February 21, 2008. “Generational Differences – Let’s Work Together” Gary M. Bolinger, CAE...

February 21, 2008

“Generational Differences – Let’s Work Together”

Gary M. Bolinger, CAEPresident & CEO

Indiana CPA Society

All generalizations are dangerous, even this one

Alexander Dumas, 1824-1895

So …What’s up with this

“next generation”

Mindset …Class of 2010

“a generation that has always been ‘connected’ and is used to things happening in ‘real time,’ like live satellite coverage of revolutions and wars, instant messaging and movies on demand. They expect solutions for every problem, from baldness to diseased organs. To the chagrin of teachers and parents, they’ve developed their own generational means of communication.”

http://www.beloit.edu

Mindset …

1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.

2. They have known only two presidents.

3. For most of their lives, major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt.

6. There has always been only one Germany.

7. They have never heard anyone actually "ring it up" on a cash register.

8. They are wireless, yet always connected.

Mindset …

17. They grew up pushing their own miniature shopping carts in the supermarket.

18. They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.

19. "Google" has always been a verb.

20. Text messaging is their email.

23. Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.

28. Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics.

Mindset …

33. They have no idea why we needed to ask "...can we all get along?”

36. They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.

38. Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.

41. They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.

53. They have always preferred going out in groups as opposed to dating.

56. They have never put their money in a "Savings & Loan.“

59. Disneyland has always been in Europe and Asia.

74. Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.

Generational Issues

Overprivileged Kids

• The “fragility factor” - attributed to overprotection– Parents hover over toddlers on the playground,

structure their 4-year-old’s time - tee ball & art class

– Call teachers during dinner to protest a “C” grade, or

– Claim learning disability for teenager take untimed SATs

Why do we care?

• Sustainability of the Profession • Need to understand what professionals need

to thrive today• Work/life effectiveness = business strategy

– Top cause of turnover - overwork & stress

• Role models needed of successful leaders (men & women) who set an example

“A Decade of Changes in the Accounting Profession: Workforce Trends and Human Capital Practices” - AICPA

Four Generations

0

10,000,000

20,000,000

30,000,000

40,000,000

50,000,000

60,000,000

70,000,000

80,000,000

90,000,000

Matures Boomers X'ers Millenials

Four Generations In the Workplace

• Matures, Silents, Radio Babies – 1909-45

• Boomers – 1946-64 (early vs. late boomers)

• Gen X – 1965-78 (early vs. late x’ers)

• Millennials (Y2K, Nexter, Echo-boom)

Generations

Children should be seen and not heard

vs.

Everyone has an opinion

What makes you think you are any different?

vs.

You are special

Perhaps poetically, the last

group to upend the working

world with its ambition and

drive are now looking down

from the C-suites at their

children, Gen Y, who are as

single-minded in their search

for balance as their parents

were in their quest for

success.

Whippersnappers & Geezers

• Surveys over the last few years …– looking for work that includes “flexible work

schedule” (92%, Harris Interactive poll), – “requires creativity” (96%)– “allows me to have an impact on the world” (97%)– 90% of Gen Y wants co-workers “who make

work fun.” (Roper Starch Worldwide) • No other generation put that in their top 5

Whippersnappers & Geezers

• “largest, healthiest, most pampered generation in history”

• Expected to spend their spare time making the varsity team, not working part-time

• Parents showed their love by staying late at the office to bring home more money

• The children expect to be home for dinner• Career dominance, achieved by 5 p.m.

Whippersnappers & Geezers

• A 20-year-old intern working on a booklet about Gen Y and work. The topic - job interviews …

“job interviews are a two-way

conversation, where the company puts

out what they want and expect from

me, and I put out there what I want

and expect from the company.”

Whippersnappers & Geezers

• Who exactly is grooming whom?

• A quick tally would seem to show Gen Y in the lead, setting the life-work agenda. – Don’t underestimate the Me Generation – As boomers learn to text more quickly &

interns learn to wear suits … tug of war between these generations will shape the workplace for decades to come

They are different!

What is wrong with those people?Or …

Are they really all that different?

• Fundamentally people want the same things, no matter what generation they are from.

• The so called generation gap is, in large part, the result of miscommunication and misunderstanding.

A quiz …

• Translate the following …

Y3

UndRst&

Kthxbye

ILBL8

XpNsiv

GMTA

RNTUAQT

Yada, yada, yada

Understand

Okay, thanks. Goodbye.

I’ll be late

Expensive

Great Minds Think Alike

Aren’t you a cutie?

A different look at generations

• Silents ………………

• Early Boomers ……

• Late Boomers ……..

• Early Xers ………….

• Late Xers …………...

1925 - 45

1946 - 54

1955 - 63

1964 - 76

1977 - 86

Retiring the Generation Gap

• Most intergenerational conflict shares a common point of origin …

• Issue of clout …– Who has it– Who wants it

• Natural desires …– Older people want to maintain clout– Younger people want to increase clout

Retiring the Generation Gap

• Older generation maintains clout by emphasizing value of experience– Experience perceived as valuable

• Synonymous with knowledge

– But it isn’t!

• What is important about experience?– How one processes it– What knowledge is gained from it

Retiring the Generation Gap

Generation gap blamed for conflicts

that have nothing to do with

fundamental generational values

(difference in values)

Retiring the Generation Gap

Values …

What you believe is important

NOT

What you do to express those beliefs

Retiring the Generation Gap

• Top Three Values …

Silents Early Boomers

Late Boomers

Early Xers

Late Xers

Family

46%

Family

45%

Family

64%

Family

67%

Family

73%

Integrity

46%

Integrity

32%

Integrity

29%

Love

32%

Love

49%

Love

26%

Love

27%

Love

29%

Integrity

24%

Spirituality

28%

Retiring the Generation Gap

• Values:– Older men value family by working long

hours to make lots of money– Xers likely to show family value by

spending more time with family

• People from different generations express values differently– That can cause conflict

• How important is it for Generation X & Y to spend time with their families?– Fact 1 “…50% of Gen-Y and 52% of Gen-X

are family-centric compared with 41% of Boomers”

– Fact 2 “Gen-X fathers spend significantly more time with their children than Boomer fathers with children of the same age, an average of 3.4 hours per workday versus an average of 2.2 hours for Boomer fathers- a difference of more than 1 hour”

– Fact 3 “…young men and their older counterparts differ markedly in their work priorities, with men ages 21 to 39 placing a much higher priority on having time to spend with their families”

– Fact 4 “A majority (70% of men ages 21 to 29 and 71% of men ages 30 to 39) said they want to spend more time with their families and would be willing to sacrifice pay to do so”

– Fact 5 “For men in their 20s and 30s, and for women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, the most important job characteristic is having a work schedule that allows them to spend time with their families”

• Everyone wants respect …• Define it …

– Older people appear to think that people deserve different amounts of respect

• Primarily based on gray hair or income• Receptionist and president

– Categories• Listen to me; pay attention to what I have to say• Give my opinions the weight I believe they deserve• Do what I tell you to do• Some consider questioning to be “disrespectful”

Retiring the Generation Gap

Retiring the Generation Gap

• Younger people want respect …– Want to be held in esteem & have opinions

considered

– Desperately want to do a good job & contribute• Have been told to participate

– Early education for past 20 years• Emphasized participation

• Offer solutions / actively participate = praise

Retiring the Generation Gap

• Trust …– No differences by generations (trust or lack of trust)– I trust my direct reports

• 64% yes, 29% neutral – no generational differences

– I trust upper management• 47% yes – no generational differences

– I trust my current boss • 70% yes – no generational differences• Gallup – employee’s relationship with boss is a primary reason

people stay or leave an organization

– Overall, people are more trusting of specific people than they are of the organization or its upper management

• How have work hours changed over the past 25 years? – “When we compare 2002 Gen-X employees

with their age counterparts in 1977, we find that 2002 Gen-X employees actually work significantly more paid and unpaid hours per week (45.6 hours on average) than employees of comparable ages in 1977 (42.9 paid and unpaid hours per week on average)” (Families and Work Institute, 2004)

“To better understand who your employees are and what drives them

to succeed, perhaps it’s easiest to understand who they are not.”

Cam Marston

Generations

Things aren’t always what they seem

• Myth: Younger generations have no work ethic– Reality: Younger generations have a self-

centered work ethic

• Myth: They don’t want to put in the hours to get ahead– Reality: They are willing to put in the time to

do the job, however they are uninterested in “face time”

Things aren’t always what they seem

• Myth: They have no respect for authority– Reality: They have great respect for leaders

and loyalty. But no, as a rule they don't respect authority “just because.”

• Myth: They don’t want to grow up– Reality: They really don’t know how. The

youngest generations in today’s workforce are facing a delayed adulthood. They are getting married later, having children later and just generally facing the “real world” later.

The Pipeline

What is the pipeline?

Students

Faculty

Exam Candidates

Successful Exam Candidates

Retention

Pipeline - The good news

• Number of accounting degrees 2000-05– increased 19%

• Five-fold increase in percentage of high school & college students planning to major in accounting.

• AICPA Minority Scholarship program – 2006:

• distributed 130 awards ($423,000), 90 different universities.

– Past 15 years• approximately $8 million to more than 1,600 students.

Pipeline - The not so good news

• Next 15 years … 75% of current members will reach or approach retirement age

• Shortage of CPAs continues. – accounting firms hired 17% more entry

level recruits in 2006 than in 2005• need for CPAs outstripping supply

– One in six CPAs left their firm in 2004 • 2% more than 2003

America’s Changing Ethnic Profile

58%

61%

72%

80%

20%

19%

11%

7%

15%

13%

11%

9%

4%

6%

4%

3%

0-19

20-39

40-59

60+

White Hispanic Black Asian

Source: Census Bureau

August 29, 2007

Recruiting and Keeping

Up-and-Coming CPAsCCH Young Accounting Professionals Survey March 2007

Young Accounting Professionals Survey

• CPA profession better positioned for growth than at any time in recent history– 2006 - top 100 firms’ growth highest since 2000

• Demand for accounting professionals expected to grow – anticipate 18 – 26% through 2014 (U.S. Bureau

of Labor Statistics)

• 8,000 baby boomers a day turning 60

Young Accounting Professionals Survey

• CPAs with four to seven years of experience • This population?

– solid base of experience – eager to move into more challenging positions

• vacated as baby boomers begin to retire • being created as new demands on the profession

develop.

• What benefits, tools, technology & culture are most wanted?– How are we doing?

http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103381

Young Accounting Professionals Survey

Reasons for entering the profession

Young Accounting Professionals Survey

Young Accounting Professionals Survey

• Summary: Young CPAs want …

– The tools they need to get their job done

– To be developed professionally and valued & rewarded for their performance

– To be challenged

– To have balance between work & personal life

Ethics & Workplace Survey

Deloitte & Touche 2007

• Positive work-life balance nurtures positive ethical behaviors at work

• 91% of employed adults agree– workers more likely to behave ethically at work when they

have a good work-life balance

• 60% of employed adults– job dissatisfaction a leading reason why people make

unethical decisions at work

• Job Satisfaction – among top three factors are …– 63% - compensation– 55% - a flexible work schedule

Work/Life Balance

What works? March 15, 2007

• Work is something you do, not

a place you go to …

• Flexible time is like breathing

• It changes the way you think

about life …

Work/life balance

• A recent study

– more than 50,000 employees

– variety of manufacturing & service

organizations

– two out of every five employees

dissatisfied with the balance between their

work & their personal lives.

Work/life balance

• The lack of balance “is due to long work

hours, changing demographics, more

time in the car, the deterioration of

boundaries between work and home,

and increased work pressure”

Bruce Katcher Ph.D., President - Discovery Group

This just doesn’t cut it anymore …

August 20-27, 2007

Future of Work

• BusinessWeek poll - big changes are ahead

…. Young execs / managers far less likely

than their elders to put work first in their

lives or to be content with their bosses.

• And what to make of this tidbit?

• People under 30 are more likely to have

accidentally called their boss Mom or Dad.