The Changing Workplace: Managing Trends and Differences. Part I.
Feb 22, 2022
What is your role in workplace management? What are the trends? What are the issues?
“The workplace has become increasingly diverse and complex, as employees have to manage generational differences between four groups: Gen Z, Gen Y (Millennials), Gen X, and Baby Boomers. Each generation was born in a different time period, has diverse workplace preferences, and needs to be managed in a different way. Generational perspectives are formed based on the time period that each grew up in and they carry lasting beliefs as they progress in their careers. Today, it’s increasingly important to create a workplace culture that understands and supports generational differences.” All this according to Dan Schawbel, a New York Times bestselling author and Managing Partner of Workplace Intelligence.
I don’t know about you but I am growing tired of talk of the millenials. Not the millennials per se, you understand. I find them generally quite engaging, energetic, anxious to learn.
I am tired of all of the articles and blather about how they are different (but of course not one from the other) and need special care and attention. And of course, intergenerational issues need attention (this has never happened before?) And blah, blah, blah.
My experience suggests that millennials are little different from when I started out as a department head at 21 supervising four people, including the incumbent who was 64 – talk about inexperience meeting intergenerational issues. And we are in the midst of a generational change of leadership, skipping from the 60-something boomer to the 30-something millennial.
Now here is an article that makes sense. Every employer should read it. Every supervisor/coach/mentor to millennials should pass it on. It gives credit. It is respectful. Yet it offers solid advice. It accounts for change and difference.
To navigate the new workplace, Schawbel says millennials need to master a new set of rules that aren’t taught in school. Advances in technology, the rise of social media, and 24/7 connectivity mean young people have to promote themselves and take ownership of their careers in ways that previous generations wouldn’t or couldn’t have imagined.
Based on interviews and original research, Schawbel reveals the new rules of the workplace that young people must learn to get ahead. 14 Rules Of The New Workplace That Millennials Need To Master (much abbreviated here) opens doors for discussion, mentoring, and career support – in order to retain and promote great talent. This is adapted from the introduction of his book Promote Yourself.
1. Your job description is just the beginning. You’ll have to do a lot more than what you got hired to do.
2. Your job is temporary. As the world changes, so does the workplace.
3. You’re going to need a lot of skills you probably don’t have right now. Companies are looking for leadership, organizational, teamwork, listening, and coaching skills.
4. Your reputation is the single greatest asset you have. What really matters is what you're known for, the projects you’re part of, how much people trust you, whom you know, who knows about you, and the aura you give off to people around you.
5. Your personal life is now public. Even the littlest things — how you behave, dress, your online presence, body language, and whom you associate with can help build your brand or tear it to the ground.
6. You need to build a positive presence in new media. There are plenty of benefits to new media and the convergence between your personal and private lives.
7. You’ll need to work with people from different generations. By learning how to manage relationships with those in other generations, you will be more successful.
8. Your boss’s career comes first. If you support your manager’s career, make life easier, and earn trust, reciprocity is returned.
9. The one with the most connections wins. It’s more about whether you can work with other people to solve problems.
10. Remember the rule of one. All it takes is one person to change your life for the better.
11. You are the future. Position yourself to take one of these major leadership roles when the workforce shifts and older generations retire.
12. Entrepreneurship is for everyone, not just business owners. "Entrepreneurship" has broadened -- be persistent, sell your ideas, and come up with innovative solutions no one else has thought of.
13. Hours are out, accomplishments are in. Realize your value, deliver on it, measure your successes, and then promote yourself.
14. Your career is in your hands, not your employer’s. If you aren't learning and growing, you aren't benefiting anymore, and that's an issue that you will have to resolve.
Great advice for coaching new leaders and incorporating into your succession management plans – for operational and board leadership.
Next week – The Top Ten Workplace Trends for 2022.
What are your main “pain points” coaching millennials? What advice would be most helpful to you? And we always assume that you are asking for a friend!
Get in touch. We’ll address your questions and concerns in an upcoming blog post.
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