Category: Working Smarter

Before your meeting starts, two forty-something managers discuss the latest episode of Men of a Certain Age, which the slightly older woman across the table missed from watching Glee with her teenage twins. The mid-level associate and her girlfriends are hooked on America’s Next Top Model, though last night they skipped it because of working late. The jeans and sneakers designer watches TV only on his computer. But with several freelance clients, a few original apps in development, and the search for venture capital for an idea he’s considering with a college friend, he doesn’t have much time for nighttime TV. Excited with the newness of the workplace, the only bright-eyed person eagerly awaiting your presentation is the intern: she’s so down with it.

Many managers consider this melting pot of generations a challenge. Smart business people see opportunity and, not so surprisingly, increased productivity.

From a total U.S. population of 307 million, about a half (154 million) is employed. At the younger (and more optimistic) end we find Millennials, or Gen Y, between 15 and 32 years of age, just arriving on the scene. Gen Xers, aged 33 to 45, are moving up. Boomers, aged 46 to 64, move beyond and are less optimistic. At the bookends we have Gen We, aged 0 to 14, and Matures, 65+. Here is a breakdown:

• Matures constitute 5% of the workforce (or 7MM). Their total population number is 40MM, which means 33MM of matures do not work.
• Boomers constitute 38% of the workforce (or 59MM). Total population number is 75MM. 16MM of boomers do not work.
• Gen Xers constitute 32% of the workforce (or 50MM). Total population number is 54MM. Only 4MM Gen Xers do not work.
• Millennials constitute 25% of the workforce (or 38.5MM). Total population number is 77MM, which means half of them do not work.
• And the population of Gen We’s totals 62MM.

In other words, a few more Matures work past retirement age than just U.S. Senators and Supreme Court judges. Boomers are, for the most part, not riding into the early retirement sunset of financial planning ads, but staying put and getting in the way of Gen Xers. Gen Xers have no choice but to go to work every day to pay growing bills. Gen Xers, and increasingly more Boomers, also provide for the half of the Millennials not holding a job yet, and for Gen We’s, which would be illegal to put to work, although some might be tempted. And the working half of Millennials has seen more layoffs in their short work lives than the rest of the generations combined.

Across generations, percentages of feeling awful or excellent about their jobs are low. Most are in the middle, feeling good or fair, with expectations of continuing to feel the same way in the next 12 months. Still, 50% of employees have considered leaving their job, and 21% have applied for another one in the past six months. It’s a restless crowd.

While half of Millennials don’t work yet, a majority of those who do (79%) are entrepreneurs at heart, either self-employed (27%), starting a new business because of being unemployed (21%), or moonlighting after regular work hours. This generation doesn’t lust after a private office. Cubes are fine but, basically, they can (and do) work anywhere. In meetings, if you see them slumped in their chairs, texting, or paying more attention to their laptops than the presenter, it’s because 71% think that meetings are a waste of time. Interestingly, 51% of Boomers agree.

Millennials see everyone as equal partners, people to collaborate with. Managers should pay attention when someone calls them “dude,” then shares ideas or asks for opinions, because Millennials seek proof that their contributions matter. They’d like a seat at the table, check-ins, and acknowledgment. They appreciate a good culture, are casual but not lazy, prefer a flexible structure, and put satisfaction over salary.

They also can’t (don’t seem to be wired to) hold onto a job. Six in ten have already switched careers at least once, with the same number feeling certain they won’t remain at the current employer forever. In comparison, 62% of Gen Xers think it’s very likely they’ll never leave, and 82% of Boomers expect to remain. With this much clogging of the way up, is it any wonder, then, that Millennials prefer to start their own gig?

Gen Xers, caught in the middle, are the saddest of the bunch. With mortgages to pay, Gen We’s to raise, and young Millennials in college, it seems that every Gen Xer works because he (and she) has to—this is necessity-induced equality at its finest. With so many obligations, flexibility is not a choice, but a need. Work must pay off personally and monetarily, though a great majority, if they could, would start over.

Gen Xers work hard, work to live, and don’t expect rewards. They are results-oriented and self-directed, creatively identify workarounds and, eventually, decide that enough is enough and pull a Slater—remember the flight attendant who escaped the JetBlue airliner down a slide onto the airport tarmac after a profanity-laced tirade? He’s now a hero of sorts, though the count of those seriously considering imitating him has yet to be computed.

In Boomer-speak, Retirement is passé, ReHirement the new black. Raised and groomed on the carrot and stick pathway to rewards, they’ve come to believe that a career path should be as flexible as they want it to be: less Walmart greeter jobs; more legacy opportunities, more chances to make a difference with experience, knowledge and meaningful mentoring. With downsized expectations regarding income, and part time aspirations regarding job commitment, this is the generation that may actually experience work/life balance. Except, that is, for those who will reach the far side of 60 before their children get to college.

Boomers fear loss of a job as much as they dread loss of health. They run, bike or climb mountains to maintain youthful vitality, but still two thirds believe that laptops and meeting efficiency don’t go together, and that cells contribute to a decline of etiquette. Yet they are more likely to friend you on Facebook than any other generation. At work, a private office is preferable to the Gen Xers cube, or the Millennials break room, Starbucks, or kitchen table.

So, put them in a blender, shake them all around, and what do we get: A potent concoction of people of all ages stretching the limits of flexibility. Millennials expect it, Gen Xers need it, and Boomers demand it. Casual is the new suit. Results the only measure of success. Mobility and flexibility equal productivity. And technology is the great connector. We shall call this Generation Flex.

Going back to your meeting, as you present, you notice that the twenty-something new hire barely looks up from his computer. He might be writing to the production department or forwarding his twitsume. The next woman replies to all texts, which might be from the client or the baby sitter. Only the mature guy takes notes on a notepad, but he could be drafting his will, planning a trip to Kenya, or writing himself a reminder to pick up his ten-year-old on the way home.

No matter how distracted they appear, you know that the work will get done, and faster than ever. And that more desire, thought and enthusiasm will go into growing your business, creating good systems, improving technology and collaborating for maximum efficiency than at any other time in history.

In multi-generational-speak: it’s sick, awesome, great. Dude.

All data gleaned from “Generations At Work,” a webinar by Iconoculture, May 24, 2011.

TV producers keep stacking the programs based on real life bad girls, bachelors, big losers, survivors, celebrity wannabes. Reality TV is huge. But drama continues to dominate the top of the charts. From my own highly unscientific five minute Google research, I found that 99.9% of shows at top levels of popularity are about work – what we do, how we do it, the people we do it with. Reality TV might get tabloid front-page exposure, but are we turning our attention elsewhere because aspiring idols are, for the most part, idle?

Advertisers study audiences, place ads, anticipate outcomes, measure results. They (we) see TV as an opportunity for business—my apologies for stating the obvious. The consumer sits down to dinner and may or may not notice that the actors who try to sell us the car, the laundry detergent, the body cream, the beer, the soft drink are doing all kinds of interesting things, though they are seldom pictured at work—often true also for guys who sell us computers. Sure we might remember the brands next time we shop. But mostly, what we remember are the people whose fictional professional lives play before our eyes in between commercials.

Gorgeous law enforcers (police, CSI, NCIS, and CIA officers, lawyers, fire fighters) and criminals (psychopaths, gangsters, terrorists) abound. So do buff and/or leggy doctors who could as soon intubate you as pose for the Old Spice commercial. One would think that splitting open a person, dead or alive, or plotting for world domination is what supermodels do after fashion week is over. This is the fun part of watching these shows – escape. I, too, would perform neurosurgery if I looked like Olivia Wilde. Since most of us don’t, we are keeping our day jobs.

But get into the nitty-gritty of how these people go about their jobs and we start feeling more at home.

Dr. House and the colleagues he tortures; the many casts of forensic scientists and investigators; the lawyers and judges; the outlaw bikers – all are passionate about what they do. Occasionally, someone questions their job or wants to leave the precinct, usually signifying some off camera event forcing the actor off the show. Else the doubter is a villain. Our heroes, to a T [except for the lazy bunch of The Office], are all doing what they excel at, what gives them the most satisfaction, the job that signifies the logical outcome of aspirations that stem from education, talent and natural inclination.

Well. Isn’t that what we all want to do, too? Get up in the morning knowing that we’ll spend the day at the right place, with the most exciting challenges, where there is the best opportunity for growth and development? For enjoyment? And if this is not happening to you right now in the job you have, aren’t you already fantasizing about the job that will give you all of the above? A great company can give you both: the right job for you today, a better job to aspire to tomorrow.

I speak in general. But I also speak of SolutionSet, where a talent for selling, servicing, creating and developing great work for our clients can (should, will) lead to great personal success. Where you can have the job opportunities that make you happy to get out of bed and into the commute. And, in our world, you’ll never have to remove a dead roach from a decomposing body in order to move ahead.

Dexter Morgan and Dr. Meredith Grey have something else in common. They are always on call. They may pick up the phone grudgingly at 3AM, or make a plot-moving mistake after a sixty-hour shift. But they are always available. I wouldn’t say that this is aspirational. But it seems to go with the territory. I love my job, I am happy with my job, I seem not to mind being always on the job.

Sci-Fi shows are particularly telling in this regard. After all, if you live in a ship that’s crossing the galaxy, personal and work time tend to blend in inevitably. In the old Star Trek The Next Generation, people had to beam up to Risa, a pleasure planet they passed by about every few million light years, to get a break. Otherwise it was all Enterprise, all the time. Can you relate?

Put in another way, TV shows are not great on work/life balance, but they make up for it by giving characters a job they absolutely love, thus life balance may matter less. Those of us who identify (liking it or not) with this aspect of the work life as seen on TV can, in real life, look forward to the company holidays and vacation time and beer Fridays that provide a breather after a long stretch, which people on Bones barely know exist.

After all, were we to put in the non-stop dedication of our TV role models, we would enter the world of soap. Of friendships and romances and personal conflicts of people with no home life - an HR minefield of extraordinary proportions that I may tackle in my next contribution: If McDreamy Worked Here.

For now, let’s say that TV sells us the product and the lifestyle. Not the pretend lifestyle of leisure, luxury, fun or games of advertising. But the hard-working, committed, professional stories of people we’d like to meet in real life. And if anyone has Dr. House’s cell phone, please pass it along.

At the very least, as the HR Lady, that’s how I see it.