Next Generation Next Destination

ENGAGEMENT MAKES THE MARRIAGE SUCCEED

n      The concept behind the buzzword of the last several years will rise in significance. Focus on “Engagement” Will Replace the Focus on Retention.  That’s because we know that just having bodies in place is not the answer; the goal is increased productivity, which comes from sustained engagement and leads to greater profitability. Herman expects to see a new functional title: Directors of Employee Engagement morphing from Directors of Retention. It may be a new title, but my guess it will incorporate or collaborate with the professional development and employee benefits functions. Firms will increasingly recognize that to raise the quality of the client experience they have to improve the working experience of staff, professional personnel and managers.

 

      Time to go back to striving to be "the employer of choice" and identify what produces long-term engagement.

 

        Phyllis Weiss Haserot      www.pdcounsel.com

FORECAST: RE-HIRING IN RETIREMENT

n      The  counterpart to succession preparation as we experience an aging workplace is another forecast: Employers Will Accommodate Older Workers Like Never Before. Employers need to get the work done; many workers, including successful professionals and executives, want to keep going whether or not they really need the additional money to live comfortably. The Herman Group suggests that employers will see the benefit of avoiding recruiter fees and expensive contract help by bringing back their retired personnel on part-time, seasonal or temporary bases, even if the older workers can dictate their own terms. I can envision organizations hiring their former personnel with knowledge no one else would have to the same degree or dissuading them from going elsewhere for the typical “busy seasons” or employing them for training and coaching the next generation to continue top service to clients.

 

      This will require sensitivity in communication to younger workers about the benefits to them and facilitation of cross-generational dialogue within work teams and mentor partnerships. But it sounds like a win-win for many organizations seeking continuity  of client service and culture.

 

        Phyllis Weiss Haserot    www.pdcounsel.com

NEXT GENERATION SKILLS GAP: What Boomers Need to Teach Gen Y and X

The "Corner Office" column interview in the New York Times on September 20, 2009 featured Linda Hudson, president of the land and armaments groups at BAE Systems giving an important perspective on corporate culture and the deficiencies of business school education. When asked by the Times' Adam Bryant what she would like business schools to teach more of, she responded:

"Business school graduates come with a large amount of theoretical knowledge. "But they don't have a clue of what it's like from a people-skill point of view, or the coping skill perspective of learning to deal with disappointment and failure. They come in here thinking that, first of all, they're going to run the company overnight. Many of them are convinced they've never made a mistake. They're not accustomed to encountering road blocks or disappointments. We give them all the book smarts, but we don't tend to give them the other skills that go along with business."

We hear the same themes from many professions and industries - in business, law, medicine, engineering and so on. The education system is focused on data and theory rather than incorporating a healthy portion of how to communicate effectively and relate to people -  colleagues, clients, customers, suppliers. It is the latter set of skills that enables people to become leaders that others will follow and to achieve necessary change in a fast-paced world. And in that fast-paced, time pressured, billable hour-type world, few individuals in the more senior generations have financial incentives to train and mentor the new young, blood brought in supposedly to invigorate and perpetuate the organization. On the contrary, they may feel they are digging themselves an early grave.

While Generations Y and X may be extremely technologically literate, most of them don't measure up to the Boomers and Traditionalists in people skills. Through mutual mentoring each can learn from the other, but there has to be a greater value put on communication and inter-personal skills in schools to lay the foundation, and the organizations that hire the young candidates need to persuade and partner with educational institutions to make sure that happens.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot     www.pdounsel.com 

CROSS-GENERATIONAL COMMUNICATION: GEN Y AND NONVERBAL CUES

My August monthly Inter-Generational Relations e-Tip was a checklist of differences in and perceptions about communications styles among the generations. (E-mail me at pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com for a copy and/or to be put on the subscribers list.) On a related point, in a fascinating article on the "Taste" page of the Wall Street Journal (August 28, 2009) ,Mark Bauerlein makes a powerful case for the need to bridge the gap between the Gen Y/Millennial texting culture and use of what anthropologist Edward T. Hall called "the Silent Language," nonverbal cues or body language and voice tone. Mr. Bauerlein is a professor of English at Emory University.

Spending so much time with texting and e-mail as well as Facebook from a young age, Gen Y has developed less skill than previous generations reading nonverbal cues and interpreting tone of voice, pauses, etc., that can be experienced in person or on the phone. (Gen Yers use cell phones more for texting than for voice calls.) It seems the lack of nonverbal communication experience would impede interviewing skills and negotiating skills. The primarily electronic communicators are missing expressive behaviors which transmit feelings, attitudes, reactions and judgments. This is even more damaging in cross-cultural circumstances, which becomes increasingly significant in a world of global economic and political dependency.

And many Gen Yers don't realize that others, particularly other generations, do see nonverbal meaning in behavior such as checkling e-mail, etc. during meetings and not looking at a person who is talking to them because they are multi-tasking.

While it may reduce tensions for other generations to realize that this behavior is not intentionally rude, but rather is just young people acting on what they know (or don't know), the fact is the latter tend not to be well equipped for negotiations, interviewing, navigating the "political" dynamics of the workplace, or even their own job interviews.

Employers and managers need to be sensitive to teachable moments and to provide training early on in what we might term "holistic" communications skills.

Please share your thoughts and experiences.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot   www.pdcounsel.com

BOOMERS FUNDING REINVENTION

I have seen several articles and pitches for articles about people over age 50 opening 529 college savings plans - for themselves. It seems to be a hot topic, or at least a warming one.

Since the Boomers have shown themselves to be continual learners, perhaps this is a trend that will play out as they reinvent themselves for encore careers for both financial and fulfillment reasons. A niche market for financial planners? and for college communities?  The latter have already experienced growth as retirees and pre-retirees move to locations where they can be students and soak up the cultural atmosphere that institutions of higher education bring. Now they have a new way to fund their continuing education.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot    www.pdcounsel.com

CROSS-GENERATIONAL APPEAL

President Barack Obama, in his commencement speech at Arizona State University on May 13th, made several significant points for Gen Y/Millennials students that translate also to Boomers thinking about their next career destination. (Below are quotes or paraphrases as I jotted them down.)

*  Success is not pursuing celebrity and material things or status, a title.. Relentless pursuit of superficial markers can lead to complacency rather than doing your best.

*  We need to continually adapt.

*  We need your daring and enthusiasm.

*  Commit to do what's meaningful to you. Follow your passions to change the world. You have no excuses not to change the world.

*  Be someone who cares.

*  Choices over a lifetime make a lasting legacy. Your body of work is never finished.

Interestingly, there was big applause when helping not-for-profits and teaching were mentioned; not much enthusiasm was exhibited when business was mentioned. It remains to be seen if that is just a sign of the times or an attitude that persists.

Much of this is not dramatically different from the typical commencement speech year after year. But it has a special resonance in these tumultuous times and severe economic downturn. People need to rethink their priorities, whether by choice or not. After long careers, many Boomers are looking to reconnect to their more youthful vision of changing the world and working for the public good. There is much to be done if people let go of a definition of success that starts with a dollar sign. Yes, we need to be productive  and self-sufficient, but that's only the beginning. As an eternal optimist, I believe in unforeseen opportunities and that good can and will come of it.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot     www.pdcounsel.com

INVEST IN NEXT GEN X LEADERS NOW!

Many smart companies have not abandoned training in these tight economic times. They are betting that training and coaching the next generation in leadership skills will help them through the recovery period and give them an edge when competitors start building again.

True, many companies have cut training. A survey in December of 117 large U.S. companies by Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. revealed that 23% of respondents had cut training and 18% planned cuts in 2009. But others are investing in leadership development, which is gaining a growing share of training budgets. And that's a departure from the past according to Yaarit Silverstone, global managing director for the organizational effectiveness practice at Accenture Ltd. Cutting leadership training in past downturns had led to mid-level managers and top performers exiting when the economy recovered.

While business schools had been benefiting when things were booming, companies are sending fewer people to executive education courses. And rather than asking business schools to create custom courses for them, they are saving money by conducting the training in-house - either using staff or bringing in outside experts. Those employers want to be sure that the people they have are well prepared to lead during a recovery when they tend not to leave and afterwards. They are using both web-based and live training. For example, Canon USA Inc. is combining web tools and instructor-led courses to increase the training for newly promoted managers over the past efforts. Some of the attention is on strategic decision-making and influencing employees.

The focus on leadership development has been observed even in companies that are reducing headcount. And that is wise. For the immediate present the people remaining need to be more skilled to do more with less and keep clients satisfied and loyal.

For the future when the economy turns up, there may well be a leadership gap in numbers, since Generation X, who will need to fill the experienced Boomers' shoes as the latter leave the work force, is a significantly smaller generation. In general, they have not been trained with the same attention that the Boomers got coming up the ranks. And many Gen Xers have expressed less interest in taking on greater responsibility.

It certainly seems like investing in next generation leaders, to engage them in making them the best they can be, needs to be a high and urgent priority for any business that intends to survive and thrive now and in "the new normal."

Phyllis Weiss Haserot    www.pdcounsel.com

MUTUAL MENTORING ACROSS GENERATIONS

In these times of fear for job security at all levels and ages and the need for leaner organizations to attract and develop highly skilled and versatile workers, I suggest that individuals seek out mutual or reciprocal mentoring opportunities. Here's an example that illustrates both the benefits and the psychological dynamics to be on the alert for.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot       www.pdcounsel.com

JUMPSTARTING SUCCESSION PLANNING FOR ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Faced with the inevitability of a demographic perfect storm (of pending Boomer retirements and a much smaller generation behind them) compounded by an economic one, how can firms address prospective talent development and leadership gaps and economic sustainability? By re-framing and executing an institutionalized succession planning process built on flexibility and transparent criteria and benchmarks.

 

Given the need to re-think succession planning with a greater sense of urgency, we are focusing on economic sustainability in our 4th webcast on succession and transitioning planning. Hosted on the West LegalEdCenter, the webcast will take place live on December 9th at 12:30-2pm Eastern time and will be available on demand for 6 months after that.

 

We hope you will join us. For more information and to register, click here.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT AND FLEXIBILITY

Professional firms and all sorts of employers are challenged by engaging the younger generations in the workplace as well as making sure they are learning enough to handle the responsibility they are asking for. A program known as "YearOne", now entering it's second year at labor law firm Ford & Harrison, is proving to be very popular with associates and partners and accomplishing those objectives.

Started in September 2007, the program substitutes a billable hour requirement of 1,900 hours for first year associates with a requirement to compile 1,900 hours of a combination of billable and non billable (to clients) time working on key tasks they would not be likely to be given if the firm was billing their time to clients.  Meg  Holman, partner and Director of Professional Development at the firm, said in a National Law Journal article (Sept. 8, 2008): " This is souped-up mentoring that allows the associates to practice law and interact with other lawyers - not just sit in the offices doing research, never knowing how it fits into the big picture." She is surprised how fast the associates produced work that is billable once they are no longer under pressure to do so without the needed training and mentoring.

Here's praise from first year associate Valeria Cornetto: "What is expected of most second-, third-, fourth-year associates is what I am learning to do now, on the firm's dollar, so I can end up doing it a lot sooner on my own."

Now in the program's second year, second- and third-year associates can file proposals for 200 clinical hours that count toward their 1,900 hours requirement. The expansion comes as the firm has witnessed that the young associates are more capable, have established client relationships and like their jobs, according to Holman.

It seems to me that not only are the young employees more engaged, but also it is more cost-effective for the firm to implement such a program. Their associates are prepared sooner, costly turnover is reduced, and the firm trains people their way. It should also be a boon to succession planning - starting earlier to have succeeding generations know and serve key clients.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot     www.pdcounsel.com