It’s amazing to me, but looking back over the last decade of writing I find posts that still impress, with information that is as useful now as when it was written. Golden Oldies is a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time.

I was reminded of this particular post when I read two Harvard articles, How to Hire a Millennial and What Do Millennials Really Want at Work? The Same Things the Rest of Us Do. It’s been such a joke to me ever since the Millennials hit the marketplace. Reading/hearing and working with clients, all freaking out on how to attract a workforce so different from the Boomers and Gen X. Ha! I said it then and Harvard says it now — people of any age pretty much want the same things from their employers; nothing new except how long they’ll wait to get them. Read other Golden Oldies here.

Bosses across the spectrum are wringing their hands and worrying about creating an environment that will attract and retain young workers, while still motivating and retaining the rest.

It would be amusing to watch them try and jump through the required hoops if it wasn’t so sad.

Sad because so many of the required behaviors aren’t new.

The Millennials are demanding what people have wanted all along.

Yes, there are differences between what Millennials, Gen-X and Boomers want, but the important cultural basics are the same.

The biggest difference is patience, i.e., how long they will stay when not getting what they want?

Millennials want their work to matter; they want to be heard, recognized, challenged, mentored and grow.

Correcting for descriptive language, there is nothing new on that list from what good workers have wanted for decades.

So what changed; why is it so imperative now?

Partly the numbers.

In America its staff are young: 62% are from Generation Y, 29% are from Generation X and just 9% are baby-boomers.

But mostly the impatience. The young vote with their feet far more easily than older workers because they have less to lose—no mortgage, no kids and responsible only for themselves—and the economy improves Gen-X and the Boomers will also vote more quickly with their feet.

Google is often portrayed as the embodiment of millennial-friendly work practices. But Laszlo Bock, a human-resources chief at the internet firm, points out that it has workers as old as 83. And he argues that the only thing different about Generation Y is that it is actually asking for the things that everybody else wants.

The improving economy is a sword over every boss who considers talent replaceable and, therefore, expendable.

Bosses don’t need Google-style perks to hire and keep great talent, but they do need to create a culture that provides the intangible wants, whether in synergy with or in spite of what their company does.

Flickr image credit: Bitchin’ Ol’ Boomer Babe

Bosses across the spectrum are wringing their hands and worrying about creating an environment that will attract and retain young workers, while still motivating and retaining the rest.

It would be amusing to watch them try and jump through the required hoops if it wasn’t so sad.

Sad because so many of the required behaviors aren’t new.

The Millennials are demanding what people have wanted all along.

Yes, there are differences between what Millennials, Gen-X and Boomers want, but the important cultural basics are the same.

The biggest difference is patience, i.e., how long they will stay when not getting what they want?

Millennials want their work to matter; they want to be heard, recognized, challenged, mentored and grow.

Correcting for descriptive language, there is nothing new on that list from what good workers have wanted for decades.

So what changed; why is it so imperative now?

Partly the numbers.

In America its staff are young: 62% are from Generation Y, 29% are from Generation X and just 9% are baby-boomers.

But mostly the impatience. The young vote with their feet far more easily than older workers because they have less to lose—no mortgage, no kids and responsible only for themselves—and the economy improves Gen-X and the Boomers will also vote more quickly with their feet.

Google is often portrayed as the embodiment of millennial-friendly work practices. But Laszlo Bock, a human-resources chief at the internet firm, points out that it has workers as old as 83. And he argues that the only thing different about Generation Y is that it is actually asking for the things that everybody else wants.

The improving economy is a sword over every boss who considers talent replaceable and, therefore, expendable.

Bosses don’t need Google-style perks to hire and keep great talent, but they do need to create a culture that provides the intangible wants, whether in synergy with or in spite of what their company does.

Flickr image credit: Bitchin’ Ol’ Boomer Babe

For years I’ve wondered why the target of advertisers and companies was 18-35 year old males; a target that, based on my experience and observations, was incredibly fickle and rarely had the money to spend that other demographic groups had.

But what did I know?

Apparently more than I thought.

If you are a startup, especially a tech startup, you need to do two things.

First take a hard look at stats that could make or break your success.

It turns out women are our new lead adopters. When you look at internet usage, it turns out women in Western countries use the internet 17 percent more every month than their male counterparts. Women are more likely to be using the mobile phones they own, they spend more time talking on them, they spend more time using location-based services. But they also spend more time sending text messages. Women are the fastest growing and largest users on Skype, and that’s mostly younger women. Women are the fastest category and biggest users on every social networking site with the exception of LinkedIn. Women are the vast majority owners of all internet enabled devices–readers, healthcare devices, GPS–that whole bundle of technology is mostly owned by women. –Genevieve Bell, Intel researcher

Along with the stats, you would do well to keep in mind that women are social creatures who love to share—especially tips and opinions.

Then take a hard look at your staff.

How many women have been hired? In what roles? How many are in a position to provide input to your products or services? How often is that input applied, i.e., how much weight does “her” opinion actually carry?

Does it matter? Are her ideas really so different?

It definitely does matter if you plan to sell to her.

And the one thing you should have learned in the course of your life, whether you are 20 or 60, is that boys and girls are different.

They do not

• think alike or even about the same things in the same way;
• use language the same way (“men negotiate status; women talk for connectivity” –Deborah Tannen)
• run on the same time table;
• consider the same things important or
• prioritize similarly.

The list goes on and on.

Given that, how do you propose to develop products and services they will pay for if your whole team thinks like a guy because they are guys?

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Sunday was Father’s Day and I shared Martin Sheen’s thoughts on fatherhood, but the thoughts from some of Silicon Valley’s “hottest dads” are definitely worth the read.

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Flickr image credit: moodboardphotography

Today we look at some interesting commentary on the state of the talent force (I positively detest the term ‘human capital’); some new and some seriously old.

Companies frequently hire from the outside based on the idea that new blood is good for the organization, but is it?

According to Wharton management professor Matthew Bidwell, “external hires” get significantly lower performance evaluations for their first two years on the job than do internal workers who are promoted into similar jobs. They also have higher exit rates, and they are paid “substantially more.” About 18% to 20% more.

Have you wondered if the job market will ever turn for more than the young tech-enabled? Maybe not quickly enough, but time does move on and demographics will not be denied.

A Human Capital Zeitgeist, is emerging as companies big and small are getting smacked with the realization that talent management is SO critical to competing in a volatile marketplace, they might actually have to throw a bit more respect at the “human” in the human capital equation.

This demographic time bomb isn’t new; it was recognized more than a decade ago, but managers’ ability to recognize, attract and retain talent has escalated dramatically, with the economic crash more like an attack of hiccups, than an actual change.

McKinsey declared the start of “the war for talent” in 1997. It has turned out to be a more or less permanent conflict. Revisiting their earlier work in 2001, the management consultants stated: “The war for talent will persist for at least the next two decades. The forces that are causing it are deep and powerful. The war for talent is a business reality.”

Do you believe that happy employees perform better? Not everyone agrees, although I freely admit I’m on the pro side of that argument.

Productivity measures across national economies have captivated the attention of policy makers and executives alike. Ultimately, though, the source of productivity is the individual knowledge workers who get things done every day. And the evidence is clear: People perform better when they’re happier. OR Happy employees tend to enjoy the status quo so much that they might resist changes to it. This is hardly a recipe for success in today’s world, where agility and embracing change are essentials for success.

Of course, no discussion of productivity can take place without including Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Effect. Impressive experiments, since they are as relevant today as they were nearly a century ago.

What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the work group. … He concluded that people’s work performance is dependent on both social issues and job content.

Finally, no commentary on people and the workplace would be complete without something on the Millennials; the demographic the media and pundits keep insisting are completely different from preceding generations—but are they really?

“For the past 12 years, I have studied the so-called generation gap through empirical research, and have found that stereotypes of millennials in the workplace are inconsistent at best and destructive at worst.” ­­–Jennifer J. Deal, senior research scientist, Center for Creative Leadership

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

The CEO reputation isn’t exactly in the ascendancy these days, in fact, as a group it’s pretty well tanked. So it’s sad to see them, again as a group with exceptions, strolling down another truly stupid path—no time for talent worries. “It’s no surprise that global leaders raked financial pressures to cut costs (82.95%) and rapid market decline (54.36%) as their toughest business challenges. Unfortunately, “Loss of leaders in key areas or insufficient talent to quickly adapt to change” (5.30%) fell to the bottom of the list.” Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership spells out the details, including a link to the survey. Whoo hoo, short term thinking at it’s best.

Jim Stroup at Managing Leadership eloquently discusses the stupidity (my word) of inspiring emotional connections in ‘followers’.

“That’s what the modern individual leader wants: uncritical commitment, steadfast devotion, unquestioning obedience. There is little room in contemporary leadership theory for qualified, deliberative followership; extended, modified, or rescinded at the initiative of the follower.” Scary attitude!

Finally, to add a little levity to a day dedicated to stupidity, past and future, here’s a quick explanation of the banking crisis for those of you who still don’t understand the MAP that got us into this mess.  It’s a little story that’s making the rounds on the Net. Hat tip to KG Charles-Harris who sent it to me.

Young Stern moved to Texas and bought a donkey from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

The next day he drove up and said, ‘Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.’
Stern replied, ‘Well, then just give me my money back.’  The farmer said, ‘Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.’

Stern said, ‘OK, then, just bring me the dead donkey.’

The farmer asked, ‘What a ya gonna do with him? Stern said, ‘I’m going to raffle him off.’

The farmer said ‘You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!’   Stern said, ‘Sure I can. Watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.’

A month later, the farmer met up with Stern and asked, ‘What happened with that dead
donkey?’

Stern said, ‘I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898.00.’

The farmer said, ‘Didn’t anyone complain?’  Stern said, ‘Just the guy who won. So I gave him back his two dollars.’

Stern now works for Goldman Sachs.

Or did until he was laid off.

There, do you feel better now that you know the truth?

Image credit: flickr

For some really fascinating reading check out Business Week’s The Future of Work, covering a myriad of topics and issues for managers, career info and guidance for workers and profiles of what and how technologies are changing the work-world.

Especially interesting is the survey of 2,000 Americans in middle management and above, 25 years and older, on work, now and in a decade. Some of the responses were expected, some surprising, some sad, a few hilarious, but all are interesting. Here are a few of my favorites:

Now

• 90% of managers think that they’re among the top 10% of performers in their workplace. (LOL/ROF)
• 11% of men, vs. 5% of women, are scared of their spouse.
• 36% say people got more done before the era of email.
• 6% of respondents under age 30 have accidentally called their boss mom or dad.

Ten years from now

• 82% believe that self-fulfillment, as opposed to fear, will be the most powerful workplace motivator.

However many of the individual of articles you choose to read, there is one particular piece of intelligence that had better penetrate your brain.

Whatever your business, large or small, global or local, at all levels, you’d better concentrate on retaining your talent, all your talent, top to bottom, because it’s becoming more and more irreplaceable, as well as more and more expensive when you do—a trend that won’t be slowing down any time soon!