少帥帶老兵：職場代溝的彌合之道
|
????親愛的安妮：我手下管理著一支16人的產(chǎn)品開發(fā)團(tuán)隊。這或多或少有些出人意料，因為我是團(tuán)隊中最年輕的一員（我今年只有27歲），參加團(tuán)隊的時間也最短（只有兩年半）。 ????我的工作不錯，能獲得這份工作我當(dāng)然非常開心。但是，在直接向我匯報工作的員工中，有些人的年齡是我的兩倍，甚至更年長，他們顯然不像我那么開心。我努力不讓他們拿我的年齡開玩笑，并影響到我。但是，要想讓他們真正把我當(dāng)老板看待，我的確有些力不從心。截至目前，雖然也有摩擦，但我們還是成功地完成了工作，只是過程很艱難。究竟該如何才能贏得他們的心呢？您（和您的讀者）有何建議？——沒人疼的孩子 ????親愛的N.B.：雖然有可能不太舒服，但是要知道，有相同處境的遠(yuǎn)不止你一個人。辦公設(shè)備制造商必能寶公司（Pitney Bowes）上個月開展的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，目前20%的中層員工直接上司比他們年輕。 ????此外，根據(jù)國際采購商Advanced Technology Services最近針對高管的一項調(diào)查，這一數(shù)字還有上升的趨勢：約有一半（45%）的制造企業(yè)鼓勵五六十歲的員工繼續(xù)工作，因為這些企業(yè)不希望丟掉那些很難傳承的技能和經(jīng)驗。 ????總部位于加州圣拉斐爾的咨詢公司FutureSense總裁兼CEO吉姆?芬克爾斯坦稱“這種事隨處可見”。此外，芬克爾斯坦還是新書《融合：解讀職場代溝》（Fuse: Making Sense of the New Cogenerational Workplace）的作者。他的許多客戶，包括技術(shù)公司和家族式企業(yè)，都請他幫忙調(diào)解嬰兒潮時代出生的職工和他們?nèi)槌粑锤傻睦习逯g產(chǎn)生的矛盾。 ????“導(dǎo)致這種巨大變化的部分原因在于，大部分嬰兒潮時代出生的人本該已經(jīng)退休，給年輕人騰出位置，”芬克爾斯坦如是說。 ????另外，一系列的經(jīng)濟(jì)因素，從日益攀升的醫(yī)療費用到養(yǎng)老金的減少，使得人們的實際工作年限超出了所有人（包括嬰兒潮時代出生的人自己）的預(yù)期。 ????芬克爾斯坦說：“不同時代的人成為同事，這種局面在幾年前就已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)。所有人都不得不適應(yīng)這種形勢?！?/p> ????芬克爾斯坦在開展咨詢工作期間認(rèn)識到：“即使在如何布置辦公環(huán)境這種小事上也會出現(xiàn)代溝差異。例如，一家視頻游戲公司辦公室內(nèi)有臺球桌，辦公桌下還有寵物狗，大家都身穿牛仔褲上班。年青一代的員工或許會喜出望外；但是，如果把嬰兒潮時代出生的員工放到這樣的工作環(huán)境中，他們則會四處看看，然后說：‘你們在搞什么名堂？’” ????芬克爾斯坦補(bǔ)充道，不同年齡群體的人傾向于給對方定性，這沒有任何好處?！澳觊L的人視年輕人為沉溺于技術(shù)中的‘懶蟲；，沒長性，不懂人情世故。而嬰兒潮時代出生的人則被認(rèn)為墨守陳規(guī)，沉溺于過去?！?/p> |
????Dear Annie: 16-person product-development team. This was somewhat surprising, since I am the youngest team member (I'm 27) and have been here for the shortest period of time (two and a half years). ????It's a great job and I'm delighted to have it, but several of my direct reports, who are twice my age or older, are not so thrilled. I'm trying not to let their wisecracks about my age get to me, but I am having a hard time getting them to take me seriously as their boss. So far, we've managed to get the work done despite the friction, but it's tough. Do you (and your readers) have any suggestions for me on how to win them over? — Nobody's Baby ????Dear N.B.: Scant comfort though it may be, you've got lots of company. A survey last month by office-equipment maker Pitney Bowes found that about 20% of midlevel corporate employees now report to a boss who is younger than they are. ????That figure seems set to climb: Almost half (45%) of manufacturing companies are trying to encourage workers in their 50s and 60s to stay on the job longer, so as not to lose their hard-to-replace skills and experience, according to a new poll of senior executives by Advanced Technology Services. ????"It's happening everywhere," says Jim Finkelstein, president and CEO of a consulting firm called FutureSense, based in San Rafael, Calif., and author of a new book, Fuse: Making Sense of the New Cogenerational Workplace. Many of his clients are tech companies and family-owned businesses that bring him in to help resolve clashes between Baby Boomers and bosses they perceive as still wet behind the ears. ????"Part of the reason for this big shift, of course, is that we Boomers were supposed to have retired en masse by now, to make room for the next generation of talent," Finkelstein says. ????A range of economic factors, from the ever-mounting cost of health care to the decline of defined-benefit pensions, has kept many people working longer than anyone (including Boomers themselves) expected. ????"So the dynamics of different age groups at work have changed radically from even just a few years ago," Finkelstein says. "Everyone is having to adapt." ????He has noticed in his consulting work that the generation gap shows up "even in seemingly minor details like office space. A video game company, for instance, might have a 'wow' workplace with pool tables, dogs under the desks, and everyone in blue jeans," he says. "A Boomer hire will take a look around and say, 'You can't be serious.'" ????It doesn't help, Finkelstein adds, that people of different ages tend to stereotype each other. "There is a tendency to view young people as 'slackers' immersed in technology, with short attention spans and deficient people skills. Boomers get typecast as set in their ways and stuck in the past," he says. |
相關(guān)稿件
最新文章