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July 2006
Research Conference Coverage
Speaker shares advice for leading multiple generations
Tom DeCoster
For the first time in U.S. history, four generations with distinctly different sets of values are in the transportation workplace. For example, Generation Xers prefer to work independently while those in Generation Y—today’s youngest workers who were hovered over by doting parents—need supervision and structure. What are the management and leadership implications for handling this diversity? Tom DeCoster, executive director of the AASHTO Leadership Institute, shared his advice at the CTS Spring Luncheon in a speech titled “From Pearl Harbor to Helicopters: Leading Multiple Generations.” The luncheon was held May 24 as part of the CTS research conference.
DeCoster began by defining the four groups: veterans, baby boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (see table). “Tweeners” straddle the groups.
For veterans, managers should reinforce organizational rules as the “bedrock” of structure and provide a clear sense of direction, DeCoster said. Veterans expect leaders to make decisions and are reluctant to share their views, especially in a conflict of ideas. “The highest form of flattery for veterans is to privately seek their counsel and advice,” he said. And because many veterans are at or nearing retirement, leaders must remind them of their contributions and let them build a legacy.
Boomers, in contrast, see themselves as the “stars of the show,” DeCoster said, and view seniority as the dominant consideration in job security. To lead boomers, managers need to make decisions through consensus and offer socialization opportunities, especially where boomers can “rub shoulders with influential people” who might help them secure promotions, he said. Stress that the organization needs them, talk about their career paths, and make sure you reward seniority and the work ethic. “Reward commitment, not just performance,” he said.
The most intense clash of values lies between boomers and the next cohort, the Gen Xers, who “are skeptical of management, their motives, and their greed,” DeCoster said. Gen X was affected by the first surge of major social changes such as divorce and daycare. In the workplace, a significant influence on Xers was the era of great layoffs in the 1980s and 1990s. With the bonds of trust broken, this generation brought a new attitude toward work and drove new concepts such as flex time and telecommuting. “They don’t live to work and aren’t interested in overtime or management jobs,” he said.
Leaders need to follow a very different tack for Xers, who place much less value on seniority and expect to see competence in the workplace. Xers prefer to work independently on projects with a clear beginning and end, DeCoster said, so leaders should ask them for their input and assign projects with limited controls. Xers aren’t into networking, especially for activities that take place during non-work hours. Managers should provide frequent performance feedback and focus on practical rewards such as new training.
DeCoster advised the audience not to lump the next group, Generation Y, with the Xers. Gen Y grew up in a prosperous and more stable era in which families had learned to adjust to societal change. For this generation, life is good; people took care of them, and they are not negative or suspicious. In fact, parents were so attentive they hovered over their children like helicopters. “All managers can expect the day when the parent of a Yer will come with an applicant to an interview or performance review, or call to complain,” he predicted.
Because of being “helicoptered,” DeCoster said, Gen Y needs supervision and structure in the workplace. The most critical message for transportation managers dealing with Gen Y, though, is that this generation seeks a higher purpose in their work life. “When recruiting,” he suggested, “forget the job description and focus on how transportation does good things for people.” Managers should also foster a teamwork environment and collaborate with this generation, particularly finding mentoring opportunities with veterans. “They are high maintenance but high performance,” he summarized.
In closing, DeCoster made several final points. First, managers should not expect generational values to change over time. “They have inculcated a different set of values,” he explained. “They may mellow on the edge, but won’t change.” Second, no one has better values—they only have different values. And finally, “no generation is genetically impeded from being productive.”