MANY BABY boomer bosses who are directly responsible for the improvement of staff are failing to pass down information to younger generation employees due to not understanding their communication styles and a possible fear that they will outshine their bosses
MANY BABY BOOMER bosses who are directly responsible for the improvement of staff are failing to pass down information to younger generation employees due to not understanding their communication styles and a possible fear that they will outshine their bosses.
Commenting on the results of a recent survey which found that almost half of Australians believe that bosses over the age of 40 don’t know what younger employees want, Margaret Kirby, managing director of recruitment firm The i Group said that baby boomer managers who believe that younger generations have short attention spans do not understand their communication habits and learning styles.
“Until managers learn to communicate effectively with X/Ys and facilitate on-the-job learning, they will continue to be frustrated by their staff’s constant demand for information, endless questions and insistence on relating to information in their own way,” she said.
Some baby boomer managers who are usually a little older could also be threatened by ambitious younger generations with access to critical information.
If such managers aren’t able to come to grips with this she said there will be a further increase in staff turnover –“put simply generation X/Y’s won’t hang around unless they feel they’re contributing and appreciated for their contribution,” she said.
Generation X/Y workers had an unfamiliar style of learning made them seem impatient for answers and demanding of information to baby boomer bosses.
“What looks to some managers like attention deficit disorder is more a rapid-fire style of interaction which comes naturally for those born in the information revolution,” Kirby said.
HR professionals could assist by understanding the ‘emotional makeup’of each member of staff, devising relevant individual management strategies for boomer managers and helping them understand their staff.
“If boomers are dropping the ball, then it’s the job of all HR professionals to give them the information and skills to improve that which is the most important aspect of what they do,”Kirby said.
“And if they don’t get that then you need to put it in plain speak so they do. These younger workers are committed to teams that nurture the individual.”
HR needed to remain firmly in the middle to assist boomer managers to stay on track and come to terms with this ‘new’ way of managing, said Kirby, as many refuse to take up this style of management out of fear of failure.
