Many organizations are managing generational differences and conflict in the workplace by following what Zemke, Raines, and Filipczak, co-authors of Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace, call the ACORN Imperatives.
Successful companies use these five operating ideas to build organizations that accommodate differences, exhibit flexibility, emphasize respectful relations and focus on retaining talented and gifted employees. Here are some strategies to get you started:
Accommodate employees’ differences. Treat your employees as you treat your customers. Get to know your employees and what is important to them. Make an effort to accommodate their personal scheduling needs, work-life balance issues and non-traditional lifestyles.
Create workplace choices. Allow the workplace to be shaped around the work being done, the customers being served and the people who work there. Shorten the chain of command and reduce bureaucracy. Create a relaxed and informal work environment with lots of humor and playfulness.
Operate from a sophisticated management style. Give those who report to you the big picture, specific goals and measures, and then they turn them loose. Give them feedback, reward and recognition as appropriate, but don’t micro-manage. Be flexible: practice situational leadership, match individuals to a team and individuals and teams to an assignment. Strive to be perceived as fair, inclusive, and as a good communicator. Be competent.
Respect competence and initiative. Assume the best of your employees. Treat everyone, from the newest recruit to the most seasoned employee, as if they have great things to offer. Take time to hire the right people. Then motivate them to do their best.
Nourish retention. Improve employee retention. Make your workplace a magnet for excellence. Offer lots of training, from one-on-one coaching opportunities to interactive computer-based training to an extensive and varied menu of classroom courses. Encourage regular lateral movement within the organizations and broaden assignments.
The ACORN Imperatives are simple and straightforward. Yet managers and leaders find it difficult to incorporate in their daily work. Perhaps they get blinded by their own generational values. Implementing the ACORN principles takes work and a different way of looking at how to manage multiple generations. But the rewards are immense.
Read the complete newsletter where I examine the profiles of each generation, look at the similarities, comment about the relationship between spirit at work and the multi-generations, and focus on strategies to bridge the gap.
Want to learn more? Sign up for our monthly newsletter where we will explore this topic in more detail. Read the book Rethinking Your Work and learn how to create spirit at work.
Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” A consultant, agent of change and professional speaker, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. Check out her Spirit at Work Program and Inspired Leadership training at www.kaizensolutions.org. Val is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook. Available now at www.rethinkingyourwork.com.
June 10th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Good article! I especially like the “N” component — “Nourish retention.” I think many corporations have lost the mentoring aspect that was once a vital part of climbing up the ladder in corporate America. People change jobs so often today compared to previous generations, that upper level managers are probably leary of investing too much in mentoring any one person, but no amount of office niceties can ever take the place of the profound value of a true mentor. It engenders trust and loyalty to the mentor, the company and the clients to a much greater extent than anything else can. It also trains people not just on the big picture, but also re the sublte life lessions they need to balance work and personal lives and still become great at what they do.
And all of these benefits of mentoring hold true not only in business, but in our personal lives as well. May we all be able to find the mentor, role model, parent figure, guru, teacher, etc. that we need!
June 11th, 2010 at 8:47 am
I think you are absolutely right about the importance of nourishing retention. The Conference Board has identifed retention as one of the top two concerns of HR today and I believe that as we emerge from the recession, this will carry even more importance. Many unhappy, disengaged employees have expressed their plan to seek alternative employment.
Mentoring is indeed a powerful way to nourish and retain employees. It is also a way to show that you care. Not surprisingly, Towers Perrin showed that “Senior management cares in my well-being” is a top engagement driver.