Ben Franklin's Guide to Innovation

by BIG THINK EDITORS

Imagine Ben Franklin, fat and self-satisfied.

That image his hard to conjure because Franklin, one of America's great innovators, was physically fit up until his seventies, and he was never satisfied.

"He became a printer and then he became an entrepreneur and then he created a library and then he created a university," recounts innovation expert Jeff DeGraff. "Then he created the original self-help group. Then he became a diplomat. Before he was a diplomat he became a great scientist and invented everything from the Franklin stove to the lightening rod to bifocals, which he didn’t patent because he thought everybody should be able to use them," DeGraff says.

So what if, in his path from inventor to diplomat, to great American patriot, DeGraff asks us to consider, Franklin thought he had finally found himself? "He would have never become that amazing polymath, that Renaissance person that we all want to be," DeGraff says. "So I think it’s an absolute gift that we never really get there because that’s what pulls us forward."

The essential lesson here, is that when it comes to innovation, it’s never fully realized. This lesson is derived from DeGraff's Masterclass on Big Think Edge, the only forum on YouTube designed to help you get the skills you need to be successful in a rapidly changing world.

Let's say you developed a miracle drug. There’s always another miracle drug. Let's say you developed a great restaurant, there’s always a second restaurant. Let's say you developed a software solution to keep everybody safe. There’s always another software solution because there’s always someone else pushing back with an alternative so that you have to keep going. "So we never really fully arrive," DeGraff says. "But isn’t that the best thing in life?"

To put it another way, DeGraff has us conjure the image of climbing a mountain. You’re going in a circle up this mountain. That’s how innovation really works. In fact, one of the classic mistakes people make, DeGraff says, is that "they think they know everything at the beginning. You don’t know anything at the beginning."

That is why, as you circle the mountain, you build a version 1.0, then 2.0. You build the thick and thin versions of products - the simpler one and then the more complicated one later. You do this because you know you’re going to learn some things along the way. "So in innovation, DeGraff says, "there’s a lot of twisting, there’s a lot of turning, there’s a lot of doubling back, there’s a lot of paying attention to what we know now. What did we learn from our experiences and our experiments?"

And that is why DeGraff's hero is Benjamin Franklin, "the penniless runaway, the diplomat, politician, patriot, on and on it goes."

http://www.bigthink.com/.../ben-franklins-guide-to-innovation

2012 Global Workforce Study

Engagement at Risk: Driving Strong Performance in a Volatile Global Environment

32,000 employees give their opinions on leadership, benefit programs and pay.

Anxiety about the future is common throughout the world.

Only 35% of the global workforce is highly engaged.

The 2012 Global Workforce Study provides a snapshot of the attitudes and concerns of 32,000 workers around the world. It sheds light on how employees’ views affect their engagement in their work and commitment to their employers, and ultimately, their behavior and performance on the job. As such, it provides us with important insights into the elements of the work environment that help shape employee behavior and performance in positive ways to support growth goals. And it presents a new and more robust definition of engagement —sustainable engagement — designed for the 21st-century workplace.

Globally, nearly two-thirds (65%) of the more than 32,000 full-time workers participating in our study are not highly engaged. While this isn’t surprising — considering workers have been doing more with less, and for less, for over half a decade — it poses a significant risk for employers. Are they at a critical tipping point in their ability to sustain engagement over time? And if they are, what actions can they take to turn the tide, given the significant implications of declining engagement on productivity and performance?

Other key findings from the survey:

• Stress and anxiety about the future are common.
• Security is taking precedence over almost everything.
• Attracting employees is almost entirely about security.
• Retaining employees has more to do with the quality of the work experience overall.
• Employees have doubts about the level of interest and support coming from senior leaders.

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Overcoming the Generational Divide in the Workplace — Part 3: Retaining

Introduction

My last two conversations with generational expert Chuck Underwood received so many positive responses, we know that folks are thinking about this fascinating topic. This month Chuck helps us to understand what employers need to know to retain employees across the generational divide. Founder and principal of the generational consulting and training firm, The Generational Imperative, Inc., Chuck is the creator, host and co-executive producer of the PBS series “America’s Generations with Chuck Underwood,” and author of “The Generational Imperative: Understanding Generational Differences In The Workplace.”

NOTE: Boomers (born from 1946-1964), Generation X (Gen-Xers) (born from 1965-1981), “First Wave” Millennials (Mils) (born from 1982-1995)

Interview

TTC: After employers have spent time and money on recruiting employees and training them, how do they go about ensuring that they stick around? Is there an overall corporate culture that could create a positive response across the generational continuum?

CU: Ahhh, retention! Enormous challenge, because for the past 20 years, too many employers have laid off too many workers. Trust is shot.  But the answer begins with this: Management must be trained in— and then effectively create — a comprehensive and evolving culture of Generational Diversity in order to retain ALL generations, each of which has some unique hot buttons:  core values, preferences and needs that— if accommodated—help to reduce turnover and enhance retention.

By the way, no organization can create a culture of Generational Diversity and Strategy with a half-day or full-day training session, which is certainly the starting point. It then takes a more serious commitment to ongoing development and maintenance. But the payoff can be enormous, which is why employers who commit to such a culture are consistently blowing their uncommitted competitors out of the water, as they are named Best Places To Workacross the generations.

TTC: Can you give us an example of one thing that an employer must do to ensure employee retention and loyalty that might need to be handled differently to effectively reach each group?

CU:  In addition to the obvious matters of pay, promotion and working conditions:  (1) Boomers and Millennials usually are more comfortable working in a group or team dynamic than Gen-X, whose members might prefer individualized work. So managers need to try to accommodate both styles. (2) Boomers, X’ers and Millennials are at different life stages and often want and need different benefits packages. (3) Boomers and X’ers are very self-reliant and independent and usually don’t need or want a lot of supervision once they understand the task.  Millennials demonstrate a much stronger desire to have consistent and close communication with their bosses, who can keep them heading in the right direction. In all of these instances, no generation is “right” or “wrong” in their preferences and needs. They’re just different.

And so, executives and supervisory personnel must develop a Generational Gearbox through training that enables them to smoothly shift their minute-by-minute, day-by-day employee interaction, planning and decision-making in a way that will maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of each generation in their workplace. The result is employee retention and the maximization of productivity. Just as truckers need to know how and when to shift gears in order to complete their journeys cost effectively and time efficiently, so it is that supervisors must know how and when to shift gears in order to manage their multigenerational workforce.

TTC: We addressed the issue of different generations learning from each other and cross-mentoring in the February issue of e-Talk, but what about the impact of simply seeing others in action? Watching behavior? If a Gen-Xer sees the positive impact of a Boomer working late and being rewarded, for instance, what kind of an impact would that have on the younger employee, if any?

CU: Watching another at work, “Shadowing” as it’s called, can be formalized training or merely informal observation. And yes, it can have a very positive or negative impact on employees of ALL ages.  This issue speaks to the health of the workplace culture. But, it’s not always monkey-see, monkey-do. Yes, it might seem that watching a superior’s performance would wear off, but not always. For example, Boomers are legendary for their willingness to work past normal hours in order to “do what needs to be done” for the good of the organization. GenX-ers, thus, far, have drawn a pretty firm line in the sand regarding late hours. Even if they see it in others, they remain the Work-Life Balance Generation and to the greatest extent possible, refuse to allow their careers to intrude upon their personal lives. So some behavior rubs off. Some doesn’t. The key for management is to know which performance and behaviors are generally contagious — negatively and positively — and which aren’t.

TTC: Understanding that it is important for employees to know they are trusted by their supervisors, what are some of the things that employers can do that would engender this trust? How would it be different for the various groups?

CU: Too many employees in too many industries have lost employee trust. The 1990s and 2000s, the leadership era of the White Silent Generation Male, is documented by historical fact as perhaps the most greedy, corrupt, dispassionate and ruthless leadership era in U.S. history. It was a time when executives got richer — often at the expense of the their employees who lost their jobs and in some cases, their life savings. To answer your question about building trust across the multigenerational workforce: executives and supervisors must obviously be honorable and fair. But then, they must also understand the unique generation Core Values that guide each generation’s attitudes and beliefs, and their receptiveness —or lack of it — to giving their trust to their bosses.

Here’s a short answer: Boards of directors, executives, and supervisors should be transparent with employees about the organization’s operations. They should not hoard knowledge and should DOCUMENT that they are performing ethically, compassionately and with the best interests of employees and clients — not just shareholders — in mind. If this sounds ordinary, it should be but hasn’t been for the past two decades.

TTC: How might signs of discontent or job dissatisfaction show up differently across the generational divide?

CU: Here’s how an executive at a major retail client of mine answered that same question. If those aggressive, assertive Boomers are dissatisfied, they will promptly confront their boss and fight hard to resolve it fairly and fully. If X’ers are dissatisfied, they’ll quietly look around, find another job, and then give the boss two weeks’ notice. Millennials might simply not show up for work one day.

TTC: Compensation is important to employee retention. What are some of the other meaningful ways employers might reward staffers — particularly during a tight economy – and how might they be different, say, for a Boomer vs. a Gen-Xer?

CU: Genuine recognition helps for ALL generations.  If an employee does especially good work, put it in writing, offer some concrete reward (cash, merchandise, a plum parking spot, flex-time, and other perks), notify co-workers of the achievement and create unofficial but meaningful “promotions” to new titles that do not influence compensation or benefits but nonetheless mark special achievement.  The key, when times are tight, is recognition that is meaningful but costs little or nothing.

TTC: Could you give us a couple of examples of company benefits that would appeal to each generation, assuming that they are different?

CU: Here are a couple:  (1) Boomers seek benefits that will help them with retirement savings and health care costs. (2) X’ers seek work-life balance benefits such as flextime and telecommuting. (3) Millennial hot buttons include cost of healthcare, retirement savings, and continuing education that is either free or partially reimbursed.

TTC: What would job security look like across the generational divide?

CU: The Silent Generation, currently aged 68-86, is the final generation to have enjoyed decent job security. Boomers, X’ers and Millennials have been beaten up over the past quarter century by the dismantling of the great American middle class.  Interestingly, the generation that was running America at the time — the white Silent men—are responsible for that dismantling. So, Boomers, X-ers and Millennials like other prior generations have learned that the richest few are going to get richer and all the rest of them must apparently live their lives with significant job and income insecurity. I guess I’m on my own.

It’s tempting to proclaim that job security is forevermore obsolete. But… the Boomers are just now beginning their Leadership Era, and it will be interesting to see if they have the leadership talent and moral commitment to rebuild job security and the idle class, since so many of them benefitted by growing up when their middle-class parents DID have a lot of stability.

TTC: How does loyalty manifest for Boomers, Gen-Xers and Mils?

CC: When corporate executives began slaughtering — and this is well-documented — the idle class in the late 1980s (remember those corporate “raiders,” who would buy a company, lay off a ton of employees and thus increase profits, and then sell the company at a big profit to themselves while leaving thousands of American lives in ruin.)  Boomer, X-er and later Millennial employees realized that two-way loyalty between employer and employee had just been unilaterally bludgeoned by the employer. And so these three younger generations – again this is when the Silent generation was running America and the younger generations had little clout— were forced to become Career Free Agents. Loyalty by employees understandably plummeted and remains low today. And it will remain low unless and until executives sign a new style of contract that puts them on the same side of the fence as their employees.

For the past few decades, they’ve been on the opposite sides: many, many executives have gotten very rich by, in part, laying off employees in order to please shareholders. When the G.I. Generation led America in the glorious post-world-war two years, there was more executive compassion for employees. It is such a fascinating topic that I speak to executive associations and governance groups — Boards of Directors — about the enormous impact of Generational Leadership on American life.

TTC: I think it’s important to remember not to over-generalize.  How can managers know that an issue is based upon generational differences and not personality or temperament? 

CU: Very good point. Each of us is an INDIVIDUAL and should be managed accordingly. But, we also are heavily influenced by the Core Values that our own generation shares. When you’re trained in Generational Management Strategy, you use the knowledge as a Permanent Filter in your brain, through which you run your thinking and decision-making. Generational knowledge is a managerial aid, just as understanding gender, education, and ethnic differences can help you to make decisions and resolve issues. Once again, the answer is training, training, and training.

Chuck Underwood trains American business, government, education, and religion in generational workforce and marketplace strategies.  If your organization is interested in a training seminar in Generational Workforce Strategy or Generational Marketplace Strategy, please contact Chuck at www.genimperative.com.

Overcoming the Generational Divide in the Workplace — Part 2: Managing

How To Manage

The response to last month’s article “Overcoming the Generational Divide in the Workplace — Recruitment” was VERY positive, so I am glad that two additional articles about this fascinating and important topic were planned. This is the first time in American history that four different generations are working side by side in the workplace and to understand the differences is key to successful management.

This month generational expert Chuck Underwood helps us to understand what employers need to know to effectively work with the Silent, Boomer, Gen-X, and Millennial generations. Founder and principal of the generational consulting and training firm, The Generational Imperative, Inc., Chuck is the creator, host and co-executive producer of the PBS series “America’s Generations with Chuck Underwood,” and author of “The Generational Imperative: Understanding Generational Differences In The Workplace, Marketplace, And Living Room.”

TTC. In order to manage successfully, it’s important to understand some of the key generational differences. Perhaps you could use an example to take us through a management issue and how an employer might handle it for the different generations.

CU. Each generation brings to work each day different workplace values, attitudes, strong points, weaknesses, and preferences. The manager who is fully and formally trained in Generational Workforce Strategy develops the necessary gearbox to shift smoothly from dealing with employees from one generation to another. One issue is teamwork: Boomers and Millennials (Mils) tend to love group dynamics; Gen-X, conversely, is a self-reliant and independent generation that often prefers to work alone. During busy periods for an organization, Boomers tend to be more comfortable with working beyond regular hours than X’ers and Mils, who are more interested in work/life balance.

TTC. When talking with a generationally mixed group of employees, what kinds of steps can be taken to ensure that everyone understands what is being said? Perceptions differ and each generation could be absorbing the information differently.

CU. True. And in such instances, which can be very complex, the best strategy is to start at the beginning, explain the ABC’s, and OVER-explain. Also, double-check throughout the conversation, to make certain everyone understands your message clearly, by asking them to repeat it, by encouraging questions, and by reinforcing the outcome that you, as manager, seek from the conversation. Simple-Speak is Good-Speak

TTC. What can a manager do to encourage the different generations to learn from each other—cross mentoring, if you will. And what can each provide to the other?

CU. I’m currently working with a corporation to create an internal culture of Generational Diversity, the outcome of which, among other things, is a free flow of knowledge, learning, and mentoring in both directions: from the bottom up, and from the top down. It all begins with developing a respect for the unique knowledge and skills of each generation and wanting to learn from them and teach them in a comfortable and harmonious manner. It begins with a training workshop in Generational Workforce Diversity And Management Strategy.

TTC. If a manager wanted to form a task force to tackle a particular problem or project, is there a generation that might be more suited to handle that? What are some of the strengths of each and why would the formation of a task force work best for someone of a particular generation?

CU. I received a phone call from a Boomer advertising agency executive, who had just joined the company and was given a team of seven Gen-X’ers to work on a new account. In their first meeting as a team, the executive explained the new account – the ad campaign it was seeking, its target demographic, and its budget – and then turned to her X’er team and said, “Okay, what are we gonna do?” All seven X’ers left the room. The executive called me to ask if “it was a generational thing.” I explained that X’ers preferred to hear about the new account, return to their own work-stations, create their own individual ideas, and then reassemble with the entire team and report these thoughts.

A Boomer, the executive preferred keeping everyone around the table to bounce ideas off each other in a group session. There’s no inherent right-or-wrong to these two ways; they’re just generationally different. So, in a task-force dynamic, Boomers and Mils tend to enjoy group meetings to discuss the issues and develop responses. X’ers don’t mind the idea of participating on a task force, but they might like the option of doing at least some work individually and in solitude.

TTC: How is it possible to know when something is a “generational” trait and not really based upon temperament or personality? The desire to work in teams or alone might be an example of that.

CU. “Generational considerations” should become a permanent filter in managers’ brains through which they run their planning and decision-making. One direct path to getting an answer to this question is to ASK: “Where does your thinking on this matter come from?”

TTC. Good management includes ongoing education and training programs for employees. How does an employer accommodate the different learning styles among the generations?

CU. It’s not always easy. Boomers and Mils want to be trained by human beings who are in the room with them. X’ers like this, too, but also tend to be comfortable when the trainer is software. But here’s what will work when training multiple generations: hire a true topic expert to conduct the training; cut the crap and make the training as time-efficient, honest and visually interesting as possible. Make it interactive and participatory, and give ample time for Q and A and group discussion. I managed a large research study of Mils and X’ers for a national trade association, and among the findings was this: if a training session is to be an hour long, then put a true expert at the front of the room. Give these two generations 45 minutes of magnificent lecture, 15 minutes of Q and A, and then let the audience schedule INDIVIDUAL and PRIVATE 5-minute conversations with the speaker immediately afterwards.

TTC. The generations have conflicting work ethics, dissimilar values and idiosyncratic styles. How is it possible for a manager to deal with this? Can you give us an example of a potential minefield in managing three or four different generations?

CU. Lots of minefields exist, and you just identified several. Managers should establish policies and principles and resolve conflicts that (1) their multigenerational workforce will embrace and (2) will avoid the mines in the future. Asked by a client how to establish a tech-use policy for employees to control on-the-job technology abuse, I suggested two things. The first was to INVOLVE THEM in creating the specifics of this policy so they’ll feel ownership of it. Second, JUSTIFY and fully EXPLAIN the “why” behind each part of it when it’s completed. If employees understand it and feel a sense of ownership of it, they will honor it.

TTC. Can you give us an example of a directive and how it might be interpreted by the three different generations?

CU. The advertising-sales department of a local television station in a major market needed its sales team to work long hours in late spring, because – each year – this is when they sell the autumn programs coming up on their own station and by way of the national network they’re affiliated with. If they don’t sell the advertising during this critical two-week window, they lose their chance. The directive was “to sell. ”The General Sales Manager found that Boomers were at their cubicles late at night cranking it out. Gen- Xers left at 6:00 p.m., normal quitting time. When it comes to issuing directives, managers can avoid a lot of heartache if they (1) mention to job candidates, during the interview process, exactly what the employer expects of them, in every way. A sensitive issue these days with time-starved X’ers is overtime and after-hours work. Managers should let job candidates know of possible seasonal swings in hours and time commitment. It’s also best not to ambush them with last-minute, pop-up, after-hours meetings.

TTC. Have you found that companies and managers acknowledge that there are generational differences in values and expectations and the importance of really understanding this will enable them to communicate and manage more effectively?

CU. Too many companies and managers ACKNOWLEDGE generational differences and maybe bring in someone like me for a half-day or full-day training program with their supervisory personnel, but then fail to commit the resources necessary to create a comprehensive and ongoing CULTURE of generational understanding. And as employees – including managers – come and go, the training and understanding become diluted. It takes an ongoing commitment for it to be successful.

TTC. Clearly is it important for managers to be trained in understanding generational differences. Do you think that this is important for employees as well?

CU. Employees need to understand the differences and similarities amongst the generations and how all employees can better relate to each other, respect the differences, help each other to be fulfilled and productive, and maintain a strong sense of harmony and teamwork.

The next Q&A with Chuck Underwood will address the topic of generational differences in Motivation and Retention

Chuck Underwood trains American business, government, education, and religion in generational workforce and marketplace strategies. If your organization is interested in a training seminar in Generational Workforce Strategy or Generational Marketplace Strategy, please contact Chuck at www.genimperative.com.

Overcoming the Generational Divide in the Workplace — Part 1: Recruiting

Introduction

Workplace conflicts are a fact of life. Books, seminars, conferences, articles, etc. address them regularly. The diversity has always generated challenges and probably always will, just as we will always be working on solutions and ways to handle difficult conversations, confrontations and situations.

One of the most recent challenges is the generational divide — the differences among the silent, boomer and gen-x generations — each one bringing distinctly different life experiences, values and attitudes to the workplace.

Because the topic is so extensive and rich with important information, we have invited generational expert Chuck Underwood to explore the topic with us. Founder and Principal of The Generational Imperative, Inc., Chuck is the creator, host and co-executive producer of the PBS series “America’s Generations with Chuck Underwood,” and author of “The Generational Imperative.” 

Interview

TTC. We hear so much about generational differences— thoughts, values and behavior—it must be very challenging for employers to recruit employees of multiple generations. What are the specific generations that companies are recruiting now?

CU. The “First-Wave” Millennials, whose current age is 18 to 31. They’re still arriving in adulthood, so we don’t yet know in what birth year this generation will formally end, but will probably be in a few more years. GenX, whose current age is 32 to 48, the Baby Boomers, aged 49 to 67, and a noteworthy number of Silents, age 68 to 86, are remaining in the workplace in many industries.

TTC. What are some of the greatest differences between the generations?

CU. Each generation brings unique – and very powerful – Generational Core Values to the workplace. Within all four generations, you’ll find differences in work ethic, skills, strengths, weaknesses, needed training, attitudes towards teamwork vis-à-vis solitary work, work-life balance, preferred compensation and benefits, preferred ways of being recruited, onboarded, managed, and retained, and much more.

TTC. Are there any similarities, particularly when it addresses work?

CU. All generations want to be respected, productive, fulfilled, cooperative, employed by honorable and compassionate executives, and receive financial stability in their lives as a result of their work.

TTC. When an employer determines the qualities needed in an employee and is ready to hire, would different methods of outreach for each generation be necessary?

CU. In any industry, all executive, managerial, and Human Resource personnel must be trained in Generational Workforce Management in order to successfully recruit the best employees from each generation. Recruitment tactics vary by generation from the copy used in the job ad, the channels used to advertise the opening, and the method/media by which prospects should respond to it, to the type of information needed on the resume. It gets much more complex when it’s time for the initial interview because each generation is likely to possess unique values, attitudes, strengths, and weaknesses. The interviewer, therefore must be aware of all of these factors and know which questions to ask and which answers to probe more deeply.

TTC. How might the actual outreach messages need to differ?

CU. The message that advertises the job opening will require certain basic and universal information that explains the position. But then, to entice the best candidates to respond to it, the “adjectives” might change for each generation that is targeted.

If the job is entry-level and targets young Millennials, such matters as growth potential, flextime, paid leave, retirement savings plan, continuing education, and strong mentoring programs are important.

If the job ad pursues GenX, predictable work schedules, savings plans, college savings plans for their children, rewarding individuals and not just groups, and self-reliance and independence are likely hot buttons.

With Boomers, the job ad should mention wisdom, knowledge, experience, maturity, willingness to go the extra mile, teamwork, retirement and health insurance plans.

TTC. You mention onboarding as the next step after recruiting. Is that a relatively new term? What does it mean?

CU. Onboarding became a popular term when Millennials entered adulthood and the workplace, beginning in the early 2000’s. This generation, for a long list of reasons, had come of age as the most adult-supervised generation in American history. So-called “helicopter parents”, and educators, and religious leaders probably OVER-parented them and they received constant guidance and assistance. Well, beyond the Millennials’ control, their generation now expects and needs similar close supervision and help in the workplace, and especially in the critical first few days, weeks, and months on the job. So as a generational consultant, I work with employers to create refined onboarding programs that begin the moment a Millennial accepts the job offer.

TTC. We hear a lot about the fact that different generations have different work ethics. What can an employer say during onboarding that might ensure an understanding of expectations?

CU. It is especially important, during the job interview and then again during the onboarding, that employers clarify the time commitment, entry-level pay and position, promotional opportunities, and what a day-in-the-life is going to be like, hour by hour. The good and the bad. The key is to make sure the new hire is not negatively surprised during the onboarding period. And each generation has its own unique list of “negative surprises”, so employers and interviewers must be trained to present customized information to each generation’s new hires.

TTC. Can you give us an example of a negative surprise?

CU. With Millennials, the negative surprises – things they weren’t expecting – might include such matters as undesirable tasks and duties, lack of good supervision and mentoring, unsophisticated technologies at the workplace, and others. With GenX, the negatives might include longer or more irregular work hours than expected, being micro-managed, lack of recognition of individual achievement, slower promotional opportunities, and others. With Boomers: lack of teamwork and camaraderie; unethical bosses; limitations on growth and advancement; and others.

TTC. What are some generational differences in attitude towards work? I’ve heard, for example, that boomers are considered workaholics and GENX-ers are slackers.

CU. The Boomers remain the Golden Generation in the American workplace: remarkable work discipline, willing to care about the entire organization and all employees, ethical, experienced, mature, and on and on and on. Are there exceptions? Of course. But generational study is all about how any one generation significantly “moves the needle” in a significant direction: in the workplace, marketplace, classroom, house of worship, or living room.

GenX is the Work-Life Balance Generation. They don’t want their careers to intrude upon their personal time. They’ll give their employers a very productive workday, but they don’t like pop-up meetings after hours. This generation came of age when bosses were getting richer and workers were losing their jobs to other countries, so X-ers haven’t seen much two-way loyalty between boss and subordinate. As a result, they are career free agents. They are often more comfortable working alone than in groups. Very innovative and entrepreneurial. They love to be handed a task that they can take from Point A to Point Z.

Millennials have a wonderful career spirit; they want their work to count and, like the Boomers, they want to make the world a better place. Optimistic, idealistic, empowered, and engaged. But they’ve gotten off to a rocky start with employers because they are America’s most restless-ever job-hoppers. The average 26-year-old has already had 7 employers. They’re excellent with technology and have good interpersonal skills. But they came of age with instant access to the world of information, and beyond their control, this has given them short attention spans, so they sometimes struggle with long-term tasks and projects. They have demonstrated a flawed sense of entitlement and unrealistic expectations about pay, position, and promotion. But any day now, they’re going to settle down and dig in. And when they do, they’ll be a magnificent career generation.

TTC. There are many different styles of learning and absorbing information generally. Are there differences among the various generations?

CU. Boomers like to learn and be trained by other human beings. GenX is comfortable with online learning. The Millennials, to the astonishment of many employers, want and need to be trained by people, not software.

TTC. What might be the biggest challenge and create the most conflict with a multi-generational workforce?

CU. The answer: the challenge and conflict arise because the generations don’t understand their differences and where they came from. The solution is very easy: Management must be trained in Generational Workforce MANAGEMENT and STRATEGIES. And all employees must be trained in Generational Workforce DIVERSITY.

TTC. Are there differences that are insurmountable?

CU. No. Not with the proper training. Without the proper training, these generational differences will diminish a company’s work environment, culture, productivity, reputation, and bottom line.

The next Q&A with Chuck Underwood will address the topic of generational differences in training and motivating employees

May an employer change its policies?

Article provided by Sanlam and 

written by Jan Truter of Labourwise

Question: May an employer change a policy without the agreement of employees?

Answer: Yes, a policy may be changed without the agreement of employees, unless it involves a change to basic or agreed terms or conditions of employment.

Brief explanation: A policy is normally a broad statement of an employer’s approach to a particular subject (for example a “Training and development policy”, “Communications policy”, “HIV and AIDS policy”, “Smoking policy”). In these cases the employer may change the policy without first obtaining the agreement of employees. Consultation with employees would, nevertheless, be advisable for the sake of communication and good employer-employee relations.

However, where a policy pertains to terms and conditions of employment that are founded in law or agreement (for example, policies regarding annual or other leave, working hours, allowances, social benefits), it is a different matter. The provisions of such policies could be a confirmation of, or be more favourable than, what employees are entitled to in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), a sectoral determination or bargaining council. Changes to such policies have to be agreed upon between the employer and its employees.