www.blionline.org

Leading Four Generations in the Workplace

Tom Hood, CPA,CITP, CGMA CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs

and the Business Learning Institute

If there is a conversation about the future of the profession, you're bound to hear Hood's name mentioned as one of the people leading the way. – Accounting Today

Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA

! Named the Second Most Influential in Accounting

by Accounting Today Magazine 2013 ! Top 150 Influencer by Linked-In ! Top 25 Influencers in Learning & HR by HR

Examiner ! Top 25 Public Accounting Thought Leaders by

CPA Practice Adviser ! Working on Learning Management with AICPA/

CPA2Biz, Cloud Curriculum, Performance Management /XBRL, Leadership & Generations

CEO Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) www.macpa.org Business Learning Institute (BLI) www.blionline.org

http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood/

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Why all the fuss?

7 out of 10

What is this all about?

•  First time ever that we have 4 different generations in our workforce working together side-by-side

•  Traditionalists, Boomers, Xers, and Millennials (Y’s) •  Each of these generations were impacted by

various events that shape who they are and how they work

•  We need to understand what motivates the various generations and how to work together

Common Workplace Conflicts •  Conflicts frequently have generational issues as their

cause •  “He is not committed to his job” •  “She does not listen to my ideas” •  “He has a poor work ethic” •  “He does not follow direction” •  “I can’t believe the way he/she dresses” •  “She treats me like my parents” •  “What do you mean I can’t work from home on

Friday’s” •  “She does not listen to my ideas”

Consider the following:

“What happens when generations define success differently?” “How do the conflicting definitions of success affect how we motivate, coach and encourage in the workplace?”

When Miranda (Meryl Streep) tells Andy (Anne Hathaway) that she is like her, Andy walks away and happily tosses her

mobile phone into a fountain

The Devil Wears Prada

Danger Zone

Characteristics Traditionalists Born 1925-1945

Baby Boomers Born 1946-1964

Generation X Born 1965-1977

Millennials Born 1978 or after

Age Span 65 to 86 years old 46 to 64 years old 33 to 45 years old 32 or younger Traits Conservative

Believe in Discipline Respect for authority Loyal Patriotic

Idealistic Break the rules Time stressed Politically correct

Pragmatic Self-sufficient Skeptical Flexible Media/Info/Tech savvy Entrepreneurial

Confident Well-educated Self-sufficient Tolerant Team builders Soc ia l l y /po l i t i ca l l y conscious

Defining Events Great depression World War II Korean War

Vietnam War Woodstock Watergate

Missing children Latch Key Kids Computers in school

School shootings Terrorism Corporate scandals

To Them Work Is If you want a roof and food….

Exciting adventure Difficult challenge To make a difference

Work Ethic Loyal/dedicated Driven Balanced Eager but anxious Employment Goals

Retirement Second career Work/life balance Unrealistic

Education A dream Birthright Way to get to an end A given Communication Face to face Telephone Email IM/Text messaging Time at Work is defined

Punch clock Visibility Why does it matter if I get it done today?

Is it 5 PM? I have a life.

Most need in the workplace

Continued involvement past 65

Recognition! More information Praise and fun; or is that fun and praise?

Generation Gap or Generation Lap

In 1997, young people for the first time were recognized by adults as

being authorities on something truly

revolutionary – digital technology, interactive

media, and COLLABORATION.”

- Don Tapscott

Grown Up Digital

"The speed of change makes you uncomfortable on a regular basis," he

says. "That's so difficult for people who are paying mortgages, buying cars,

trying to give their kids the things they had, to get them through school. You want to feel confident in the last 15 years of your career that after 25 or 30 years of effort, it's just going to work," he says. "But it isn't so. And I

don't think you ever get over the fear of not knowing.”

– Doug Gould, Ad Exec

WSJ

Generation Gap or Lap?

In other words…

What got you here won’t

get you there

What’s  Keeping  young  CPAs  up  at  night?    1.  Not  enough  ,me  2.  Being  reac,ve  vs.  proac,ve  3.  Talent  development  4.  Keeping  up  5.  Growth  (and  opportunity)  6.  Doing  more  with  less  7.  Informa,on  overload  

http://cpa.tc/54s

11  things  young  professionals  want  you  to  know      1.  More  collabora,on.  2.  More  transparency.    3.  Encourage  ini,a,ve.  4.  Focus  on  strengths.  5.  Expect  the  unexpected.  6.  Take  ,me  to  save  ,me.  7.  Look  beyond  the  billable  hour.  8.  Engage  your  team  in  your  vision.  9.  Be  realis,c.  10. Train  your  staff  and  expect  

accountability.  11. Take  a  financial  risk  on  leadership.   http://cpa.tc/54r

The Research

ü  Flexibility  ü  Team  cohesion  ü  Collabora,on  ü  Supervisor  support  and  

apprecia,on  ü  A  clear  career  path  ü  Social  responsibility  

What  do  millennials  want?  

The Eight Net Gen Norms that will transform business, education and government

1.  Freedom – The freedom to work when and where you want

2.  Customization – My job my life 3.  Scrutiny – I know what you did last night 4.  Integrity – Be a good company to work

for 5.  Collaboration – Teamwork 6.  Entertainment – Work should be fun 7.  Speed – Let’s make things happen now! 8.  Innovation – Let me invent

We asked on June 25, 2013

MACPA Generational Symposium 1.  Build cross-generational work

teams (collaborate, include, fun)

2.  Communication & feedback 3.  Involve in organizational

purpose 4.  Define work-life success in

your organization 5.  Embrace technology

Accounting Students

What  do  you  want  from  your  employer?  

1.  Flexibility & Work/Life Balance 2.  Resources for Growth (training &

development) 3.  Job Security 4.  Diversity & Inclusion 5.  Mentorship

Maria: Do you think members of Gen-Y have any millennial traits we can actually use to our advantage? Rich: This sounds strange, but hear me out. Our most positive trait is that we’re inexperienced. What I mean with that is, today’s world is a lot different from yesterday’s. Inexperience means rejecting the status quo, and that’s what innovation is. We’re not afraid to, it’s a very positive thing I guess. We’re not stuck in this rut for so many years. The second most important thing is adaptability. We’ve lived in this time of rapid change, especially growing up in the first decade of the millennium. We’re used to it, it’s how we live. Hopefully my taking a risk will inspire others to do something bold.

Generation Gap or Generation Lap

Source: Money Under 30

Tomorrow’s CPAs are: •  Proactive •  Flexible •  Collaborative •  Trustworthy •  Future-focused •  Balanced •  Technological

Four Themes from MACPA Leadership Academy

1. Communication 2. Collaboration 3. Anticipation 4. Talent Development

http://cpa.tc/2u1

Resources

http://cpa.tc/2un

Generational friction is a result of a lack of understanding and consideration --

on all sides.��� 

Let's stop putting the generations into buckets. Conversation among the generations brings perspective on how we can work together.���

  Attention, millennials: You can't connect the dots on your career path at the beginning. You can only do that with experience. Start working, add value, do

your best, then look for the doors that open for you along the way.��� 

Attention, everyone else: Millennials aren't selfish, uncaring job-hoppers. They just don't look at a job as a career until it helps them make a difference.

Research shows most millennials would prefer not to job-hop. They're just looking for a job that provides meaningful work and the right schedule.���

  There's often not enough emphasis on the "life" in "work / life balance." You

have to attend life, too.��� 

New ways of working -- texting, social media, wearing earbuds in the office -- are management issues. If the work is getting done and the outcomes are

great, who cares how we got to that point?��� 

What happens when generations define "success" differently? How do the conflicting definitions of success affect how we motivate, coach and encourage

one another?

http://cpa.tc/58s

http://cpa.tc/4aa

Resources

 CEOs  have  a  new  strategy  in  the  unending  war  for  talent.  They  are  crea,ng  more  open  and  collabora,ve  cultures  —  encouraging  employees  to  connect,  learn  from  each  other  and  thrive  in  a  world  of  rapid  change.      Collabora,on  is  the  number-­‐one  trait  CEOs  are  seeking  in  their  employees.  –  IBM  Global  CEO  Study  2012  

“In order to buy-in, people have to

weigh-in.” - Pat Lencioni

The New Leadership Model “We are moving from

organizations well managed to

networks well led.” - Jim Collins

Five Ways to Dealing with Generations

•  Power of Purpose & Alignment •  Strengths & Positivity •  Collaborate – What Do You Think? •  Learning & Development – L>C •  Technology

The Future is here, your move!

www.blionline.org

How can we help you keep your L>C?

•  Strategy & Alignment •  Curriculum tied to strategy •  I2a Leadership Academy •  BLI Leadership Express - on-

demand leadership support •  Social learning In a period of rapid change and

increasing complexity, the winners will be those organizations who can keep their rate of learning greater than the rate of change

and greater than their competition. – Tom Hood

http://cpa.tc/32r

•  Managing Intergenerational Conflict in the Workplace – Susan Hayword, MA, CHRP

•  Mixing Four Generations in the Workplace – Cam Marston

•  Grown Up Digital – Don Tapscott •  Y-Size Your Business – Jason Ryan Dorsey

•  For training on generational issues and other success skills – check out our catalog at www.blionline.org

Sources & References

Tom  Hood,  CPA.CITP  CEO  Maryland  AssociaFon  of  CPAs  Business  Learning  InsFtute  (443)  632-­‐2301  E-­‐mail  tom@macpa.org  Web  hSp://www.macpa.org  Web  hSp://www.blionline.org  Blog  hSp://www.cpasuccess.com  Blog  hSp://www.blionline.org/blog        

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