The Power of Negative Blogging

Since I’ve been giving Generational Training programs I have learned one valuable lesson that many of my clients haven’t accepted yet. The older generations need to adapt more than the younger generations do. I offer both types of training. One is Generation X and Y: The Xs and Os of Recruiting, Managing and Retaining the New Workforce is geared towards showing managers how the younger workers tick and how to use that information to augment their management styles. The other is Generation Y: Business etiquette and Y you need it! which is a real world, straight talking course to show younger workers what is expected of them in the workplace. Which do you think managers are asking for more often?

Managers want their new hires and employees to adapt to the old style of communications and standards they use. They are not interested in changing the way they manage. This is a dangerous way of thinking because as the workplace gets younger and their culture takes hold things that once were thought of as inappropriate in the workplace become more acceptable. Evolution always happens towards the young. If you think texting is a fad, guess what? You’ll soon be the dinosaur in your office, with your archaic ideas and methods. If you don’t change, your world will. As older employees, you must change with the times or like the typewriter, you will be obsolete and discarded before you realize your done. This isn’t about adopting the hot new thing. It’s about creating and maintaining your value. It’s about being part of the future, not a part of the past.

Does that mean all your ideas are worthless? Just the opposite! But studies show that information sharing is not as abundant across generations as you may think.

From Computer World:

In an online survey by employment services provider Randstad USA, 51% of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964, according to this survey) and 66% of the generation that preceded the boomers reported having little to no interaction with colleagues from Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1988). No contact, no knowledge transfer. And with the baby-boom generation regarded as the storehouse of most institutional knowledge, Randstad concludes that U.S. businesses risk a shortage of skilled labor, not because of a dearth of manpower in the wake of baby boomers’ retirements, but because of a limited transfer of that knowledge.

After all, as Randstad points out, members of Gen Y in the workforce currently outnumber still-working baby boomers, 79.8 million to 78.5 million. Randstad urges businesses to foster more collaboration among their workers, something that may require tearing down perceptions of basic differences among the various generations.

Is this because Gen Y doesn’t ask enough questions? Or is it that Boomers don’t want to give the keys to the castle to their potential replacements? Either way, the company suffers. Organizations must set up mentoring programs if they want any kind of long term continuity. Pairing up younger workers with established employees allows both the opportunity to learn and update their skills. The older generation can learn new tools and methods while the younger gains experience and insight to the industry and company process.

Companies need to make concerted efforts to join these generational forces or they too will become obsolete.

Information isn’t something to be held onto for leverage, it is to be shared to improve all.