The document discusses the importance of managing generational differences in the workplace, emphasizing that multi-generational teams can lead to significant growth if effectively leveraged. It highlights challenges such as misunderstandings and conflicts due to varying values and characteristics across generations, but underscores the value of emotional intelligence in bridging these gaps. Additionally, the document offers insights and scenarios on fostering collaboration and resolving intergenerational conflicts through understanding and support.

1. ‘Making Generational Differences
Work with Emotional Intelligence’
Learn at Work Day @ CSC
Prof Sattar Bawany
Managing Director
Master Executive Coach & Facilitator
EDA Asia Pacific
Friday, 13 July 2012
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2. Are You a Tiger or a Deer?
Every morning in Asia, a deer wakes
up. It knows it must run faster than the
fastest tiger or it will be killed.
Every morning in Asia, a tiger wakes up. It knows it
must outrun the slowest deer or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a tiger or a deer: when
the sun comes up, you’d better be running…..
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3. About A Leading Firm in:
Executive  Executive Development
 Leadership & High
Development Potential Development
Associates  Executive Coaching
 Succession Planning
 Executive Assessment
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4. Who We Are
• Executive Development Associates (EDA) has been in business since
1982 and is known across the globe for it’s C-Suite capabilities in
coaching and top Leadership Development designs.
• EDA is a pioneer and leader in creating custom-designed learning
and executive/leadership development strategies, programs and
processes to help clients achieve their strategic objectives and win in
the marketplace.
• EDA works in partnership with clients to ensure that their
development efforts are successful by ensuring maximum leverage
and bottom-line results.
• EDA has worked with many of the Fortune 100 and other leading
organizations around the world.
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5. Danger or Opportunity?
Our multigenerational work environment can
be a source of positive challenge, opportunity
and significant growth if managed effectively
and leveraged to meet the business goals of
our organization.
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6. Present Day Workforce
 Most employees are:
 Working in multi-generational teams
 View that multi-generational teams improve organizational
performance
 Key findings from survey commissioned by TAFEP:
 Together, Gen X and Gen Y make up 60% of the Singapore
workforce
 Means that 40% of the Singapore workforce is over 45
years of age
Source: Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP)
www.fairemployment.sg
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7. Copyright @2012 EDA Asia Pacific | 7
7 Source: ST 8 April 2010

8. Overview of Generational Differences
Traditionalists Baby Boomers Gen X Gen Y
Career Goals Legacy Stellar Career Portable Career Parallel Careers
Rewards Satisfaction of a Money, Title, Freedom Is The Work That Has
Job Well Done Recognition, Corner Ultimate Reward Meaning
Office
Work-Life Support in Help me balance Give me balance Work isn’t
Balance shifting the everyone else and find NOW! Not when everything.
balance meaning in myself I’m 65 Flexibility to
balance my other
activities
Job Changing Carries a stigma Puts you behind Is Necessary Is Expected
Training I learned the Train them too much The more they Continuous learning
hard way, you and they’ll leave learn, the more is a way of life
can too! they’ll stay
Source: Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman ‘When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the
Generational Puzzle at Work’, 2002.
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9. Why are Multigenerational Differences
an Issue?
 Multi-generational work environments can breed misunderstanding,
conflict, and can compromise growth.
 Each generation has its own characteristics; different values and
workplace concepts (Eg. Work-life balance, loyalty, teamwork) are
understood differently.
 But different doesn’t mean deficient.
 Multi Generational workplaces can be a source of positive challenge,
opportunity, and significant growth if managed effectively.
 Hence, it is increasingly important to know how to bridge inter-
generational differences at work.
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10. Intergenerational Conflict
Findings according to a study, commissioned by the Tripartite
Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP):
• Employees aged 30 and above, particularly the older ones, have
the most difficulty working with colleagues belonging to Gen Y –
those aged 29 and below.
• Conversely, Gen Y employees have fewer difficulties working
with older colleagues
“… should be sensitive towards (inter-generational issues) as
Singapore’s workforce becomes increasingly diverse…”
– Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean
Source: myPaper, 8 April 2010
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11. Multigenerational Communication
• Keeping these generational
differences in mind can make
dealing with co-workers, less of a
challenge.
• Remember to discard biases and
preconceived notions and enjoy the
generational differences
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12. Copyright @2012 EDA Asia Pacific

13. Emotional Intelligence (EI) & EQ
Emotional Intelligence, also called EI and often measured
as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an
ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage
the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups.
“The diversity of… generations provides a unique opportunity for
knowledge sharing. But because employees in the various age
groups may not naturally interact with each other on a daily basis,
you may need to make a concerted effort to facilitate
collaboration.”
- Katherine Spencer Lee
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14. Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ)
“The capacity for
recognising our own feelings
and those of others, for
motivating ourselves, for
managing emotions well in
ourselves and in our
relationships.”
Dr Daniel Goleman, Psychologist
‘Working with Emotional Intelligence’, 1998
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15. Experiencing Amygdala Hijack
You CAN change this !
“Anyone can become angry – that
is easy. But to be angry with the
right person, to the right degree,
at the right time, for the right
purpose, and in the right way –
that is not easy.”
Aristotle in ‘Nicomachean Ethics’
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16. EI Mini Quiz
Important Note: The purpose of the following short quiz is to
provide you with an introduction to Emotional Intelligence
(EI). The results you get from this quiz are NOT a
comprehensive picture of your EI.
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17. Scenario 1. You are a Gen Y employee in a meeting when
a Baby-Boomer colleague takes credit for work that
you have done. What do you do?
A. Immediately and publicly confront the colleague over the
ownership of your work.
B. After the meeting, take the colleague aside and tell her that
you would appreciate in the future that she credits you
when speaking about your work.
C. Nothing, it's not a good idea to embarrass colleagues in
public.
D. After the colleague speaks, publicly thank her for
referencing your work and give the group more specific
detail about what you were trying to accomplish.
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18. Answer for Scenario 1
The credit stealing colleague:
The most emotionally intelligent answer is D. By demonstrating an awareness of
work-place dynamics, and an ability to control your emotional responses, publicly
recognizing your own accomplishments in a non-threatening manner, will disarm
your colleague as well as puts you in a better light with your manager and peers.
Public confrontations can be ineffective, are likely to cause your colleague to
become defensive.
A. 0 Points – Immediately and publicly confront the colleague over the
ownership of your work.
B. 5 Points – After the meeting, take the colleague aside and tell her that you
would appreciate in the future that she credits you when speaking about your
work.
C. 0 Points – Nothing, it's not a good idea to embarrass colleagues in public.
D. 10 Points – After the colleague speaks, publicly thank her for referencing your
work and give the group more specific detail about what you were trying to
accomplish.
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Workshop on 'High Performance Leadership' for Menlo Worldwide Logistics

19. Scenario 2: You are a Gen X Manager in an organization
that is trying to encourage respect for racial and
ethnic diversity. You overhear a Gen Y employee
telling both sexist and racist jokes. What do you do?
A. Ignore it – the best way to deal with these things is not to
react.
B. Call the person into your office and explain that their
behavior is inappropriate and is grounds for disciplinary
action if repeated.
C. Speak up on the spot, saying that such jokes are
inappropriate and will not be tolerated in your organization.
D. Suggest to the person telling the joke he go through a
diversity training program.
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Workshop on 'High Performance Leadership' for Menlo Worldwide Logistics

20. Answer for Scenario 2
The Racist Joke:
The most emotionally intelligent answer is C. The most effective way to create an
atmosphere that welcomes diversity is to make clear in public that the social
norms of your organization do not tolerate such expressions. Confronting the
behavior privately lets the individual know the behavior is unacceptable, but does
not communicate it to the team. Instead of trying to change prejudices (a much
harder task), keep people from acting on them.
A. 0 Points – Ignore it - the best way to deal with these things is not to react.
B. 5 Points – Call the person into your office and explain that their behavior is
inappropriate and is grounds for disciplinary action if repeated.
C. 10 Points – Speak up on the spot, saying that such jokes are inappropriate
and will not be tolerated in your organization.
D. 5 Points – Suggest to the person telling the joke he go through a diversity
training program.
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21. Scenario 3. You are a Gen Y Manager and have recently
been assigned a Baby Boomer in your team, and have
noticed that he appears to be unable to make the
simplest of decisions without seeking advice from you.
What do you do?
A. Accept that he "does not have what it take to succeed around here" and
find others in your team to take on his tasks.
B. Get an HR manager to talk to him about where he sees his future in the
organization.
C. Purposely give him lots of complex decisions to make so that he will
become more confident in the role.
D. Engineer an ongoing series of challenging but manageable experiences for
him, and make yourself available to act as his mentor.
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22. Answer for Scenario 3
The indecisive Baby Boomer Employee:
The most emotionally intelligent answer is D. Managing multigenerational
employees requires high levels of emotional intelligence, particularly if you are going
to be successful in maximizing the performance of your team. Often, this means that
you need to tailor your approach to meets the specific generational needs of the
individual, and provide them with support to help them grow in confidence.
A. 0 Points – Accept that he 'does not have what it take to succeed around here'
and find others in your team to take on his tasks
B. 5 Points – Get an HR manager to talk to him about where he sees his future in
the organization
C. 0 Points – Purposely give him lots of complex decisions to make so that he will
become more confident in the role
D. 10 Points – Engineer an ongoing series of challenging but manageable
experiences for him, and make yourself his mentor (reverse mentoring)
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23. Tips on Resolving
Intergenerational Conflict
1. Look at the generational factor
2. Consider the generational values at stake
3. Air different generations' perceptions
4. Find a generationally appropriate fix
5. Find commonality and complements
6. Learn from each other
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24. Conclusion
• It is important to consider generational
differences when dealing with conflict at the
workplace
• Understanding where the individual is coming
from and leveraging on emotional intelligence
competencies will ensure a harmonious and
productive workplace as well as more
conducive organisational climate
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25. Final Thoughts……..
If you do tomorrow what you did yesterday
Your Future is History……………
If you do tomorrow what we’ve covered today
Your Future is Historic!!!
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26. Dialogue
EDA Affiliate Partner in Asia Pacific
IPMA – EDA Asia Pacific
Tel: (65) 6789 0977 Fax: (65) 6789 0911
Email: sattar@ipma.com.sg
IPMA Website: www.ipma.com.sg
EDA Website: www.executivedevelopment.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ipmaasiapacific
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ipma.singapore
Twitter: www.twitter.com/IPMA_Singapore
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