Decoding Generational Differences…
Bernard L. Schwartz Communication
Institute Annual Symposium at
Baruch College
05/01/09 W. Stanton Smith
Principal,
National Director,
Next Generation
Initiatives
Deloitte LLP

Key generational differentiators
• Traditionalists (born prior to 1946)
– Work, work, work more if you ask me (and even if you don’t)
• Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964)
– Work, work, work…it’s what we are all about
• Gen X (born from 1965 to 1980)
– Work, work some more with flexibility, work even more? Let’s
talk…
• Millennials (born after 1980)
– Work flexibly anywhere, anytime, on my terms…Work even
more?…How lame is that! I’ve just texted all my friends to tell
them how lame you are!!
* At least from some Boomers’ POV
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Gen Y ambivalence towards process & over-reliance on
technology: “but I spell checked it” – a boomer nightmare
We are not here to praise
process, but too berry it --- with
apologies to William Shakespeare (whatever)
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The five commitments
• Best practices which promote success in
generations working together can be
summarized as:
• The Five Commitments to:
– Understanding the four things that won’t change
– Leveraging what all generations have in common
– Applying the corporate lattice
– Using knowledge transfer techniques to connect
the generations
– Becoming a leader worth following by adopting
the 4 A’s as a mindset
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Understanding the four things that won’t
change
1. The non-traditional family unit makes up the vast
majority of households
2. Flexibility and career customization are necessities
for workers
3. Workers (especially generation Y) are re-defining
the place of work in their lives
4. A set of three realities – technology, attitudes
toward business, and a consumer mindset, have
fundamentally affected how millennials view the
world.
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The three divides
• Technology
• Attitude toward business
• Consumer attitude mindset
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How generation Y wants to work
• A sense of purpose and meaning in their work
Positive Work • Honest, open communication
Environment • Support for innovation and an openness to new ways of doing things
• Sense of fun
• A flexible definition of the work day and the workplace
Flexibility and • Technology to support and enable working flexibly
Choice • Evaluation based on output not input (i.e. on the work product itself, not where,
when or how the work gets done)
Opportunities for • Opportunities to take on significant responsibility and make major contributions
Continuous early on in their careers
Learning • New challenges; not repetition of “menial tasks”
• Networked, less hierarchical organizations
Open Social • Friendly, positive co-workers
Networks • A sense of teamwork and camaraderie
• Sense of harmony
• Opportunities to be coached and mentored by leaders they respect
Long-term Career • A long-term relationship with an employer
Development
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Checklist kids
• Want to be right and want the road map to get to
“right”
• Very diligent once they receive clear directions
• Accustomed to explicit directions
– Taught rigidly with detailed test guides and
formulaic writing exercises so they would score
well on standardized tests.
• Accordingly they are challenged by ambiguity and
how to figure out on their own how things fit
together
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Life fulfillment factors
•Quality of family life
•Financial security
•Physical/mental/spiritual health
•Satisfying work
9

Job satisfaction factors
•Salary/ benefits
•Job security
•Work-life balance/ flexible work options
•Meaningful work/advancement
opportunities
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Retention factors
•Autonomy and control over work and life
•Compensation and benefits
•Internal entrepreneurial opportunity
•Positive work environment
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3R’s/3C’s-more commonalities
• Respected
• Recognized
• Remembered
• Coached
• Consulted
• Connected
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Learning styles model
• Why? benefits/purpose
• What? outline/provide documentation
• How does it work? Hands-on/big picture
• What if? possibilities
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Q: What’s really going on in the Workplace?
A: The corporate ladder is morphing into a corporate latticeTM model
Corporate Ladder Corporate Lattice
• Traditional hierarchy • More conducive to
• Singular path upward evolving matrix
Upward structure
• Move up or stop
momentum • Multiple paths
moving
• Work-versus-life Integrated with upward
balance talent • Move faster, slower,
management change directions
• Fits more traditional
systems • Career-life fit
family structure
• Assumes workers’ • Adjusts as workers’
needs remain needs change over
consistent over time time
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1 Decoding Generational Differences

Applying the corporate lattice
• MCC provides customization which all
generations want:
– Recognizes that careers ebb and flow over time
– Acknowledges that there are many acceptable
motivations for a career
– Emphasizes transparency in communications
about tradeoffs and choices
– The four career dimensions help inform career
discussions
– The resulting corporate lattice allows for more
fluid/adaptive career movements
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It’s all about knowledge transfer
• Key to a sustainable business = effective
transfer of knowledge
• Differences in learning styles = frequent
reason for miscommunication
*Recommended reading: Steve Trautman,
Teach What You Know-A practical leader’s
guide to knowledge transfer using peer
mentoring, Prentice Hall
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Learning styles model
• Why? benefits/purpose
• What? outline/provide documentation
• How does it work? Hands-on/big picture
• What if? possibilities
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Mix & match
• Read
• Show
• Do
• Talk
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5-minute meeting plan
• Define the purpose of the meeting
• Explain the relationship to the job
• Outline the main points of the assignment
• Note the jargon
• Identify practice opportunities
• Provide additional resources
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Who has time to adapt to everyone’s
learning styles?
• Any of us who get work done through
others…because:
“there may not seem to be time to pause and
answer questions or re-phrase a set of
instructions the first time through an
assignment, but…there always seems to be
time to do it over correctly the second time
through the assignment when there’s been a
miscommunication…ensuring comprehension
the first time saves time ultimately.”
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It’s not my job to teach you how to
learn…to analyze…
• In the ideal world perhaps…but teaching how
to learn by acknowledging differing learning
styles and using available tools to transfer
knowledge is one of the most useful acts a
senior person can engage in…once someone
learns how to learn, they’ll become willing,
committed life-long learners
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My challenge to you
• Acquire the four A’s, the key characteristics
of a leader worth following:
– Awareness that none of us has all the answers
• That we may not know what we don’t know
– Active listening
– A mind fearlessly kept open
– A lifetime learner from others
• Approach each other as colleagues who can
help each other regardless of experience
level
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