At Work, Key Expectations Span Generations

My first crush was on Miss Shannon, my kindergarten teacher. Not only was she beautiful, she knew so many things--especially about dealing with others. She was probably only reinforcing what I'd learned at home, but coming from her it had so much more meaning. Values Shift may not be as pretty as Miss Shannon, but it plays much the same role: reminding us of the fundamentals for dealing with people at work.

The initial premise of Values Shift is that generational differences in the workforce require customized HR policies and leadership styles. Depression kids, Boomers, Generation Xers and Ys have varying motivational drives and "want different things from work." Since I have a smattering of each of these people around my home and business, I felt a wave of relief because up until now I thought they were all just crazy.

Author John B. Izzo is a consultant and speaker on managing change and on leadership development and is co-author of Awakening Corporate Soul: Four Paths to Unleash the Power of People at Work. Pam Withers is a journalist who has written for The New York Times, Your Money, Working Woman and other national publications.

The authors note that dramatic changes in family, the economy, society and technology have combined to realign what people expect from work. Their analysis is interesting and useful as a backdrop for the body of the book, even though they don't provide revolutionary insights or particularly new information.

There's little question that those factors do affect the way we look at work and life. But so do a host of other factors: ever-burgeoning HR-related legislation, the growth of governmental regulation, organizational cultures altered by mergers and acquisitions, the explosion of foreign-national ownership of U.S. businesses, and a preoccupation with short-term results driven by institutional traders' domination of the stock market.

Izzo and Withers masterfully integrate masses of findings from the current literature on leadership and performance. From their research, they have identified six major expectations that they believe must be considered to attract, motivate and retain workers. These are expectations of:

* Partnership in a collapsed hierarchy.

* Work/life balance.

* Work as a noble cause.

* Personal growth and development.

* Community at work.

* Trust.

Are the expectations of Gen Xers and Ys different from those of the Boomers and the Depression kids? Oh, yeah. Dramatically different? Probably not. After some hedging, the authors admit that we're all more alike than we are different.

So to Values Shift's credit, it takes a hard right turn from its original path and explores how to understand the six core expectations and integrate them into a corporate leadership style. Throughout the six corresponding chapters, the authors present the findings from current literature in a well-organized, logical format.

These findings reaffirm what we've already come to know: Participation, meaningful work and the ability to learn and grow in an atmosphere of trust and camaraderie are the most important factors in generating loyalty.

At least three things pull Values Shift out of the crowd of management books.

First, Izzo and Withers make a notable contribution in describing how each of the six key factors fits into an effective HR strategy.

Second, they make all the right arguments about leadership and motivation, in a style both forceful and readable. Each core chapter is a powerful primer or refresher, depending on the reader's leadership experience. The chapter on trust deals with a critically important area that is often bypassed because its behavioral definition is elusive and its measurability is complex.

Third, each chapter concludes with a relatively simple questionnaire to help determine the extent to which an organization is using a key factor.

Anyone who spends much time with high schoolers, college students or young entrants into the workforce typically is impressed with their adaptability, intense drive for achievement and commitment to organizations they believe have merit. In 15 years, when we're diagnosing the problems with the next generation, we'll come to grips with two things:

1. The work attitudes and behaviors of employees always have been a function of the leadership they're given.

2. Despite periodic, modest downturns, the U.S. economy's phenomenal 30-year run of growth and the ensuing hot labor market is the primary driver of today's abnormally high turnover rates.

Do these things make Values Shift wrong? Absolutely nor. Is it a worthwhile read? I think Miss Shannon would say so.

Steve McIntosh, Ph.D., is president of Tartan Consulting and is a founding partner of the Southern Leadership Institute, headquartered in Bonita Springs, Fla.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Society for Human Resource Management
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group