On the Road

Rob — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:46:00 GMT

Travelling this week on some book-related business. First stop is the ACORD LOMA conference in Las Vegas, where I will be talking about a new study on Millennials, technology and the scramble for young talent in the insurance industry, commissioned by Microsoft from Insurity Research. See the Microsoft Presspass site for more info on the study when it is released tomorrow. We'll also be debuting a white paper on the future of insurance that I co-wrote with their industry team, talking about the ways that technology, social conditions and demographics may transform the business. The paper will probably be posted on the Microsoft Insurance industry site later this week. I'll be signing books and talking to folks at Booth 824 all day Tuesday. Stop by and say hello if you are in town.

On Thursday, I will be in Orlando, Florida to co-keynote the Business Process Management conference at Lake Buena Vista with my colleague (and co-author of Listening to the Future), Dan Rasums. We will be talking about "Millennials and the End of Process" - how the workstyle and priorities of the Net Generation impact structured work, and how process-oriented organizations can adapt. I will post some slides from the speech when I return.

Share this post: del.icio.us | digg | reddit

Plotting the Future of the Workforce

Rob — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:24:00 GMT

Although it's important to get people of all ages on the same page with technology in today's workforce, the issue becomes really important over the next 10 years. Right now, organizational leadership roles that correlate to experience and seniority are monopolized by Boomers (age 46-62); mid-career managerial and emerging leadership positions typically filled by folks from 28-45 correspond exactly to the age-bracket of Generation X; and Millennials under 28 provide the majority of entry-level workers. See chart 1 below:

Life/Career Stage

Entry-Level

Mid-Career/Emerging Leader

Career Peak

Generation

Ages in 2008

Millennials

Under 28

Gen X

Ages 28-45

Boomers

Ages 46-62

Silent

Ages 63+

The lack of significant overlap between roles and generations creates a relatively rare moment of "total eclipse" where the values of the senior generation appear to be the norm, against which other attitudes are measured. In a Boomer monoculture, it can be tempting for leaders to view priorities and workstyles of GenX managers and Millennial workers as organizational problems in need of a solution. "How do we get more work out of these troublesome kids?" "How are we going to instill some loyalty in our middle managers so we have a leadership pipeline for the future?" In both of those questions, it's clear who "we" are and who "they" are.

But fast-forward ten years, and suddenly the picture becomes a little messier.

Life/Career Stage

Entry Level

Mid-Career/Emerging Leader

Career Peak

Generation

Ages in 2018

"Boomerang Boomers"

Age 56+

Millennials

Age 18-38

Gen "X-ecutive"

Ages 39-56

Boomers

Ages 56+

At the entry level, the youngest Millennials - likely to be even more collectivist in their thinking than the leading edge of the generation and more dependent on technology to supplement their knowledge and capabilities- will be rubbing shoulders with large numbers of "Boomerang Boomers" re-entering the workforce for social and economic reasons. Many of these older workers will be coming to information work jobs after long careers in education, manufacturing, logistics, or service jobs that did not involve much exposure to technology. The challenge of managing this dichotomous mixture will fall to large numbers of older Millennials and younger Xers in mid-level roles, who will have to find ways to reconcile their different work methods and expectations to keep their organizations running smoothly. Finally, while many Boomers will cling to leadership positions well into their 60s and even 70s, their numbers will inevitably be diluted by more and more Generation X-ecutives, plus a large cohort of fast-track Millennials already taking leadership roles in their mid-30s.

In this blended workforce, it will be much less clear what constitutes "normal" cultural expectations and a "normal" workstyle, because the generations will have a much more equal claim to the different roles within the organization. Everything from how and when people work, to the tools and practices of information work, to the amount of feedback and compensation each worker receives, will have to be negotiated and tailored more individually to the worker, role, and organization.

How these uncertainties play out is one of the big themes of my work, starting with Generation Blend, but probably extending to the writing that I do for the rest of this year on this site and for publication and presentation elsewhere.

Share this post: del.icio.us | digg | reddit

Emphasis Added : futurism, management

On the Road

Plotting the Future of the Workforce