Bridging the Knowledge Gap
by David Shadovitz
Co-workers of different generations rarely interact with one another -- which could lead to significant problems if older workers take their knowledge with them when they retire. To enable the transfer of information, HR leaders will need to accommodate the different learning styles of the generations.
Employers may have good reason to be concerned about the lack of knowledge transfer in their organizations, according to a recent study by Randstad USA.
Despite efforts by some companies to encourage the transfer of knowledge, the study of 3,494 U.S. workers found the exchange of information between Gen X, Gen Y, baby boomers and matures (those workers closest to retirement) is somewhat wanting.
Indeed, the findings revealed that the four generations of workers rarely interact with one another and often do not recognize each others' skills and work ethic.
But while experts agree the transfer of knowledge is lacking today, they're quick to add that there are concrete steps employers can take to ensure matures and baby boomers check their knowledge at the door before they retire.
The World of Work report, produced in conjunction with Harris Interactive, found that 51 percent of baby boomers and 66 percent of matures report little to no interaction with their Gen Y colleagues. Similarly, a significant number of Gen Y (71 percent), Gen X (67 percent) and baby-boomer (58 percent) employees report little to no interaction with matures.
"There's a large amount of institutional knowledge captured in the mature generation," says Erik Buntin, managing director of operations and marketing for Randstad USA, an Atlanta-based employment-services firm.
But to the detriment of their companies, that knowledge is walking out the door as those workers retire, he says.
For the most part, Buntin says, those surveyed described themselves as working in silos.
"One generation conceives, one generation executes -- that's how we've operated for many years," he says. "But that's no longer acceptable. Employers need to find ways to bring these generations together."
The study suggests that Gen Yers may be ready for that to happen. Despite a reputation for being self-absorbed and entitlement- focused, a growing number of Gen Yers are becoming increasingly aware of their own shortcomings, according to the survey.
Only 20 percent of young workers described their fellow Gen Yers as having a strong work ethic, being respectful of co-workers, being able to handle a crisis and being able to take direction well. Less than three in 10 described their Gen Y co-workers as competent.
"Gen Y workers are growing up, becoming more pragmatic," the World of Work study suggests.
The study also found that Gen Y workers are more open to taking on additional responsibility at their workplaces than previously, with more than 73 percent (a 14 percent increase) stating a willingness to do so. Gen Yers now exceeds all other groups in holding this view.
Ryan Healy, a Gen Yer who founded Brazen Careerist, a Madison, Wis., consulting firm, says that Gen Y workers are interested in finding mentors. "I see more and more of them going to upper management in the hopes of learning from them," he says.
But if relief is on the way, it's more likely to come from the baby boomers and not the matures, he says. "There's a growing eagerness [by baby boomers] to pass their knowledge on to these younger workers, seeing them pretty much as they might their own children," he says.
Neil Howe, president of Lifecourse Associates, a consulting firm based in Great Falls, Va., agrees. Especially in the case of information that can't be codified, companies are using tools such as mentoring, job-shadowing and wikis to transfer the "wisdom" of baby boomers.
But in order for such programs to work, Howe says, employers need to accommodate the different learning styles and techniques of each generation. "The extent to which millennials use technology to collaborate at work is unusual for older workers and creates significant problems with the exchange of knowledge," he says.
Conversely, he says, older workers complain that millennials don't read the "official" sources of information, instead relying on their own ways to obtain the information.
"The classic example of this is instant messaging," Howe says. "Younger people will go in and out of [instant messaging] multiple times during the day, but that's not something the older generation would ever do."
Bruce Tulgan, founder of RainmakerThinking Inc., a New Haven, Conn.-based consultancy, agrees that the teaching and learning styles of the different generations present a serious barrier to knowledge transfer.
"When Gen Y runs across a skill or knowledge gap, their immediate impulse is to access the answer using technology. They might go to Google or to a social-networking site. Or they might walk down the hall and peek their head into [their bosses'] office to ask for help several times during the day. They want to learn in tiny little chunks.
"Older, more experienced people, meanwhile, would say, 'There's a course for that. Go ahead and sign up.'"
Their teaching style is out of sync with the way Gen Yers like to learn, he says.
As for transferring knowledge through mentoring programs, he says, "the problem ... is they feel artificial and forced, and that's why they end up fizzling."
Tulgan, however, believes an even bigger contributor to the knowledge-transfer problem is the current disconnect between managers and their direct reports.
"People are so busy with their work, they're not spending enough time leading, managing and supervising, " says Tulgan, who last year wrote a book on the topic titled It's OK to be Boss.
Were companies to get their managers to spend more time managing -- "actually talking about work" and "not just shooting the breeze" -- they would have a lot more success transferring knowledge than they would through any mentoring program, Tulgan says.
"I think you would solve 90 percent of the problem if you could get managers at all levels talking about their work with their direct reports. The problem today," he says, "is most managers spend their management time solving problems that never should have happened in the first place.
"If they're spending their time putting out fires, they don't have time for 'teaching conversations' with the people they manage," Tulgan says.
[About the Author: David Shadovitz, editor and publisher of Human Resource Executive, a leading magazine for executives in the human resource profession, has more than 30 years of experience in publishing. He also serves as vice president of editorial for the LRP Magazine Group, publishers of Human Resource Executive and Risk & Insurance magazines.
by David Shadovitz
Co-workers of different generations rarely interact with one another -- which could lead to significant problems if older workers take their knowledge with them when they retire. To enable the transfer of information, HR leaders will need to accommodate the different learning styles of the generations.
Employers may have good reason to be concerned about the lack of knowledge transfer in their organizations, according to a recent study by Randstad USA.
Despite efforts by some companies to encourage the transfer of knowledge, the study of 3,494 U.S. workers found the exchange of information between Gen X, Gen Y, baby boomers and matures (those workers closest to retirement) is somewhat wanting.
Indeed, the findings revealed that the four generations of workers rarely interact with one another and often do not recognize each others' skills and work ethic.
But while experts agree the transfer of knowledge is lacking today, they're quick to add that there are concrete steps employers can take to ensure matures and baby boomers check their knowledge at the door before they retire.
The World of Work report, produced in conjunction with Harris Interactive, found that 51 percent of baby boomers and 66 percent of matures report little to no interaction with their Gen Y colleagues. Similarly, a significant number of Gen Y (71 percent), Gen X (67 percent) and baby-boomer (58 percent) employees report little to no interaction with matures.
"There's a large amount of institutional knowledge captured in the mature generation," says Erik Buntin, managing director of operations and marketing for Randstad USA, an Atlanta-based employment-services firm.
But to the detriment of their companies, that knowledge is walking out the door as those workers retire, he says.
For the most part, Buntin says, those surveyed described themselves as working in silos.
"One generation conceives, one generation executes -- that's how we've operated for many years," he says. "But that's no longer acceptable. Employers need to find ways to bring these generations together."
The study suggests that Gen Yers may be ready for that to happen. Despite a reputation for being self-absorbed and entitlement- focused, a growing number of Gen Yers are becoming increasingly aware of their own shortcomings, according to the survey.
Only 20 percent of young workers described their fellow Gen Yers as having a strong work ethic, being respectful of co-workers, being able to handle a crisis and being able to take direction well. Less than three in 10 described their Gen Y co-workers as competent.
"Gen Y workers are growing up, becoming more pragmatic," the World of Work study suggests.
The study also found that Gen Y workers are more open to taking on additional responsibility at their workplaces than previously, with more than 73 percent (a 14 percent increase) stating a willingness to do so. Gen Yers now exceeds all other groups in holding this view.
Ryan Healy, a Gen Yer who founded Brazen Careerist, a Madison, Wis., consulting firm, says that Gen Y workers are interested in finding mentors. "I see more and more of them going to upper management in the hopes of learning from them," he says.
But if relief is on the way, it's more likely to come from the baby boomers and not the matures, he says. "There's a growing eagerness [by baby boomers] to pass their knowledge on to these younger workers, seeing them pretty much as they might their own children," he says.
Neil Howe, president of Lifecourse Associates, a consulting firm based in Great Falls, Va., agrees. Especially in the case of information that can't be codified, companies are using tools such as mentoring, job-shadowing and wikis to transfer the "wisdom" of baby boomers.
But in order for such programs to work, Howe says, employers need to accommodate the different learning styles and techniques of each generation. "The extent to which millennials use technology to collaborate at work is unusual for older workers and creates significant problems with the exchange of knowledge," he says.
Conversely, he says, older workers complain that millennials don't read the "official" sources of information, instead relying on their own ways to obtain the information.
"The classic example of this is instant messaging," Howe says. "Younger people will go in and out of [instant messaging] multiple times during the day, but that's not something the older generation would ever do."
Bruce Tulgan, founder of RainmakerThinking Inc., a New Haven, Conn.-based consultancy, agrees that the teaching and learning styles of the different generations present a serious barrier to knowledge transfer.
"When Gen Y runs across a skill or knowledge gap, their immediate impulse is to access the answer using technology. They might go to Google or to a social-networking site. Or they might walk down the hall and peek their head into [their bosses'] office to ask for help several times during the day. They want to learn in tiny little chunks.
"Older, more experienced people, meanwhile, would say, 'There's a course for that. Go ahead and sign up.'"
Their teaching style is out of sync with the way Gen Yers like to learn, he says.
As for transferring knowledge through mentoring programs, he says, "the problem ... is they feel artificial and forced, and that's why they end up fizzling."
Tulgan, however, believes an even bigger contributor to the knowledge-transfer problem is the current disconnect between managers and their direct reports.
"People are so busy with their work, they're not spending enough time leading, managing and supervising, " says Tulgan, who last year wrote a book on the topic titled It's OK to be Boss.
Were companies to get their managers to spend more time managing -- "actually talking about work" and "not just shooting the breeze" -- they would have a lot more success transferring knowledge than they would through any mentoring program, Tulgan says.
"I think you would solve 90 percent of the problem if you could get managers at all levels talking about their work with their direct reports. The problem today," he says, "is most managers spend their management time solving problems that never should have happened in the first place.
"If they're spending their time putting out fires, they don't have time for 'teaching conversations' with the people they manage," Tulgan says.
[About the Author: David Shadovitz, editor and publisher of Human Resource Executive, a leading magazine for executives in the human resource profession, has more than 30 years of experience in publishing. He also serves as vice president of editorial for the LRP Magazine Group, publishers of Human Resource Executive and Risk & Insurance magazines.