Managing a Team with Multiple Generations in the Workplace - Your Career Intel

Managing a Team with Multiple Generations in the Workplace - Your Career IntelIn todays workplace, were seeing a situation that frankly didnt exist nearly as often only a few decades ago. Young executives are being tasked with managing older employees sometimes old enough to be their parents or even their grandparents as a difficult economy is pushing some older employees to delay retirement.Having been in a leadership dynamic like this before, I understand initial apprehension. But while asserting authority across generations in the workplace may initially be awkward, with the right techniques, older employees can be some of your teams strongest assets. In the 2010 book Managing the Older Worker, Wharton School of Business Management professor Peter Cappelli and former AARP CEO Bill Novelli showed that older workers in the workplace demonstrate exemplary job performance in a huge range of categories, including loyalty, reliability, patience, writing skills, leadership, organizatio n, and problem solving skills.As a Managing Partner, I know that these are skills I look for in my team members, regardless of age. Apply these three simple tips for managing older workers and watch your team flourish.Be Confident.When I was first tasked with managing older employees, I questioned my own abilities. Would they be more experienced and knowledgeable than I am? Would they accept my seniority? But I was made the boss for a reason and so were you. You have the vision, energy and ability to be a leader. Believe in yourself and communicate with authority. Doing so will go a long way in establishing the respect of your employees regardless of age.Solicit Feedback and Opinions.Confidence can come across as cockiness if you dont combine it with openness. Older employees have a unique perspective and a lot to share. Theres an inherent wisdom that comes from simply being in the business longer. Ask for their eingabe regularly and value their opinions, even if you ultimately don t take their advice.Put in One-on-One Time.Getting to know your employees is always important, and establishing a personal relationship with older employees is especially critical in the cross-generational workplace. Just as you may initially be uncomfortable managing older employees, these employees may also feel uncomfortable being managed by someone younger. Ive also found older workers sometimes have deeply ingrained habits that are tough to change, and a personal rapport goes a long way in modifying those if necessary. Ultimately, spending one-on-one time with these employees will build mutual respect and understanding.With these three sound management tenets, your team will find its groove in no time.What advice can you share to help others navigate these management waters? I welcome your ideas.

Before You Jump Ship, Consider These 5 Tips

Before You Jump Ship, Consider These 5 Tips Before You Jump Ship, Consider These 5 TipsBefore you jump ship at work, consider these five things that successful people do. TWEETThere is a problem with the idea of a perfect job.A recent Gallup poll shows that 69 percent of the workforce is either passively detached or actively disengaged. That adds up to 103 million people who are unhappy in their jobs a staggering thought, considering that you are statistically bound to run into several of them as you pick up your morning coffee, drop off your dry-cleaning, take the bus, and read the nachrichten online (someone had to write those articles).This epidemic of work unhappiness can have an unfortunate side effect. Once an individual realizes that he or she is not happy at work and would rather be doing something else, there is a temptation to blow it up. Never mind if the current situation is allowing you to keep a roof over your head, food in your fridge, and health care coverage It is e asy to convince yourself that jumping ship right now is the only thing you can do to be happier at work.As a professional and an executive coach, I have faced several key decisions along my career path, and have watched hundreds of professionals do the same. Some step into a similar career at a different company. Others change gears abandoning a CPA track to go to nursing school, or launching their own companies. Some transitions are successful others are devastating, financially and emotionally.Who makes the cut? How can you time the steps correctly, land on your feet, and set yourself up for more opportunity and growth? In my experience, those who get it right do these five things consistently. 1. They ask themselves, What if the thing I am doing today would HAVE to be the thing I do for the rest of my life?This limited-option scenario is an artificial one in reality, you always have choices. The challenge is in being completely honest with yourself about whether you could find a way to make your current situation work and increase your job motivation. Many people do not approach the job-unhappiness puzzle with the intention of salvaging as many pieces as they can slash and burn is the more typical, and often less constructive, approach.Sometimes, the true answer is that the pain of staying is greater than the pain of leaving. If the situation is truly un-salvageable, do what you must. However, before you jump, be sure that you have considered all possible ways to optimize what you already have. Homework Be still. Look inside. Can you honestly say that you have exhausted everything within your power to make your current work situation as good as it can possibly get and increase your happiness at work?2. They have reserves.There is no gentle way to put it career change can be expensive.The smoothest scenario is one where you interview for an obvious-fit position while still employed, give your notice, and start the new job without any employment gaps or los s of income. However, what happens if you are looking to change your track by doing something different breaking into a different industry, going back to school, or launching your own company?Financial reserves can create the most obvious safety net, but there are other reserves as well. Emotional resilience and willpower to make it through a challenging job search or a re-training program are finite resources. Do you have a well of energy, serenity, and stamina to soe into when you hit a bump on the road?Homework Changing jobs is among top life stressors, along with death in the family or a serious illness. Consider what you need to do to build up your reserves. Remember that life circumstances combined with career change can stretch your emotional and financial resources thin. Is now the right time?3. They have a great support network.Career change is not a sprint it is a marathon. Make sure you bring your cheerleaders, because you will need them.A support network isnt there to simply applaud everything you do you will need a sounding board, an accountability system, and a place to regroup after some of your efforts inevitably fail. Surround yourself with people who believe in you.Homework Make a list of your allies people with whom you can share your toughest challenges. It is OK if that list is short it is not the length of the list, but the quality of the people on it, that matters most.4. They are clear on why they are making the change.Here is a simple test straight from Steven Pressfields Do The WorkWhy are you considering this career change?For the money?For fame?For power?To prove my mother/father/ex-boyfriend/teacher/coach wrong?To serve my einbildung of how life ought to be?If you chose any one of these as your reason, pause. Not because you cannot be successful when motivated by money or a desire to prove someone wrong but because those are beginners tools, and they can only get you so far.What is really driving you? What values ideals that a re deeply personal and meaningful to you are at stake? Victor Frankl, a psychologist and a former Jewish prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp, explains in his book Mans Search for Meaning, that human beings can endure unimaginable suffering if they see a meaning in it. What will accomplishing this change mean to you and your happiness at work?Homework Consider why you are making this move. As with most questions that cannot be simply Googled, the answer may take some soulmusik searching. WHO will you get to be a result?5. They understand their value.In my experience, professionals who are brilliant at transitions are those who have a clear understanding of their unique value. I am talking about personal branding. If you think that branding is just for big corporations, I would encourage you to have another look. Everyone has a personal brand some people own it, shape it intentionally, and communicate it well, and others do not. My advice be aware of your personal brand and become purposeful in defining it.If you are considering a job or career transition, spend some time thinking beyond your static old resume, degrees, and job titles. What do you do that only you can do? What can you be counted on for? What is your superpower? What is your job motivation? What problems can you solve, and what is that worth?Homework Be able to verbalize your value in a compelling way. Your goal is to have the imaginary listener exclaim Wow Who wouldnt want you on their team?My bottom line advice, based on my years of hiring, firing, and coaching professionals, is to take careful stock before you burn bridges. While that disciplined strategy may not be as satisfying as slapping a resignation letter in your bosss face right now, the clarity and motivation that you get from understanding yourself and your current situation are worth the delayed gratification.That way, should you make the decision to leave, it will be from a place of grace, alignment, integrity, and ultimately g reater conviction.Ready to find your dream job? Hire a TopResume writer todayRelated Articles