CEE Global Articles on Leading and Engaging a Multigenerational Workforce

1. Issue 2 2013 • $8
Today’s Multi-Generational Workforce Can They Work Together?
The Owen Perspective View from the Top
Fast Expanding Markets Looking at Global Markets
Maximising
Human Capital

2. by Professor Sattar Bawany
COVER STORY
16 ISSUE 2 2013

3. SS
In today’s struggling global economy, it is im-
portant for organisations to leverage the know-
ledge, skills, and abilities of all workers, from all
generations. By capitalising on the strengths and
values of different generations, business leaders
can create a sustainable competitive advantage
for their organisations.
C
hanges in the demographic characteristics of
Singapore’s workforce deserve more attention
from academics, employers, employees, and
policy-makers. Today, many organisations have four
generations working side-by-side in the workplace.
According to Kupperschmidt3
, a generation of employ-
ees consists of individuals born approximately within
the same time span of two decades each. He explains
that a generation is an: “…identifiable group that shares
birth, years, age, location, and significant life events at
17ISSUE 2 2013

4. Table 1: The multi-generational workforce
Generation Years Born Work
Perspectives
Traditionalists 1922–1945
Company loyalty:
Believe in working
for the same
company their
entire career.
Baby Boomers 1946–1964
Live to work:
Believe in putting
in face time
at the office.
Women enter the
workforce in large
numbers.
Generation
Xers
1965–1980
Work to live:
Believe that work
should not define
their lives. Dual-
earner couples
become the norm.
Generation
Yers
1981–1994
Work my way:
Devoted to their
own careers, not
to their companies.
Desire meaningful
work.
Generation
Zers
1995–present
Living and working
their way: Their
struggles in the
work environment
are tied to
their youth and
inexperience.
Desire for change,
stimulation,
learning, and
promotion that
will conflict
with traditional
organisational
hierarchies.
agers is: “Do we want our legacy to be of mentoring
and empowering the next generations, or of fighting
them tooth and nail?” Organisations that embrace gene-
rational differences in values, ways of getting things
done, and ways of communicating will thrive.
Demographic and social trends will have a significant
impact on the workforce in the coming years. In today’s
struggling global economy, it is important for organisa-
critical developmental stages”. Others believe that when
individuals from the same generation share similar his-
torical, economic, and social experiences, they will also
have similar work values, attitudes, and behaviours4
.
The business world is progressively becoming more
global. Services and products offered by businesses are
also becoming more focused and targeted at specific
demographic segments. Many organisations today have
worldwide customers who demand excellent services
and products that meet up their diverse needs, expecta-
tions, and priorities. Simultaneously, the composition
of the global workforce is also changing significantly.
After World War II, the Traditionalist generation, born
1922 to 1945, tended to work at the same employer for
an entire career. Beginning with the Baby Boomers,
born 1946 to 1964, women and ethnic groups began
entering the workforce in increasing numbers. They
brought different needs and perspectives to the work-
place. As the Generation Xers entered the workforce,
they increased job hopping in an effort to increase their
income and balance their lifestyle. Although some
employers made accommodations in response to the
demographic shifts, the basic work model—top down,
command and control, one-size-fits-all, eight to five
workdays—did not radically change.
Now, the emergence of the digital-savvy Generation
Yers has the potential to change the face of work to be
more collaborative, to use virtual teams, to use social
media, and to offer more flexible work hours2
.
The Fifth Generation
Employers must be prepared for a new breed of em-
ployee which is poised to enter the workforce. A whole
generation of them, known as Generation Z, are highly
connected individuals who have grown up with high-
speed Internet, smartphones, and online shopping. Born
from the mid-1990s onwards, they will enter the work-
force in the next five years. This is a generation that has
never known a life without superfast communication
and unlimited access to media technologies.
The five generations and their birth years are depicted
in Table 1.
Challenges in Managing a
Multi-Generational Workforce
A major challenge for today’s Traditionalist and Baby
Boomer managers is to figure out how to develop
younger workers into tomorrow’s managers under a
new business environment. A pivotal question for man-
18 ISSUE 2 2013

5. tions to leverage the knowledge, skills, and abilities of
all workers from all generations. By capitalising on the
strengths and values of different generations, business
leaders can create a sustainable competitive advantage
for their organisations.
Firms struggle with the challenge of effectively mana-
ging a more diverse workforce. These challenges of-
ten relate to variation in perspective, values, and belief
systems as a result of generational and age differences
between managers and employees. The assumption that
people of varying ages will understand each other or
have the same perspective and goals, is untrue. In order
to be successful, managers need to understand and va-
lue diversity that results from generational differences,
varying perspectives, and differing goals.
Each generation brings different experiences, perspec-
tives, expectations, work styles, and strengths to the
workplace. Despite the perceived generation gap from
differing views and potential conflict, organisations
have the opportunity to capitalise on the assets of each
generation to achieve competitive advantage.
Each brings unique assumptions to the job. As a result,
events in the workplace are often interpreted differently
by individuals in different generations. What may seem
like good news to a Baby Boomer might be an unsett-
ling and unwelcome development to a member of Gene-
ration X. Things that members of Generation Y love of-
ten seem unappealing to those in older generations.
Like any other generation, Generation Z brings its
own mindset into the workforce. They are also called
Linksters because no other generation has ever been so
linked to each other and to the world through techno-
logy. Their struggles in the work environment are tied
to their youth and inexperience. They are complete dig-
ital natives and cannot function without communicating
through social media. Their desire for change, stimula-
tion, learning, and promotion often conflicts with tradi-
tional organisational hierarchies.
Leading and Engaging a
Multi-Generational Workforce
When employees join an organisation, they are usually
enthusiastic, committed, and ready to be advocates for
their new employer because they are engaged.
But often, that first year on the job is their best. Re-
search from Gallup Incorporation reveals that the long-
er an employee stays with a company, the less engaged
he or she becomes. This causes businesses to lose out
on profit and sales, and it lowers customer satisfaction.
Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees
cost the American economy up to US$350 billion per
year in lost productivity.
Managers who harness this unprecedented opportunity
for growth, development, and collaboration can build
bridges between generations and will thrive in today’s
turbulent economic landscape.
For managers who have four generations of employees
working on a project, it can seem like each generation
has its own worldviews, priorities, career models, mo-
tives, and values. They need to enhance their under-
standing of generational characteristics and the impact
of their own management practices on each of these
groups. By doing so, they can leverage on the strengths
of each generation. Taking full advantage of the multi-
generational workforce will enable employers to effec-
tively attract and retain employees, build teams, deal
with change, and increase employee engagement.
Impact of Leadership Effectiveness on
Employee Engagement and Organisational Success
Organisations need to deliver service value and build
good customer relationships in order to generate sus-
tainable results through their loyal customers. In Figure
1, we can see that employees at the forefront of the ser-
vice delivery chain hold the key to building this loyal
customer base1
.
Employees who are engaged and motivated are instru-
mental in delivering the service experience for clients
which results in customer engagement. The level of
employee engagement depends on the organisational
climate, which refers to how employees feel about work-
ing in the organisation. It is the process of quantifying
the culture of an organisation.
We know that leaders create, transform, and manage or-
ganisational cultures. The leader’s values, beliefs, and
leadership styles will impact the organisation’s climate.
We need “Level 5 Leaders” who demonstrate ontologi-
cal humility and possess emotional mastery. They also
need to possess essential integrity in discharging their
day-to-day role and responsibilities towards engaging
the employees.
In his book, Good to Great, Mr Jim Collins examines
how a good company becomes an exceptional company.
The book introduces a new term to the leadership lexi-
con—Level 5 leadership. It refers to the highest level in
a hierarchy of executive capabilities. Leaders at the other
19ISSUE 2 2013

6. References
1
Bawany, S (2011). Ways to Achieve Organisational Success: Role of
Leaders in Engaging the Multi-Generational Workforce published by
Singapore Business Review, 1 November 2011.
2
Bawany, S (2013). Unlocking the Benefits of a Multi-Generational
workforce in Singapore published by Singapore Business Review, 24
January 2013.
3
Kupperschmidt BR (2000). Multigenerational employees: strategies
for effective management. Health Care Manager. 19 (1): 65-76.
4
Smola KW, Sutton CD (2002). Generational differences: Revisiting
generational work values for the new millennium. Journal of
Organizational Behaviour. 23 (4): 363-82.
5
Tay A (2011). Managing generational diversity at the workplace:
expectations and perceptions of different generations of employees.
African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5(2), pp. 249-255, 18
January, 2011
6
Zemke R, Raines C, Filipczak B (2000). Generations at work:
Managing the clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers and Nexters in your
workplace (2nd Ed). American Management Association, New York, NY.
Professor Sattar Bawany is the chief
executive officer of The Centre for
Executive Education. He is also con-
currently the strategic advisor and
member of International Profess-
ional Managers Association Board
of Trustees and Governing Council
and is the co-chair of the Human
Capital Committee of the American
Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.
Figure 1: Impact of Leadership on Employment and Cust-
omer Engagement1
four levels may be successful, but are unable to elevate
companies from mediocrity to sustained excellence.
Level 5 leadership challenges the assumption that trans-
forming companies from good to great requires larger-
than-life-leaders. The leaders that came out on top in
Mr Collins’ five-year study were relatively unknown
outside their industries. The findings appear to signal
a shift of emphasis away from the hero to the anti-hero.
According to Mr Collins, humility is a key ingredient
of Level 5 leadership. His simple formula is Humility +
Will = Level 5. He explains: “Level 5 leaders are a study
in duality. They are modest, wilful, shy, and fearless.”
Managers who build bridges between generations and
harness this unprecedented opportunity for growth, de-
velopment, and collaboration will thrive. Although it
may seem like a monumental task for management to
ensure that employees understand and accept the idio-
syncrasies of each multi-generational group, it is not
impossible. Management must be the first to acknow-
ledge and accept the unique characteristics and expecta-
tions of employees from different generational groups.
Management should also ensure that individuals from
different generations perceive each other more posi-
tively to avoid any intergenerational disharmony. The
sooner employees from all the existing generational
groups learn to respect and accept one another the easi-
er it will be for them to welcome Generation Z employ-
ees to the new workforce after the year 20205
.
20 ISSUE 2 2013

7. Management & Leadership
www.ft.lk
TUESDAY MAY 27, 2014
12
Effective leaders
in organisations bring
together both individu-
als and organisations
to solve customer and
organisational prob-
lems, but there is a dif-
ference between leaders
and leadership.
L e a d e r s r e f e r t o
individuals who have
unique capabilities to
guide the behaviour
of others to deliver
outstanding results
o r r e s o l v e i s s u e s .
Leadership refers to an
organisation’s capacity
to build future leaders
and leadership bench
strength.
A n i n d i -
vidual leader
matters, but
an organisa-
tion’s leader-
ship matters
m o r e o v e r
t i m e b o t h
t o s h a r e -
holders and
c u s t o m e r s .
T h e r e f o r e ,
organisations
must not only
invest to help
i n d i v i d u a l
leaders to be
more ef fec-
tive through
coaching, 360
feedback, and
by executing
i n d i v i d u a l
development
plans, but also must
invest to build leader-
ship depth by devoting
sufficient time for lead-
ership development.
Build leadership
Generally there are
a few key things that
organisations can do
to upgrade the quality
of leadership in a firm.
The quality of leader-
ship will drive busi-
ness performance both
inside and outside the
organisation.
Organisations with
leadership depth will
have the capacity to
respond to changing
business conditions,
e x e c u t e s t r a t e g y,
increase investor con-
fidence, and anticipate
and deliver those cus-
tomer requirements.
Often leadership suc-
cess remains inside the
company. As a result
potential leaders learn
from other leaders in
the company who have
succeeded.
The criteria of leader-
ship should start with
customers. The owners
in a firm must define
the company’s intended
brand and then identify
the leadership behav-
iours consistent with
this exter nal brand.
When leaders inside the
company behave in line
with the expectations
of customers and other
stakeholders outside the
company, the leadership
becomes more sustain-
able and effective.
Also by defining inter-
nal leadership through
external expectations
w i l l s e t
more rel-
evant and
impactful
leadership
standards.
Once lead-
e r s h i p
standards
a r e s e t ,
l e a d e r s
need to be
a s s e s s e d
o n h o w
well they
meet those
standards.
To g e t
an exter-
nal view,
leadership
360s may
be expand-
ed to 720s
where cus-
tomers, suppliers, com-
munities, regulators,
or other external stake-
holders may be included
in assessing targeted
leaders.
The board of directors
should also regularly
assess the CEO’s perfor-
mance both inside the
company with his team,
among his employees
and outside the compa-
ny with key stakehold-
ers.
This type of assess-
ment of fers a more
complete view of lead-
ers who have key roles
to play with external
stakeholders.
Assessment also helps
to identify high poten-
tials and future leaders
by looking at the extent
to which they have aspi-
rations to lead, ability
to meet future challeng-
es, and agility to learn
and grow.
It is the responsibility
of the board to keep an
eye on potential leaders’
ability to serve custom-
ers and engage employ-
ees to do their best
work.
Leadership
investment
The traditional for-
mula for leadership
investment has been
70-20-10. The logic is
that 70% of learning
and development is on
the job; 20% from feed-
back and observation
of role models, and only
10% from training.
Now it is suggested
by Prof. Dave Ulrich,
t h e a u t h o r o f t h e
‘Leadership Code,’ that
this for mula should
shift to something like:
50% of learning from job
experience, including
mirroring role models,
30% of learning from
updated training and
20% of learning from life
experience.
Most leaders have
learnt and learn from
experiences outside of
work, in families, social
settings, social networks,
volunteer work, reading,
and travelling. When
companies can encour-
age and access knowl-
edge from these life
experiences, leaders will
broaden their repertoire.
For example, many
companies now use their
CSR efforts as develop-
ment opportunities for
high potential leaders.
This mix of leadership
investments in my view
is the foundation for a
professional approach
for development of lead-
ership throughout a
firm.
(The writer is a thought
leader in HR.)
Introduction
So, what is all the fuss about
Generation ‘Y’ (those born
between 1980 and 1995)? Are they
different? Yes. Are they difficult?
Different is only difficult when we
don’t understand or can’t under-
stand what the difference means.
As a leader, manager, supervisor,
what can you do to increase your
effectiveness when motivating
and managing Generation ‘Y’?
Influence and inspire. As a Gen
Y myself, from discussion with my
peers, we believe these are the two
values Gen Y employees admires
most about their leaders. Their
leaders must have the ability to
empower and excite them towards
not only the organisation’s goals
but towards personal excellence
as well.
Many bosses find themselves
in leadership positions without
ever having consciously made the
choice to become a leader, let alone
a great leader.
For these bosses to evolve into
an exceptional leader for the
youth, they first have
to step down to the
level of the youths.
They have to show
them that they were
exactly where they are
when they started and
that it is indeed pos-
sible to climb up the
corporate ladder to
reach the position they
are in now. Now how
exactly does one do so?
Here are some practi-
cal guidelines:
1. Talk to them
Everyone wants to
feel important, and
what better way to
show the importance
of your employees
then to get to know
them on a personal level. Share
with them your personal journey
about how you’ve reach to the top
of the ‘food chain’. Provide them
with that sense of belonging that
motivated you to stay on with the
organisation and it is likely that
that same reason would be the rea-
son that would make them want to
stay on as well.
2. Hang out with them
Now, I don’t mean to be weekend
hang out buddies, no. There still
need to be a boundary between
boss and employee. However, have
a get together every now and then
to show your employees that you
care and that you are genuinely
concerned about their well-being
and their happiness in the organi-
sation. Yes, there are retreats and
all that usual shenanigans, but
you need to show that you are
involved. You are interested and
involved in the team bonding
efforts that go on in the organisa-
tion.
3. Be a confidant
Everyone loves a listening ear,
especially the youths at our day
and age. They have the constant
perception that the boss is only
someone who gives orders and
instructions and not to be messed
around with. Whilst being firm,
offer to be a friend to the employ-
ees. Don’t just listen, but hear
them out, their problems and
what challenges they are facing.
Help them understand the reason
for some operation procedure and
the direction the organisation
is heading in the next few years.
That way, everyone would be on
the same page.
Today’s Gen Y is an interesting
group of people and a vital one for
that matter. Succession planning
is crucial and there is always a
need to stay relevant, on that note
youths are the future of the next
generation, thus there is a need to
invest significantly in them.
Leading and engaging
Gen Y at work
For the first time in modern
history, workplace demographics
now span four generations, mean-
ing that 20-year-old new hires can
find themselves working side-by-
side with colleagues who are older
than they are by 50 years (or even
more). The five generations and
their birth years are depicted in
Table 1.
Gen Y (including in large
number of today’s Youths) are
also individuals who holds on to
grudges, any bad experience with
you and they will remember it for
a long time, so be careful what you
do to them. At the same time, the
youth these days make it a point
to go above and beyond their call
of duty and often produces excep-
tional work. All they ask in return
is acknowledgement. A simple pat
on the back and words of encour-
agement does the trick, trust me.
Leaders for the youths are scru-
tinised pretty intensely at this
day and age. They play a vital
part in the motivation process of
the youth’s professional journey.
Leaders with the ability to present
themselves well have already won
the hearts of the youth. Youths
feel that, “If I put in effort to look
good and professional, you should
too.” Now, I’m not talking about
superficiality, I’m talking about
looking professionally good.
All in all, the ability to connect
and gel with the youth is not an
easy task. It takes a lot of effort
and may be a little
time consuming but
the results would be
tremendous. Good
leadership is hard to
come by, good leader-
ship for the youth, is
extra work. However,
it would be all worth
it when you hand over
that office of yours
to your predecessor
who was once a youth
under your wing.
T h e ‘ P e t e r
Principle; states that
in modern organisa-
tions, most bosses rise
to the level of their
least competence, like
the specialist (e.g.
accountant, engineer,
lawyer, etc.) who is
so good at their craft that they get
promoted to a management posi-
tion in ‘charge of people’ without
having mastered any real leader-
ship skills. And then they bomb.
It’s not their fault; they were pro-
moted into the position with little
or no training or mentoring... it’s
sink or swim.
What Gen Y looks
for in their leaders?
Things are not how they used to
be. Employee expectations have
definitely changed with regard
to work. Leaders can no longer
ignore these new expectations nor
refuse to adapt their leadership
style and methods to deal with
these new expectations.
In a research report published
in Singapore on ‘Gen Y at Work,
Their Views and How they are
Viewed,’ Gen Y-ers believe that it
is most important for their leaders
to be caring, inspiring and compe-
tent. On the other hand, manag-
ers from the Other Generations
believe in demonstrating compe-
tence, honesty and a forward-look-
ing orientation to the Gen Y-ers
they lead and manage.
The overall pattern of results
clearly suggests that there is a
gulf between the Gen Y work-
force’s expectations, and their
managers’ beliefs about how to
lead them. The results suggest
that Gen Y prefers relationship-
oriented leaders, while their man-
agers believe in demonstrating
a relatively more task-oriented
approach to leading them.
What makes a great leader
in managing
Gen Y?
In several cases that Centre for
Executive Education (CEE) came
across in consulting engagements,
well intentioned promises of lead-
ership development, coaching
or mentoring were made to the
leader when they were appointed,
only to fall by the wayside because
more pressing business matters
crowded out the hours in the lead-
er’s day.
Like a captain of a sporting
team or a general of an army,
leaders need to innovate, inspire,
excite or provide a clear vision to
others. They hold and believe in
a vision and just as importantly,
have the self-belief and convic-
tion to communicate it to others.
Furthermore leaders do not have
definitive characteristics. Some
inspire and organise, whereas
others are strategic or tactical,
spot opportunities or protect
against disaster.
Leadership is a journey of dis-
covery. It is the expression of a
person at his or her best whose
aim is to transform something
for the better and to develop this
potential in others. It is not a
solitary pursuit but one that har-
nesses the energy of those around
you.
A manager can implement pro-
cesses, monitor performance, set
business goals and objectives and
generally take care of the day-to-
day needs of their staff. However
achieving authentic leadership
takes more than textbook man-
agement skills.
CEE believes that with the rel-
evant executive
development sup-
port, those with
leadership poten-
tial can be devel-
oped into out-
standing leaders.
No one can
argue that a great
leader can boost
an organisation’s
growth and per-
formance in much
the same way a
poor leader can
run one into the
ground. But what
makes a leader
effective or inef-
fective is a more
nebulous concept
to pin down.
A c c o r d i n g
to Jim Kouzes,
author of the
best-seller ‘The
L e a d e r s h i p
Challenge,’ the
qualities that
make an effective
leader have two
distinct perspec-
tives: what follow-
ers look for and
what research
from the past few decades has
shown. “There are four things
consistently that we have found
that people most look for in a
leader. Number one, people want a
leader who’s honest, trustworthy
and has integrity. Second (they
want someone) forward-looking,
who has a vision of the future,
foresight and thinks about the
long term. Third, people want
a leader who is competent, has
expertise, knows what they’re
doing, and fourth is inspiring,
dynamic, energetic, optimistic
and positive about the future.”
These still hold true on what Gen
Y-ers expects from their leaders.
Leadership styles
Gen Y is well known for want-
ing more flexible work sched-
ules. With mobile technology and
cloud solutions widely available,
resistance to alternative work
schedules by Gen X or Boomers
Manager is becoming a barrier
to progress at the workplace. All
managers must get to a similar
understanding of why Gen Y
looks at flexible work arrange-
ments as a given. With globali-
sation a force driving corporate
strategy, allowing employees to
choose to work nights and week-
ends over day shifts makes sense.
Working from a cafe today and
hotel, onsite tomorrow is smart
business.
Those managers who grew up
in corporate-land believing work
occurs between 9-5 need to learn
to rethink how, where and when
work gets done. Gen Y gets this. It’s
time that Managers of other gen-
eration must do, too.
Some people have one style of
leadership, which is fine if they
can find a situation that requires
that style of leadership.
Flexible leadership, however,
involves being able to adapt your
leadership style according to the
generational make-up of the team
and situation – e.g.: taking charge
when a team is forming but play-
ing the role of coach when a team
is managing itself well.
Overall, CEE research suggests
that Generation Y is an ambi-
tious, impatient and yet tremen-
dously promising generation,
one that employers must listen to
in order to bring
fresh ideas and per-
spectives to tradi-
tional operations.
Though success-
fully connecting
with Generation Y
may be challeng-
ing at times, the
consequences can
take employers
from good to great,
and prepare for
an uncertain and
rapidly-changing
future.
Conclusion
Leaders today
are facing a critical
challenge: how to
adapt their leader-
ship practices and
style to get the best
out of Generation
Y employees. They
can’t do so alone.
Organisations have
a responsibility
to help managers
understand how
workers’ expecta-
tions have changed
and how they can
adapt their leader-
ship style to these new conditions.
More importantly, organisations
needs to provide leaders with the
tools and processes which allow
leaders to reward and recognise,
train and develop, empower gener-
ation Y employees more effectively.
For Singapore’s budding leaders
to compete with the world’s best,
managers need to embrace the lat-
est techniques of executive devel-
opment to enhance their abilities
to better manage the Gen Y and
soon Gen Z workers. The price of
not doing so will create plenty of
managers, but very few leaders.
Finally, remember: Leadership
development is a journey, not
something that can be learned
on a five-day training course. It
requires time, reflection and a
high level of self-awareness.
[The writer is the Gen Y Business
Development Manager of Centre for
Executive Education (CEE Global)
and is a recent graduate of Ngee Ann
Polytechnic’s School of Business and
Accountancy. CEE Global offers execu-
tive coaching and leadership develop-
ment programs that help professionals
develop the skills and knowledge to
embrace change and catalyse suc-
cess in their industries. Website: www.
cee-global.com Email: adam.bawany@
cee-global.com.]
Generation Y: Are we preparing
leaders to deal with this generation
of new employees’ expectations?
nFrom a Gen Y youth’s
perspective
Leaders today are
facing a critical challenge:
how to adapt their
leadership practices and
style to get the best out of
Generation Y employees.
They can’t do so alone.
Organisations have a
responsibility to help
managers understand how
workers’ expectations have
changed and how they can
adapt their leadership style
to these new conditions.
M o r e i m p o r t a n t l y,
organisations needs to
provide leaders with the
tools and processes which
allow leaders to reward
and recognise, train
and develop, empower
generation Y employees
more effectively
Whycompanies
mustinvestin
leadership
Guest
Column
By Dinesh
Weerakkody
A n i n d i v i d u a l
leader matters, but an
organisation’s leadership
matters more over time
both to shareholders and
customers. Therefore,
organisations must not only
invest to help individual
leaders to be more effective
through coaching, 360
feedback, and by executing
individual development
plans, but also must invest
to build leadership depth by
devoting sufficient time for
leadership development
Guest
Column
By Adam
Bawany

8. Management
www.ft.lk
THURSDAY JANUARY 17, 2013
14
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Q:You conducted a CIMA master-
course on ‘Leveraging on a wider
generation.’ This has both challenges
as well as opportunities. What are the
prevailing challenges in that area?
A:When discussing leveraging on a
wider generation, we are talking
about leading and managing a multi gen-
eration workforce which includes the tra-
ditional baby boomers and Generations
X, Y and Z. In terms of the disparity due
to the different age expiration, different
value systems and different career aspi-
rations, there is a chance of potential
conflict since the ways and means of com-
munication is different from one group to
another.
When you look at people in Generation Y
who are very intrigued with social media,
they are used to using comprehensive elec-
tronic communication methods while the
baby boomers communicate in the old tra-
ditional ways. Generation Y expects situa-
tions to happen fast and immediately and
anticipate instant gratification.
What it means is that a situation arises
where managers are not able to deal with
the communication conflict. The challenge
there is removing the communication con-
flict that prevails among the diverse gen-
eration workgroup.
The opportunity there is that when
you are able to engage and pull through
the differences well, you are able to have
a cohesive and productive team working
together while at the same time producing
better results in the working environment.
It is the role of the leader to communicate
effectively to each of the groups of differ-
ent ages and generation types.
Q:Can you stress more on the
opportunities that lie there?
A:For example, looking at Generation
Y, there lean more towards the use
of latest state-of-the-art technology. On
recognising this, you can leverage on
their expertise and have them extremely
involved in functions of the company. For
instance, they can be spokespeople and
brand ambassadors of companies as they
can communicate the company’s value
proposition effectively through social
media networks.
Each company has what you call a value
proposition. Basically why should some-
one join organisations like John Keells,
MAS Holdings or Hayleys? Generation
Y understands technology very well and
they are able to communicate, broadcast
and make known the working environ-
ment and opportunities of being with the
company. This is just one advantage of
having younger generations as spokes-
people as they are recognised as effective
communicators.
There is a concept called reverse men-
toring. This is where the younger group
of employees who are intimidated by
technology communicates to the manage-
ment of the organisation certain aspects
that they find difficult to master. For
example, Nestle wanted to know what
the younger population’s preferences are
and wanted to get a good insight into the
target group’s physiology and consumer
behaviour trends.
If you are trying to sell and make prod-
ucts that are for younger generation, you
should speak to the younger generation.
If you have employees who are young,
they can provide insights into their gen-
eration’s preferences. An organisation
can depend on that to develop strate-
gies on marketing and in other areas
when catering to that target group. In a
nutshell, reverse mentoring, employee
value proposition and branding are a few
opportunities leveraging brings in.
The other opportunity it provides is to
look at the strength of each generation.
For example, as you look at Generation
X, they are very intrigued on working col-
laboration. Interestingly, Generation Y
is closer to the baby boomer generation
because the parents of Generation Y are
mostly from the baby boomer segment,
so the opportunity is that you can form
a very collaborative workplace environ-
ment with baby boomers as mentors and
supervisors for Generation Y.
The HR director or manager can actu-
ally assign the two generations to work
together. It is also advantageous to the
organisation to be able to provide col-
laborative team projects. Unfortunately,
Generation X is perceived to have a ‘know
it all’ attitude which is a misconception.
The generation wants freedom, wants to
be able to change jobs as and when they
please, while for Generation Y, work has
less meaning to them.
This can be explained better through
an example. Companies that believe in
CSR want to contribute to the society.
Generation Y loves a company that has
a socially responsible policy and they
want to able to effectively contribute
to the company. They want to be more
engaged and with that, they will be more
productive. But one has to be careful with
Generation Y as they do not want to be
told what to do: they want flexibility.
Generation X is more about following
the ‘do it my way’ strategy. Generation Y
looks for involvement and their relation-
ship with their boss in more important
to then when compared to Generation X
which puts more importance on finan-
cial gain and compensation.
There is are a lot of differences and a
good manager should understand this
diversity and take the opportunity to
make matters more productive.
Q:So basically, you cannot apply
one set strategy when it comes
to managing generation diversity in
the workforce?
A:Exactly. You need to look at what
the different aspirations are in
each group and then look at how you can
provide a strategy to enhance the pro-
ductivity of the group. Customisation is
necessary and the management should
look into different value systems and
strengths of the generations.
Q:At the directors’ forum, the
topic ‘Intellectual capital, a
strategic difference’ was discussed.
Tell us about the prevailing situation
in South Asia in that scenario.
A:Intellectual talent is literally about
the war of talent.
One should be very spe-
cific on how one could win
the war of talent. It’s about
retaining and recruiting
the right people and talent
for the job to help in the
execution of strategies. It
is about defining recruit-
ing, retaining and devel-
oping of talent to help you
reach the set goals through
proper execution. That is
about control and how you
are able to get the most
out of it, while creating
sustainable competitive
advantage.
We are talking about
multigenerational talent as
well. Looking at different
age groups in the organi-
sation, it is important how
you identify the right talent
and most importantly the
right potential. We are talk-
ing about future leaders.
How do you develop future
leaders? We should define
the group of people who we
can invest in over a period of time, allow-
ing a smooth transition for them to take
over the leadership position one day.
In South Asia, we have a shortage of
talent and we have the older generation
retiring. We have an influx of the young-
er generation so how can you prepare the
younger crowd to swiftly take on the role
of leadership? They are inexperienced,
eager and excited to play the role but how
can we prepare Generations X and Y to
assume the role of leadership when the
baby boomers retire? These are aspects
that need to be looked into.
Q:Certain research studies have
explored the option of recruit-
ing known persons with known tal-
ents rather than taking in unknown
people with unknown talents. This
is nepotism and cronyism to some
degree and is against the ethics of
HR. What is your opinion on that?
A:Unfortunately it is a reality, in
countries even like the US, UK and
other developed nations – people tend to
bring in individuals and former asso-
ciates that they know and are familiar
with. To me, that is not correct. To me,
you should hire people with the right set
of skills needed for the job waiting to be
taken up.
It should never be a policy to look for
someone who you know. Logically it is
correct, play it safe by recruiting who you
know rather than experimenting with an
unknown person. However, by doing this,
you will be missing out on better talents
out there. It is about being fair and follow-
ing good HR practices that are healthy for
an organisation. It is important to give
everyone an equal opportunity and based
on that, may the best talent get the job! It
is the best practice to follow irrespective
of age and gender.
Q:What are the challenges you
think organisations face when
trying to retain their ‘skilled’ employ-
ees, and does it eventually tax them?
A:It is a challenge. When you have
proven yourself to have high poten-
tial and when you have a high demand in
the job market, the organisation wants to
keep you and competitors want to employ
you. For this purpose, leaders have to
understand who the people with high
potential are, identify them early on and
engage them.
Let them know that they are valued
and acknowledge their talents while let-
ting them know that you are interested
in investing in them to enhance their tal-
ents and skills. They should be able to see
a career progression. You have to make
it clear that you want them. Having said
that, there is the pull factor where com-
petitors might offer opportunities with
better salaries, benefits and a better posi-
tion in their organisations.
It is the responsibility of business lead-
ers to invest time to develop their star
employees’ talents. This will not tax an
organisation ever as when retaining high
skilled and exceptional performers, due
to their contribution made, the return the
organisation would make is three or four
times the investment.
Q:Singapore is a role model coun-
try for economies like Sri Lanka.
What best practices we can bring from
there to here?
A:Sri Lanka is a small nation with
a small population and therefore
human capital is limited and scarce.
Extremely talented individuals are lim-
ited. The war for talent is not intense. If
you ask me what to learn from Singapore,
I would say two things: one is to have the
desire to invest in and develop human
capital, both from the side of the govern-
ment as well as from the side of private
institutions.
In Singapore, the government provides
incentives to train employees. They give
tax breaks and training
grants. Private companies
are involved in training and
developing while provid-
ing opportunities for indi-
viduals to go out to learn
and then they welcome
them come back. Many
Singaporean companies
offer flexible workplace
arrangements, for example
they do not enforce a 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. work period. They
encourage working from
home and also encourage
mothers on materiality
leave to return to the com-
pany by giving them work-
ing flexibility. These strate-
gies have proven to be suc-
cessful and help boost the
economy.
The other learning is to
bring in fair employment
practices and Singapore is
gaining ground in this area.
We have an ageing popula-
tion in Singapore and we
do not want to discriminate
the elderly. We want to give
the older population an opportunity to
continue working. These practices could
be considered in Sri Lanka.
Q:In Singapore, the public and pri-
vate sector works hand-in-hand,
but in Sri Lanka we see a notable dis-
tance between the two. How do you
suggest Sri Lanka minimise this gap
and help boost the economy?
A:It is a little difficult to comment
on Sri Lanka. In Singapore, the
government emphasises the importance
of productivity and the importance of
investing in people and human capital.
We are small, we want to be able to invest
in people’s talent and provide organisa-
tions with the means to train people and
keep them employed within the country.
One good example is that the
Singaporean government provides an
absentee payroll for employees who go on
training. When you go on training, you
are actually up-scaling your productivity
and skills from which the organisation is
also going to benefit. For this, the govern-
ment will pay your company an incentive
for you being absent from work.
The Work Force Development Agency
of Singapore offers such incentives to the
private sector, acknowledging their con-
tribution to the economy of the country.
Sri Lanka should consider such meth-
ods as public and private partnership is
very important. The Government should
acknowledge the fact that the perform-
ance of all organisations contribute to
the performance of the economy. The
public and the private sectors should
work closely for the benefit of the nation.
Q:Given that this is your first visit
to Sri Lanka, what will be tak-
ing back with you to Singapore from
here?
A:I think my dialogue at the sessions
with managers as well as CEOs was
a productive one. My observations are
that people in Sri Lanka are very bright
and are very eager to engage in learning.
The senior leaders indeed are very expe-
rienced.
Q:Do you see yourself visiting Sri
Lanka again?
A:I certainly hope so. CIMA has
invited me for the conference that
is scheduled to take place in July and I
am thinking about it. I most likely will be
coming down again, but it’s not certain.
Managing generation diversity and
acknowledging human capital in a workforceProfessor Sattar Bawany, the Master
Executive Coach and Facilitator
Managing Director for Executive
Development Associates Asia
Pacific and Strategic Advisor for the
International Professional Managers
Association was in Sri Lanka recently
to facilitate two mastercourse ses-
sions organised by CIMA Sri Lanka.
With over 25 years of international
business management experience,
including 15 years in executive
coaching, group facilitation, leader-
ship development and training with
global consultation firms, Bawaney
was impressed with the highly
experienced corporate leaders of Sri
Lanka and their willingness to learn
more despite their seniority.
Visiting Sri Lanka for the first time,
he suggested that Sri Lanka should
learn from other countries and revo-
lutionise the country’s way of doing
work. He has also been invited by
CIMA to be a part of the conference
that is scheduled to take place in July
this year.
Accommodating a slot into his tight
schedule, Professor Bawany, who is
also the adjunct Professor of Strategy
for the Paris Graduate School of
Management, spoke to the Daily
FT prior to taking off to Singapore.
Following are excerpts are from inter-
view:
If you are trying to sell
and make products that
are for younger generation,
you should speak to the
younger generation. If
you have employees
who are young, they can
provide insights into their
generation’s preferences.
An organisation can depend
on that to develop strategies
on marketing and in other
areas when catering to
that target group. In a
nutshell, reverse mentoring,
employee value proposition
and branding are a few
opportunities leveraging
brings in
Master Executive Coach and Facilitator Managing Director for Executive Development
Associates Asia Pacific and Strategic Advisor for the International Professional Managers
Association Professor Sattar Bawany – Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe