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| Management Tools |
| Management Savvy: Understanding your |
Take a drive down the "main drag" in your city and make mental notes about how many of today’s booming industries did not even exist ten years ago. The infusion of MTV, Nintendo, and the Internet have vastly altered the way your employees under age 30 have been educated. Your management style, in order to be effective, needs to take into account the fact that “Generation X” employees have been taught to think differently than were their predecessors.
- Information processing: Younger workers are accustomed to reacting quickly—a result of hours with a Sega Genesis keypad in hand. Take advantage of technology that speeds things up.
- Random access: Remember, this is a generation who are accustomed to "hyperlinking” (via the Internet). That is, they are accustomed to starting somewhere in the middle and tracing their way back to the original question. Be careful of this when assessing "progress." Things don't always have to be done in “the most logical order.”
- Hands-on problem solving: While many managers grew up learning to add and subtract by filling out worksheets, your Generation X employees most likely learned by using "manipulatives." (You figure out what 3 + 5 is by picking up three yellow cubes, five blue discs, and counting the total). This generation has been trained to use these kinds of devices to help them find solutions. There are many ways to solve a problem. Sitting with pencil in hand is only one of them.
For the best managers, the challenge in catering to different personalities is part of what makes managing exciting. Your Generation X employees are able to help your business grow at warp speed. Make sure your management techniques and your incentive packages add fuel to their fire.
Quote: "Any manager who's good is pragmatic and has to understand that to motivate your troops, you have to do what motivates them. It might not be what motivates you, but managers must be willing to change."
Source: HR Wire.
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