Tamara Erickson – Future Workforce in a Multi-Generation Society

FUTURE WORKFORCE IN
A MULTI-GENERATION
SOCIETY
Tamara Erickson
Expert in Managing Generational
Differences Within the Workplace

SMS jautājumi – LTC un JAUTĀJUMU sūtiet uz 157 Tvītiem – #LTC_conf

Future Workforce
in Multi-Generation Society
Lattelecom 7th International Conference:
“Latvia is 100, What to Present?”
Riga, Latvia
October 19, 2012

Long-term Strategic Workforce Planning:
Key Issues for Latvia

• More than one-quarter (28%) of the people in Latvia are retired
– and the percent is growing
• The birth rate has fallen below replacement levels – the
population is shrinking
• Life expectancies are increasing – people are living longer
• Emigration levels among the young are high

A workforce that will be . . . .

4 | © 2012 Tammy Erickson Associates. All Rights Reserved.

Latvia Population Pyramid

Source: U.S. Census Bureau’s International Data Base



What Can You Do?

• Leaders in all sectors: understand the
situation
– The composition of the future workforce
– Key characteristics and expectations of the
generations in the workplace
• Companies: take action now to attract,
develop and retain talent of all ages
– Prepare to manage multi-generational
teams
• Government: help develop and retrain
an older workforce


Generational Characteristics
Are Country-Specific


Cognitive Structures Form
from the Interpretation of Events

Piaget’s Four • Sensorimotor stage (birth-2 years old)
Developmental Stages – Concepts about how physical objects work based on direct
physical interaction with the environment
• Preoperational stage (ages 2-7)
– Intuitive intelligence related to concrete physical situations
• Concrete operations (ages 7-11)
– Logical structures related to concrete objects or physical
experiences (numbers, for example)

• Formal operations (ages 11-15)
– Conceptual reasoning and abstractions
– Mental models that will persist throughout
adulthood


Latvia:
Common Characteristics

Born from 1928 to 1945
• Hard-working Born from 1961 to 1979 Born 1980 to 1995
• Practical • Independent and self- • Sees opportunity in
• Savvy about affiliation reliant the now-open
• Respectful of authority Born from 1946 to 1960 • Hyper-responsible – for economy
• Many speak German as parents • Technologically
• Competitive to advance
a second language • Interested in generating proficient and
• Hard-working wealth in the changing globally connected
• Far fewer men than
women • Highly educated in the economy • Hard-working –
Russian system - • Entrepreneurial and risk- willing to sacrifice
particularly the men taking work-life balance for
• Most speak Russian as a • Short term-oriented career advancement
second language • Immediate and
• Patriotic
restless
• Most speak English

Multiple Generations
in the Workforce

• Very different experiences
• All required to work together


For the Young:
Challenge, Meaning, (and Money)
• Provide challenging work – avoid over-defining the task – let Y’s figure it out
• Discuss the importance and impact of the work they have been asked to do
• Re-design career paths to offer frequent, lateral moves
• Provide world-class learning opportunities
• Provide frequent feedback–coach first-line managers to teach, rather than
assess – encourage mentoring
• Investing in technology and technology skills
• Create flexible work environments
– Shifting performance management to focus on
task completion, not time spent
– Embracing time shifting, asynchronous work, and
flexible schedules
– Create collaborative environments


For Older Workers:
Opportunity, Motivation, Skill, Conditions
• Challenge stereotypes and change
expectations
• Involve the government,
employers, unions and NGOs, as
well as individuals
• Improve the employability of
seniors
• Reward working longer
• Change workplace practices

Source: Mark Keese, “How have other countries successfully tackled the
issue of an ageing workforce?,” IES Policy Conference: Still Working? The
labour market and older people, 9 November 2006


The Role of Individuals:
Engage in Life-Long Learning
• Adults today need to engage in lifelong learning to gain up-to-date and
economically usable knowledge, competences and abilities
• This does not hold only for knowledge-intensive occupations and professions
• Workers in all fields of activity need:
– Basic knowledge from other
disciplines, in addition to
occupational expertise
– Analysis and problem solving skills
– Communicative skills
– Technology skills

Source: “Working and Ageing: Emerging Theories and Empirical
Perspectives,” European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training,
Publications Office of the European Union, 2010, citing Baethge et al., 2006


Government Programs
to Retrain Older Employees

• Singapore’s Skills Development Fund (SDF) retrains older
employees and retirees in an effort to encourage workers to
postpone retirement
• The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) was set
up to retrain and upgrade the skills of Singapore workers
– Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund
– Professional Skills Program (for Executives
and Managerial Staff )
– Job Placement Programs
– Skill Upgrading Programs
– Career Scholarships
– Job Re-creation Program
Source: “Singapore Public Policy,” by Shanyuan Foo, The Sloan
Center on Aging and Work at Boston College, October 2009


A Role for NGO’s:
Innovative Funding Mechanisms
• Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs) allow employers and
employees to co-finance education and skill development for
adults
• Employers match employee contributions to an employee-
owned account for education and training
• Since 2001, LiLAs have been
successfully piloted in
several locations, including
San Francisco, northeast
Indiana, Chicago, and Maine

Source: Americans Seek Meaningful Work in the Second
Half of Life, A MetLife Foundation/ Civic Ventures Encore
Career Survey, June 2008 describing a program developed
by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)


Private Enterprise:
The Encore Career Institute

• A newly launched, for-profit
Internet-education company
• Targeted toward adults who need career enhancement or redirection
• Offers fast-track certificate programs for older adults seeking to upgrade or learn
new job skills
– UCLA Extension certificate programs
– Delivered entirely through an iPad, with state-of-the-art social networking tools to
facilitate online collaboration and learning
– End-to-end services including career assessment, counseling, job search and
placement assistance
Sources: “School for the Second Half of Life,” Elizabeth
Pope, AARP, September 1, 2011; Empowered UCLA Extension


Employer Initiative

• Lattelecom is teaching digital
literacy and internet
awareness to seniors
– Latvia, Connect!
• More than 1500 seniors were
taught in 2011, with 6000
scheduled for 2012


Within Organizations:
Cross-Mentoring

• Cross-mentoring – an
older and younger
sharing information –
can be highly effective
• Provide options and
introductions – allow
the relationships to
form from natural
interests



Incent Working Longer: How?
• Reduce early retirement options
– Raise the retirement age
– Phase out formal early retirement schemes
• Actively incent participation in work
– Increase pension rights with age
– Offer part‐time pensions – progressive retirement
combining work and pensions
• Remove any financial disadvantage from working longer
– Some pension systems penalize those who work
over the formal retirement age or those who take
lower-paying positions later in their careers

Source: Based in part on Mark Keese, “How have other countries successfully
tackled the issue of an ageing workforce?,” IES Policy Conference: Still Working?
The labour market and older people, 9 November 2006



Changing Employer Practices: How?
• Consider age discrimination and job protection legislation
• Build the economic case for older workers
– Support aligning labor costs to productivity, where necessary
– Consider wage subsidies to companies that employ older workers, ideally linked
to other characteristics such as skill or location, as well as age
• Improve the work environment
– Offer flexible work options and arrangements
– Insure work conditions promote health and safety for all
– Build cross-generational understanding – promote effective relationships across
the generations

Source: Mark Keese, “How have other countries
successfully tackled the issue of an ageing workforce?,”
IES Policy Conference: Still Working? The labour market
and older people, 9 November 2006


Traditional Retirement: Plummeting from
the Peak of Power and Prestige

50s or 60s

40s

30s

20s


The Shape of Careers to Come:
“Down Shifting” for Ongoing Contribution
50s
60s
40s
70s

30s Career Deceleration
80s
Career
Development
20s

Source: Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and
Talent by Dychtwald, Erickson, and Morison, April 2006


Companies Must Create
Alternative Ways of Working
• Create a variety of bell-shaped curve career options
– Cyclic work
– Part-time work
– Flex-time
– Options for both less and more responsibility


Make the Most
of a Multigenerational Workforce

• Appreciate
• Attract
• Develop
• Retain



Resources for Further Reading
“It’s Time to Retire Retirement,” Harvard Business Review, March 2004
– Winner of the 2004 McKinsey Award
“Managing Middlescence,” Harvard Business Review, March 2006
Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent
by Dychtwald, Erickson, and Morison, Harvard Business School Press, 2006
“What It Means to Work Here,” Harvard Business Review, March 2007
“Bridging Faultlines In Diverse Teams,” MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2007
“Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams,” Harvard Business Review, November 2007
“Breakthrough Ideas for 2008: Task, Not Time,” Harvard Business Review, February 2008
Retire Retirement: Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation,
Harvard Business School Press, 2008
Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work, Harvard Business Press, 2008
“Unconventional Wisdom in a Downturn: “Give Me the Ball!” Is the Wrong Call in a Downturn,”
Harvard Business Review, November 2008
“Gen Y in the Workforce,” (Case Study), Harvard Business Review, February 2009
What’s Next, Gen X? Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want,
Harvard Business Press, 2010
“The Leaders We Need Now,” Harvard Business Review, May 2010

My blog: http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/erickson/

Tamara Erickson – Future Workforce in a Multi-Generation Society

Tamara Erickson – Future Workforce in a Multi-Generation Society

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