Dear Friends :
I am back again after so many months..... Here is an interesting article.. This is basically explains us the importance of the Generation Gaps and how to manage it.
Hope it will help all HR in day-to-day life.
Regds,
GSR
HOW TO MANAGE THE DIFFERENT GENERATIONS
Managers are increasingly grappling with generational differences in their work forces. Problems can arise from differing mindsets and communication styles of workers born in different eras. The frictions may be aggravated by new technology and work patterns that mix workers of different ages in ever-changing teams.
Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are competitive and think workers should pay their dues, workplace consultants say. Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1977, are more likely to be skeptical and independent-minded. Gen Ys—also known as Millennials—were born in 1978 or later and like teamwork, feedback and technology.
The key is to be able to effectively address and take advantage of the differences in values and expectations of each generation. But experts say managers must be careful not to follow blanket stereotypes. Managers must also take care not to disadvantage older workers, even inadvertently, or risk retention problems and legal headaches.
Here are some strategies:
Send your managers to class so they can learn to recognize generational differences and adapt. It’s important that managers change rather than trying to change the staff.
Facilitate mentoring between different aged employees to encourage more cross-generational interaction. Younger employees should learn to seek the experience and wisdom offered by senior employees. Older employees should learn to be open to the fresh perspectives offered by younger employees.
Offer different working options like telecommuting and working offsite. Focus on the results employees produce rather than on how they get it done. This will give employees some flexibility on how they want to work and put everybody, regardless of where they spent most of their time working, on the same scale to measure success. Telecommuting can also encourage Boomers nearing retirement to stay on staff longer since the option allows them to ‘gear down’ their workloads.
Accommodate different learning styles. Baby Boomers may favor more traditional and static training methods like Power Point presentations and handbooks, while younger workers may gravitate towards more interactive, technology-based forms of learning.
Keep employees engaged. Provide regular educational and training opportunities as well as career advice to keep all workers interested in the company. Fuel the high expectations of ambitious Millennials with special assignments that are outside of their job descriptions. Consider putting them on a task force to solve a problem or establishing a regular presence on social networking sites for the company.
Open up the office. Millennials generally don’t work well under rigid management structure. They prefer open collaborations that allow employees to share information and for everybody to contribute to decision-making. Assign work to teams of employees and have them present finished product to the entire department. The idea is to take advantage of the Millennials’ preference for teamwork and to encourage more solidarity throughout the workplace.
Toss the routines. Experts say Millennials and Gen Xers dislike the formality of regular meetings, especially when there’s nothing to discuss. Limit meetings to when there’s a real need.
Create recognition programs. Even simple gestures like a pat on the back or positive email congratulations can help boost productivity with Gen Xers. Boomers may seek status so may respond best to an office-wide memo that announces that they are meeting or exceeding their goals. Millennials may seek validation and approval so will appreciate increased responsibility and additional training opportunities. To this end, Millennials may also prefer more frequent employee reviews.
Accommodate personal employee needs. Different generations of employees will be in different stages of life and may require that employers offer some scheduling flexibility to manage their personal time. But maintain parity so other employees don’t feel alienated. Boomers who are thinking of retirement, for example, may want to cut the number of hours they work in exchange for reduced pay. Gen Xers who need to leave work early to attend a parent/teacher function can agree to make up lost time at another date. Support Millennials who may want to pursue another degree part time and extend the same educational opportunities to other employees.
Give all employees a voice. Regardless of age and tenure, give all employees a forum in which to present ideas, concerns and complaints. Department heads should facilitate open communication throughout the office and set aside time to provide honest feedback.
Don’t apply a blanket communication-method policy. Boomers may prefer to communicate by phone or in person. Millennials grew up being in constant communication with peers and coworkers so are accustomed to emailing, texting or sending instant messages.
Don’t confuse character issues like immaturity, laziness or intractability with generational traits. Whereas Boomers may see a 60-hour work week as a prerequisite to achieving success, many hard-working Millennials may prefer a more balanced life that includes reasonable working hours–with occasional bouts of overtime–and weekends off. The latter may also voluntarily choose to make up the time in unstructured settings like working at a Starbucks on weekends.
From India, Hyderabad
21I am back again after so many months..... Here is an interesting article.. This is basically explains us the importance of the Generation Gaps and how to manage it.
Hope it will help all HR in day-to-day life.
Regds,
GSR
HOW TO MANAGE THE DIFFERENT GENERATIONS
Managers are increasingly grappling with generational differences in their work forces. Problems can arise from differing mindsets and communication styles of workers born in different eras. The frictions may be aggravated by new technology and work patterns that mix workers of different ages in ever-changing teams.
Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are competitive and think workers should pay their dues, workplace consultants say. Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1977, are more likely to be skeptical and independent-minded. Gen Ys—also known as Millennials—were born in 1978 or later and like teamwork, feedback and technology.
The key is to be able to effectively address and take advantage of the differences in values and expectations of each generation. But experts say managers must be careful not to follow blanket stereotypes. Managers must also take care not to disadvantage older workers, even inadvertently, or risk retention problems and legal headaches.
Here are some strategies:
Send your managers to class so they can learn to recognize generational differences and adapt. It’s important that managers change rather than trying to change the staff.
Facilitate mentoring between different aged employees to encourage more cross-generational interaction. Younger employees should learn to seek the experience and wisdom offered by senior employees. Older employees should learn to be open to the fresh perspectives offered by younger employees.
Offer different working options like telecommuting and working offsite. Focus on the results employees produce rather than on how they get it done. This will give employees some flexibility on how they want to work and put everybody, regardless of where they spent most of their time working, on the same scale to measure success. Telecommuting can also encourage Boomers nearing retirement to stay on staff longer since the option allows them to ‘gear down’ their workloads.
Accommodate different learning styles. Baby Boomers may favor more traditional and static training methods like Power Point presentations and handbooks, while younger workers may gravitate towards more interactive, technology-based forms of learning.
Keep employees engaged. Provide regular educational and training opportunities as well as career advice to keep all workers interested in the company. Fuel the high expectations of ambitious Millennials with special assignments that are outside of their job descriptions. Consider putting them on a task force to solve a problem or establishing a regular presence on social networking sites for the company.
Open up the office. Millennials generally don’t work well under rigid management structure. They prefer open collaborations that allow employees to share information and for everybody to contribute to decision-making. Assign work to teams of employees and have them present finished product to the entire department. The idea is to take advantage of the Millennials’ preference for teamwork and to encourage more solidarity throughout the workplace.
Toss the routines. Experts say Millennials and Gen Xers dislike the formality of regular meetings, especially when there’s nothing to discuss. Limit meetings to when there’s a real need.
Create recognition programs. Even simple gestures like a pat on the back or positive email congratulations can help boost productivity with Gen Xers. Boomers may seek status so may respond best to an office-wide memo that announces that they are meeting or exceeding their goals. Millennials may seek validation and approval so will appreciate increased responsibility and additional training opportunities. To this end, Millennials may also prefer more frequent employee reviews.
Accommodate personal employee needs. Different generations of employees will be in different stages of life and may require that employers offer some scheduling flexibility to manage their personal time. But maintain parity so other employees don’t feel alienated. Boomers who are thinking of retirement, for example, may want to cut the number of hours they work in exchange for reduced pay. Gen Xers who need to leave work early to attend a parent/teacher function can agree to make up lost time at another date. Support Millennials who may want to pursue another degree part time and extend the same educational opportunities to other employees.
Give all employees a voice. Regardless of age and tenure, give all employees a forum in which to present ideas, concerns and complaints. Department heads should facilitate open communication throughout the office and set aside time to provide honest feedback.
Don’t apply a blanket communication-method policy. Boomers may prefer to communicate by phone or in person. Millennials grew up being in constant communication with peers and coworkers so are accustomed to emailing, texting or sending instant messages.
Don’t confuse character issues like immaturity, laziness or intractability with generational traits. Whereas Boomers may see a 60-hour work week as a prerequisite to achieving success, many hard-working Millennials may prefer a more balanced life that includes reasonable working hours–with occasional bouts of overtime–and weekends off. The latter may also voluntarily choose to make up the time in unstructured settings like working at a Starbucks on weekends.
From India, Hyderabad
Hi,
Here's another from TechRepublic.com website.
- Sundar
Five tips for bridging the gap between Millennials and IT
By Nathan McNeill
August 30, 2011, 2:18 PM PDT
Takeaway: Self-reliant, tech savvy, connected: Millennials have different needs and expectations from previous generations. And that could make your job easier.
There’s a notion that the Millennial generation represents a nightmare for IT support, with their tech-savvy nature and demands for the latest and greatest tools. But a recent survey conducted by GigaOM Pro and Isurus Market Research, and sponsored by Bomgar, shows that Millennials may bring more opportunities than problems to the table. This group is largely self-sufficient and collaborative when it comes to problem solving, and it’s open to using more efficient communication channels.
To take advantage of those opportunities, IT professionals need to find ways to close the gaps between Millennials’ expectations and what most IT support departments provide today.
1: Embrace mobility
The terms Millennial and mobile are nearly synonymous. It’s no secret that this generation relies on smartphones and often uses personal devices for professional purposes. Because this unchains Millennials from their desks, they tend to work more outside the office and traditional work hours. In fact, according to the survey, 50 percent of Millennials report working after hours on a weekly basis. This means that IT needs to be able to support Millennials’ devices on a 24/7 basis, no matter where they’re located.
Implement multi-platform support tools that allow you to remotely connect to and fix mobile devices. Also, consider staggering your support personnel’s hours or leveraging reps in different time zones to provide support coverage around the clock.
2: Pick up the pace — try chat
The gap between what Millennials believe is a reasonable amount of time to wait for a response and what IT is prepared to promise is significant. Thanks to customer service solutions such as OnStar and the ubiquity of Google, Millennials expect to get answers at the touch of a button.
A solution to this problem? Evaluate alternative communication channels, such as chat, to expedite the problem-to-resolution process. Unlike the phone, chat allows support reps to help multiple end users at once, which can significantly cut hold time. Plus, Millennials are used to and often prefer text-based communications to the phone. The survey found that six out of 10 Millennials said the telephone was not their first choice, and chat was among the top three choices for more than half of Millennials surveyed.
3: Tailor support to Millennials’ problem-solving patterns
The research also shows that 61 percent of Millennials look first to sources outside the company (e.g., Google) when initially trying to solve a problem. While some may think they’re just being dismissive of IT policies, Millennials are actually driven by a need to be self-sufficient and understand their technology issues. This makes them prime candidates for both self-help solutions and collaborative problem solving, which helps them learn about the issue.
Smart IT managers will engineer FAQs or self-help centers to behave more like search engines, social networks, or forums. They’ll also leverage screen-sharing technology that allows end users to watch the tech fix their computer or mobile device and learn how to avoid or fix the issue in the future. This will not only reduce future help desk calls, but reduce potential damage from Millennials receiving erroneous outsider advice.
4: Educate Millennials on IT policies
While more than half of Millennials report they follow all or most of their company’s IT policies, IT managers are skeptical, believing less than a third are actually compliant. But Millennials actually do want to follow the rules and understand the risks of not doing so. Improving education and communication about IT policies is the key. Go beyond just including a list of policies in the employee handbook; host a few lunch-and-learns to refresh everyone on the do’s and don’ts or create a fun video. Remember to explain why the policies are in place. Millennials will be more likely to follow the rules if they understand what’s behind them.
5: Collaborate to better leverage skill sets
With the introduction of new devices and applications into your IT landscape, the number and complexity of help requests will inevitably increase. Your IT support reps will need the ability to quickly leverage both internal and external SMEs to avoid a spike in escalations. With technology such as remote screen-sharing, reps can invite peers or external experts who specialize on a device into a support session, hand over the controls, and watch and learn from the experts as they fix the end users’ devices. Through better collaboration behind the scenes, you can handle most of the Millennials’ issues, in the resolution time they expect, without adding IT support staff.
From India, Indore
Here's another from TechRepublic.com website.
- Sundar
Five tips for bridging the gap between Millennials and IT
By Nathan McNeill
August 30, 2011, 2:18 PM PDT
Takeaway: Self-reliant, tech savvy, connected: Millennials have different needs and expectations from previous generations. And that could make your job easier.
There’s a notion that the Millennial generation represents a nightmare for IT support, with their tech-savvy nature and demands for the latest and greatest tools. But a recent survey conducted by GigaOM Pro and Isurus Market Research, and sponsored by Bomgar, shows that Millennials may bring more opportunities than problems to the table. This group is largely self-sufficient and collaborative when it comes to problem solving, and it’s open to using more efficient communication channels.
To take advantage of those opportunities, IT professionals need to find ways to close the gaps between Millennials’ expectations and what most IT support departments provide today.
1: Embrace mobility
The terms Millennial and mobile are nearly synonymous. It’s no secret that this generation relies on smartphones and often uses personal devices for professional purposes. Because this unchains Millennials from their desks, they tend to work more outside the office and traditional work hours. In fact, according to the survey, 50 percent of Millennials report working after hours on a weekly basis. This means that IT needs to be able to support Millennials’ devices on a 24/7 basis, no matter where they’re located.
Implement multi-platform support tools that allow you to remotely connect to and fix mobile devices. Also, consider staggering your support personnel’s hours or leveraging reps in different time zones to provide support coverage around the clock.
2: Pick up the pace — try chat
The gap between what Millennials believe is a reasonable amount of time to wait for a response and what IT is prepared to promise is significant. Thanks to customer service solutions such as OnStar and the ubiquity of Google, Millennials expect to get answers at the touch of a button.
A solution to this problem? Evaluate alternative communication channels, such as chat, to expedite the problem-to-resolution process. Unlike the phone, chat allows support reps to help multiple end users at once, which can significantly cut hold time. Plus, Millennials are used to and often prefer text-based communications to the phone. The survey found that six out of 10 Millennials said the telephone was not their first choice, and chat was among the top three choices for more than half of Millennials surveyed.
3: Tailor support to Millennials’ problem-solving patterns
The research also shows that 61 percent of Millennials look first to sources outside the company (e.g., Google) when initially trying to solve a problem. While some may think they’re just being dismissive of IT policies, Millennials are actually driven by a need to be self-sufficient and understand their technology issues. This makes them prime candidates for both self-help solutions and collaborative problem solving, which helps them learn about the issue.
Smart IT managers will engineer FAQs or self-help centers to behave more like search engines, social networks, or forums. They’ll also leverage screen-sharing technology that allows end users to watch the tech fix their computer or mobile device and learn how to avoid or fix the issue in the future. This will not only reduce future help desk calls, but reduce potential damage from Millennials receiving erroneous outsider advice.
4: Educate Millennials on IT policies
While more than half of Millennials report they follow all or most of their company’s IT policies, IT managers are skeptical, believing less than a third are actually compliant. But Millennials actually do want to follow the rules and understand the risks of not doing so. Improving education and communication about IT policies is the key. Go beyond just including a list of policies in the employee handbook; host a few lunch-and-learns to refresh everyone on the do’s and don’ts or create a fun video. Remember to explain why the policies are in place. Millennials will be more likely to follow the rules if they understand what’s behind them.
5: Collaborate to better leverage skill sets
With the introduction of new devices and applications into your IT landscape, the number and complexity of help requests will inevitably increase. Your IT support reps will need the ability to quickly leverage both internal and external SMEs to avoid a spike in escalations. With technology such as remote screen-sharing, reps can invite peers or external experts who specialize on a device into a support session, hand over the controls, and watch and learn from the experts as they fix the end users’ devices. Through better collaboration behind the scenes, you can handle most of the Millennials’ issues, in the resolution time they expect, without adding IT support staff.
From India, Indore
Hi,
Here's another from TechRepublic.com website. This article below is for IT organizations, but a good read.
- Sundar
Five tips for bridging the gap between Millennials and IT
By Nathan McNeill
August 30, 2011, 2:18 PM PDT
Takeaway: Self-reliant, tech savvy, connected: Millennials have different needs and expectations from previous generations. And that could make your job easier.
There’s a notion that the Millennial generation represents a nightmare for IT support, with their tech-savvy nature and demands for the latest and greatest tools. But a recent survey conducted by GigaOM Pro and Isurus Market Research, and sponsored by Bomgar, shows that Millennials may bring more opportunities than problems to the table. This group is largely self-sufficient and collaborative when it comes to problem solving, and it’s open to using more efficient communication channels.
To take advantage of those opportunities, IT professionals need to find ways to close the gaps between Millennials’ expectations and what most IT support departments provide today.
1: Embrace mobility
The terms Millennial and mobile are nearly synonymous. It’s no secret that this generation relies on smartphones and often uses personal devices for professional purposes. Because this unchains Millennials from their desks, they tend to work more outside the office and traditional work hours. In fact, according to the survey, 50 percent of Millennials report working after hours on a weekly basis. This means that IT needs to be able to support Millennials’ devices on a 24/7 basis, no matter where they’re located.
Implement multi-platform support tools that allow you to remotely connect to and fix mobile devices. Also, consider staggering your support personnel’s hours or leveraging reps in different time zones to provide support coverage around the clock.
2: Pick up the pace — try chat
The gap between what Millennials believe is a reasonable amount of time to wait for a response and what IT is prepared to promise is significant. Thanks to customer service solutions such as OnStar and the ubiquity of Google, Millennials expect to get answers at the touch of a button.
A solution to this problem? Evaluate alternative communication channels, such as chat, to expedite the problem-to-resolution process. Unlike the phone, chat allows support reps to help multiple end users at once, which can significantly cut hold time. Plus, Millennials are used to and often prefer text-based communications to the phone. The survey found that six out of 10 Millennials said the telephone was not their first choice, and chat was among the top three choices for more than half of Millennials surveyed.
3: Tailor support to Millennials’ problem-solving patterns
The research also shows that 61 percent of Millennials look first to sources outside the company (e.g., Google) when initially trying to solve a problem. While some may think they’re just being dismissive of IT policies, Millennials are actually driven by a need to be self-sufficient and understand their technology issues. This makes them prime candidates for both self-help solutions and collaborative problem solving, which helps them learn about the issue.
Smart IT managers will engineer FAQs or self-help centers to behave more like search engines, social networks, or forums. They’ll also leverage screen-sharing technology that allows end users to watch the tech fix their computer or mobile device and learn how to avoid or fix the issue in the future. This will not only reduce future help desk calls, but reduce potential damage from Millennials receiving erroneous outsider advice.
4: Educate Millennials on IT policies
While more than half of Millennials report they follow all or most of their company’s IT policies, IT managers are skeptical, believing less than a third are actually compliant. But Millennials actually do want to follow the rules and understand the risks of not doing so. Improving education and communication about IT policies is the key. Go beyond just including a list of policies in the employee handbook; host a few lunch-and-learns to refresh everyone on the do’s and don’ts or create a fun video. Remember to explain why the policies are in place. Millennials will be more likely to follow the rules if they understand what’s behind them.
5: Collaborate to better leverage skill sets
With the introduction of new devices and applications into your IT landscape, the number and complexity of help requests will inevitably increase. Your IT support reps will need the ability to quickly leverage both internal and external SMEs to avoid a spike in escalations. With technology such as remote screen-sharing, reps can invite peers or external experts who specialize on a device into a support session, hand over the controls, and watch and learn from the experts as they fix the end users’ devices. Through better collaboration behind the scenes, you can handle most of the Millennials’ issues, in the resolution time they expect, without adding IT support staff.
From India, Indore
Here's another from TechRepublic.com website. This article below is for IT organizations, but a good read.
- Sundar
Five tips for bridging the gap between Millennials and IT
By Nathan McNeill
August 30, 2011, 2:18 PM PDT
Takeaway: Self-reliant, tech savvy, connected: Millennials have different needs and expectations from previous generations. And that could make your job easier.
There’s a notion that the Millennial generation represents a nightmare for IT support, with their tech-savvy nature and demands for the latest and greatest tools. But a recent survey conducted by GigaOM Pro and Isurus Market Research, and sponsored by Bomgar, shows that Millennials may bring more opportunities than problems to the table. This group is largely self-sufficient and collaborative when it comes to problem solving, and it’s open to using more efficient communication channels.
To take advantage of those opportunities, IT professionals need to find ways to close the gaps between Millennials’ expectations and what most IT support departments provide today.
1: Embrace mobility
The terms Millennial and mobile are nearly synonymous. It’s no secret that this generation relies on smartphones and often uses personal devices for professional purposes. Because this unchains Millennials from their desks, they tend to work more outside the office and traditional work hours. In fact, according to the survey, 50 percent of Millennials report working after hours on a weekly basis. This means that IT needs to be able to support Millennials’ devices on a 24/7 basis, no matter where they’re located.
Implement multi-platform support tools that allow you to remotely connect to and fix mobile devices. Also, consider staggering your support personnel’s hours or leveraging reps in different time zones to provide support coverage around the clock.
2: Pick up the pace — try chat
The gap between what Millennials believe is a reasonable amount of time to wait for a response and what IT is prepared to promise is significant. Thanks to customer service solutions such as OnStar and the ubiquity of Google, Millennials expect to get answers at the touch of a button.
A solution to this problem? Evaluate alternative communication channels, such as chat, to expedite the problem-to-resolution process. Unlike the phone, chat allows support reps to help multiple end users at once, which can significantly cut hold time. Plus, Millennials are used to and often prefer text-based communications to the phone. The survey found that six out of 10 Millennials said the telephone was not their first choice, and chat was among the top three choices for more than half of Millennials surveyed.
3: Tailor support to Millennials’ problem-solving patterns
The research also shows that 61 percent of Millennials look first to sources outside the company (e.g., Google) when initially trying to solve a problem. While some may think they’re just being dismissive of IT policies, Millennials are actually driven by a need to be self-sufficient and understand their technology issues. This makes them prime candidates for both self-help solutions and collaborative problem solving, which helps them learn about the issue.
Smart IT managers will engineer FAQs or self-help centers to behave more like search engines, social networks, or forums. They’ll also leverage screen-sharing technology that allows end users to watch the tech fix their computer or mobile device and learn how to avoid or fix the issue in the future. This will not only reduce future help desk calls, but reduce potential damage from Millennials receiving erroneous outsider advice.
4: Educate Millennials on IT policies
While more than half of Millennials report they follow all or most of their company’s IT policies, IT managers are skeptical, believing less than a third are actually compliant. But Millennials actually do want to follow the rules and understand the risks of not doing so. Improving education and communication about IT policies is the key. Go beyond just including a list of policies in the employee handbook; host a few lunch-and-learns to refresh everyone on the do’s and don’ts or create a fun video. Remember to explain why the policies are in place. Millennials will be more likely to follow the rules if they understand what’s behind them.
5: Collaborate to better leverage skill sets
With the introduction of new devices and applications into your IT landscape, the number and complexity of help requests will inevitably increase. Your IT support reps will need the ability to quickly leverage both internal and external SMEs to avoid a spike in escalations. With technology such as remote screen-sharing, reps can invite peers or external experts who specialize on a device into a support session, hand over the controls, and watch and learn from the experts as they fix the end users’ devices. Through better collaboration behind the scenes, you can handle most of the Millennials’ issues, in the resolution time they expect, without adding IT support staff.
From India, Indore
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