Canada Camps sits down with workplace guru, Bruce Tulgan.
Canada Camps: Can you tell our readers a little bit your company, Rainmaker Consulting Services?
Bruce Tulgan: We've been researching the relationships between managers and employees on the frontline of the workplace since 1993, and in particular we have focused on inter-generational issues. We watch the attitudes and behaviours of employees and managers and help organizations become more effective preparing them to work together. We first became known for looking at young people in the workforce.
CC: In general terms, how has the workforce changed over the years?
BT: Maybe it was never the case where everyone worked 20 or 30 years for the same company, kept their mouth shut and got a gold watch. That is the post-war job security myth, but there is no question that the default presumption was you hitch your wagon to the star of an established organization, you pay your dues, you climb the ladder, you do what you are told, and you don't make demands. There is no question what the default presumption of success and what the typical career path was. Today's approach is short term and transactional, and it does represent a big change.
CC: Throughout your research, what conclusions have you uncovered with regard to young people in the workforce?
BT: What we have found is that if you keep your finger on the pulse of the young, emerging workforce you also have your pulse on emerging work place issues across the board. It's a little counter-intuitive in that you would think young people would come in with a developmental, immature approach to work, with their expectations not in line with experience. In a sense that is true, but in the last 10 to 15 years, because there has been so much change in the work place, particularly with the breakdown of seniority, long-term career expectations, and hierarchal authority, young people are coming in expecting work to be about today, tomorrow and next week. They are also not expecting anyone to take care of them.
CC: How are employers handling the younger generation's mindset and attitude?
BT: There is always the "Kid's Today" problem, but it is getting harder to harder to manage people. Most managers are managing too many people, are managing people in remote locations, are managing people doing work they have never done before, are busy with own work and the biggest thing managers tell us is that employees, especially young employees, push back every step of the way. They make demands from day one, they have very high expectations, they want more control over their schedule, tasks, where they work and who they work with, and expect to make more money faster. They don't look towards some big system to meet these needs; they look to their immediate boss. What managers tell us is that everyday is a negotiation, and that this is high maintenance and frustrating.
CC: One of the topics you mention in your books and speaking engagements is the difference between members of Generation X and Generation Y. Can you briefly explain the differences?
BT: n some ways, Generation Y is Generation X in fast forward with self-esteem on steroids. Gen Xers have very low expectations for established institutions, whereas Gen Yers have very high expectations; Gen Xers and Gen Yers have a different style of independence in that Gen Xers grew up in a highly unsupervised environment, whereas Gen Yers, on the other hand, are the great over supervised generation - we want them to be independent but we are going to facilitate their alone time within safe, scheduled boundaries; Gen X's have a desperate entrepreneurial type of independence, while Gen Yers have a self-assured, consumer like independence; Gen Xers were reared in a time when there was very little focus on kids - it was the "me" generation - whereas Gen Yers grew up in a time of acute focus on the child; where Gen X's are always trying to prove themselves, to themselves, Gen Yers are always trying to show off to grown ups; Gen X's grew up in the early stages of the information technology explosion, while Gen Yers were growing up while the information tidal wave was really blossoming and growing. Gen Yers' thinking of learning, thinking and communication is driven by the MP3 player in one year, cell phone in one hand, with text message and 6 IM boxes going. They are experts on everything. There is no way to convince Gen Yers that there is one way to think about or do anything because they could always show you a new way. The fifth difference is the immediacy factor. For Gen Xer it was today, tomorrow and next week, and for Gen Yers, everything is old by the time they get to it.
CC: Why should camps understand how young people work, in particular the difference between Gen Xers and Gen Yers?
BT: I look at camps as a profoundly important venue because I went to camp for four years and for me it was one of the most important experiences of my life. From a business standpoint, if your emerging talent is made up of this new young generation you have to know they have different thoughts, words and behaviours. Their expectations and attitudes about work are different, and this has a huge implication when it comes to recruiting, training, motivating and retaining. The key to success with today's young workers is you have to sell them all the way to the door (e.g., explain how the company works and that you can provide them with an experience that will make them better). I think quick, intense up-to-speed training is absolutely critical with this generation. You would think this young generation would want to be left alone to explore things on their own. That is not true. They don't want to reinvent the wheel, they don't want to be put in a sink or swim environment; they want to be coached, guided and directed. They want you to facilitate their independence within safe, scheduled boundaries. They want you to provide them with the tools, techniques and instructions. They want you to set them up for success every step of the way. This is very hard work for the managers, but the benefits are huge.
CC: This hands-on approach to managing younger employees seems to be a huge factor in any company's future success?
BT: You wonder why so many employers have so much trouble with their young employees. It is because they throw them in and say "sink or swim." That doesn't work anymore and if you want success among young people, you have to commit to them. If you want high performance you have to commit to high maintenance. If you don't aggressively recruit, where you have a large applicant pool to be selective, if you don't make it hard to get in, if you don't put people through an aggressive on-board process, if you don't manage people very closely and monitor, measure and direct every step of the way, you will have problems and they won't be the fault of the employee, they will be the fault of the manager.
CC: As an expert of today's workplace, what do you think are the characteristics of a good leader?
BT: My view is that if you want to be a great boss, set people up for success every step of the way. When they are not succeeding, be honest with them and tell them they are not succeeding and tell them what they need to change. When they are succeeding, reward them in exact proportions with their success. And when people go the extra mile, be fair and do more for these people. It's not fair to treat everyone the same. What fair is to give everyone a chance to succeed and then when people don't succeed, be good to them by helping them improve and when they do succeed, be fair to them by rewarding them.
Good managers know it is okay to be the boss - to be a strong boss and to be a good boss. You are in charge and it is up to you to set people up for success. It's up to you to help people improve and to reward people when they deserve it. Being the boss is a sacred responsibility. You have to be able step up to the plate. Good bosses tell people what to do and how to do it; keep track of what people do and when, why and how they do it; solve small problems before they become big problems; do more for people who go the extra people; and sometimes have to fire people. Bosses have so much control over the work experience of people that they have to step to the challenge and be great at it.
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