Off to 35th College Reunion – Less Play, More Gray?
Tomorrow I'm on my way to my 35th Middlebury College reunion. That's right, 35 years out of college and what did a BA in Biology do for me?
Quite a lot, it turns out...
Posts tagged ‘joyce maroney’
Jun 6
1 Comment
Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce
Board members Ruth Bramson, David Creelman and I recently met to talk about the opportunities and challenges presented by the increasingly multi-generational workforce. The picture here makes fun of one particular cliche about Millennials, but there are differences between the generations in terms of their assumptions, preferences and beliefs about how work gets done.
When I talked to co-authors Meagan and Larry Johnson a couple of years ago, they reflected on the significance of the cultural events that shaped the beliefs of workers from different generations. Increasingly, attitudes toward technology have become another aspect of difference. The newest generation, still doesn’t have an agreed upon moniker or birthdate for that matter. Re-Gen,Gen Z,Pluralist & or Homelander are all in play. But they’ll start to enter the workplace soon and what we do know about them is that they’ve never known a world without smartphones and social media. Email? That’s what their parents use to communicate.
Tammy Erickson posits that there are four main dimensions on which the generations differ in the workplace:
- Choosing where and when to work
- Communicating among team members
- Getting together; i.e. when/how to connect when collaboration is required
- Finding information or learning new things
You can listen to our discussion about these differences by listening to this podcast: Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce – Ruth Bramson and David Creelman
We’d also love to hear what you think? How important are generational differences in your workplace?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Bye Bye Lotus 1-2-3 – Thanks for the Memories
It was bittersweet to read this week that IBM has announced the end of support for Lotus 1-2-3. This may seem like a minor blip on the geek landscape, but for me this announcement was akin to Proust’s madelines. Released in January of 1983, Lotus 1-2-3 became the first killer app for personal computers, releasing millions of office workers from the tedium of paper-and-pencil spreadsheet analysis and ushering in the era of personal computing.
More important for me, though, was Lotus as an employer. I was there from ’92 to ’99 – pre- and post- the 1995 IBM acquisition of Lotus. Lotus was a downright magical place to work – high growth, brilliant colleagues and lots of opportunity to advance your career if you were willing to work hard. The benefits were trailblazing – onsite daycare, first company in the US to offer benefits to same sex couples, significant commitment to the advancement of women and minorities. I loved my time at Lotus. It was the google of its time, and I will always be proud to have had the opportunity to work there.
And here, in no particular order, are some of my fondest memories:
- Visiting my kids at the onsite daycare at lunchtime (and sometimes joining them for nap time)
- Becoming a manager for the first time – and getting great support from my teammates
- Hosting a medical and scientific forum to discuss AIDS research in the early 90′s because it was the right thing to do as a corporate citizen
- Teaching sales skills classes all over the globe
- Helping CTO John Landry don an Evita-style strapless ballgown for his appearance at the annual sales conference
- Working for and learning from terrific mentors, especially Deb Besemer who saw more in me than I saw in myself
- Learning, learning, learning
Bye, bye, 1-2-3. You’re gone but not forgotten.
We’re reading this week:
The Affordable Care Act: Executives Take Note: www.workforce.com/article/20130513/WORKFORCE90/130519993/the-affordable-care-act-executives-take-note#
Getting Onboarding Right: www.tlnt.com/2013/05/15/getting-onboarding-right-another-reminder-that-its-not-rocket-science/
The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator: www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml
What is organizations culture? blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/05/what_is_organizational_culture.html
Working With People You Don’t Like ow.ly/kYrza via @hrbartender
How Far Can Employers Go In Mandating What Employees Eat? ow.ly/l8hKP via @TLNT_com
The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator ow.ly/l8hYb via @Forbes
Listen Up! Workplace Words for New Grads and Old Guard ow.ly/l8itM via @HuffingtonPost
Kronites are writing about:
New Time Well Spent #Cartoon: Moving #IT To The #Cloud ow.ly/kYhJr
Even small local retailers can leverage the #cloud to grow their businesses ow.ly/kYMow via @SmarterCafe
The Big Event! ow.ly/l8hza via @simonmacpherson @KronosUK
@WF_Institute Discusses the Working Families Flexibility Act ow.ly/l5ID0
Won’t you let me in, integration man? ow.ly/l8hlI via @SmarterCafe
Fredo, I know it was you… at KronosWorks! ow.ly/l8hqa via @SmarterCafe
#Kronos and @successfactors Partnership Helps Organizations Manage a Global Workforce in the #Cloud ow.ly/kYVoW #SAPPHIRENOW
Our finance department helped The Paul Center prepare their summer camp for children withdisabilities. Pictures: ow.ly/kYIxn
RT @andrewbusby: Fantastic customer attendance at #KronosLive2013 biggest & best yet! @KronosInc @ kronosuk pic.twitter.com/Cl3XZtiUwk
Less than 10% of #kronoslive2013 #boston audience have a strategy to help comply w/ the #ACA. #kronos can help. ow.ly/1WaYzh
Check out some pictures from #KronosLive #Boston ow.ly/l1JUs
Affordable Care Act Compliance ow.ly/l5Ilx via @ChainStoreAge
Did you miss our tweetchat on #ACA this afternoon? Check out the archive: ow.ly/l6Cc9
