May 2012 newsletter

May, 2012

A Resilient Gen X Meets Today’s Economic Difficulties Head On

Despite challenging circumstances, a self-reliant attitude is serving this pragmatic group well

My admiration of Generation X continues to grow as I look at how members of this generation are forging their own path despite rules that keep changing. Gen X’ers, born roughly in the 1960s and 70s, are successfully finding their own way, building on the distinctive strengths of their generation.

Through no fault of their own, Generation X hit various economic landmarks at unfavorable points in the cycle. Rules that led Boomers to success (get a good education and you’ll get a good job) and financial security (buy a home to build equity for long-term financial security) have failed to pay off for this younger cohort.

• X’ers’ investment in education left most with a high level of college debt. Just as they entered college, funding for education shifted from government-funded college grants to unsubsidized loans. 
• When Gen X entered the job force, the economy was slow and jobs were thin.  Many careers got off to a slow start.
• Gen X was the hardest hit generation by the mortgage crisis of 2008. A Boomer who bought a home in 1991 has a house today that is worth less that it was five years ago – but is still ahead overall, while a Gen X’er who bought in 2005 now has a home worth far less than what he paid.

The challenges they’ve faced have prompted Gen X’ers to find their own way.  But, as I’ve outlined in past writings, the experiences that shaped them as teens in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, translate into valuable contemporary traits and perspectives. The most difficult elements of their past may well be those that provide X’ers with the strongest capabilities for today.

• Early contact with the ‘real world’, for many through a “latch-key” childhood, has made X’ers resourceful and hardworking. They meet commitments and take employability seriously.
• An innate distrust of institutions which grew because X’ers witnessed lay-offs of the ‘80s prompted a value for self-reliance.  They have strong survival skills and the ability to handle whatever comes their way with resilience. 
• X’ers look outward in ways no generation before could or did due to rapidly expanding technology. They are comfortable in a global and digital world and avid adopters of the collaborative technology that promises to re-shape how we work and live.
• X’ers are aware of global issues and richly multicultural. The civil rights advances of the 1960s and high divorce rates that put women in independent authority roles has given X’ers an appreciation of the contributions of diverse individuals.
• Pragmatism has given X’ers practical and value-oriented sensibilities that will help them serve as effective stewards of both today’s organizations and tomorrow’s world.

I encourage X’ers to have confidence to bring their unique sensibility both to organizational leadership – and to the design their own life plan.
 
For additional readings on X’ers, see my blog “Why Gen X Has the Leaders We Need Now” or the Harvard Business Review article “The Leaders We Need Now,” May 2010. 

Warm regards,

Tammy

Exciting Partnership News: Two New Offerings

We are delighted to announce two new partnerships, expanding our service offerings in two important directions: senior executive coaching and development.

Discussion Partner Collaborative and Next Generation Advisory Services – Together with DiscussionPartner Collaborative (DPC), a network of senior experts led by my long-time, trusted colleague Thomas Casey, we have launched Next Generation Advisory Services LLC (NGAS), a subsidiary providing transition advisory coaching to corporate executives and innovative succession planning approaches to corporations.

TEA's research on the multi-generational workforce and DPC’s study of over 2,000 executives on retirement preparation uncovered two serious interlocking concerns: most companies have poor visibility into their future succession pipeline and lack the resources to work with C-suite executives in exploring retirement or deceleration options appropriate for the needs of today’s Boomer leaders.  NGAS’s Transition Advisory Service is a four-month engagement, focused on creating a pre- and post-retirement deceleration strategy for individual executives, while sharpening corporate succession planning and improving a company’s future pipeline predictions.
 
Next Generation Advisory Services is led by Tobey Choate, an experienced senior executive advisor, and features the expertise of our own Dr. Margaret Schweer and a global network of senior coaches.

Stryve Advisors and the Stryve-TEA Organizational Effectiveness Forum – Stryve, a firm that grew out of the former Concours Group, led by the inimitable Dr. Ronald Christman, is renowned for unique, signature-style senior-level executive education. In partnership with Stryve, we have created an ongoing membership program specifically designed to support Chief Human Resources Officers and Organizational Change executives in the challenges of building organizations for today’s business world.

The Organizational Effectiveness Forum includes all the benefits of a full TEA Insight membership:  multiple original research projects each year centered on important organizational and workforce issues, multi-client research delivery formats (2 research meetings each year, open to as many attendees as you’d like to send, and monthly webinars) and custom delivery formats (2 days per member for onsite meetings or customized webinars) – PLUS the ability to send two senior executives to each of Stryve’s four Executive Forums. Many companies have used the latter on a rotational basis for the development of senior leaders across the company. 
 
The OE Forum provides tremendous value:  eight seats per year at the world’s premier development event for senior executives, plus leading-edge thinking and development opportunities for the HR team itself – and up to two days a year of my time or that of my senior colleagues to work with your team onsite.

I’d welcome an opportunity to tell you more about either or both of these exciting new offerings, or you can contact:

• Tobey Choate ((JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 617-395-1642, extension 701) to learn more about NGAS’ Transition Advisory Services and
• Erinn McMahon ((JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 281.830.3130) for information on the Stryve-TEA Organizational Effectiveness Forum.

A Recent Appearance: Wall Street Journal Women in the Economy Task Force

As a subject matter expert for one of the six task force groups at the Wall Street Journal Women in the Economy Task Force, April 30-May 2 in Palm Beach, I joined a select group of business, government and academic leaders to develop a tool kit that addresses an important economic issue: making better use of female talent to promote economic growth and competitiveness in the U.S. and worldwide. The 2012 Task Force was designed to build upon last year’s recommendations for maximizing the potential of women in the workforce and develop a set of actionable recommendations.

Over a three day period, the groups worked together to confront obstacles that keep women from participating fully in the economy. My group -- The Bottom Line: Owning Profit -- focused on P&L Leadership and ways that companies should remove obstacles and encourage women to take on revenue-generating roles and P&L management.

I kicked off the discussion with an intentionally-provocative look at the reasons many women opt out of executive roles, along with the suggestion that companies re-think the requirements and characteristics of these roles to make them more attractive to a wider range of talent. My colleagues on the Task Force, most of who were experienced Boomers who had traveled a challenging path to the top, pushed back hard on the practicality of changing leadership roles, instead urging women to take on the challenge and companies to measure results transparently.

Our final recommendations included:

1. Measure by Performance: Create performance metrics that eliminate gender bias. Set clear roles and responsibilities for every job.
2. Make Succession Transparent: Post jobs regularly and ensure a diverse candidate slate. Hold regular succession planning reviews and make managers accountable.
3. Offer a Range of Roles: Equip employees to run profit-and-loss operations by offering a range of roles. Embrace individual styles of leadership.
4. Articulate the Business Case: Make clear why advancing women leaders will improve the bottom line. Hold leaders accountable for placing women in P&L roles.

 For more information, view our report. 

New Podcast - Synergy Across the Generations

A new podcast funded by IBM and released for distribution this month, features Tammy and co-panelist Jennifer Deal, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Creative Leadership, talking about how organizations can increase productivity by making the most of what each generation in the workplace has to offer.  Download it here and share it within your organization.

Recent Articles

From Harvard Business Review Blog Network:

Collaboration Will Drive the Next Wave of Productivity Gains. Increasing productivity — making more with less — is at the core of any company or any economy's economic progress.

Gen X Hits Another Bump in the Road. Here's the bad news for Gen X: at each point thus far, you've drawn a pretty short straw. Your timing — at least in the context of contemporary generations, and through no fault of your own — could hardly have been worse.

How Mobile Technologies Are Shaping a New Generation. The cohort I like to call the "Re-Generation" began to take shape around 2008. Individuals at the formative ages of 11 to 13, those born after about 1995, were part of a substantively different world than the one that had shaped 11 to 13 year olds over the preceding fifteen or so years.

Upcoming Events

NJHRPG New Jersey Human Resource Planning Group (June 5, Bridgewater)

Tammy will present "Ten Assumptions That Are No Longer True...But Still Shape Our Organizations Today" to the New Jersey Human Resource Planning Group (NJHRPG), an affiliate of the global HR People & Strategy organization (HRPS). NJHRPG is a premier learning community and leading professional association and network for HR executives and senior level professionals. Guests are welcome to attend. Register today.

A Stryve/Tammy Erickson Associates Organizational Effectiveness Forum (July 29-August 1, Hot Springs, VA)

It’s About Leadership and Results! Tammy will be challenging many of the assumptions that organizations are based on, when she speaks at the Stryve/TEA July Executive Forum. Other discussion leaders include Clayton Christensen who was recently named as the top business thought leader and Dave Ulrich who continues to solidify his position as the most sought after global leader in the area of human capital. We’d love to have you join us at this exciting session. For information, contact Erinn McMahon, 281.830.3130, (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Spring 2013 CLO Symposium (April 9, 2013, Austin, TX)

Save the Date:  Tammy has been selected as the Keynote Speaker for the Spring 2013 CLO Symposium at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, April 9, 2013.  Hope to see y’all there!

Facilitate Your Own Workshops

You

1. What Are They Thinking?!!: Understand how to cope with generational diversity in your organization and create a work environment that taps the talent across the ages.
2. What It Means To Work Here: Dig deep to identify what’s uniquely important to your organization and translate that into employee engagement.
3. A Values-Based Employee Experience - Crafting Our Unique Signature: Create a Signature Experience – highly visible, distinctive elements of the employees’ experience that encourage self-selection, leading to higher levels of engagement and retention.

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