Meagan Johnson - Generational Speaker

Solve Your Challenges and Bridge the Gap between Generations at Your Multigenerational Workforce

Understanding Generations in the Workplace

Baby Boomers in the Workforce – How to Leverage the Strengths

How can we leverage the strengths of baby boomers in the workforce? What impact do aging baby boomers have on our younger employees?

In 1967, the Beatles – a favorite boy band among the baby-boomer recorded a song titled ‘Will you still love me when I’m sixty-four’. Turns out that question is quite outdated. According to AARP, 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day. That means 7 baby boomers a minute are turning 65.

Baby Boomers in the Workforce

According to CNBC, 10,000 baby boomers are retiring every day. What does this mean? This means that organizations are losing access to that valuable institutional knowledge at an alarming rate.

The window of opportunity is closing. You might think that baby boomers in the workforce are staying as long as they can. We don’t consider 65 that old anymore. Baby boomers are living longer. They are more active. They are healthy and also, financially they want to continue to contribute to their retirement account. 65 percent of baby boomers plan on working past the age of 65! However, the way baby boomers work has changed.

Baby Boomers Staying in the Workforce

We always call baby boomers ‘the generation that lives to work‘. But now, baby boomers have flipped the tables and they really are the generation that is working to live! They’re working part-time. Work-life balance has become a priority and they also are focusing more on their hobbies. Focusing so much on their hobbies that those hobbies have now become their new career pursuits.

I recently interviewed a baby boomer who retired from human resources. She now works in a gardening shop, because gardening was always her passion that she pursued over the weekends. But now, she has retired and she works in a gardening shop and that is her new calling.

It is vital that we tap into the baby boomers knowledge before they take their skill sets and move onto different pastures.

Baby Boomers in the Workforce

How are Baby Boomers Affecting the Workplace

What can older workers teach our younger workers?

One of the most important skills set that baby boomers can pass along is how to manage your work.

I know that when I first began my career, I struggled with how to manage my time. It took a long time to do simple things because I didn’t really know how to prioritize well.

Baby boomers have learned how to prioritize. Younger people have a lot on their plate. They’re balancing their careers along with their children. Sometimes they are also coordinating with the spouse’s chaotic schedule. They may have a difficult boss or challenging clients. They’re also trying to move up the ladder.

Baby boomers have learned to prioritize and how to delegate. The fine art of pushing back when presented with unreasonable demands. They can help younger employees prioritize when it comes to finances.

Baby Boomers Working with Millennials

In one of my earlier segments, I discussed how Millennials are the most financially concerned of all generations. Well, baby boomers are a great generation to tap into about wise decisions when it comes to finances.

One of the biggest regrets I hear from baby boomers is that they should have started saving
sooner!  What better opportunity for millennial to learn how to save and how to prioritize their spending.

What Can Millennials Teach Baby Boomers?

Well, they can teach them how to build their network!

After we turned 50, we stop building our circle of contacts or friends. Our children are grown, so we don’t have that connection with other young parents.

We’ve maybe retired, but we’re pursuing other activities and we tend to let our circle sort of stay the same. Young people, they’re in that mode of building their circle and their connections. And what a wonderful opportunity to learn how to build your circle!

As we age, it becomes more and more important that we really bring in diversity into our lives.

Millennial Managers – Challenges Millennials Face in the Workplace

Millennial Managers face many challenges in the workplace today!

How are these millennial managers and bosses shape the culture of a company? Is there a guide for successful management?

I was recently pulled over by a police officer because I was speeding.

It’s embarrassing enough getting a speeding ticket, but imagine my embarrassment when I rolled down the window. I took a look at the officer and blurted out: “You’re not old enough to have a driver’s license much less write me a ticket!”

As she wrote me the ticket it dawned on me that I was guilty of something that many of my baby boomer parent’s friends are guilty of. They have this frozen picture of me in their mind as a kid. The idea that I am an adult, live on my own and have a job – they struggle with that.

Many of us have similar thoughts about Millennials.

The oldest millennial was born in 1981. That makes them about 37 years old. When I was 37, I already had a divorce under my belt!

So this idea that they are still new to the workplace, they’re just out of school, that’s really outdated.

Challenges Millennials Face in the Workplace

Millennials are facing the challenge that many of us didn’t face at that age. Managing people that are considerably older than they are! The teams that these millennial managers are leading are all ages.

The older people distrust Millennials because they do not feel the Millennials have real-world experience. That lack of trust from older employees can be a roadblock to success and building strong work relationships.

Millennial Managers

Millennial Management Style

I interviewed a millennial manager and I asked him how he dealt with these issues. He said that when he joins a new team, he just treads really carefully at first. No need to go in with guns blazing talking about change.

He takes time to get to know the team members and he’s upfront with them. He states the obvious – that he’s younger than them, and that they most probably have more experience than he does. When issues arise, he asks them how they’d handle this problem.

Millennial Managers in the Workplace

You have to keep in mind if you are a Millennial that some of your older employees will look to you to demonstrate traits that they find are important in a good leader. And some of those traits may seem somewhat traditional to you, such as coming in early, staying late, working from the office etc.

Those are traits that baby boomers and Gen Xers associate with hard-working leaders.
According to a Deloitte survey, Millennials want to make a difference and they want to challenge the old ways of doing things.

As more millennials become leaders and managers, they will continue to challenge and change corporate culture. Not only the culture but rules and policies that older employees have always perceived as untouchable. Policies like dress code, time off, personal time, and working from home. And when that happens, I encourage older employees to not take it personally.

Millennial Leaders

As one millennial manager said to me: “When I make a change, I’m challenging the process, not the person!”

No matter what generation we belong to, we all benefit from strong leaders. Leaders who see opportunity. Leaders who encourage us to grow. Ones who support us even when our ideas are not successful.

It’s good leaders from every generation – that’s how we’re going to work and live successfully as one.

Millennials and Transparency – How to Demonstrate Transparency in the Workplace

Millennials and Transparency – what do millennials care about in the workplace? Millennials are born after 1980. They’re the young generation in the workforce.

I recently interviewed a millennial who just made a job change. I asked him why did he leave his previous employer. His answer was that he wanted his work to be meaningful and he wanted to know that what he does within the organization matters.

I thought it was a great answer, however, I asked him how does a company do that? How is this organization demonstrated to him that his work is meaningful?

His answer was very simple. He said: “My leaders are transparent.”

Millennials and Transparency

Yes, we’re talking about transparency.

And I will be honest, it wasn’t so transparent to me what transparency really meant. Especially when it comes to the millennial generation, because to me, transparency was always brutal honesty. But after further digging, I discovered that true organizational transparency gives Millennials insight into the decision-making processes and opportunities to contribute in meaningful ways.

It’s not just being told what to do, but it’s also understanding the why.

How to Demonstrate Transparency in the Workplace

So… What actions can leaders take to demonstrate their transparency?

One is honesty – with good info and bad. It’s easy to be honest when the info is good, but it’s a little trickier when the info is bad.

Another millennial I spoke to that was laid off said to me that she understands layoffs happen. However, what was so discouraging was that the process was not transparent. One day they received a letter that made it sound like everybody was going to be laid off. Three days later they received another letter that made it sound like some of the jobs were going to be saved. It wasn’t transparent. When it was all over, her manager said that he didn’t know what was going on.  She didn’t believe him.

Millennials and Transparency

How to Demonstrate Transparency

Another way to be transparent is addressing conflict – not letting it foster transparency. Being seen and available.

One of my clients holds weekly meetings and the day before the meeting she encourages everyone to post questions they would like addressed in the meeting. She said they can post the questions anonymously or not, as they wish. If there are multiple questions, she asks the team to vote on the questions that they want to be addressed first.

According to the Deloitte survey, open communication and transparency are one of the guiding factors of job satisfaction for Millennials.

What Can Leaders Do to Demonstrate Transparency

Leaders need to welcome candid feedback from their millennial employees if they want to to foster this transparent communication.

One of my clients asks their millennial employees different questions each and every week.

The questions range from:

  • How can the company make their work-life balance easier?
  • What can they do to make them more productive?
  • On a scale of one to ten, how would they rank this place as a place they would recommend working?

Transparency builds and increases trust within the organization. It builds and increases trust with managers and employees.

How to Demonstrate Transparency

How Millennials View Transparency

Millennials view transparency as a confirmation that they have an opportunity to be heard and make a difference.

Transparency is the new currency within a company, so don’t come up shortchanged.

5 Ways to Make Work Fun for Your Employees

How to make work fun for your employees? After all, there should be fun in the hard stuff we do each and every day, right?

In 1968 a television producer asked herself a generational ‘point-of-no-return’ question. That question was: “What if we took learning for children and we made learning tastes more like ice cream than spinach.”

The answer to that question is a show that is still here today called Sesame Street. It revolutionized children’s programming but more importantly, Sesame Street made learning fun.

That was the birth of an expectation that there should be fun in the hard stuff we do.

How to Make Work Fun?

In 1993 I graduated from Arizona State University and I got a good job with a company called Quaker Oats. Most of you have heard of this company. In 1993 we were in the middle of the recession and my peers were struggling to find jobs. I found a good-paying job and it was a great opportunity. A month into it, my dad, who is a baby boomer, asked me how do I like my job. I didn’t because it wasn’t fun. In fact, it wasn’t fun at all. My dad said that work is not supposed to be fun!

Why is Fun at Work Important

An audience member recently said to me that if work was supposed to be fun, we’d call it fun, not work.

We spend ninety thousand hours of our life at work. One-third of our life is spent at work, so why shouldn’t we have fun?

In fact, Millennials are the largest generation in the workplace today. People born after 1980, and Millennials, more than any other generation have really integrated the work life and their personal life together. They understand that with technology you’re set to work all the time, so it’s not like when we’re done with work then we’ll have fun. Work doesn’t stop, so it only makes sense that we should have fun at work. Majority of Millennials when surveyed said that they would take 60% less in their paycheck to work at a job they love versus a job they find boring.

Benefits of Having Fun at Work

When you’re having fun, you’re not bored. When your organization allows you to have fun, when leaders create a fun workplace, it has been shown that there’s an increase in the level of employee trust. There’s an increase in creative inspiration and there’s improved communication and connectivity between not just employees and their managers, but also coworkers.

A ‘Great Place to Work Institute’ surveyed employees that work for organizations listed on Fortune 100’s top places to work and found that over 80 percent said their company is a fun place to be.

Fun at Work Ideas

So having fun pays and we’re going to discuss a few things that you can do to have fun at work.

1. Food

My favorite as food is always fun. Alright, food people want to eat. You can do something like an interoffice beverage break or an off-site lunch.

I have a client that every Friday they have what’s called ‘food truck Fridays’ and they bring in a local food truck to serve lunch to everybody in the office.

2. Inner Office Social

There’s a service called Yammer that can set up an interoffice social network that allows employees not only to communicate and collaborate but also post things that they find online that are humorous. Videos, stories, cartoons etc. You may have to depend on your team, set some parameters about what’s acceptable and what’s not, but the nice thing about an interoffice social network is that it allows people to jump on real quick and just get a kind of a tickle of their funny bone.

3. Volunteer Time Off

Especially when this can be combined with coworkers we call the millennial generation. The giving generation, because they are one of the top generations that are giving not only their time but money to charitable organizations. According to Deloitte volunteer impact research, they found that Millennials prefer to work for organizations that allow them to coordinate volunteering with their work time.

4. Decorate the Workplace

This may sound kind of silly, but when people are allowed to decorate their workspace not only engages their creativity but also increases the way people emotionally feel connected to the workplace.

A company that is really good at this is Zappos.com. It’s an online shoe retailer. If you ever go downtown Las Vegas, take a tour of their headquarters.

5. Appreciation

Sometimes we forget just to say thank you to our co-workers and the people that helped us be successful. Every day saying thank you and remembering small details about people’s lives is not only important but shows a token of kindness that goes a long way!

Stay Interviews – How to Keep Millennials from Quitting

What is Stay Interviews? What is their purpose and do they improve retention in your organization?

Before I answer that, first image this:

You’ve had a great weekend and you show up to the office with a smile on your face. You know you’re going to get a lot done, feeling rejuvenated, and then you get the worst kind of a surprise!

No, not the Groupon surprise, when your Groupon expires and all it’s worth is what you paid for. The Millennial employee surprise!

How to Keep Millennials from Quitting

The millennial employee you just hired and trained or the one that’s worked for your organization for
a couple of years gave her notice!

She seemed happy, she even reversed mentored some of your senior people. She brought your company
up to speed when it came to social media, explained Snapchat to you and helped you avoid that internet dating scam. When it came to fashion advice and you wanted some new glasses, something a little bit nerdy but also a little bit edgy, she helped you out with those too.

She just told you she’s quitting!

Why Do Millennials Quit Jobs

Is there anything you can do about it? Probably not.

Could you anticipate her leaving and prevented it before it happened? Absolutely!

We talk a lot about Millennials leaving their place of employment. I want to talk to you about why they may be leaving and something refreshing to possibly prevent it – they called Stay Interviews!

stay interviews

Stay Interviews

The Stay Interview was first introduced to me by an audience member. He was an HR director for a chain of long-term care facilities. There are very few industries that have more supervision, more rules, more regulation, more people looking over their shoulder than long-term care.

If this guy can do something different, I think you can too.

He explained to me that he got rid of the reviews because the young people that work for him today do not
care about what happened a year ago. They care about the relationship they have with their employer today. He used the Stay Interviews to help cultivate that relationship.

Purpose of Stay Interviews

The Stay Interviews help managers understand why an employee stays and what could cause them to leave. The first Stay Interview occurs within the first 60 days of employment, followed by whenever a manager or supervisor feels a Stay Interview is needed. If you feel that someone’s becoming discouraged, disheartened, burnt out – you can perform a Stay Interview.

He shared that when he once performed a Stay Interview with a young woman, he discovered that she had a transportation issue. By changing her hours, he was able to solve that problem before she quit.

What Questions Do You Ask at the Stay Interview?

Here are some samples of stay interview questions you can find online as well, but here are a couple of my
favorites:

  1. What kind of feedback or recognition would you like about your performance that you aren’t currently receiving?

What I like about that question is that it doesn’t matter what generation you belong to, we all have different needs for feedback. Some people only want feedback every once in a while, some want feedback 24/7!

2. When was the last time you thought about leaving your job and what was the cause of you thinking about leaving?

Stay Interviews to Improve Retention

If you choose to perform a Stay Interview, be prepared to make changes.

There’ll be nothing more disheartening to a Millennial than to go through the process of a Stay Interview only to see nothing change. And if you can’t make the changes that you discuss in the Stay Interview, explain to them why.

More importantly, if a change does occur from a Stay Interview, tell the employee what happened. Let them know that the change that occurred was in a direct response to the Stay Interview. Just because they participate in it, don’t assume that they’ll just know.

We all want our employees and co-workers to be engaged and happy, doesn’t matter what generation you belong to. If your goal is to have a multi-generational workforce that’s cohesive and engaged, Stay Interviews will help you do it!