Everyone’s personal values and attitudes are shaped by their family, community and significant events (wars, violence, technology, politics, finance etc.) in their world as they are growing up. The academic world has created a model to review, compare and contrast people born within certain time frames and has developed the “Generation Theory” which links world events with changes in the attitudes and values of the general public.
Baby Boomers are the children of parents that survived 2 World Wars and a long period of economic depression. Their parents worked hard to give them all the things they had not had, in a time of great positive social and scientific change. The recognition that previous generations had sacrificed so much drove baby boomers to prove themselves in the business world, rather than on the battle-field. As they moved into management positions, they worked long, hard hours to create the growth and expansion of organisations that typifies the 70s and 80s.
With their workaholic parents out at work and increasing divorce rates, Generation X were left to themselves to find their own solutions to problems. The first acts of global terrorism (e.g. Munich Olympics), environmental disasters (e.g. Bhopal, Chernobyl), a growing number of political scandals (e.g. Iran – Contra) and the shrinking job market as the boom times ended, created a generation that was sceptical about the “old world order”. Desktop computers became common in the 1980s and Generation X seized this as their opportunity to do things differently. They studied new subjects at university (e.g. computer science, programming) which meant that they could enter the business world with skills that previous generations hadn’t had and make a big difference. As the front runners of the IT world and the first “digital natives”, their bosses were forced to accept Generation X’s casual approach to authority and their insistence that things had to be done differently.
Like the baby boomers, Generation Y grew up in a time of affluence and rapid social change. However, they were the first generation whose parents planned to have them (contraception, maternity leave etc.), who wanted to be “friends” with them (sharing music, activities, decision making etc.) and allowed them to have the longest teenage to adult phase ever. Generation Y saw their parents work long hours to earn money, to buy things they didn’t need, to impress people they didn’t like and have come to realise that free time is more valuable than money. Technology is as natural as air to this generation. They grew up in a world that gave them instant communication (mobile phones) and access to information at anytime, anywhere which gave them a truly global world view.
As Generation Y entered the upper levels of management in our organisations they became known as “millennials”.
What are the challenges for the older generations?
Tips
But having said all that, like every generation, they still need:
Further reading
Bruce Tulgan, 2009: Not everyone gets a trophy: How to manage generation Y.
Zemke, Raines, Filipczak, 2000: Generations at work: Managing the clash of veterans, boomers, Xers and Nexters in your workplace.
What makes Generation Y managers different?
Everyone’s personal values and attitudes are shaped by their family, community and significant events (wars, violence, technology, politics, finance etc.) in their world as they are growing up. The academic world has created a model to review, compare and contrast people born within certain time frames and has developed the “Generation Theory” which links world events with changes in the attitudes and values of the general public.
| Baby boomers (1946-1964) | Generation X (1965-1980) | Generation Y (1980-2000) | |
| Outlook | Optimistic | Sceptical | Hopeful |
| Work ethic | Driven | Balanced | Determined |
| They work to: | Increase their self-worth | Fund their lifestyle | Help change the world |
| View of authority | Love or hate | Unimpressed | Polite |
| Respect: | Is given automatically to those with titles, authority or experience | Is not automatically given to authority figures | Must be earned by all levels of society |
| Leadership by: | Consensus | Competence | Pulling together |
| Don’t like: | Discrimination | Cliché / hype | Self-importance |
| Values | Fairness Team orientation Hard work Personal growth | Self-reliance Informality Pragmatism Global thinking | Civic duty Confidence Honesty & integrity Diversity |
| Motivators | Tell them they are “valuable” Put them “in charge” Personal closeness to the boss | Gadgets Tell them “do it your way” Tell them “what is in it for you” Positive feedback | Small rewards given frequently Working with creative people Tell them “we need your help to move the company forward” |
Generation Y have grown up in a time of affluence and rapid social change. They are the first generation whose parents planned to have them (contraception, maternity leave etc.), who wanted to be “friends” with them (sharing music, activities, decision making etc.) and allowed them to have the longest teenage to adult phase ever. Generation Y saw their parents work long hours to earn money, to buy things they didn’t need, to impress people they didn’t like and have come to realise that free time is more valuable than money.
And now Generation Y are entering the upper levels of management in our organisations.
What are the challenges for the older generations?
Tips
But having said all that, like every generation, they still need:
Further reading
Not everyone gets a trophy: How to manage generation Y - Bruce Tulgan, 2009
Generations at work: Managing the clash of veterans, boomers, Xers and Nexters in your workplace - Zemke, Raines, Filipczak, 2000
Context
A rapidly expanding international manufacturer of high-tech products with 4 subsidiary companies with factories and offices around the world.
The problem
The pace of the organisation’s expansion meant that every year there were up to 100 new recruits who had an international role within their own company but who had no overall picture of the whole organisation, its values, management style or product range.
What we did
Benefits for participants
Benefits for HR
Benefits for management
Work in our technological, digital and global world is changing. There are new concepts of space, new organisational structures, new management methods, new models of cooperation and much more. When it comes to all of these changes, the umbrella term is New Work.
But it’s not just about new ways of working. At its core, it’s about the work itself and making sure that people experience it as meaningful and fulfilling. It’s about the „purpose“ being right.
The Austrian-American philosopher Frithjof Bergmann is considered to be the founder of the New Work movement. He noticed that more and more people were losing a sense of meaningfulness and passion in their work. He began asking questions about the “real want” in work – a question that is more relevant today than ever.
What we want and need today are meaningful corporate cultures that focus on people. This is future-proof and, as a result, adds value. It’s about taking small steps to encourage a change in thinking and making work people friendly and life friendly.
New Work has five aspects:
People focus means that work is designed to be people friendly. Flexible thinking and creativity are encouraged, routine activities are constantly and critically examined. Learning and development are considered important and knowledge is actively shared. Communication is transparent and people’s health is handled with care.
New Work leadership and collaboration mean that we work together towards our visions. Commitment, personal responsibility and self-organization are actively encouraged and supported. The corporate structures are changeable and do not solidify. Diversity, big picture thinking and related actions are all welcome. Together we actively work on a corporate culture in which performance and people are not a contradiction in terms.
Agile organisation describes structures that can be flexibly adapted to rapidly changing situations. This applies to the organisational structure as well as to its processes. Opportunities and risks are regularly checked and personal actions are aligned in small steps and the experiences of all employees can flow directly into practice.
New Space: Activity based working means keeping room concepts so flexible that they can be changed again and again for new forms of collaboration. This also includes mobile working so that the various places of work can be flexibly integrated.
Social responsibility means that the company’s economic profit is supplemented by ecological and social considerations. It’s about resource conservation, short transport routes, sustainable use of materials and work spaces. And it is about the contribution of the organisation to a more humane society.
WHAT IS NEW WORK NOT?
New Work is not about just introducing “nice” stuff, although there is nothing to be said against that. Table football, free fruit and drinks may be nice in and of themselves, but this is not what it is about. New Work is only established when the people find the work itself is fun. When it creates and reinforces passion in and at work.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE WE START?
We don’t need to start New Work with a “big bang”. Even small changes and experiments can start the move towards modern and meaningful work.
The important things here are:
WHAT ARE THE LIMITS AND HAZARDS OF NEW WORK?
Sometimes New Work is used as an excuse to reduce costs. As soon as employees recognise that and see the real intention, they refuse to cooperate. At that moment, New Work is dead in the water. Many people are not used to self-organisation and an abrupt switch can lead to chaos. Early training helps here.
New Work can only be successful if people’s mental and physical health is consistently supported. If this is not the case, the blurring of work and private life can lead to the exploitation of staff goodwill or self-induced burnout. This is particularly risky with young talents who are very enthusiastic and have a lot of energy.
FOR FURTHER READING
Frithjof Bergmann: New work, new culture, 2017
Simon Sinek: Start with WHY. How great leaders inspire everyone to take action, 2014
Traditionally, Quality Management has been about deciding which ISO registrations an organisation needs and then putting in place the processes, metrics, continuous improvement tools and the documentation necessary to get them – all done by the Quality Department. However, with the dominance of internet-based business, the customer-led quality revolution is getting stronger and stronger.
The decision about which product to buy, from which company is driven by what other customers are saying on the many rating websites and social media rather than what companies are saying about themselves and their products. Customers are more powerful than they have ever been and that power is continuing to grow.
So how should organisations respond? The most logical answer is to return to the original 3 aspects underpinning the quality movement of the 60s and 70s:
The first aspect is no problem nowadays. It is the second and third, (the human aspects) that are missing in today’s world. The voice of the customer is not being integrated into the fabric of organisations, there is no visible management commitment to providing customers with products and services that they truly value and so the people that work there do not recognise that each of them, personally, has an effect on the organisation’s success.
Long-term success depends more and more on understanding how customers perceive the quality of what they are sold as well as their experience of the organisation generally, and then delivering it. Their needs have to be prioritised and tied into quality systems.
Leaders of any type of organisation need to personally:
To lead the change to customer-led quality, leaders need to re-adjust the focus of their Quality Management system to fall equally on the people, the environment and the nuts and bolts of producing what they sell.
TIPS:
FURTHER READING:
Ian Purdy & Sheila Purdy, Why Should I Give A ***** About Quality? Understanding and profiting from the customer-led quality revolution, 2015
Everyone’s personal values and attitudes are shaped by their family, community and significant events (wars, violence, technology, politics, finance etc.) in their world as they are growing up. The academic world has created a model to review, compare and contrast people born within certain time frames and has developed the “Generation Theory” which links world events with changes in the attitudes and values of the general public. It’s important to remember that the dates quoted are approximate, events in different parts of the world affect the populations differently and personal experience mean that we can only speak in terms of generalisations.
| Generation X (1965-1979) | Millenials (1980-1994) | Generation Z (1995-2010) | |
| Outlook | Sceptical | Idealistic | Realistic |
| Work ethic | Balanced | Determined | Pragmatic |
| They work to | Fund their lifestyle | Help change the world | Change the world |
| View of authority | Unimpressed | Polite | Suspicious |
| Leadership by | Competence | Pulling together | Coaching |
| Don’t like | Cliché / hype | Self-importance | Untruths |
| Communicate by | Phone messaging | Social media | |
| Values | Self-reliance Informality Pragmatism Global thinking | Globalism Confidence Honesty & integrity Difference | Diversity Authenticity Activism Inclusion |
| Motivators | Gadgets Tell them “do it your way” Tell them “what is in it for you” Positive feedback | Small rewards given frequently Working with creative people Tell them “we need your help” | Purpose Connection Security/ stability Tell them “this is how you can contribute” |
With their workaholic Baby-boomer parents out at work and increasing divorce rates, Generation X were left to themselves to find their own solutions to problems. The first acts of global terrorism (e.g. Munich Olympics), environmental disasters (e.g. Bhopal, Chernobyl), a growing number of political scandals (e.g. Iran – Contra) and the shrinking job market as the boom times ended, created a generation that was sceptical about the “old world order”. Desktop computers became common in the 1980s and Generation X seized this as their opportunity to do things differently. They studied new subjects at university (e.g. computer science, business studies) which meant that they could enter the business world with skills that previous generations hadn’t had and make a big difference. In a time of an economic boom, the front runners of the IT world forced their bosses to accept their casual approach to authority and their insistence that things had to be done differently.
Millenials grew up in a time of affluence and rapid social change. However, they are the generation whose parents allowed them to have the longest teenage to adult phase ever. Millenials saw their parents work long hours, even in boom times, to earn money, to buy things they didn’t need, to impress people they didn’t like and came to realise that free time is more valuable than money. Having said that, they are the first generation that needed more than just a degree to get the best jobs, who are unlikely to earn as much as their parents and who recognise that they have to fix the global problems caused by the Baby Boomer generation. Technology is as natural as air to this generation – they are the digital pioneers who have made the most of the new technology and have been involved in creating the world of instant communication (mobile phones, the internet etc.) and free access to information. Their world view is truly global and their approach to business reflects this.
Generation Z have seen the election of the first black president of the most powerful economy in the world, the establishment of gay rights and mass movement of refugees caused by war or economic inequalities. They see diverse family structures and multi-racial environments as completely normal. More than any previous generation, Generation Z see people as individuals rather than members of groups (race, gender, profession, age etc.) and value authentic expressions of individuality. They grew up seeing their parents struggle financially in the global financial crisis, so they are driven to find safe, secure jobs, smart investments and anything that presents long-term value. Generation Z are more politically active than previous generations as they fight to control climate change and shape a more equitable future for all. They look to governments not business to solve the big issues. These are the digital natives – social media, access to information anytime, anywhere have been a reality for their whole life. But reliance on devices and too much screen time can lead to feelings of isolation and under-developed social skills.
What are the challenges for the generations?
But having said all that, every generation, still needs:
Further reading
L. Sustala, Zu spät zur Party: Warum eine ganze Generation den Anschluss verpasst, 2020
B. Tulgan, Not everyone gets a trophy: How to manage generation Y, 2009
R. Zemke/ C. Raines/ B. Filipczak, Generations at work: Managing the clash of veterans, boomers, Xers and Nexters in your workplace, 2000
Before jumping to any conclusions about introverts, it is important to make a couple of points:
1) The difference between introverts and extroverts are the very different ways their brains process information and recharge their energy banks.
2) Being shy and being introverted are two very different things. However strange it sounds, there are outgoing introverts in the same way as there are quiet extroverts.
3) Introverts can be found working in any part of an organisation – not just the technical departments.
The western business world is focussed on extroverts and so introverts tend to go unheard despite the fact that these “quiet people have the loudest minds” (Stephen Hawking) and are vital to the success of any organisation:
It is these characteristics that are valued most highly in the Far East which means that the top levels of organisations there are usually introverts.
Tips
Further reading
Susan Cain (2013), Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that won’t stop talking
Sylvia Loehken (2016), The Power of Personality: How introverts and extroverts can combine to amazing effect
All of us have been dealing with these questions intensely since the COVID-19 pandemic. New work means that meaningful, creative and agile work is becoming more and more important. The attractiveness of the workplace is increasingly important, especially among young people.
WHY do we need to deal with this topic?
WHAT do companies have to do to remain competitive and to provide a modern workplace with attractive working conditions? In addition to home offices, co-working spaces and mobile offices, employees will re-discover the office, especially as a place of identification and a social meeting place.
From our point of view, the organization must ensure that their offices fulfill six distinctive functions in the future:
Not every team needs all of these functions always, but overall the companies need to make sure they can all be covered.
Companies have already got used to the constant increase in demands of today’s business world. A few years ago, digitization was the answer to adapting to these increased expectations. However, we have not yet got used to the fact that internal digitization is turning our companies upside down from within. Digitization doesn’t just mean that new technologies or applications are introduced, it means that companies have to, and will, change at their core, i.e. in their structures. The path of this change is called digital transformation and is the most important management task for the next few years.
Digital transformation combines three goals:
Managers face three challenges:
Rebuilding structures
We see the first major challenges in the questions: How can we react quickly to the dynamics of the market and position ourselves best? How can we offer attractive services in the shortest possible time? Who are the people among us who understand best what customers actually need? What is the best way to get them to share what they know? So, where do we need to become more agile and creative?
Today, it is not enough to design technically sophisticated products. The focus needs to be on value for the customer. Processes must be rigorously examined from the customer’s perspective. Does the customer really need to know what every department is and isn’t responsible for? Why are decisions often moved up and down in the organization for days and weeks until ultimately nobody knows what they are about?
Current pain is quickly identified, but starting points for good, permanent solutions are often difficult to find. Ready-made solutions, à la Spotify, will soon be circulating and appear to make a lot of sense, but are usually unsuitable for „copy and paste“ implementation.
In these times of cyber-crime and data protection, dealing with technological risks is essential to avoid major damage and high, unforeseen costs.
Guiding people through change
This aspect of the transformation is the most difficult to accomplish. It’s not about a few employees having to adjust to new framework conditions. It is more about changing the „mindset“. It all starts with improving basic digital skills throughout the company – especially the executives, many of whom are „digital immigrants“ who find it difficult to understand the switch to digital processes because they simply don’t know enough about it. Comprehensive training initiatives need to be started in which „normal“ employees can, of course, also be included.
Promoting creativity and innovation
It is important that everyone in the company is open to experimentation. Trying out, evaluating, adapting – this requires courage, speed and an appetite for learning. At the same time, a positive error culture must be established. We’ve been talking about this for a number of years, but now it’s getting really serious. If errors are seen as “damage” rather than “information”, digital transformation won’t happen. Product cycles cannot be shortened without experimentation and a positive error culture.
The following approaches and methods can provide answers to the challenges we have mentioned:
In order to meet the needs the future will throw at us, it is no longer enough to just continue developing leaders’ leadership and management skills. The entire organization has to learn to develop continuously. Then digital transformation will pretty much take care of itself.
Thanks to Angelika Lošek, Sheila Purdy, Christopher Rettenbacher and Hansjörg Zahradnik for working on this article with me!
Yes, I know it’s a difficult topic that most of us don’t want to think or talk about. Uncertainty, fear, over-work, bereavement, isolation, loss of income, etc. etc. trigger mental health conditions or make existing ones worse. This makes it a topic that every organisation and every leader must talk about. Experiences during the Covid pandemic showed us all just how fragile our mental health can be.
Every person can life tough for their own unique combination of reasons:
In recent years, and across industries, an increasing number of companies have begun adding wellness and mental health care resources to employee benefit packages and the unique challenges created by the pandemic only accelerated the demand. But while mindfulness, meditation and fitness classes are well-intentioned, they really are only putting a plaster over the real issues.
What is needed in the new world of work are measures that tackle the root causes of employees’ need for mental health support. Organisations and leaders need to be proactive and create a safe, supportive work environment. This means things such as:
The sense of purpose, camaraderie, connection and feeling that we’re achieving something is good for our mental state. The biggest impact we can have is to build work cultures that that actively promote and contribute to that. Organisations and leaders need to create a supportive culture helps everyone do their best work, develop and take us into a new, brighter future.
These supportive work cultures have 6 aspects:
All of this is easier said than done, for sure. However, the longest jouney starts with the first steps!
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