Communicating with all generations

If you often have difficulty communicating with your Gen Y kids, imagine the challenges of managing a team of younger workers.

Finding that Baby Boomers are often competitive and focused on material possessions, Tammy Erickson says, "There are very logical reasons for Boomers to love winning. When we were teenagers, we discovered there were too few seats in the school — many of us were sent outside to attend class in trailers behind the building. There were too few sports teams for us all to play, too few college admission letters. The infrastructure was too small for the size of our cohort as we squeezed through the key hole into life. There was only one logical conclusion for Boomers to draw — if life is a never-ending game of musical chairs, you better play to win, and, we have."
"The flipside is that Generation Y are less competitive because they are accustomed to playing on sports teams — even with others who don’t play well. With so many younger employees more interested in having challenge and variety than in "moving up," and so many older employees remaining in the workforce, it is more important now than ever before to understand the wants, needs and preferences of each generation."

In addition to her blog, you can check out the book she co-authored, Workforce Crisis, to better understand this critical reality of everyday.

To advertise or not to advertise - that is the question!

Traditionally most businesses cut back on advertising during economic slowdowns. They see it as an expense rather than an investment. In any slowdown, with a company naturally worried about revenues and expenses, I urge them to look at expenses that are not bringing in the revenue - adjust the thermostat, remove a light bulb or two, change your credit card processer - whatever it takes.

As the total pie of the marketplace shrinks, it is the time to ramp up the marketing/advertising. A company needs to increase its market share now. Get a bigger piece of the pie. This not only helps the current financial situation, it also positions them for when things start turning around. They now have a larger market share of a larger market.

I have had some success stories when my initiatives were followed, but, it is a hard road convincing someone to spend more money when they are concerned about making payroll.

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What are your employees doing for over two hours every day??

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People are worried about an impending recession. That has changed their work patterns. According to a study by Leadership IQ employees are wasting 44% more of their time than just one year ago. In February 2007 workers in the study (over 6000) reported wasting 1.6 hours out of a 9.1 hour day. In 2008, these same workers were wasting 2.1 hours out of the 9.2 hour work day.

So what are they doing during these two hours each and every work day that you are paying them?

In February 2007, the Top 5 timewasters were the typical culprits…

Surfing the Internet for Shopping (17% of respondents)
Surfing the Internet for Entertainment (15%)
Surfing the Internet for Personal E-Mail (10%)
Chatting with Co-Workers (9%)
Daydreaming about Positive Topics (9%)

In February 2008, the Top 5 timewasters were

Surfing the Internet for Career Improvement (21% of respondents)
Surfing the Internet for Personal Finance (17%)
Daydreaming about Negative Topics (12%)
Chatting with Co-Workers (9%)
Surfing the Internet for Entertainment (7%)

They are quite different and clearly influenced by fears about a potential recession. Mark Murphy, Chairman of Leadership IQ says, “In times of great anxiety, like an impending recession, people can get stuck in a self-reinforcing cycle where they ruminate about their anxiety which, ironically, only increases their anxiety. And of course, this vicious cycle absolutely destroys their productivity.”

Yet there is a solution to resolve this time wasting. Effective managers that set clear expectations and that communicate, listen, and respond well have more productive workers.
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