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22 HR Magazine N o v e m b e r 2014

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COVER STORY

u H o w can em plo yers ca p tu re th e skills and kn o w le d g e

of fo u r generations? By Susan Milligan

h, those pesky Millennials, thinking they can set their own work schedules and demanding . meaning in even the most mundane office tasks. Then there are the Baby Boomers, just biding

their time until retirement, phoning it in, all the while complaining about how younger employ- J ees aren’t paying their dues. And what’s up with those folks from Generation X? Don’t they

know how to work collaboratively? These are stereotypes, of course, but they are based on many people’s perceptions as well as

real inclinations that researchers have associated with the broad generational groups. And while employers have always had to deal with tension among different age groups (experienced old-timers grousing about cocky young upstarts, and vice versa), this marks the first time in history that four distinct generations are coexisting in the labor force. They are the Traditionalists (born 1922-45),

November 2014 HR Magazine 23

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Baby Boomers (born 1946-64), Generation X (born 1965-80) and M ille n n ia l (born 1981-2000), according to Jay Meschke, president of the Cleveland-based business consulting firm CBIZ Hum an Capital Services.

Part of the reason for this four-generation mix at work is the recession, which prompted many Baby Boomers to delay retire­ ment while their 401(k)s recover. Moreover, m any T rad itio n alists—w ho w ould have been considered past retirem ent age in an earlier era—have decided to keep working, either for money or for personal satisfaction.

Each of the generations has a different way of learning, advancing and collabo­ rating. And while th at is its own challenge, H R professionals and senior managers are dealing w ith an o th er issue as well: how to ensure th a t vital knowledge and skills are being transferred among the different groups, especially since the older workers who delayed retirement during the recession are now beginning to think about leaving.

“From an H R standpoint, it’s really critical,” says Giselle Kovary, managing partner and co-founder of n-gen People Per­ formance Inc. and an expert on generational differences in the workplace. “The big piece about the generational perspective is, how does it start to impact your human capital, and what is the capital risk?”

W h y K n o w led g e Transfer M atters Technology has had an enormous impact on the need for knowl­ edge transfer and education, with the high speed of development requiring workers from every generation to learn new technolo­ gies more quickly.

Consider the telephone, says Brad Karsh, president of Chi­ cago-based professional training company JB Training Solu­ tions. When Karsh was born, his family had a rotary phone—a device created in 1918 th at didn’t change much for a half cen­ tury. By comparison, there have been five versions of the iPhone in seven years.

Fast-changing technology means workers have less time to get up to speed on im portant new skills. It also means older employ­ ees must be willing to learn from younger ones—the so-called “digital natives” who grew up immersed in computer and mobile technologies.

In addition, employers can no longer count on employees fol­ lowing routine career paths. Traditionalists, for example, likely entered the workforce with the idea th at they would have one career and possibly just a single employer. Baby Boomers and

members of Generation X were prepared to work for a number of employers, but most likely in the same field.

M illen n ial, however, are interested in both job- and career­ hopping. They might have eight different careers in their life­ times—not because they’re unhappy at work, but because they feel like a change or want to do serial, mini-retirements so they

A lo t o f com panies a re n 't ready yet fo r the loom ing retirem ents

o f olde r workers. T h e y were preparing, then stopped.'

— Deb LaMere, Ceridian

can go hiking for two months. “They’ll be a freelance writer, a chef and then an engineer,” Kovary says. “T h at’s completely reasonable to them.”

While that might produce an exciting path for the worker, it makes workforce planning a challenge for H R managers. They don’t want to lose the knowledge and ideas of the younger gen­ eration, even as they are trying to ensure knowledge transfer from older employees who may start to retire as the economic recovery proceeds.

A lot of companies aren’t ready for the looming retirements of older workers, says Deb LaMere, vice president of employee engagement at Ceridian, a Minneapolis-based HR services firm. “They were preparing, then stopped,” she notes. “Now we have to hurry up again.” And w ith the economy turning around, even employees who aren’t of retirement age are ready to make a change, even a risky one, such as starting a business or mov­ ing to another firm, she says, which adds to the uncertainty for HR managers.

T he Four G en eration s To handle the knowledge exchange—whether or not it involves people on their way out the door—managers must understand what drives the different generations and how th at affects the way they teach and learn. It’s about more th an age. Much of what defines the generations is world events and parenting styles.

Traditionalists. This generation may have lived through the Great Depression and World War II. Its members have strong ideas about loyalty and hard work, believing th at both will be rewarded with financial and professional benefits. Job-hopping

f W A TC H a video ab out m anaging fo u r generations at w ork: w w w .s h rm .o rg /1 1 1 4 -m te rg e n e ra tio n a l-k n o w le d g e -tra n s fe r

24 HR Magazine N ovem ber 2014

P a r t i c i p a n t s i n G l a x o S m i t h K l i n e ' s F u t u r e L e a d e r s P r o g r a m , w h i c h r o t a t e s w o r k e r s t h r o u g h

d i f f e r e n t d e p a r t m e n t s t o f a c i l i t a t e l e a r n i n g .

is viewed as disloyal, an d m any have m ade a life­ tim e co m m itm en t to one job o r com pany. By the sam e to k en , T ra d itio n alists are also m ore co m ­ fortable w orking on longer-term projects, Kovary notes in h er b o o k , L oyalty Unplugged: H ow to Get, Keep & G row A ll Four Generations (Xli- bris, 2007).

B a b y B o o m e r s . K n o w n as th e “ m e” g en era­ tio n , B oom ers w ere sh ap ed by th e V ietn am W ar, a tim e o f g re a t so c ial c h a n g e a n d u n c e rta in ty . T h e b ir th c o n tro l p ill gave w o m en m o re f re e ­ d o m to delay m o th e rh o o d an d p u rs u e ca re e rs, a n d th e u n re s t o f th e 196 0 s im b u ed m any w ith a sen se o f so cial re s p o n s ib ility as th e y fo u g h t “ th e E sta b lish m e n t.” L oyalty am o n g th is g ro u p is to th e te a m , n o t th e o rg a n iz a tio n o r m anager. Such em ployees te n d to o p e ra te c o m fo rta b ly in siloed o rg a n iz a tio n s , seek in g to rise to th e to p o f th e ir p a r ti c u la r se cto r. M a n y B o o m ers a re w o rk a h o lic s, w ith identities closely aligned w ith th e ir pro fessio n s.

G en era tio n X. Parenting styles changed d ra ­ m atically sta rtin g in the late 1960s, K arsh notes. Instead of having m others and fathers w ho looked like they cam e from the cast o f “Leave It to Beaver,” m any members of G eneration X grew up in homes where both p ar­ ents w orked and divorce w as increasingly com m on. As a result, they o ften fended for themselves— w alk in g to school, m aking their lunches and waiting a couple of hours at home until a parent returned from work. T h at has made for a group of employees who are perfectly happy to toil away individually, K arsh says. “They don’t like authority figures. They don’t like being told w h at to do.”

M illen n ia ls. Parenting styles underw ent big changes again in the 1980s. “T he m entality w ent from ‘My children are the m ost im p o rta n t thing in my life’ to ‘M y children are the only thing in my life,’ ” K arsh says. Kids were protected and lavishly praised, m ak in g for grow n-up w orkers w ho are eager for feedback and perhaps a bit fragile w hen it’s n o t all positive.

Lor m any M illennials, their first job o u t of college is their first job ever, K arsh says. T he percentage of teenagers w ith summ er jobs has declined steadily for the p ast 18 years. A nd increased hom ew ork loads m ean fewer kids are w orking after schcol. Kids often have th ree or more hours of hom ework a night, says Laura Sherbin, executive vice president and director o f research a t the Center for Talent Innovation in N e w York City. In addition, p a r­

ents have s teered their chil­ d ren tow ard sum m er activ­ ities such as soccer cam p instead of a job a t M cD on­ alds, acco rd in g to K arsh. N ew emp.oyees w no have never h a c to d eal w ith a boss face a big adjustm ent.

W h i le M i l l e n n i a l s tend n o t to th in k th a t they need to “ pay th e i: d u e s” to a d v a n c e a t w o rk — as older generations did— it’s

n o t fair to conclude th a t they have no w ork ethic, says Tam m y Browning, senior vice president ofU .S. Field O p eratio n sat Phil­ adelphia-based staffing firm Yoh. “They have this Justin Bieber th o u g h t process, th in k in g th ey ’ll get discovered on YouTube,” she says. Yet “they’ll still w ork 60 hours a week. They just w an t to do it on their o w n schedule.” >

Parenting styles underwent big changes again in the 1980s. The mentality went from "M y children are the mostimportantthing in my life" to "M y children are the only thing in my life .'"

— Brad Karsh, JBTraining Solutions

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Generational Learning Preferences Traditionalists Baby Boomers Generation X M illennials • Structured. • Interactive/group learning • Fluid, just-in-tim e learning • Team work and technology. • Traditional classroom through facilitation. using technology. • Edu-tainment. environm ent. • Need tim e to practice • Learn by doing— get • Link learning to making • Dislike being singled out. applying n e w skills. involved! money. • Link learning w ith overall • Link learning to n e w ways to • M ake the learning fun, skill- goals. add value. based; link to marketability.

Source: n -g e n People P e rfo rm a n c e Inc., re p rin te d w it h pe rm iss io n .

M illennials have also had to deal w ith co n stan t global in sta­ bility an d econom ic ups an d dow ns. T his has m ade them very focused on b etterin g th e co m m u n ity an d finding m ean in g at w ork, n o t just a paycheck.

“For this generation com ing up, their needs are so different. T h ere’s got to be m obility [for them]. T h ey ’re going to com e in an d w ork 12 to 15 m onths an d move o n ,” says M ichael M olina, chief hum an resources officer a t Vistage, a San Diego-based exec­ utive coaching service w ith 161 employees. “It has very little to do w ith great pay, a great environm ent or great leadership. It’s th e purpose-driven life m ost o f them w an t.”

Different Ways of Learning A lthough there are com m onalities am ong the generations, there are differences as well. Conflicts often arise from differing learn­ ing styles, especially as they relate to how inform a­ tion is acquired an d used, experts say. M illennials, for exam ple, tend to process in fo rm atio n quickly an d p refer to get it th ro u g h co m p u ters o r social m edia, B row ning says. “M illen n ials le arn faster th a n any oth er generation, and they learn in short bursts,” she explains, so forcing the youngest gen­ e ra tio n to sit th ro u g h le n g th y tr a in in g sessions tau g h t from a podium isn’t the best option.

J a n Becker, se n io r vice p re sid e n t o f h u m a n resources at the 3 -D design firm Autodesk, w hich is based in San Rafael, Calif., an d has 7,390 employ­ ees w orldw ide, has experienced the generational divide. She hosts “coffee m o rn in g s” so sta ff can brainstorm together. W hen Becker asked for feed­ back on the inform ation made available to them by the com pany, a 50-year-old lawyer and a 35-year- old engineer reacted very differently. “T he older gentlem an said, ‘Well, you need to tell me. M y m an ­ ager h a s n ’t to ld m e, an d his m an ag er h a s n ’t told him .’ H e w as very much saying, ‘You need to feed it to me. I’m n o t going to find it,’ ” Becker says. But th e younger engineer had seen all the inform ation he needed online— th ro u g h the com pany’s website

and intranet— an d didn’t w an t or need to be told anything by a manager.

Facilitating the Transfer Fortunately, there are things H R can do to m ake sure knowledge is tran sferred effectively am ong different g enerations, experts say, including through:

M en to rin g a n d re v e rse m en to rin g . In such arrangem ents, tw o employees are paired to share experience an d basic tech n i­ cal knowledge. A younger w orker proficient in social m edia or basic H T M L can teach those skills to an older w orker, an d the older individual can provide in stitu tio n al know ledge o r advice on skills th a t require experience or a learned kind of finesse, such as custom er service o r people m anagem ent.

At Vistage, a “p a l” program matches people a t sim ilar levels

26 HR Magazine N o v e m b e r 2014

J o h n S w e n e y , H R m a n a g e r a t G la x o S m ith K lin e ( a t c o m p u te r ), w o r k s w i t h e m p lo y e e s a s p a r t

o f t h e c o m p a n y 's ob r o t a t io n in it ia t iv e s .

w ith in th e o rg an izatio n so th a t th e tw o can use each o th e r as sounding b oards as well as tu to rs. C eridian has a “b u d d y ” p ro ­ gram to help y cung w orkers navigate the terrain. A nd A utodesk uses a reverse-m entoring p ro g ra m so th a t veteran staffers can learn from you nger ones. Becker herself says th a t she has som e­ one a t th e com pany w ho helps her w ith social m edia for talen t acquisition groups. “ H e ’s tw o o r th ree levels dow n from m e,” she says, “ an d , a t a m ore trad itio n a l o rg an iz atio n , I p robably w ou ld n ’t interact w ith him m uch.”

P h a s e d re tire m e n t. At the Zeeland, M ich., furniture manufac­ turer H erm an Miller Inc., w ith a staff of 6,000, employees are eli­ gible to begin t i e retirement process tw o years ahead of their actual departure date, working fewer hours as full retirement approaches. T h at allows them to ease out of the job while slowly passing on their knowledge ar.d skills to other employees in the process, says Tony Cortese, senior vice president of people services.

T he w orkers continue to get full benefits even as they reduce their hours to p a rt time, while preparing financially and emotion­ ally for the transition to retirement. “It’s a win-win solution,” Cortese says. “The employer benefits from the knowledge transfer, and the employee can co the appropriate planning.”

C a re e r p a r h in g . A t C eridian, H R has m apped career paths for positions in each division an d shares the in fo rm atio n w ith all employees. T his gives employees a clear plan if they w an t to move to a p articu la r position in th e future. Each w orker is then given a m entor to help guide him or her. “It’s integrating all the generations together. It’s tak in g th a t knowledge and experience and using it in a different capacity,” L aM ere says.

A ccording to Kovary, T rad itio n alists an d Boom ers tend to be accustom ec ro career p ath models th a t follow a conventional

“la d d e r” stru c tu re , w ith lower-level positions on b o tto m rungs building up to more-advanced roles th a t require m ore responsibility and skill. But G eneration X and M ille n n ia l may gravitate m ore to w ard p ath s th a t are spiral o r w eb-like, w ith employees moving back an d fo rth between vastly different roles and responsibility levels. By understanding these models, H R and m anagers can get a better picture of employees’ expectations and w ork w ith them to capture w hat they know at different points on their career trajectories.

J o b s h a d o w in g a n d jo b r o ta tio n . Employ­ ees in such program s either follow another w orker aro u n d in his o r her job, preparing for the pass­ ing of the baton or— in the case o f G laxoSm ith­ Kline (GSK), a global health care com pany based in Brentford, England— are rotated around to dif­ ferent jobs upon entering the company.

O v er th e p a s t few y ears, GSK h as passed hun d red s of new college grads th ro u g h various d ep a rtm en ts as p a r t o f its F u tu re Leaders P ro ­

g ram , says J o h n Sweney, one o f th e firm ’s H R m an ag ers an d director of the program . N ew an d cu rren t employees can apply for th e p ro g ra m , w hich ro tates th e w orkers th ro u g h different d ep a rtm en ts over th e co u rse of tw o o r th ree years. GSK also offers a separate internship program , and p articip an ts can apply for the Future Leaders P rogram w hen they are done. “They get exposure to different p arts of the business, having a new m anager and new m entors th ro u g h o u t,” Sweney says.

C r o s s - g e n e ra tio n a l te a m - b u ild in g e v e n ts . Bringing gen­ erations together for nonw ork tasks helps build com m unication, Becker says. At A utodesk, employees w ork together on a H ab itat for H u m an ity project. In general, the more com fortable people feel w ith each other, the more likely they are to ask one another to share w h at they know o r how to do som ething.

I n t e g r a t i n g p r o j e c t t e a m s . A t T riN e t, a San L ea n d ro , Calif.-based H R services provider, w orkers are assigned to w h at are called “cro ss-fu n ctio n al p ro ject te a m s ,” b rea k in g dow n the silos created from the basic w orkplace stru ctu re, says M o r­ gan M assie, m anager of ta len t developm ent. Employees w ork together on various initiatives o r com m ittees, an d it gets them talk in g to each other. “Different generations then w ork shoulder to shoulder, regardless of tenure, age o r experience, an d it’s an environm ent w here anyone can feel free to speak up,” she says.

Dnce H R d ep a rtm en ts begin to accom m odate a v ariety o f learning styles th a t facilitate knowledge transfer am ong the gen­ erations, they can focus more on the h um anity th a t unites every­ one— an d how to capture its w isdom for generations to come. D3

Susan Milligan is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.

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