Bridge Your Workplace Generation Gap

How well are you doing at bridging the generation gap inside your organization? No, I’m not talking about Gen X and Gen Y. I’m talking about your Legacy group and your Accelerate group. You may not be familiar with the terms, but after I explain you’ll know exactly who I’m talking about.

Legacy Group

Your Legacy team members are those who’ve been with you since the “early days.” They know your culture because they helped create it. They bring stability, dependability, and a wealth of knowledge on how you do business and who you do it with. They are committed, and you depend heavily on them.

Accelerate Group

Your Accelerators are your teammates who’ve recently joined your organization as you’ve grown. What they lack in tenure they bring in fresh energy, new ideas, and an excitement about the future of the organization, so naturally they’re focused on the future rather than the past.

Good leaders see the value in both groups, and they also understand how to overcome some of the common challenges each group poses, such as Legacy employees’ concern over change, the company’s evolution, and a sense of entitlement that can accompany the feeling that they’ve “paid their dues.” Accelerators, on the other hand, must learn how to connect with the Legacy group and maneuver what might be a steep learning curve. (more…)

People get promoted. They leave for another job at another company. They make a lateral move for another job at the same company. They retire. And yet, when it’s inevitably time to fill a vacant or newly-created position, many leaders have no idea who they’re going to pick. (more…)