The following article is based on Bruce Tulgan's presentation "Attracting and Retaining a High-Quality Global Work Force" at the Oct. 8, 2007, IAMC Professional Forum in St. Louis, Mo.

Bruce Tulgan Source: www.rainmakerthinking.com

In a keynote presentation on October 8 in St. Louis, Bruce Tulgan, founder of Rainmaker Thinking, Inc., peppered his IAMC Professional Forum audience with equal parts humor, playacting and wisdom.

In the 14 years his firm has been interviewing corporate leaders and managers, he said, "Some of our interviews have lasted a couple hours, and a lot have been going on since 1993."

Their No. l finding across that span of time? "It's getting harder to manage people," said Tulgan. There are two basic reasons: a more high-pressure workplace and a more high-maintenance work force.

"We're raising the bar, but we're cutting your budget," Tulgan said, doing his best impression of a C-suite exec. "Glad we had this chat."

So the manager in turn must issue his own unattractive ultimatums:

"We need you to work longer, harder, smarter, faster and better," said Tulgan in full character as a middle manager.

"Do your employees salute?" Tulgan asked his audience. "No. Instead they say, 'I don't want to work on Thursdays.'"

As IAMC audiences in the past have heard, generational differences account for a lot: "Don't micromanage me," said Tulgan in his young worker voice. "Well, I'm just plain managing you," said that character's middle manager nemesis.

What's different about those generational differences today is that we're talking about four generations working side by side, creating what Tulgan calls an "age bubble." Those born before 1946 make up 7 percent of the work force. New births between 1946 and 1964 comprise 42 percent of the work force. Those arriving between 1964 and 1977 make up 29 percent. And those born in 1978 or later make up 22 percent of today's work force.

The dynamic is the fast-growing youth bubble of that last group overlaid with the fact that between 8,000 and 10,000 people a day are turning 60 in North America. Thus, said Tulgan, effective corporate knowledge transfer requires flexible retention policies on both ends. Meanwhile, the good ol' seniority system is also up for grabs.

Used to be, said Tulgan, that "the oldest, more experienced people were in charge, and younger people did as they were told. But the seniority system is breaking down for two reasons: First, on the corporate side, you need 'more, better and faster,' or what some call productivity and quality. It matters a whole lot more what you can do tomorrow or next week. On the employee side, people don't trust the system to take care of them anymore. The ones we want to keep their head down and pay their dues, they're the ones who don't trust the system."

Tulgan illustrated the generational extremes by contrasting the approach of his first client, GE's Jack Welch ("At the end of the week, when I cut you your paycheck, we're even. We start fresh on Monday") with the "magical business model" of the dotcom boom: "a foosball table in your teaming space."

Tulgan's past work researching Generation X found both positive and negative stereotypes: "We're techno-literate entrepreneurs, super workers, who can bend dress codes in our bare hands. Can I bring my dog to work?" On the other hand, that generation was also branded as "disloyal, don't want to work as hard, want immediate gratification."

In other words, the same "kids today" stereotype that has been around as long as procreation itself.

Now Gen X is quickly becoming the prime-age work force, said Tulgan.

"They say they'd like more status, reward and so forth, but they don't want their bosses' jobs," he said. "Climb the ladder? 'No,' they say, 'I'm too conservative to do that. I'm not a free agent because I want to be, I'm a free agent because I want to take care of my family.'

"Just because they look the part doesn't mean they're going to play the roles you want them to play," Tulgan told the IAMC audience. "You have to draw them closer to your core group. Succession plans don't do the trick, because they're too two-dimensional. With fast-track programs, you train and develop people, then they sell to the highest bidder. You have to get your arms around them and cultivate them as mid-level leaders and bench strength for senior leadership."

Those 22 percent born since 1978 have one main problem: their complete lack of problems.

"Self-esteem on steroids," joked Tulgan. "Gen X was unsupervised. Gen Y was the over-supervised generation."

Tulgan offered this direct translation of their higher expectations for their careers: "They want my job on day one." But the days of vague promises of what might be achieved through years of grunt work are gone: "They have an acute sense of uncertainty in today's world," said Tulgan, and want concrete assurances to go with their complete self-assurance.

"Why do they think they're so valuable? First, they are," said Tulgan. "Second, they are, because there's not a one of them who says they're going to get a feel for the place ... they want to hit the ground running."

The third reason derives directly from all that childhood self-esteem research that Tulgan says has now "hit the workplace like a freight train." He cited one coach of 16 and 17-year-olds in soccer who asked the team to vote for its most valuable player: "Every single kid voted for himself," he said, to a mix of laughter and groaning from the IAMC audience. "We're all winners here!"

"Parenting, childhood and teaching used to be about breaking their will," he explained. "Now it's 'You have your own rules, your kind of baseball has five outs,'" which directly translates to the adult world as, 'See, I trickle in about 8:20 and then I work harder than you ... that's my style.'"

That kind of high maintenance comes hand in hand with the kind of menu-driven information technology that allows the youngsters to find the right answers without having the understanding and wisdom behind it. That said, "We can't write them off because they do 15 things at once. That's where we're all headed. The mistake business leaders make is they think this generation wants to be left alone. Nonsense. If they give a whit, they don't want to be left alone. They want somebody who will be engaged. Are you going to pour water or gasoline on that spark?"

Tulgan then offered some fuel to fan that youthful flame.

"They look at a large established institution and wonder what role it will play in their life story," he said. "They either see you as a way station or a safe harbor or a self-building opportunity, a hub of resources to build themselves up."

Once past the threshold issue of money, Tulgan said, Generation Y wants more: more relationship building, more task choice, more learning opportunities, and more location choice when it comes to doing work. "They'll work more hours, if only they can choose them," he said.

"When you bring them in, get them on board and up to speed quickly," Tulgan advised. "Most managers today are too hands off. Leaders and managers stopped managing. There is an under-management epidemic - they don't have time. Too many rules and bureaucracy. Nobody taught them how to lead."

Frequently the under-management virus hides beneath the cloak of empowerment, but "sink or swim is not empowerment," said Tulgan. "It's negligence. The myth of empowerment is people do their best work when they're left alone. That's from that planet where we're all winners and everyone gets a trophy. Are your leaders and managers rolling up their sleeves and managing people? You have to commit to high-maintenance management."

How do you do that? By making their terms your own.

"'You don't want to work on Thursdays? Then here's what I need from you by midnight on Wednesday,'" said Tulgan's newfangled manager character, who then issued an imaginary all-points bulletin: 'Mary doesn't have to work on Thursdays. Come to my office to find out why.'

"What's fair is giving more to some and less to others based on what they deserve," said Tulgan. "The trick is we have to get managers back in the game."

"Those born before 1965, we call them 'grownups,'" said Tulgan. "That is the age bubble in a nutshell. You're thinking like free agents too now. It's about fundamental changes in the employer/employee relationship. Concentrate knowledge transfer programs on tangible assets, such as detailed maps of standard operating procedures that can be used later. Dow Chemical has all the plans for all their factories available, and an internal learning network based on best practices. Microsoft has their code library."

As the knowledge is passed along, so too is the accountability, albeit in a new guise. "Every young person worth hiring now wants a custom deal. The only way to adjust business practices is to roll up our sleeves, learn, and trade flexibility for accountability. Be generous, and practice real empowerment through support, guidance and coaching.

"Thirty years ago we thought women were going to teach the workplace how to be flexible," said Tulgan. "Then we thought Gen X would. But it's the grownups. I was at Fort Leavenworth, telling them about flexible retention. One general said, 'When our employees go work for the competition, we shoot 'em.'"

But the military does have such a concept, called the reserves. "Build your own reserve army, and let them teach you how to be flexible," advised Tulgan.