Leadership Post : Management and Intergenerational Leadership Coaching, Employee Engagement, and Performance Management Training

“Better Ideas Through Failure,” is the title of an article in a recent Wall Street Journal. Those of us in human resources have known for years that people can learn from mistakes and that innovation comes from taking risks and making mistakes. Yet when someone does make a mistake they are made to feel bad rather than patted on the back for trying.

I agree with Judy Estrin, a founder of seven high tech companies and author of a book on innovation when she says, “Failure, and how companies deal with failure, is a very big part of innovation.” I’m happy to see that companies such as Grey New York are handing out “Heroic Failure” awards to employees who try something that was worth trying and fail and learn from their failure.

For Baby Boomers like myself, trying something new was not encouraged – in school, especially Catholic school, or in the workplace. If you made a mistake it was usually the blame game rather than owning up to it.

For me, the younger generation – the Millennials and those coming up behind them – have learned to embrace failure from the day they were given their first computer or iPhone on which they could play games. James Gee, a professor at Arizona State University believes that a well-designed game allows players to explore and try new things. In fact, as Gee says, “in a game, failure is a good thing.”

Organizations could learn from playing games and lower the cost of failure and encourage employees to explore and play with ideas. To quote Gee once again, “that type of learning – risk taking – can’t happen if the cost of failure is too high.” So, corporate America, perhaps it’s time to starting playing games!

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The debate as to whether or not there will be a talent shortage rages on. In my opinion, it’s inevitable and it will be huge. Many companies have their heads in the sand and don’t or won’t see the ball rolling toward them. Let’s take a closer look by separating perception from reality.

Perception
The high unemployment rate has resulted in a large talent pool to draw from.

Reality
There are available bodies so companies believe, rightly or wrongly, that they are in the driver’s seat.

The reality is that there is complacency among employers. The economic downturn has caused many companies to fall into a malaise when it comes to talent. Once the economic downturn is over, the first to get jobs, as usual, will be the most talented; the very same employees companies have chosen not to down size. Most of these people have been worked liked race-horses and are just bidding their time to jump ship.

Perception
The economic downturn has caused the Millennials (born 1977-1997) to mellow.

Reality
The Millennials, known for changing jobs every two years, have been forced, due to a lack of job opportunities, to remain with their companies longer than they expected. They have also not been as vocal regarding their wants, needs and sense of entitlement.

Fortunate to be able to move back home, the Millennials are waiting until the economy improves. If anyone thinks that this cohort group has really mellowed they are in complete denial. Their sense of entitlement among other things is part of their DNA. It’s like trying to change a tiger’s stripes. I have heard more than one say, “we’re out of here, once the market picks up.”

Perception
The cut backs in leadership development programs were necessary for survival.

Reality
Perhaps for survival but not for the bottom in the long run. The poor economy has made investing in leadership development challenging. Companies have not only scaled back on these programs but they have also downsized entire training and development departments.  This is a monumental mistake which will come back to haunt those at the top big time.

What compounds the situation even more is that for years companies have traditionally focused solely on developing their “A” players – at the expense of their solidly contributing middle performers – their “B” players. This untapped pool typically makes up 70% of an organization - a sizable force toward increasing the bottom line.

Now companies have also stopped the development of many of their “A” players – their future leaders leaving them with a talent deficiency that will impact them for years to come.

Perception
Companies believe they have a steadily growing workforce.

Reality
Yes and no. The Millennials are as large a population as the Boomers (born 1946-1964) were when they entered the workforce - maybe even larger. Although currently making up approximately 22% of the workforce, Don Tapscott, Growing Up Digital, says that by 2014 the Millennials will represent 47%, with the next generation – known as Digital Natives or Hyper-connected (born after 1997) - coming up behind them. While there is growth, we have to consider a few things:

Inexperienced Workforce
What we are going to have is a large group of inexperienced employees (Millennials) being managed by a small group of Generation Xers (born 1965-1976) many of whom never received the development needed to lead (read my post Career Advice for Generation X for more information about Gen Xers), let alone lead the challenging Millennials.

Aging Workforce
We will have an aging workforce. According to Pew, half of all working adults in the U.S. between 50 – 64 say they will delay retirement and 16% say they will never stop working.

Shrinking Workforce
We also have a shrinking workforce with fertility rates dropping in Europe, Asia, South America and India – resulting in a war for talent.

Taken together this should be a call for action for U.S. companies to rethink strategies for engaging employees and leadership development.  Now is the time to revisit their talent acquisition process and employment brand, so they are prepared to attract the best candidates as the economy improves along with their business needs.

Generational Demographics - United States Census Bureau

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Tammy Erickson’s post in Harvard Business Review’s blog “Career Advice for Generation X” raises some interesting observations about career challenges facing this generation which she further explores in her insightful book, “What’s Next, Gen X? Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want.”

You’re Generation X. You’re in your 30’s and 40’s, in the middle of your lives, your careers, and the workforce. You’re wedged between two groups of people who are, in their own ways, taking up a little too much of your room. Boomers to the left of you, Gen Y to the right – and you with all the frustrations that come with being part of a smarter generational cohort.

I agree with Ms. Erickson that even though they face challenges, Gen X has strengths that companies need to flourish. The first generation to grow up with mothers who worked, they were left to their own devices and thus are resilient, self-motivated, hard working and also fiercely independent.

It’s this fierce independence that is a liability for them. Known as “loners” - which they readily admit to - their mantra is, “Just tell me what you want and when and then leave me alone to do it.” This flies in the face of everything Gen Y, who they manage, needs to be engaged.

Gen X As Managers of Gen Y

The most child centric generation to be raised in our history, Gen Y wants to have a relationship with their manager, someone who can give them daily feedback, coach and develop them, tell them what to do and give them all the information they need to get the work done. This does not mesh with Gen X’s love of independence and hands-off style of management.
I think you see the problem here.

More Challenges for Gen X

The economic downturn in the 90’s also saw huge cutbacks in management and leadership development programs as well as the flattening of organizations. So not only was Gen X not shown the ‘welcome mat’ when they entered the workforce, they also did not receive the development that their Boomer parents received. The flattening of organizations also added to their lack of development in that there were fewer people to learn from – advantages that Boomers received.

A Call For Action

Gen X, as well as the companies they work for, are both facing challenges. The inevitable exit of the Boomers and the small number of Xers will leave a gaping hole in the management and leadership ranks in many organizations. Gen X is perfectly positioned to take the reins from the Boomers – at long last!

In response to Ms. Erickson’s question, how does Gen X reset their sights for the next stretch? 

Gen X must first

Understand what makes Gen Y tick and be able to tap into how to engage and motivate them.

I’ve talked to and trained many Gen Xers and they are clueless. Gen X - I’m not blaming you. I’m calling out your companies for not providing both the generational awareness and basic management 101 training you need to effectively manage and lead.

You’ll hear me talk a lot on this topic so stay tuned.
 

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