Patricia Hatley

4 Generations at Work Patricia Hatley

The biggest challenge to organizational sustainability today is engaging and retaining people, especially the youngest generations Millennials (Gen Y) and Plurals (Gen Z). These two youngest generations demand different things in the workplace than their more senior colleagues, Veterans, Boomers and even Gen X. If these needs are not met, unlike their more senior colleagues, they will leave."Hire me! Train me! Empower me to do the job you hired me to do without micromanaging or bullying me to death. Coach me to close gaps in learning and accountability." An empowered culture free of abusive behaviors, with the foundation of trust, is key to engaging and retaining people. To create such a culture, you must meet human needs of respect, purpose, and trust. You will never get to trust if you are not consistently meeting the needs of respect and purpose. Consequently, all human beings regardless of anything, have these needs and respond more positively in an environment where these needs are consistently being met. - Respect and value for all people: Create a culture of zero tolerance for disrespect of anyone. Value and respect individual uniqueness. Elevate diversity and inclusion to the highest level. Create understanding of generational preferences & values and why needs have changed.- Develop a Culture of Trust: Trust is so important to success today that your "number one responsibility when you go to work is to build trust." Develop behaviors that tier to trust, soft skills, interpersonal skills, and an understanding of "how my behaviors affect everyone else." - An Empowered Culture: Developing empowering leaders and culture should be at the top of the list of organizational strategy. Micromanagement and other fear-based tactics are counterproductive in creating an empowering culture. Consequently, to the two youngest generations, these behaviors can be considered abuse. - Meet human needs of Respect, Purpose and Trust: Meeting human needs is linked to intrinsic motivation, performance, and employee retention. Unmet human needs results in lower revenues.