Managing When There Aren't Enough People to Do the Work - Debra Dixon-Doss

SchoolDude University 2009

Managing When There Aren’t Enough People To Do The Work

Keeping Good Personnel

Debra Dixon Dosssasbo@hughes.net

SchoolDude University 2009

What’s Happening In Today’s Workplace

• Economy in crisis

• Unemployment Record High

• Layoffs

• Employees are cranky and distrustful

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Who Is In The Today’s Workforce

In today’s workplace there are folks working from the ages of 70+ to 16. They don’t think or act alike. Gain insight on how you can work with the Veterans (aka old timers) and the X’ers (aka kids).

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Generational Repetition

• Each generation assumes the following generations will want what they have and will share their same definition of success.

• Each generation then believes the following generations should “pay their dues” the same way to earn that success.

• With a few exceptions, each generation thinks the following generation has had it easier.

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Current Generations

• Veterans 1900-1945

• Baby Boomers 1946-1964

• Generation X 1965-1980

• Helicopter 1981-1999

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Veterans 1900 - 1945

• AKA: Traditionalists, GI Generation, Jazz Age• Current Age: 63+• Outlook: practical• Work ethic: dedicated• View of authority: respectful• Leadership by: hierarchy• Relationships: personal sacrifice• Perspective: civic• % of Active Workforce: 5%

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Baby Boomers 1946 - 1964

• AKA: Beat Generation, Consciousness Revolution• Current Age: 44- 63• Outlook: optimistic• Work ethic: driven• View of authority: love/hate• Leadership by: consensus• Relationships: personal gratification• Perspective: team• % of Active Workforce: 45%

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Generation X 1965 - 1980

• AKA: MTV Generation• Current Age: 28 to 43• Outlook: skeptical• Work ethic: balanced• View of authority: unimpressed• Leadership by: competence• Relationships: reluctant to commit• Perspective: self• % of Active Workforce: 40%

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Helicopter 1981 - 2000

• AKA: Millennials, Y’s, Internet Generation• Current Age: 9 to 28• Outlook: hopeful• Work ethic: ambitious, yet appear aimless• View of authority: relaxed, polite• Leadership by: achievers• Relationships: loyal• Perspective: civic• % of Active Workforce: 10%

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Why Do Good People Choose To Leave Their Job?

• It doesn’t feel good around here.• They wouldn’t miss me if I were gone.• I don’t get what I need to get my job

done.• There’s no opportunity for

advancement.• The compensation doesn’t meet my

needs.

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What Does Each Generation Say About The Others

What do they say about the Veterans?

Baby Boomers – “They are rigid.”

X’ers – “They have all the money.”

Helicopter – “They cannot keep up with the times, things move faster then they can.”

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What Does Each Generation Say About The Others

What do they say about the Boomers?

Veterans – “They are self absorbed.”

X’ers – “They are self righteous.”

Helicopter – “They are cooooool!”

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What Does Each Generation Say About The Others

What do they say about X’ers?

Veterans – “They do not respect experience or authority.”

Boomers – “They are incredibly rude and disrespectful.”

Helicopter – “Cheer up, don’t take it so seriously.”

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What Does Each Generation Say About The Others

What do they say about the Helicopter?

Veterans – “They are smart little critters.”

Boomers – ‘Can they do my webpage for me?”

X’ers – “Neo Boomers – another generation of spoiled brats.”

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How Do You Keep Good People

The keys:

• Communications

• Culture

• Teams

• Balance

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Communications

VeteransBaby

Boomers Gen X Helicopter

EmployeeNeeds

Involvementin decisions.

Juggling work and family responsibilities

Employability. Help finding a career path.

EmployerMessage to convey

We trust your experience. We want you to try new things.

We trust that both work and family are very important to you.

We trust your work ethic and want you to trust us that the

We trust that you want to build a career with this company, and we’ll invest you.

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Culture• Flexible - with lots of options for people to choose from.• Open - with lots of communication about differing

perspectives, including conversations about generations.• Responsive - meets individual’s needs and preferences.• Positive - expects the best from everyone.• Diverse - consciously seeks a variety of perspectives.• Developmental - helps people to advance on their

chosen career paths.• Retention-oriented - focuses daily on keeping good

people.

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Teams

• Encourage people to create new approaches to the work

• Avoid judging ideas until they’re fully explained

• Allow a variety of behaviors and attitudes unless they violate core values

• Emphasize and celebrate personal successes

• Encourage risk-taking and learning from mistakes

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Balance

• People want and need balance.

• Take the best from each generation.

• Put the F word back into workplace.

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Have Fun!

Your turn……

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Good managers are not sticking their heads in the sand. Good

managers realize people are their most important asset.

Believing in employeesHelping employees achieve balanceDeveloping career plans with

employeesAdapting to differences