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SFHS Academy Brief
February 2010
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Last month, I
addressed understanding Gen-Y employees; however, as you
know, not all people “fit the mold” and are unique among
their age group. The ultimate
workplace goal is for every employee to treat every
other employee with respect and as an individual. If one person’s
personality is so different from his or her peer’s that
they have trouble communicating, there a number of
options:
Identify
the root problem: Is
the person difficult to work with, or is the group just
not willing to include someone else who is
different?
Does the person have poor interpersonal skills or
is he or she just an individual who is particularly
unique? If
the person lacks adequate interpersonal skills or has
some other characteristic that interferes with the
ability to work well with others, there are ways that
the issue can be addressed, for example, through
training and one-on-one coaching. If the person is
simply unique, then it’s the team that needs
educating.
A good approach would be to do some team
building.
This can be as simple as arranging for everyone
to have lunch together or organizing more formal team
building exercises (contact me at lnelson@sfhs.org for
resources).
Generational
judgments (i.e.
“These kids just don’t know anything”) should not be
tolerated any more than people judging each other by
race, ethnic group or
gender.
While
the intergenerational model is a useful tool in
understanding people, it is best to treat team members
as individuals with their own backgrounds, experience,
values and personalities. The goal is
simple:
treat everyone with respect.
Team leaders and
members
should:
- Communicate through their
attitude and behavior that every generation offers
something important to the workplace and that mutual
respect is a priority.
- Avoid expecting less or more
of someone because of his/her age.
- Avoid making assumptions (i.e.
believing that a young person prefers to work on a
computer or an older person prefers not
to).
- Be open to discussing
differences of any kind that are interfering with team
functioning.
- Be open to talking to
co-workers from different generations about their
backgrounds and interests.
- Address performance issues as
such – not intergenerational
differences.
Help a team meld
by ensuring that each person’s role has been clearly
defined and is understood by everyone involved. Set
rules for team interaction so that everyone gets to
speak (i.e. conduct a Circle 6 exercise). Make it clear
that team members are not allowed to criticize each
other; rather, each should focus on improving on one
another’s ideas.
Source: Jo Renee
Find, Ph.D., Director of Training & Content Dvlp.,
Harris, Rothenberg
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| Quote of the day: “Individual
commitment to a group effort – that is what makes teamwork, a
company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi
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St.
Francis Health Services
801
Nevada Ave. Suite 100 • Morris, MN 56267
Phone:
320-589-4903 • Fax: 320-589-1270
www.sfhs.org | Leah
Nelson | | |