From U.S. 1 News Paper - Leading Gen X Along with Boomers - Click on More

What works for one generation of workers, may not work for the next. Business supervisors are discovering that Generation X struggles out of bed and comes to work for entirely different reasons than does its Baby Boomer parents. Additionally, those who graduated and entered business onward from the late-l980s seem to thrive in a wholly different work environment than do those who came to the office with the mud of Woodstock still clinging to their Birkenstocks.

Such generational shifts, along with the advent of global diversity, are teaching executives that one single “management style” no longer fits all. To explore this new path of accommodation, Mercer County Community College offers a five-session course, “Leadership Skills for Management,” beginning Wednesday, June 29, at 6:30 p.m. Cost: $270. Call 609-586-9446. Taught by Stephen W. Oliver, founder of the executive training firm Oliver & Associates in Philadelphia, the course provides, as he puts it, “innovative theories blended with heavy doses of hard reality.”

Viewing himself as leaning more toward the Baby Boomer style of business, Oliver left his Vienna, Virginia, hometown to attend West Virginia University in l981. Earning a B.A. in English in l984, followed by a masters in human resource development from Marymount College, he entered the field of healthcare executive training, where he has remained. Oliver worked first with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and later moved to the Allegheny Health System, where he struggled to instill communication skills in every employee — from orderlies to physicians.

“Pediatrics doctors were fairly open,” he says. “The surgeons and academics were, well, less so.” Ten years ago, Oliver came to Philadelphia to train employees in that city’s Children’s Hospital. In 2002 he formed the executive training firm of Stephen Oliver & Associates, taking on individual clients and designing E-learning programs.

“The really good manager,” says Oliver, “works to get into the head of each employee. He learns what makes that man show up at work, and what he wants out of a job.” Much of this is, naturally, individual and executives must be wary of generalizations. However, generational differences lurk in the background, and the wise supervisor makes himself and his projects flexible.

The “they” generation. In the generation preceding the Baby Boomers, management was simple. One supervised by fiat. If you wanted something done, you told an underling — and off he scurried. Or at least he was expected to do so. This was the age of the pyramid, where information ran up and orders came back down.

Jobs were generally tight, and still haunted by depression memories, and so workers at all levels clung to the job and any shred of rank with tenacity. The main motivation was to work hard and smart, and after a lifetime with the company, move up that pyramid to a major decision-making post.

The “we” generation. In the late l960s American business soared, jobs became easier to find, and the ex-hippie-turned-worker became more selective. Unhappy with his or her father’s infrequently rewarded devotion to a single firm, this generation began zig-zagging its way up the ladder. Often the pyramids had become too vast to hope for a top slot, and instead Baby Boomers, fueled by the times, took greater pleasure in a team approach to projects. Satisfaction came less from individual remuneration than from group effort and a task well completed by a team of fellow workers.

“Today such team-oriented motivation is still very evident,” says Oliver. “This generation is ambitious, wants responsibility, but still has enough of the old school in its training to desire direction and guidance from managers.” Now that this age group is stepping into management positions themselves, they have raised high the banner of communication and teamwork for their employees.

The “I” generation. If any banner is to be raised by the workforce of Generation X it indeed must be “Leave me alone.” By the time this group came onto the business scene, commerce had shifted into a much higher gear. Competition had become global and desperate. Careers were fast tracked or sent spiraling. The company to which you hitched your wagon could one day be a star, the next a tree stump. Quickly these newcomers learned the maxim of “if it is to be, it is up to me.”

Oliver says that “the generation X worker is not a person seeking guidance.” Rather he says, this generation’s refrain is “just give me the responsibility; go away; and let me run with it.” While such energy, ambition, and accountability are valuable, Oliver points out that guidance from a distance must be maintained. Inexperience can make the best of intentions into loosely aimed cannons.

While Generation X loathes micromanagement, its members are only slightly less fond of communication. Born into the high tech age, quick E-notes coming from solitary stations are typically preferred over the face-to-face meetings favored by their elders. The palm-pilot missive “Wazzup?” may replace the old, more time consuming memorandum calling for a lengthy progress report.

Solutions. So what’s a manager to do? All these individual generations and national cultures wander the floor and each seems to require its own special handling. Oliver’s answer is give it to them.

A firm believer in management by walking around, Oliver advises supervisors to be constantly available, but to give the appearance of moving somewhat on the fly. This allows each individual to sip as deeply from the counseling cup as he desires, without feeling drenched in micromanagement.

Also a great believer in power shedding, Oliver instructs executives to lift burdens off their own shoulders and onto their employees as a motivating technique.

Oliver tells of the president of a 50-person materials handling company in Plainsboro who has had two vice presidents over the past eight years. The first, “Jim,” age 55, would do any job asked of him. He was known for receiving a project, swiftly gathering workers behind him, and doggedly pursuing it. At day’s end, he scheduled sessions with the president to discuss progress and receive instruction.

“Keith,” age 32, now holds the post, and the president scarcely ever hears from him. He is constantly inventing new jobs, of which his superior only learns when they are near completion. He asks no advice and the president must keep after him to put the rest of the company in the loop. This president’s method of management? Enjoy the ride with both. Play to their strengths and be happy you’ve got them.

— Bart Jackson