Tammy Erickson Associates Building Intelligent Organizations

Hi Anna,
Ah, what an important question!  And one that is of serious concern to me, as well.  I, too, have found that it is very difficult to help Boomers understand that their view of the world (“our” view, I must say, since I am one) is not necessarily shared by everyone.

Here’s my best trick:  I ask them if they have children.  If the answer is “yes,” I’m well on my way.  I then ask them if their own children would like [to work in this company], [to abide by this practice], etc.  This stops many Boomers in their tracks.  I’ve had many say, “well, no, my child wouldn’t like this . . . “, to which I say, “I suspect other parents’ children won’t, as well.”

In other words, bring it down to the personal level.  I once asked a leadership team of a major corporation how many of them had recommended to their own children that they apply for a job at this company.  Not one hand was raised.  And, in many ways, my job was done at that point.  They had the message:  if this isn’t a company they would recommend to their own children, on what basis would they recommend it to other children?

Boomers still have that idealistic streak that they developed as teens—it’s been buried for 30+ years, but you can tap into it if you get them thinking about building a corporation that their children would love.

All the best,

Tammy

Related Reading:

Corporate Myths: The Future of Talent Management

Filed under: Boomers | Published: 01/11/12

Hi Rudy,
I think the biggest issue facing OD is the challenge of helping organizations transform to take advantage of the capabilities offered by new social media technology. Here’s my perspective:

New technologies are making their way into the workplace, offering significant improvements in generating, capturing, and sharing knowledge, finding helpful colleagues and information, tapping into new sources of innovation and expertise, and harnessing the “wisdom of crowds.” Over time, these collaborative technologies will change the way work is done and the way organizations function. They will shift the way we interact with people on our teams, find external expertise when it’s needed, and share ideas and observations more broadly.

We are on the brink of an important transformation. Today’s technologies enable a very different level of business performance. The frontier of human productive capacity is the power of extended collaboration – the ability to work together beyond the scope of small groups.

But realizing the benefits of these new capabilities is not as straightforward as installing a document-sharing or Facebook-like application inside your organization. People aren’t necessarily as motivated to share documents at work as they are to share baby photos in their personal lives. Identifying relevant business connections isn’t as clear cut as finding old high school friends. The range of activities that collaborative technologies can take on to enhance performance and drive increased productivity in the workplace is far broader than the activities most of us have explored during our personal use. Perhaps most importantly, many of our existing work practices actually hinder the successful use of extended collaboration.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Best,
Tammy

Related Reading:

Building Organizations to Leverage Collaborative Technologies

Filed under: Innovation | Published: 12/06/11

Dear Nurit,

Thank you very much for your note.

I work with a number of global organizations that are trying hard to develop generationally-sensitive approaches for employees around the world, although most would be quick to say that they’ve still got work to do.

Of the companies you mentioned, IBM has implemented a number of interesting practices. They have legitimized virtual work—a practice that appeals to many, but particularly to Gen Y’s. They train leaders in generational sensitivity—how to recognize and respond to legitimate differences among the generations. And their staffing approach encourages teams to tap into the best qualified person for the job—regardless of the individual’s seniority or location.

Here’s a quick re-cap of some of the Y-friendly practices I think are most helpful:

•Communicate, particularly during the recruiting process, in Y-friendly ways
•Address parents as an explicit part of your recruiting strategy – messaging, awareness, concerns
•Shift performance management to focus on task completion, not time spent
•Embrace time shifting, asynchronous work, and flexible schedules
•Invest in technology . . . and in your technology skills – leverage technology to create efficient processes
•Provide frequent feedback – coach first-line managers to teach, rather than assess
•Create a collaborative, team-based environment
•Encourage Boomers in your midst to mentor Y’s
•Don’t over-define the task – let Y’s “figure it out”
•Re-design career paths to offer frequent, lateral moves – not necessarily up
•Provide world-class learning opportunities in all forms

I hope this helps.  I’d love to hear of interesting practices you uncover as you continue to study firms in Israel.

And thank you for following my work.

Warmly,

Tammy

Related Reading:

Leadership, Gen Y Style

Filed under: Generation Y | Published: 11/10/11

I have written about the evolution of loyalty between employees and their respective corporations.  In one of my blogs at Harvard Business Review, I look at this loyalty question. I call it trust.

Here’s the equation I believe will form the basis of trust between corporations and workers for the decades ahead: The organization will provide interesting and challenging work. The individual will invest discretionary effort in the task and produce relevant results. When one or both sides of this equation are no longer possible (for whatever reasons) the relationship will end. So if the organization no longer has interesting or challenging work for the individual to do, or if the individual is no longer willing or able to engage in the work — to invest the levels of discretionary effort required for excellent results — it is in everyone’s best interest to part ways.

The implications to this new way of working together will clearly change business talent management practices. It will require strengthening engagement and the quality of the immediate opportunities within the organization.

Related Reading:

The Shifting Definition of Worker Loyalty

Filed under: Surviving in Today's Economy | Published: 10/27/11

Hi Jim,

Thanks very much for sharing your perspective.  I do agree that the recovery period will be long, in large part because we are working our way through a structural change in the economy.  I don’t think manufacturing jobs will return in significant numbers—and opportunities for individuals without a college education will remain limited.  I am optimistic, however, for a growing demand for individuals with relevant knowledge and expertise.

Best,

Tammy

Filed under: Surviving in Today's Economy | Published: 01/15/11