Companies Respond to Feedback Demands

by Phyllis Weiss Haserot

Not only are Millennials demanding faster and more frequent feedback at work, but also companies increasingly are realizing that it’s necessary for maximizing productivity and professional development of their personnel at all levels. Goldman Sachs (as well as Accenture PLC, Deloitte, J.P. Morgan Chase, Microsoft Corp., Netflix Inc., Fed Ex Corp., General Electric) have added fast feedback processes in addition to, or instead of, annual reviews.

Edith Cooper, head of Goldman Sach’s human capital management told the Wall Street Journal, “The same approach that we take to our revenue-producing businesses, we have to apply to our investment in people.” The push for change at Goldman was not primarily a Millennial initiative. Cooper said that in a 2015 survey it was most often the vice presidents and managing directors (typically Gen Xers in their late 30s and 40s) who responded that they wanted more frequent reviews. Feedback has long been a Gen X demand. Yet (as usual) the focus and talk centered on Millennials. (Am I the lone voice who calls out the unwise neglect of Gen X?  But I digress.)

In Goldman’s case the concern is for quick feedback to employees after a big client pitch or product launch. If they haven’t already, Goldman senior managers will realize, as other companies are, the need for frequent and timely feedback as a matter of routine practice.

Has your organization changed its feedback policy? What changes were made, and what has been the outcome?

Play the Generational Challenge Game II

by Phyllis Weiss Haserot

You’re a Boomer/Gen X cusper boss with a few long-tenured Boomers on your team, which is planning for new services and succession as the “Boomer cliff” (talent losses voluntarily or involuntarily) looms.

What would you do or advise a colleague to do?  And why?

1. Assume the older half Boomers would soon be gone and pretty much ignore them in planning?
2. Encourage the Boomers to stay to take advantage of their strengths and relationships?
3. Ask the older Boomers to accept shifts to lesser roles to enable younger co-workers to move up?
4. Provide incentives for the older Boomers to transfer their knowledge and relationships to younger colleagues?

Email us your responses and you’ll get a complimentary 15-minute coaching session and tips on handling your inter-generational challenge.

Play the Generational Challenge Game

by Phyllis Weiss Haserot

You’re a Baby Boomer reporting to a hotshot younger (Gen Y/Millennial) boss with pre-conceived assumptions about what you can or cannot do.

What would you do in this situation? Select a response and explain why.

1. Point out that you have been around a long time with lots of experience and proceed to give advice?
2. Complement his/her achievements and ask how you can be most helpful in reaching the group’s goals? (getting your ego out of the way)
3. Suggest you start by talking out your respective working and learning styles and figure out how you can collaborate most productively?
4. Give a resume of your technology savvy and assure the young boss you are capable of whatever challenges you are given?

Email us your responses and you’ll get a complimentary 15-minute coaching session and tips on handling your inter-generational challenge.

3 Societal Shifts Among the Generations you might not have heard of

by Phyllis Weiss Haserot

1. Avoiding Debt
   • 80% of Gen Zers are considering cost when deciding where to attend college. 69% are concerned about taking on loans.
   • The fastest growing segment with student debt are parents, who have taken out loans for their kids’ education and are struggling between paying for that and their retirement funds.
   • Young Millennials and Gen Zers are shifting their grocery shopping away from supermarkets, the venues typically patronized by Boomers and Gen X, to lower cost options online and other retailers. Total grocery spend by Millennial-aged shoppers is $1,000 less than in 1990 for similarly aged shoppers (adjusted for inflation dollars).
2. Martha Stewart sees a minimalist trend in interior design among millennials. They don’t want to collect and be weighed down with a lot of “stuff.” (So parents are likely to have trouble offloading even their good stuff to their children when they downsize.)
3. Gen Zers and young Millennials don’t favor established celebrities. They prefer to follow YouTubers, considering them more authentic and relatable. So brands are looking for new types of “celebrities” to represent them in new ways to new generations of customers.

Think about how these trends will (or will not) affect you personally or your business.

MIA: Searching for Talent, CHROs Find These Skills Missing

by Phyllis Weiss Haserot

Research by Korn Ferry polled Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) about skills they find most lacking when they search for HR talent. The responses were primarily the kinds of things taught in business school curriculums. But the most interesting was their response to what competencies are most important to operate in their ever-changing environment. Fifty-two percent cited “tolerance for ambiguity,” the most common response.

Unfortunately, that’s a trait many Millennials lack, probably largely attributed to the high degree of structure and protection many of them have had in their lives.

What have you observed about Millennials and tolerance for ambiguity? Has that surfaced as a problem? Should we expect the same from Gen Z? And if so, as mentors, coaches, managers and parents, since tolerance for ambiguity is a trait or skill to be developed early, how should it be taught?

Please share your thoughts on this and other skills lacking.