Is your business growing or just surviving?

Like the plant that only ever gets watered when it looks wilted and depressed, many businesses only pay real attention to their people when there is an issue or concern to be addressed. Diversity classes become mandatory after enough lawsuits. New motivation & retention programs are implemented when someone realizes that they are losing all their best talent. This is not a solution, it is a reaction.

Take the time to look at the long term needs of your people. If you are one of the people, take the risk and talk to your manager/boss and say, "We need education, motivation and training BEFORE it becomes an issue. Because by then we are done."

Especially when dealing with the younger generation of employees, many of them are not going to give you the luxury of a two week notice. You'll be lucky if they even say goodbye. I've heard more stories lately of young employees leaving for lunch and not returning, taking a call (presumably confirming a new job somewhere else) and just walking out. These people don't give you the chance to change, because history has shown that business are slow to change, why not just move to somewhere that has already made the changes you want.

Foster and help your people not jus tto work well, but to LIKE their jobs and want to be there. Not just want the paycheck, but want to see the company improve, profit, and grow. This cannot be done with reactionary management and training. It can only be done with collaborative and preemptive action. You can do it, We can help. :)

I Fell into the Generaton Gap, HELP!

While researching a presentation for next week I came across this clever quiz from Success Performance Solutions about generation gaps in the office. I thought it would be a good thing to share with you. I found the quiz enjoyable because it doesn't just ask you questions, it also provides an explanation in the answers. It's good to know WHY you are wrong, not just that you are. :)

I, myself, am right on the cusp of the X/Y gap and find my loyalties doubly split. Being raised in a home with one of the Baby Boomers who fully equated time and success in the workplace with personal achievement, I had a solid belief that a shirt and tie were required at all times, and that more time in the office was time better spent. My, how that changed when I started working with Microsoft employees and their new generation approach to the whole corporate schema. The entire Seattle area really challenged a lot of people's perspective about what "professional" was.

The past few decades have been an interesting road in learning the nuances of training and managing teams with such gaps in generations and work ethics. Diversity education isn't just about race and religion, it's about culture, and culture has more variables than just where you were raised. Age does, indeed, make a difference. Hopefully, we will see more trainers take the generation gap into consideration when addressing the diversity issues in an organization.