taking control of the positive ‘feminine’ qualities of women. 

What are the ‘feminine qualities we appreciate in women leaders?

- Nurturing, attentive and willing to listen

- Caring, concerned and willing to pitch in

- Intuitive, insightful and emotionally connected

This week recognize the moms in your workplace- tell them you admire them for their ability to juggle work and life as a busy mom. Tell them you admire their ability to control their time, energy and results.

On Mothers Day recognize your own Mom- send her flowers, buy her a gift certificate for the spa or better yet plan to spend the entire day with her.

To my mom who lives in Edmonton- Hi Mom- Happy Mothers Day!

The generational differences has caused much discussion and organizations are recognizing that their is discord amongst their teams. The generation bandwagon is relevant because of the demographics- there are less younger people to fill the current number of job filled by baby boomers.

However- in my opinion what has really happened is that the increasing use of technology has created ’skills’ divide in the workplace. The latest research shows that boomers are rapidly arriving at the same technical aptitude of their Gen Y counterparts.

The technological influx has caused the realization that ‘we really should all get along with each other’. In reality what the current generational challenge offers us is the opportunity to look at how we can structure our workplace to be a workplace of choice for all generations.

Here are the 3 things that ALL the generations want at work:

1. Good leadership. Period. Everyone wants skilled and trained leaders who know what is needed to get the work done and in addition have developed the high level skills of knowing people, motivating people and is solution oriented.

2. Fair policies for work/life balance. Gen Y has grown up watching their Gen X and boomer parents work their tails off and they did not see a lot of balance. Just like any of us who vow to not be like our parents Gen Y has an ingrained ‘knowing’ that all work and no play makes for boredom, loss of interest and lack of growth. We all want to have a life and boomer recognize that they are tired.

3. Career path outlines. Regardless of generation we all want to know ‘where are we going?’. Recently a close friend had three job offers in the insurance industry- the offer she chose was with the company who clearly set out her career path within an eighteen month period. It doesnt matter how old you are- you want to know what the potential is in your work and you want to know how you will be recognized.

We really are more alike than we are different. There are boomers who are lazy, and there are Gen Y’s who are up at 5:00 am to work at Starbucks and there are Gen X who are having their families and adjusting to being working parents. We really arent so different after all.

Let’s face it - it can be difficult to get our own job done while helping others to get their done too. Many times a leader will let certain things go only to find out that by letting those things go and not controlling them they have a bigger problem on their hands.

Here are 3 Things Every Leader Needs to Have Under Control

1. Control your destiny (and others will follow)

Control your vision, your path to results and your skill set to get you there. Leaders who have a clear vision and communicate that vision along with tools for others to succeed find that their team responds with action and commitment.

2. Control your follow ups

Yes we are busy, yes we have lots on our plates and that is absolutely no excuse for not following through on promises made to others. Here’s the deal- when you forget to follow up or do not acknowledge the item to be followed up on the other person feels one of three things:

a. You dont give a rip about me

b. You are too busy for me

c. I am not valuable enough to you

Follow up is crucial to maintaining good vibes on the team and to have your group feel valued, respected and honored. Specifically in busy times we take our team members for granted and this is exactly the time we need to be showing them the love.

3. Control your out of control team members

When we ignore team members who behave badly or who do not contribute to the team we are essentially rewarding them. The unspoken message is “its okay I wont say anything to you”. This unspoken message then sets a pattern in to place that allows the person with the bad habits to continue their evil ways.

Take the time to sit down and reiterate the team expectations with your out of control team members. Talk to them and to their higher potential- let them know that as the team leader you have high expectations of all of your team members and you hold everyone to the same standard.

If you control these three things you will find yourself feeling fantastic at the end of a grueling day of leadership at the office. If you don’t control these three things expect more of the same old same old: stress, frustration and taking it out on the dog!

In my book “The Control Freak Revolution- Make Your Most Maddening Behaviors Work for Your Company and To Your Advantage” I give in depth solutions on how to shift our actions in order to get new and enhanced results. I have been doing publicity for the book and I am commonly asked “how do we change these behaviors?”

It’s a great question and in Chapter nine I provide some help with this. In a very brief synopis here are 7 ways to make your maddening behaviors work for you:

Turn the negative into a positive for each maddening behavior transform it into new behaviors for example:

#1 Turn the negative of impatience into the positive of communicated urgency

#2 Turn the negative of being overbearing into the positive of assertive coaching

#3 Turn the negative of being over controlling into the positive of being just right controlling

#4 Turn the negative of being condescending into the positive of respecting others opinions

#5 Turn the negative of non trust into the positive of letting go slowly with trust

#6 Turn the negative of perfectionism into the positive of healthy achievement

#7 Turn the negative of being push and forceful into the positive of being flexible and adaptable

Of course none of these proposed shifts are easy to make and if you are really struggling I recommend getting support in the form of coaching in order to make a commitment to positive change and growth.

Or read the book