Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters--Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work - Softcover

Johnson, Meagan; Johnson, Larry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814415733 ISBN 13: 9780814415733

Publisher: AMACOM, 2010

Synopsis

Now that five different generations are on the job simultaneously--from Traditionals to Generation Y to Millennials--it's more important than ever for companies to understand how their people can not only coexist and cooperate, but thrive together as a team. Written by a father-daughter team of two generational experts, Generations, Inc. offers the perspectives of people of different eras to elicit practical insights on wrestling with generational issues in the workplace. The book provides Baby Boomers and Linksters alike with practical techniques for addressing conflicts, forging alliances with coworkers from other generations, getting people with different values and idiosyncratic styles to work together, and running productive meetings where all participants find value in each other’s ideas. The generation we were born in influences our expectations, actions, and mind-sets. Generations, Inc. includes realistic strategies for relating to your team members’ different views of loyalty, work ethic, and the definition of a job well done--and tips to make those perspectives work together to strengthen your workforce and grow your business.

About this title

Book Description:

Members of each generation share special signposts: collective experiences that influence our expectations, actions, and mind-sets. They also mold our ideas about company loyalty, work ethic, and the definition of a job well done. And now that five different generations are working together simultaneously—from Traditionals to Generation Y and beyond—it’s even more important to understand where everyone’s coming from.

Written by two generational experts—who happen to be father and daughter—Generations, Inc. offers the perspectives of people of different eras, eliciting practical insights on wrestling with generational issues in the workplace. The book provides Baby Boomers and Linksters alike with practical techniques for:

Addressing conflicts · Forging alliances with coworkers from other generations · Getting people with disparate values and idiosyncratic styles to work together · Running productive meetings in which all participants find value in each others’ ideas

Generations, Inc. provides realistic strategies for all those managers, executives, and employees seeking to coexist, flourish, and thrive together...at the same time.

From the Back Cover:

“This book...provided down-to-earth, understandable, and easily employed techniques to improve cross-generational interactions, both in business and in personal relationships.” --Mike Triantafellou, President and CEO, Handee Marts, Inc., dba 7-Eleven

You’re great at hiring talented people. Seasoned veterans and ambitious rookies alike, everyone on your team is energetic, focused, positive, and skilled. But with each generation looking at business from its own unique perspective, they won’t always see eye to eye. Professionals of different ages have different definitions of concepts like success, work ethic, priorities, and a job well done. Their points of view come from their different professional and personal experiences.

It’s almost never a clear-cut question of whose approach is right or wrong, so how do you manage the confluence of Woodstock Nation and the Facebook Generation—and everything in between?

Authors Meagan Johnson and Larry Johnson are walking examples of this challenge. A father-and-daughter consulting team whose points of view only sometimes coincide, they have developed powerful solutions to many of the seemingly intractable problems of intergenerational conflict. Generations, Inc. makes it easy for any manager, supervisor, or team leader to:

Talk openly about conflict · Create cross-generational alliances · Reconcile disparate values and idiosyncratic working styles · Run meetings and direct teams with equal (and equally valued) input from members of all generations · And much more

The book features their snappy give-and-take, point-counterpoint approach to getting to the heart of the matter, and includes a wealth of dialogue among professionals in dozens of fields and across multiple generations. What surfaces is that despite all the differences, there is much common ground to serve as a springboard to lasting cooperation.

You may find yourself managing great talent from five or more generations at once. Each is brilliant but headstrong, well intentioned but wary. But with the powerful management secrets of Generations, Inc., you’ll soon have them working together to move your organization into a future that works for everyone.

Meagan Johnson and Larry Johnson, a father–daughter team, are the Johnson Training Group, whose clients include American Express, Harley-Davidson, Nordstrom, Dairy Queen, and many others. Both authors are noted public speakers on the subjects of generations in the workplace as well as corporate culture and other management challenges.

About this edition

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0814415733
• ISBN 13: 9780814415733
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272