What Boomers Want with Terri Benincasa, M.A. Ed.M.As we help you close an ever widening gulf between your company’s Boomer Bosses and Millennial Newcomers, or equally problematic, between your young staff and your Boomer customers, last month we covered Step One: Uncovering the common ground between them. Here is a quick recap of those 5 elements, as you’ll need them for Part 2:
- Appreciation of a win-win outcome.
- Need to see the value of their contribution to the company/end result.
- A desire to be seen as the best at what they do.
- Appreciation for flexibility (how that flexibility is played out is where the conflict usually arises).
- Both want to know “what’s in it for me”.
This month as promised, covers Step Two:
SPECIFIC METHODS FOR APPLYING THEIR SIMILARITIES TO OPTIMIZE THEIR DIFFERENCES
- Each One Teach One (#’s 1, 2 & 3):
Folks are much more willing to learn something if they also get to teach – it is an explicit demonstration of their value and expertise. At every level of the organizational chart, and with any major difference, have each generation teach the other their particular skill-set/strength that is missing for the other.
Example 1: Boomers are late onto the technology field, and Millennials consider their IT as another appendage; M’s have not learned the more traditional modes of communication such as writing in long-hand and formal etiquette that to Boomers is second nature. Each can mentor the other for great outcomes on both ends.
Example 2: Boomers in your business know what Boomer customers want… Millennials know what their cohort responds to. And each side prides themselves on their value to the company. So let that value play a key role in improved service outcomes by designing service/sales trainings with each generation teaching the other what they’ll need to know to be successful with the opposite group, for practice, feed-back, and help with follow-up refining as needed. - One For You, Two For Me (#’s 1 & 5):
This is a “built for a ‘what’s in it for me’ type” compromise technique. Each side of the generation gap gives the other one important thing the other wants, in return getting two of the things they want. As you can see, if done back and forth just once it’s now “even” – but each gets the most important things to them and everyone wins. - Flexing for Dollars (#4):
This is based on the simple but well-known “exceptional leadership” practice of looking at whether goals are being met instead of how an individual staff-person goes about meeting them. If I seem to always have a messy desk (in your opinion) but I outsell everyone else in my group, then that approach is clearly not causing a problem and what works for me!
An example of the generational differences in types of flexibility might be:
Boomers flex their schedule as needed to get the job done but within the office hours and on-site.
Millennials flex around in and out of office time such as telecommuting & 4 day weeks. As the song from the 70’s put it so well: “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong…”. It’s important to get away from whose approach is “right” and move to what works best for who to get the best outcome, period. - Walk a moment in my shoes (#’s3 & 5):
Getting each generation beyond their preferred modus operandi so they can see the immense value the other brings to the company table is the key here. Here’s how to do that. Schedule a “Talkin’ about My Generation” kind of event, one that’s fun but with serious intent. Have each group make the strongest argument they can for why that “generational style” is superior…but they must do it for the other generation. Each makes a presentation, as they would to a client, on what the other’s generational style adds to the bottom-line, and why they think it’s the best approach in which specific set of circumstances. Those from that generation then must critique it from the other generation’s perspective. There’s no better way to have a full understanding the value the other brings than to argue their case. By the way, this is done in law schools across the land to give law students a full understanding of the law from all sides.
Finally, the responsibility for getting cross-generational crankiness in check lies with both groups, not one more so than the other, to the contrary of some well publicized news reports on this issue. These reports have insinuated that the greatest burden for change falls on the Boomer bosses… not so, although as leaders they must take the first steps and then model the best-practice approaches for conflict resolution.
I’ve gotten you started with this 2 part series; to do this well and ultimately most effectively, bring in a seasoned professional to work with you developing solid programs and teams around this issue. Then follow through with them.
But most assuredly, do not ignore this elephant in the room. It will take over quickly, and you will spend much more time and dollars cleaning up its mess.
For more information, please visit Terri's TNNW Bio.
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