Intergenerational Influencing

Do these sound familiar?

I) Recruiting Manager and Hiring Manager

Recruiting Manager: I tell you; sometimes I’m not sure some of the younger candidates I’m interviewing are from the same planet as me. The things they are interested in regarding comp and benefits are totally different from what my generation values! They want it all now in compensation and prefer to manage their own retirement, if at all.

Hiring Manager: Yeah, and they really don’t fully appreciate the traditional health care package. They would rather pick and choose the type of coverage you offer them. It makes it hard to put together a total comp and benefits coverage plan.

Recruiting Manager: I’ll say. Then you get the older candidate, and they really focus on health care and their retirement options in the package.

Hiring Manager: And when did we decide that the preferred form of communication would be texting? I’m also finding as many candidates on the LinkedIn networking site as I am the job boards. It’s a different world we live in.

II) Training and Development Instructor and Human Resource Manager

Training and Development Instructor: If I get interrupted once more by a cell phone during class, I will expel the student! Well maybe not. But it is hard to understand why this generation accepts this kind of rudeness as normal.

Human Resource Manager: I agree. But our younger employees don’t consider this behavior rude. To them, use of laptops, cell phones, PDA’s and other communication technology is a normal part of doing business. My issue is determining the best medium to reach them when we are trying to get an important message to the masses. Do I send an email, voicemail, text message, post it on the bulletin board, include in the newsletter, all of the above?

Training and Development Instructor: Oh yes, I have one for you. I had one student who felt it was fine to use his Black Berry to access the internet for the answer to a question during a course quiz. And it’s not unusual for a student to want to be allowed to wear ear phones in class if I’m not up front lecturing. I’m telling you, this younger generation is different.

III) Marketing Communication Manager and Marketing Manager

Marketing Communication Manager: I just don’t get it. We put together this great pitch for the client and they barely seem to notice it. All they talk about is what they see on some of the internet sites and how we might use everything from LinkedIn, Facebook to Twitter to pitch the product.

Marketing Manager: I know. Looks like we have to redefine how we go to market with our communications.

These vignettes demonstrate some of the internal challenges today’s organizations face.

Three generations are re-shaping the way business is conducted today, yet the way in which they communicate could not be more different. Learn how to bridge the gap for greater effectiveness with TIGI’s Intergenerational Influencing® Program.

Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y, together are re-shaping the landscape in business today. Each generation has its own perspective and reaction to requests for behavior change and influencing. ??Both market leading and aspiring companies are challenged to manage the productivity of their business development activities; this is a problem complicated by generational differences.

Customer facing employees are also challenged by generational differences. How a Generation Y salesperson influences a Baby Boom Generation customer and vice-versa is significantly affected by basic differences in generational perspectives. Further, managers of a generationally diverse sales team must negotiate these differences as they attempt to achieve market performance goals.

Intergenerational Influencing® is an approach to improving business performance in a multi-generational marketplace. Participants in this multi-phase program learn how to develop credibility, gain conviction for action, and impart knowledge in a generationally appropriate way.