i’ll take the corner office

I’ll Take the Corner Office Prepared for

PRSA International ConferenceNovember 10, 2009

Presented byDeborah A. Myers, EVP, CRT/tanakaEllen LaNicca Albanese, EVP, CRT/tanakaKim Blake, SAE, CRT/tanaka

What caused our agency to focus on this topic?

The Generations

• Born between 1946-1964 (Ages 45-63 – “The Boss”)

• 73 million• Parents of Millennials• Currently highest household

incomes of any generation in history

• Staying in the workforce longer

Baby Boomers – Background

• Economic prosperity• Drugs, sex and rock n’ roll• Civil rights movement• JFK/MLK/RFK assassinations• Vietnam• Watergate• Women knocking on the glass

ceiling

Baby Boomers – Influences

Baby Boomers – What other generations say about them

Gen Xers• “They’re self-righteous”• “They’re workaholics”• “They do a good job of talking the talk, but they don’t

walk the walk”• “Get outta my face”• “What’s the management fad this week?”• “Lighten up; it’s only a job”

Millennials• “They’re cool - they’re up to date on the music we like”• “They work too much”

Zemke, et al., Generations at Work

• Born between 1965-1977 (Ages 32-44 – “Middle Manager”)

• 49 million; smallest generation of the century

• Sometimes known as the Lost Generation

Generation X – Background

• Reaganomics• AIDS• Iran Contra• First latchkey kids• Divorced parents• Beginning of Internet• Baby Boomers limiting job

openings; irritated by Millennials

Generation X – Influences

Baby Boomers• “They’re slackers”• “They’re always doing things their own way instead of the

prescribed way (our way)”• “They spend too much time on the Internet and E-mail”

Millennials “Cheer up!”


Generation X – What other generations say about them

• Born between 1978-1995 (Ages 14-31 – “Junior Employees”)

• Also known as Generation Y• 80 million • Children of Boomers• Next “Hero” generation

Millennials – Background

• End of Cold War• Wholesome family shows• MTV and Reality TV• Internet• Instant messaging• Helicopter parents• Programmed and structured lives• 9/11• Columbine

Millennials – Influences

Baby Boomers• “They’re cute”• “They need to learn to pay their dues”• “They need too much attention”• “Can they do my Web page for me?”

Gen Xers• “Neo Boomers”• “Here we go again…another self-absorbed generation

of spoiled brats”• “What do you mean, ‘What’s an album’”


Millennials – What other generations say about them

Why should we care about Millennials?

Millennials are the largest and the fastest growing group of

workers in the U.S.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS• Equal footing with senior management• Not willing to “pay their dues”• Immediate gratification

Challenging Millennial characteristics

HIGH EXPECTATIONS: WHY?• Child-centric culture• Grew up doing things that used to be considered “adult

privileges” • Parents focused on self-esteem and instilled a “you can

do anything” attitude


HIGH RISK• Quick to leave for other opportunities• Loyalty is defined by what’s interesting and challenging,

rather than job security


HIGH RISK: WHY?• Focused on an accelerated path to success• Saw their parents fall victim to layoffs, down-sizing and

right-sizing


• 66% of Millennials say they have lowered their expectations of being promoted vs. 51% of other workers (55% of Gen-X, 48% of Boomers)

• More than half of Millennials (55%) have experienced a layoff or loss of work in their family within the past year, and nearly three-fourths (72%) feel threatened by a possible layoff or loss of work in the coming months

Impact of the recessionCRT/tanaka-Lumin Collaborative 2009 Survey

HIGH MAINTENENCE• Expect reward and recognition on a regular basis• Believe that they are all “above average”


HIGH MAINTENANCE: WHY?• Every child on the team received a trophy – whether

or not they were the MVP• Respect their parents and care about what they think • Over-inflate their contributions • Expect instant feedback


HIGH MAINTENENCE• Define their workday differently and want flexibility• Adopted adult “extra-curricular activities”


HIGH MAINTENANCE: WHY?• Grew up with multi-tasking with a variety of after-school

activities• Highly civic generation


Speaking the right lingo

Who’s the audience? Pick the phrase that works.Motivation:“Do it your way”

“Get together with your team and work to develop a solution”

“We’re counting on you to help turn this around”

Who’s the audience? Pick the phrase that works.Criticism:“We need to do a better job of tracking

our results on this initiative”

“Because you did not track results, this program could be in jeopardy”

“You did a great job organizing this initiative, but in the future it’s essential to track results so that we can justify the program”

5 Communications Strategiesto Help Bridge the Generational Gap Between Managers and Millennials

• Millennials don’t like making mistakes – tell them what it will take to succeed

• Give them clear instructions and make it comfortable for them to ask questions. Millennials will try to figure it out themselves, rather than look like they don’t know something

1. Set clear directions

• Millennials need a dose of praise with constructive criticism• “You’re almost there. Here’s where you’re falling short.”• Define frequency up front. It will be more often than you

think is needed• Feedback should be honest, short and to the point.

Millennials don’t like anything that is long and drawn out

2. Give frequent feedback

• Millennials are smart and work fast, but have a harder time looking beyond a month and can easily become bored

• Break down large projects so that there are multiple deadlines and opportunities for feedback

• Lots of short deadlines help create a feeling of accomplishment with the completion of each task and provides a sense of instant gratification

3. Set short deadlines

4. Foster teamwork• Millennials are social beings and work well in teams• Communicate team objectives and tie individual

performance to them• Allow them to engage in volunteer and social responsibility

programs

• Provide them with the ability to communicate quickly• Recognize you may only have partial attention – you are

competing with cell phones, social networking sites, email and other distractions

• Set ground rules through a Social Media Code of Participation

5. Use new tools, but keep face-to-face

New tools not a substitute for face-to-faceCRT/tanaka-Lumin Collaborative 2009 survey

3 Key Conversations Between Managers and Millennials

1. Discussing Salary

• Millennials are savvy about evaluating their opportunities, they’ve done the research

• Expect Millennials to discuss salary openly, with their boss and their peers

• Needs to be competitive, but it is just one factor• Emphasize the full compensation package • Salary ranked #4 in a survey about priorities for the next job

2. Discussing Raises and Promotions

• If Millennials are asking for more, they are really saying, “What do I need to do to earn more?”

• Conversation strategies to keep top performers– Offer performance-based compensation– Consider flexible scheduling and flexible locations– Give access to decision makers– Implement ongoing training

Job attributes that matter to MillennialsCRT/tanaka-Lumin Collaborative 2009 Survey

3. Paying your dues

• Hit the ground running and make an impact• Millennials want to identify problems that nobody else has identified,

solve problems that nobody else has solved, make existing things better, and invent new things

• Tips for assigning “grunt work”:– Give personal credit for results achieved– Define a clear area of responsibility– Give the chance for creative expression

Contact Information Debbie MyersExecutive Vice PresidentCRT/[email protected]

Thank You!

i’ll take the corner office

Documents

generation y80

workgeneration x

smallest generation

half of millennials

job openings

good job

likethey work

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