Jun
12
2011
In the lead up to the Millennial Donor Summit, hosted by the Case Foundation on June 22nd, Director of Leadership & Communications, Caroline McAndrews was asked to guest blog over at Social Citizens. Read her post about the evolution of the multigenerational workplace.
Here’s an excerpt:
There has been growing concern about the breadth and depth of new leadership in the nonprofit sector. Until recently, the alarm was focused on the departure of the Baby Boom generation, but this expectation of a mass exodus has given way to a new reality. The changing economic climate, extended life expectancy, and the desire to be remain active and continue their contributions are leading Boomers to remain in the workforce for a longer period of time. So now, and for the foreseeable future, there will be four generations in the workplace. Organizations that hope to capture the energy and ideas of younger generations – and millennials in particular – will need to figure out how to build vibrant multigenerational workplaces.
Recently, I’ve been presenting around the country on the findings of a report released by the Building Movement Project last year, What Works: Developing Successful Multigenerational Leadership. The report looks at workplace policies and processes that promote good work and great workplaces ACROSS ALL GENERATIONS working in nonprofits today. Despite overwhelming data that points to practices that work for all generations, I still get a lot of pushback from my audiences regarding Millennials. The overwhelming message is that the millennial generation wants too much, too soon, and with too little respect for the traditional way things are done.
To depict Millennials in this way and to so narrowly define their presence in the workplace can distract us from what Millennials can teach about how to build the best organizations for the future…
Read the rest on the Social Citizens blog.