Talking to Gen Y: Don’t Let Them Walk Blindly Into the Workplace Minefield

Last Friday, as I walked the streets of New York, my phone rang.

On the other end was my Gen Y daughter. The sound of her voice shone brightly through the phone. Just hearing her voice, I knew it was good news.

“Dad,” she said,” I just got the job.” In a moment of haze and disconnect, I said, “what job?” Then, I realized that the company that she been interviewing for the past week had made a decision.

After all the “practice auditions” that we staged, researching companies, reviewing interview questions, talking about the industry, it had finally paid off. We left no stone unturned. We collaborated throughout this process.

2011- The Year that Human Capital Management Resets

During my morning workout over the holidays, my iPod did not come on.  As usual with IPods, when this happens you must reset. This is done by holding down 2 buttons simultaneously. Then you wait 8 seconds and bravo you are ready to get it on.

During the 8 second wait, I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if life and or business for that matter were like that.  Get in a jam, hit reset.  Strategy does not work, hit reset.  Want to start over, hit reset.

Major change ahead for the organization.

Changing the Brand: We Can’t Let HR Become the Fredo of the Organization

I could not believe that they said that!

Every morning I do a preview of articles, deciding which ones to print and read on my commute into the city, or, save for more in-depth analysis either that night or the weekend. Sometimes however as we glance headlines, we see things that stops us in our tracks.

That happened to me at the beginning of the week when I came across an article titled “HR or Marketing: Who is better equipped to manage employee engagement?”

Many of you who have read my posts know that one of my all time favorite movies is the “The Godfather.” As I fumed over this article my thought was that HR is gradually becoming the “Fredo” of the organization. Fredo Corleone was one of the sons of Don Vito Corleone, “The Godfather,” and he never got the respect from his father or brothers that he so desperately wanted.

I ask again, is HR the Fredo of the organization?

Just Shut Up and Listen to What Younger Workers Have to Say!!

“Daddy, sometimes I want you to just listen and not try and solve everything.”

That statement was from my daughter in her junior year of college. Now she is a college graduate with not one, but two, undergrad degrees. That is a quote that I have never forgotten. I think of it every time I am talking to someone or in a meeting.

I thought of that statement the day after the snowstorm paralyzed the New York City metro area last month. After the shoveling, the two of us settled down in our TV room and had a glass of wine together. We talked into the night, just me and my “little girl.” I listened.

We've all been there


Our conversation that night covered a range of topics, but this is not unusual because we always have these long father/daughter conversation — the same type of conversations that I used to have with my son, who is Gen X.