Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Next Generation Workforce and Workplace

We help individuals, organizations, and communities think innovatively about the next generation workforce and workplace. Read these forward-thinking stories and best practices from our work and lives.

  • How Simulated Work Environments Can Drive Performance in the Classroom, and Ultimately the Workplace

    How Simulated Work Environments Can Drive Performance in the Classroom, and Ultimately the Workplace

    Continuing with our theme this month, we wanted to reflect on performance management in another arena – the classroom. After all, students are future employees and shouldn’t performance management in the classroom prepare them for performance management in their future careers?

    First, I want to share a thought from a local employer when asked about industry needs concerning current and potential programs that are developing the future workforce. The quote reads:

    “While there appears to be attention given to communication and employability (skills), these areas remain our greatest problem. We are looking for hard working individuals with a strong work ethic that do not have to be reminded of the basics, like showing up for work on time.”

    With that in mind, why not consider simulated work environments in school classrooms? Creative Teaching Site shares the following concerning simulations in the classroom:

    • They simulate an activity that is “real”, and so it can be said that they are “virtually real”. They simulate the activity so well that there is little difference between the simulated environment and the real one, and the same kind of learning experience can take place.
    • They are “hands-on”, involving students so they become participants, not mere listeners or observers. Students learn better from their own experiences than having others’ experiences related to them.
    • They are motivators for learning. Student involvement in the activity is so deep that interest in learning more about the activity or its subject matter develops.
    • They are tailored to the student. When simulations are designed specifically for their audience, they can take developmental requirements into consideration.
    • They are inspirational. Student input is welcome and activities are designed to encourage students to enhance the activity by contributing their own ideas.
    • They are developmentally valid. Simulations take into account the students’ developmental level.
    • They are empowering. Students take on responsible roles, find ways to succeed, and develop problem-solving tools as a result of the interaction.

    I love that the last bullet points out that students take on responsible roles. This ties back in to the concern voiced in the quote from our employer mentioned earlier. When students are empowered to make decisions and take on responsibility, they are becoming prepared for their future roles as employees.

    What are your thoughts on simulated work environments in the classroom?

  • You Go Jennifer Lawrence- Girls, Know and Stand-up for What You’re Worth

    You Go Jennifer Lawrence- Girls, Know and Stand-up for What You’re Worth

    Jennifer Lawrence, Hollywood’s highest paid female actress still doesn’t make as much as her male counterparts. And she’s pissed. But who she is pissed at may surprise you. She’s mad at herself.

    You can see more on the story that aired on NBC Nightly News last week here:

    http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/jennifer-lawrence-speaks-out-on-hollywood-s-gender-pay-gap-543867971910

    Kudos to Jennifer. When we can take ownership of the issues that affect us personally, then we are on our way to fixing them. Blaming others doesn’t help the situation.

    Women (and men) knowing what they are worth is a critical step in that ownership, then being willing and able to negotiate for that worth is vital. Jennifer knows now what the going rate is for her leading roles and is ready to negotiate for the next leading role that will surely come her way.

    Like this post?  You may also like:

    2 Ways to Get What You’re Worth

  • What are your Generational “Sticking Points”?

    What are your Generational “Sticking Points”?

    “The whole chair situation makes so much more sense now,” said a woman in a Generations in the Workplace seminar recently.

    As many of us looked at her perplexed, she went on to explain, “I bought new chairs for our office. I can’t get those in earlier generations to use them. They said the old ones are just fine. I can’t get the newer generation to quit standing up in them so they can talk to someone over the cubicle wall.  I never knew how much headaches new chairs could cause,” she said with a sigh, but also some excitement in having an ah-ha moment over the issue realizing that the events and experiences of each generation impact workplace behavior.

    Whereas she saw the older generation concerned with things like prudence (as shaped from living through the great depression and the war years), she saw another generation that felt encumbered by cubicle walls and wanted a workplace much like the homes they were brought up in where casual conversation and open dialogue was encouraged. Standing up in the chairs, even if they were new, didn’t seem to be a big deal. Standing up in the chairs to the prudent generation seemed disrespectful.

    What this lady realized was that the chairs had sparked not one, but several, of the 12 generational sticking points that that Haydn Shaw notes in Sticking Points: How to Get the Generations to Work Together in the 12 Places They Come Apart

    They are:

    1. Communication
    2. Decision Making
    3. Dress Code
    4. Feedback
    5. Fun at Work
    6. Knowledge Transfer
    7. Loyalty
    8. Meetings
    9. Policies
    10. Respect
    11. Training
    12. Work Ethic

    Which sticking point(s) would you chalk the chair situation up to?  Which sticking points do you encounter the most in your workplace?

    As discussed in this training, the best way to combat these sticking points is to consider whether the issue impacts business necessity or if it simply involves workplace preferences that different generations or just people with different backgrounds, personalities and experiences prefer. Examine what is business necessity by what contributes to your company’s competitive advantage and then make decisions based on business necessity, not workplace preferences. By creating a workplace that is flexible enough for different people to experience their workplace preferences contributes to competitive advantage just as much if not more than workplace policy that is governed by business necessity.

  • Could it Simply Be Your Generation?

    Could it Simply Be Your Generation?

    There is a lot of hype out there today, and there has been for quite of a few years, regarding generations in the workplace. It has become one of the key topics to focus on when it comes to interoffice dynamics and diversity issues in the workplace. And its fun to talk about it and classify people as such.

    While it is obvious that different events and cultural norms shape us all and these things can help define a generation of people (for example, who is dumb enough to think that 9/11 and the computer haven’t shaped the thought processes, ways of working and ways of interacting and communicating with others as clutch things of the millennial generation) it is also obvious that many of the things we chalk up to generational differences are quite plainly, age differences, not generational differences.

    Take for example this quote from Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee’s much anticipated second book that was released this past summer:

    “Alexandra was not amused. She was extremely annoyed. She could not comprehend the attitudes of young people these days. Not that they needed understanding- young people were the same in every generation- but this cockiness, this refusal to take seriously the gravest question of their lives, nettled and irritated her.”

    This quote addresses Aunt Alexandra’s (Scout’s aunt, Atticus’ sister) feelings regarding Scout’s take on her marital prospects and priorities. The book is set in the 1950s, and Scout at the time was 26. She would be labeled a “Traditional” by generational standards, born before 1945, yet she is taking on the generational characteristics much like those we would see people complaining about today as millennial. Her aunt is serving the role of the traditional, traditionalist.

    Is it generation or is it just simply a product of age?

    A more personal story might help illustrate this dynamic. I used to run quite frequently with my dad. Full disclosure, he was born in the 1950s and therefore part of the Baby Boomer generation; I was born in the 1980s so I’m a part of the millennial generation.  On one morning run, I asked him about a friend of the family who had just started work fresh out of college at a government contractor.  I asked if she liked her new her job.  To which my dad replied, “Well her dad said that she doesn’t really like it all that much, but if I were her, I’d tell her to stick with it. Government jobs have great retirement and in 25-30 years she is going to need that.”

    To which I replied, “Yeah, always wise to stay in a job you hate for 25-30 years just to have the retirement package that may or may not be there 25-30 years from now.”

    You could chalk this dialogue of ours up to classic generational differences and it would make a lot of sense. That’s why people love all the generational stuff. However, if you stop and think about it, when I run with my now four year old and/or one year old 30 years from now (which I hope I will be doing), could the same conversation play over again and I have the response of my dad and they have the response I have? If so, that’s not a product of generation, that’s straight up a product of age and what is important to people given the certain “season” they are in in their life not the time period in which they were born.

    So before you go blaming your next workplace squabble on generational issues (or any one, single factor), stop and think about what combined factors shaped the person that you are disagreeing with. You may see generations at play, but you may also see a host of other factors at work (no pun intended).That’s why it is best to focus on training that captures the heart of all the sources of our differences and challenges as a framework to focus on the important takeaway: capitalizing on those differences by turning them into competitive advantages that create more productive and passionate workplaces.

    What do you blame on generational issues? What could you be doing to capitalize on these differences?

  • How Millennial Are You?

    How Millennial Are You?

    We at Horizon Point love all things that could be considered as a personality quiz or assessment, especially if they can be tied to workplace dynamics. Although we recommend using only validated assessments for things like selection, training, coaching and teambuilding, we love a fun quiz that attempts to classify individuals along popular group lines every now and then.

    We came across Pew Research’s “How Millennial are You?” quiz, and just had to share it. Here’s the link to take it: http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/how-millennial-are-you/

    Below is a graphic of my results. I am a millennial, so it seems fitting that I scored as such. Interestingly enough, the article I read that mentions this quiz said that many people not a part of the millennial generation were testing more millennial than they thought.

    Chart

    Take the quiz for yourself and let us know what you scored. Are you more millennial than you think?  Do you think the questions accurately reflect issues effecting how millennial you might be or are there other factors you think that impact how someone would answer each question (for example, we think some of these questions may be more of a reflection of what part of the country you were born in than your generation). Let us know your thoughts!