Hi Tim—

Understandably, I’m a big proponent of the tool that came out of our research on employee engagement.  We found that different people care deeply about different values in the workplace—that work plays different roles in individuals’ lives—and that understanding those values is essential.  Learning “what it means to work here” for your current employees provides great guidance for thinking about how you might want to change the existing culture—do you want to change the fundamental values (possible, but difficult) or do you want to develop a contemporary reinterpretation of the values that exist within your current employee population?  When you’re integrating either individuals or entire companies, it’s essential to understand what work means to them—and therefore how they will respond to the characteristics of the employee experience you offer.

We licensed the tool that was developed out of this research (which can assess your employee population against six value archetypes) to Profiles International.  I also do a lot of this work today using online focus groups—a guided discussion, which I find produces an excellent understanding of the core values in the culture.

My HBR article “What It Means to Work Here” discusses these concepts in more detail.

I hope this helps.

Warmly,

Tammy

Filed under: Talent Management Approaches | Published: 01/15/11

Hi Karen—

I did write several blog posts on China (check at http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/erickson/).  There is also an online course available from Harvard called “Leading Across the Ages” that includes profiles of the generations in eight different countries (http://www.kworksconsulting.com/assets/files/Leading%20across%20the%20ages.pdf).  And I continue to conduct research in the generations around the world as part of the Talent Insight research program I direct (http://www.MoxieInsight.com).

I hope this helps!  Thanks very much for your inquiry.

Best,

Tammy

Filed under: Comparisons Among the Generations | Published: 01/15/11

Dear Yamini,

It’s hard to offer a lot specific advice based on the information you’ve included in your question.  But let me suggest a couple of ways to think about your future plans.

Is there a way to shift half your job?  By that I mean, move to a role in which half of what you do is based on your current strengths and half the role depends on stretching into new skill sets?  The obvious move would be to move to a management role or relationship role related to IT.  But there may be other options, if you think about it this way.

Is there a way to leverage the reputation and social capital you’ve built up in your current organization to help you move into a different field?  Often the company that’s most likely to support your moves is the one that already trusts and respects the contributions you’ve made to the organization.

Is there a way to begin a new career on the side?  Perhaps by starting up a small business nights and weekends while you maintain your current day job?

Could you leverage this recessionary period to your advantage by negotiating a reduced time arrangement with your current employer?  Perhaps they’re looking for ways to cut back on staffing and would be happy to have you move to a part-time position.  This would allow to look for a part-time job in a new field.  As the economy recovers, the track record you’ll have gained in the new field should allow you to switch into a full-time role.

I hope these suggestions are helpful and wish you all the best!

Warmly,

Tammy

Filed under: Career Strategies | Published: 06/18/09

Hi Josephine,

I’m really sorry to hear that your experience has been frustrating. It’s wonderful to find a field that you can pursue with such passion as you clearly feel for your area of work.

Should you create an electronic portfolio?  Unequivocally, yes.  If that is the way business is now being done in your industry, you must keep pace—or even be a bit out ahead.  You should not only catch up, but make sure you’re pushing pretty close to the front of the pack in terms of your technical sophistication and understanding of the latest development tools. I’d be cautious about attributing your frustrating to a generational difference—it may come into play, but it is much more likely that they’re gravitating to candidates with more up-to-date skill.

Good luck—I hope you’re soon back doing the work you love.

Best wishes,

Tammy

Filed under: Career Strategies | Published: 06/18/09

Thanks, Sharon.  What a great role you have!  It’s unusual to find someone who explicitly defines their mission the way you do.  But you’ve got your eye on the critical elements of success in today’s economy.  I think of a leader’s job today as being that of encouraging just a few more people every day to invest just a little more discretionary energy toward the organization’s goals.  Doing that requires both a compelling question (or vision, or quest) and trust based relationships among individuals. 

Warm wishes,

Tammy

Filed under: Leadership | Published: 06/17/09

Dear SP,

That’s an interesting question.  There are a number of extraordinary women thought leaders in the area, but I’ve never considered whether there is a distinctly feminine perspective on innovation and leadership.  Let me offer some suggestions regarding people whose work you may enjoy exploring – I’d love to hear from you whether you find a shared point of view among their perspectives.

Lynda Gratton, a professor at London Business School (and, in the interest of full disclosure, a dear friend and frequent co-author) studies organizations that excel at innovation.  Her book Hot Spots, based in part on research that she and I conducted together on team collaboration, outlines the characteristics of teams that have that special spark of creativity and commitment.  She has written a number of other books on leadership; one of my favorite is The Democratic Organization, in which she outlines the challenges posed by today’s work environments.

Herminia Ibarra is a professor in Leadership and Learning and faculty director of the INSEAD Leadership Initiative.  She is an expert on professional and leadership development and has written a wonderful book called Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career (Harvard Business School Press, 2003) that documents how people reinvent themselves at work, as well as numerous articles on innovation, networking, career development, women’s careers and professional identity.

Teresa Amabile is a professor at Harvard Business School. Originally educated as a chemist, she investigates how life inside organizations can influence people and their performance. Originally focusing on individual creativity, her research has expanded to encompass team creativity and organizational innovation.

My first book, Third Generation R&D, focused on building innovative organizations.  Two of my recent articles, both co-authored with Lynda Gratton, address important aspects of this topic:  “What It Means to Work Here” Harvard Business Review, March 2007 and “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams” Harvard Business Review, November 2007.

Happy reading!

Warmly,

Tammy

Filed under: Leadership | Published: 05/14/09

Dear Mlletttle,

I’m so sorry to hear you’re having such a difficult work experience.

I can’t offer extremely specific advice based on the information you’ve provided, but let me offer some thoughts that I hope you’ll find helpful.

First, before focusing on your career, you need to consider your ethical responsibility to the company.  Depending on how serious or widespread your boss’ actions may be, it may be necessary for you to bring his actions to the attention of those higher up.  Employees who lie are never in the best long-term interests of an organization.  Certainly, someone in the financial department who lies and makes numbers up would be a very serious liability.  On the other hand, allegations of this sort are very serious.  You need to consider whether his actions are detrimental to the ethical integrity of the company and how certain you are of your views and, if appropriate, discuss your concerns with others.

Second, assuming your boss’ actions do not represent ethical violations, let’s turn to your performance review.  Most company’s processes allow the employee to add a note that expresses your own perspective.  Is that possible in your case?  Ideally, you should acknowledge that the review has been discussed with you, but also offer a short, non-emotional note that conveys your view of your performance.  Perhaps most importantly, most review processes also include an opportunity to document next steps and development plans.  This may even be an opportunity to get back on track with this boss, if possible, by outlining activities and metrics that you can both agree to.

And finally, it is probably wise to begin considering other options.  In many cases, an acquisition imposes a different culture on an organization – one that may be very different from the culture that attracted you in the first place.  At some point, it makes sense to decide whether or not this organization will be one that will engage and excite you.  If not, you owe it to yourself and to the organization, to lay the ground work for moving on – not necessarily urgently, but determination to find a work environment that works for you.

Best wishes,

Tammy

Filed under: Interactions with Your Manager | Published: 05/13/09

Dear Haitham,

Thank YOU for such a lovely and enthusiastic note.  I’m so pleased that you find the work on generational differences helpful.  I do think that we can significantly reduce any tensions among the generations if we understand the logic behind people’s actions.

And I appreciate the suggestion of Jordan.  I’ve been researching Saudi Arabia, but agree that Jordan is a wonderful example.  I’ll try to write both—and would love any insights you might share from your childhood experiences.

Thank you again.

Warmly,

Tammy

Filed under: Information on Tammy | Published: 05/13/09

Hi Erinn,

I haven’t seen anything specific on Internet scams, but I suspect this is just the latest incarnation of older people’s susceptibility to scams of all kinds – phone, Internet, someone dressed as a repairman at the front door, and so on.  I’m afraid just as we have to help our children understand the implications of their online activity, we also need to help our older relatives – or ourselves – become increasingly savvy.

It’s clear that your mother is part of a growing trend in terms of Internet usage.  Today, women over 55 are the fastest-growing demographic group of social network users; 41% of all Boomers (men and women) have visited online social networks.  According to a 2009 Pew internet study, more than half of all Boomers are online on an average day, and more than a third go online several times a day.  Forty-one percent of Boomers say they go online just to have fun.  The NPD Group found that 61% of Boomer Internet users in the U.S. have visited sites that offer streaming or downloadable video.

There’s no turning back – it’s time for us all to learn the Internet ropes.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Warmly,

Tammy

Filed under: Comparisons Among the Generations | Published: 05/13/09

Hi Bill,

The research that I’ve done on the generations threads through a number of the books and articles I’ve written.  I’d suggest you start with Plugged In, which I wrote for members of Generation Y, but have had many older readers tell me they find very helpful in understanding Y’s’ perspectives and strengths.  I also write about these topics often in my blog “Across the Ages,” which appears weekly on Harvard Business Press’ website: http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/erickson/.

“The Challenge of the Changing Workforce” is the title I frequently use for the speeches and workshops I do with senior executives.  I’ve added the slides from a session I did last fall for the Harvard Business School Reunion classes to the downloadable documents on this site, and invite you to explore that, as well.

I hope that helps.  Thank you for asking.

Best,

Tammy

Filed under: Comparisons Among the Generations | Published: 05/13/09

Thanks, Gail! 

I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying Plugged In and using it in your teaching and training.  There’s a Manager’s Guide available on my website that you may find helpful, as well – it includes a discussion guide to use in conversations with Gen Y’s.

I think one of the best books available on adult careers is Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career by Herminia Ibarra (Harvard Business School Press, 2003).  Ibarra is a respected academic; most of her research-based papers appear in academic journals.  This book, written for a lay audience but based on her wonderful research, documents how adults reinvent themselves.

I quote several of Ibarra’s key findings in the book I wrote for Boomers, Retire Retirement:  Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation.  Like Plugged In, this book contains frameworks for thinking about the work that you’ll find most satisfying and engaging – in this case, if you’re a Boomer, looking to shape a second career path.

Another book I recommend is Portfolio Life: The New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion After 50 by David D. Corbett and Richard Higgins (Jossey-Bass, November 2006).  As the title indicates, the book discusses how to blend a variety of activities into a satisfying life.

And, I’d love to speak to your group.  My speaking engagements are handled by Jacqueline Lewis of Monitor Talent; her information is included on the “contact” page of this site.

Thank you again,

Warmly,

Tammy

Filed under: Career Strategies | Published: 05/13/09

Dear Tushar,

Thanks for this question – innovation is one of my favorite topics.

I have three practical suggestions for increasing innovation in the workplace.

1. Build trust-base relationships with colleagues.  I call this strengthening your organization’s “collaborative capacity” because my research shows that people do not share ideas – that is, collaborate – unless they trust each other.  And, unless you’re willing to share ideas with others, the likelihood of innovation is limited to only what resides in one individual’s head – usually not enough for sustained success!

2. Introduce diverse perspectives and new information.  Make sure you and your colleagues are continually exposed to fresh thinking – even if it is not immediately apparent that it relates to the work at hand.  It’s impossible to predict where that “ah ha” spark will come from.  Observing and learning from a variety of sources is important stimuli.

3. Ask great questions.  People don’t innovate because you ask them to innovate.  They innovate because they are intrigued by a question or problem that they’d like to solve.  Innovation is fundamentally a discretionary activity – people must be drawn to doing it.  Provocative, compelling, important questions are the magnet.
I hope this helps – best wishes for much success.

Warmly,

Tammy

Filed under: Innovation | Published: 05/13/09

Oh dear – I’m sorry to hear that your work experience is not proving to be stimulating or engaging for you.  I strongly believe that everyone deserves to enjoy their work – life is too short, and work is too large a component of it, not to find something that you are excited about.

I talk about this in Plugged In and have developed some self-assessments that you might find helpful.  You can download them from this website.
Try to pinpoint the characteristics of situations that you do enjoy – outside work, perhaps in school, or sports, or any other sphere of activity where you have a passion.  What exactly are you doing when you feel completely focused on the task, when you perhaps lose track of time, when you’re “in the flow,” as some would say?  Then consider whether you can identify work experiences that would have similar characteristics.

For example, maybe you get really excited when you’re interacting with a lot of people, while your current role involves primarily independent activity.  Or that you thrive on time-pressured challenges, but your current work is focused on a long-term, distant goal.  Whatever you conclude, these considerations will help guide you as you evolve toward a more satisfying role.

It may be that you will need to look for options for work that are quite different from what you’re doing now.  Or, once you have a clearer understanding of what you enjoy, you may be able to request roles within your current firm that are better aligned with your interests.

Whatever you conclude, I hope you’ll continue to look for work that you find personally stimulating and rewarding – and that you succeed in your search.

Sincerely,

Tammy

Filed under: Career Strategies | Published: 05/13/09

Dear Roy,

Congratulations – on multiple counts!  It’s nice to hear how successful your first half has been – and wonderful to hear that you’re thinking explicitly about how to have an equally great second half.

My book Retire Retirement is about just that – preparing for a second round.  Here are several key suggestions:

1. Think about creating a portfolio of activities.  Most people I’ve interviewed want to do a variety of things in the second half – learning, giving back, earning money, enjoying family, and so on.  Don’t limit yourself to trying to pick one thing.

2. Reflect on the characteristics of the work that you’ve enjoyed most during the first half – not the specific work itself, but the attributes that would describe it.  Was it team-based, for example, or when you were working alone?  Was it when you were working against a deadline or at a steady, predictable pace?  And so on.  The book lists a number of other possible characteristics – the key is that you want to choose activities that have similar characteristics, if possible, even if they are in very different fields.

3. Assess the practical realities of your life going forward.  For example, how do you anticipate interacting with your grandchildren?  Will you want to live near them and see them multiple times a week, perhaps even share in the care-giving – or are quarterly visits more your style?  How much additional money, realistically, will you need?  These considerations, and others outlined in Retire Retirement, should guide your choices.

4. Try things!  Adults shift careers most effectively through experimentation – not intellectualized planning.  Develop a list of possibilities and find ways to ‘test run’ your top candidates until you settle into ones that bring great satisfaction.

As you’ve realized, you – and all Boomers – have the great gift of a long life expectancy.  Warm wishes for much happiness as you make full use of yours.

Sincerely,

Tammy

Filed under: Career Strategies | Published: 05/13/09

That’s a tough one, because his rational could include any or all of the above—or other things, as well.  For example, it’s possible that some members of his team are questioning why someone was brought in from the outside for this role, rather than promoting from within.  The CEO may be giving you an opportunity to show the depth of expertise you bring.

My strategy would be to talk about On Air Promotions, but illustrate how creativity, design and semiotics contribute to making a memorable clip.  (For those of you reading along, I had to look “semiotics” up, too—it’s the study of how meaning is constructed and understood, including through the use of signs and symbols—sounds like a talk I’d love to hear!).  Here are some thoughts to keep in mind as you put the session together:
* You want the audience to come away recognizing that you bring an extraordinary set of skills and knowledge to the organization, without perceiving you as arrogant.
* To avoid appearing arrogant—and increase the entertainment quotient—don’t “tell” them about the things you know, show them.  Use lots of examples of OAPs that didn’t work well (preferably not from your organization’s archives, unless you’re sure that doing so won’t step on any toes) and examples of ones that did, pointing out why.
* Broadly outline your goals for the department—ways in which you believe your team will be making a significant contribution going forward.  Make the connections between what you bring to the table and the overall goals of the organization explicit.  Demonstrate that you’re committed to the organization’s success (not just your department’s).

I hope that helps—best wishes for a successful session, and an enjoyable new career.

Tammy

Filed under: Workplace Strategies | Published: 05/11/09