{"id":21982,"date":"2016-05-13T10:04:41","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T14:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/?p=21982"},"modified":"2016-10-20T13:20:35","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T17:20:35","slug":"talkin-bout-my-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/hr\/2016\/05\/13\/talkin-bout-my-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Group<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Connect four<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mandatory retirement<\/strong>\u00a0legislation in Canada has been gone for a while now. \u00a0And that’s a good thing. \u00a0Older workers\u00a0have much to offer in terms of the knowledge they have acquired over their careers, and are\u00a0a valuable\u00a0talent pool<\/strong>\u00a0for Christian charities to draw from. \u00a0And while there are many reasons why older Canadians choose to continue working, their\u00a0delayed retirement\u00a0has resulted in organizations\u00a0having up to four generations in the workplace. \u00a0These generations and their approximate years of birth are:\u00a0Silent Generation<\/strong>\u00a0(early 1920’s to early 1940’s),\u00a0Baby Boomers<\/strong>\u00a0(1946-1964),\u00a0Generation X<\/strong>\u00a0(early 1960’s to early 1980’s) and the\u00a0Millennials<\/strong>\u00a0(early 1980’s to early 2000’s). This\u00a0multi generational workforce represents a tremendous opportunity for charities, but is not without its\u00a0challenges.<\/p>\n

Millennials<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The newest and perhaps most\u00a0disruptive<\/strong>\u00a0generation in terms of challenging long held workplace norms are known as Millennials, or\u00a0Generation Y<\/strong>. Millennials already occupy senior leadership positions in some\u00a0organizations (think\u00a0Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook) and exert considerable\u00a0influence<\/strong>\u00a0on Canadian society as a whole. \u00a0The outcome of our country’s most recent federal election was most certainly influenced by Millennials who turned out in record numbers to vote.\u00a0\u00a0Millennials have influenced the types of worship songs we sing in our\u00a0Churches<\/strong>, and are also making their presence felt in Christian workplaces with their preference for things like\u00a0flexible<\/strong>\u00a0work arrangements and continuous\u00a0feedback<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

According to Statistics Canada, Millennials are now the largest\u00a0demographic<\/strong>\u00a0in Canada’s workforce. \u00a0This demographic is often portrayed by various thought leaders and business gurus as having\u00a0unrealistic expectations\u00a0<\/strong>that can drive their older\u00a0colleagues…well…nuts! \u00a0For example, Millennials often have very different expectations when it comes to things like\u00a0career progression,\u00a0<\/strong>as well as when and where\u00a0work gets done. \u00a0Entitlement\u00a0<\/strong>is a word that seems to have become synonymous with Millennials.<\/p>\n

Before we go any further it must be said that these are simply generalizations, and it is human nature to try to\u00a0categorize things\u00a0to make sense of our world. \u00a0Not all Millennials want to work from home or be promoted to senior leadership positions in their first year of employment. \u00a0I personally think too much emphasis has been placed on how different each generation is from the other, and that we are still more alike than we realize. \u00a0Our Christian\u00a0faith is a bond that we share and transcends generational differences in that we are all seeking to do our work\u00a0as unto the Lord.<\/p>\n

While we all need to be intentional about\u00a0fostering positive working relationships, I am going to suggest that there are three\u00a0highly impactful\u00a0things that Boomer and Gen X leaders can do to lead the way and work\u00a0in\u00a0harmony<\/strong>\u00a0with their Millennial colleagues. \u00a0It could be that you are doing some of these already!<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Manage\u00a0career progression expectations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Christian charities tend to be fairly flat in terms of\u00a0hierarchy<\/strong>, which means that professional\u00a0development<\/strong>\u00a0will look like more of a\u00a0latticework<\/strong>\u00a0than climbing the career\u00a0ladder of years gone by. Combined with the fact that many ministry workers have chosen to delay their retirement, fewer career progression opportunities are\u00a0currently available to Millennials. \u00a0Having said that,\u00a0there is still much that Baby Boomer and Gen X leaders can do to positively manage Millennial expectations around career progression.<\/p>\n

Being fairly close in age to the Millennial cohort myself, I can say that it is a powerful thing when a leader invests their time to understand where their team members want to develop and grow and to help them\u00a0discern their ministry\u00a0calling<\/strong>. Learning new skills, challenging\/interesting assignments and getting to work with others who excel at what they do can all be powerful motivators for Millennials to stay with a charity. \u00a0And while that next promotion\u00a0might not yet be available, leaders may want to consider the following as opportunities to\u00a0engage<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0retain<\/strong>\u00a0their Millennial colleagues:<\/p>\n