June 26, 2014- ISSN# 1545-2646
Did Baby Boomers contribute to the problem?
A short time ago some business colleagues and I were discussing issues with the employee recruiting, hiring and retaining issues. As the discussion continued some interesting comments were made about some of the resources that were entering the workplace. They focused around the element that the new workers come into the business with out a commitment to deliver results that are in alignment to the compensation of the role. There were lots of examples but the general theme was that many of the new workers have not had to struggle to achieve a tangible result where their lack of success meant something personal to them.
We began to toss around ideas as to what contributed to this change in attitude or culture and oddly enough it came up that the “Baby Boomers” in their desire to provide or give a better life to their children have almost taken away the opportunity to develop the skills needed to persevere failure. When something goes wrong, rather than learning skills to work through the issue, the “Boomer” would step in and resolve the challenge. When this or that was needed, the “Boomer” would provide the needed finances to support it.
The “Boomers” for the first time in history had built a substantial financial machine capable of providing these comforts as compared to those which they had grown up under from their depression baby parents. It was not by design but by wanting and needing to provide for a better lifestyle than they had growing up. Unfortunately the table was tilted so far that just maybe and inadvertently they absorbed critical learning skills from their children which now impact their ability to manage and sustain in a business world where the “Boomer” protection plan is not available to them any longer. As a result the children of the “Boomers” have turned to the social systems to give them cover.
So why does this impact your business?
As a leader your most significant challenge moving forward will be your employees. Finding, identifying, recruiting, hiring, retaining, developing and building them into a high performing team. If your development systems are weak in this area then eventually it will catch up to your business and your business will lack the talent going forward.
It is not unlike sports programs. Those teams which successfully attract and develop skills of their players have high levels of performance and more wins.
This week, consider yourself a coach of your business team. Which players are ready for the big game? Which ones are committed to the plan? Which ones are still trying to figure out which team they are on? If you don’t have an understanding of the players on your team then the outcome of your game plan is in jeopardy.
Curious about what a scout of your team might say? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
Copyright – JKL Associates 2014
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