Dave Cain: Welcome to Unsuitable on Rea Radio, the award-winning financial services and business advisory podcast that challenges your old school business practices and the traditional business suit culture. Our guests are industry professionals and experts who will challenge you to think beyond the suit and tie while offering you meaningful modern solutions to help you enhance your company’s growth. I’m your host Dave Cain.
When you employ men and women who are nearing the end of their careers or those just entering the workforce and all ages in between, challenges are abound to rise. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done and done well. On today’s episode of Unsuitable on Rea Radio, we’re going to get toe to toe with one of the biggest concerns business owners are facing today and that’s how to manage multiple generational workforce.
Pat Porter, Vice President of Human Resources at AAA Auto Club will join us for part two of our HR mini-series, which is designed to help employers recruit and retain top employees. Pat is not only a former podcast guest, he’s a Rea alumni. We’re really glad to watch as he continues to grow his career and become a community leader. Welcome back to Unsuitable, Pat.
Pat Porter: Well, thanks for the invite. It’s great to be back home again.
Dave: One of the things before we get started, my understanding is you have one of the best fire pits at your house in the backyard, one of the best in the neighborhood.
Pat: It does attract guests and visitor occasionally.
Dave: Now, do you and your beautiful wife Nicole ever get to use that or do the kids … have the kids taken that over?
Pat: It’s about 50/50. We always like to invite friends, family over to enjoy a little campfire conversations from time to time.
Dave: With a cold beverage of choice, I suspect.
Pat: Yeah, of course. Of course.
Dave: Good. Good. Well you know, this generational workforce thing, this ought to go pretty quickly because, in my mind, I think one size fits all when it applies to managing the workforce regardless of your age. So we can just kind of quit there. Am I right on target?
Pat: Yeah, you’ve solved the workforce issues that employers face today. No doubt about it.
Dave: So does one size fit all? There are some companies that that’s probably the method of operation.
Pat: You’d like to think that’s the case but in today’s challenging economic times … Also the fact that individuals need to work longer. Maybe their 401K retirement plans took a bit more of a hit through the recession, so you got folks working longer. But no. This is the first time ever in the United States that you’ve got five generations of individuals working. So that brings-
Dave: Five?
Pat: Five generations and we’re got labels for each generation. But that brings about whole different conversations, work ethics, skills, knowledge and experience.
Dave: So we’re going to talk about all five generations a little bit today.
Pat: Exactly.
Dave: Oh boy, this is going to go longer than I anticipated. I got to get out of here. I got a tee time here coming on. I better call and push that back.
Pat: Yeah, you might want to get the second nine.
Dave: So let’s look at, I guess it’s the Greatest Generation and that’s the folks that were born before 1946.
Pat: You got it.
Dave: Those folks are entering the workforce again.
Pat: Well and they’re staying in the workforce. So these are the folks that bring a strong work ethic and are contributing and don’t quite want to leave the workforce. They’re lifestyles are longer. They want to stay contributing because they’ve provided so much. So employers love to have them around. Right? Their commitment, their customer service is fully engaged and they get the missions of the organization. So they want to stay in the workforce and employers want to keep them.
Dave: Not to stereotype but are those the greeters at some of the big box stores?
Pat: Could be. But I can tell you at AAA Ohio Auto Club, we have a call receiver who’s 93 years old.
Dave: 93?
Pat: 93 years old. She is as reliable as the day is long. She brings the energy and the passion when it comes to servicing our members that … Barb is the one you want answering the phone. Oddly enough, while I was here as HR director at Rea and Associates, we celebrated one of our associates celebrating 50 years of service. At AAA, we are … in two months are going to celebrate one of our store managers experiencing 50 years of employment with the same organization. Now, I think that’s an anomaly. We’re not going to see that every day. But you’re going to continue to see this generation in the workforce as long as they can.
Dave: To backtrack a little bit with the Auto Club, how many employees do you oversee?
Pat: So I have a team of 16 in human resources but the organization is made up of 600 associates throughout Ohio [inaudible 00:05:20] represent about a third of Ohio. We have more than 50 locations that our workforce is out servicing our members from.
Dave: That’s unbelievable. That’s a lot to oversee.
Pat: That’s a lot of front doors-
Dave: Lot of front doors.
Pat: Lot of back doors, a lot of lights, desks, computers, all that.
Dave: So getting back to the Greatest Generation, I think in some statistics that you shared with me that approximately comprises 15% of today’s workforce?
Pat: Yeah, pretty close to that, yes.
Dave: I would have never thought that.
Pat: Yep.
Dave: Is that number growing?
Pat: No, I wouldn’t say that it’s growing because that … When you think about folks at that point in their life, they’re getting to that end of their lifespans so that numbers going to dwindle. But we’re going to continue to see those folks in the workforce for the next five to ten years possibly.
Dave: Okay. Then on the other end you have Gen Z.
Pat: Call this group what you want, some like to call them the i-Generation for iPhone, iPad, i-whatever. But most people are referring to them as the Generation Z.
Dave: So each of these categories obviously there’s some different methods of communications, maybe different ways to reward and recognize multigenerational workforce.
Pat: Well and think about how you might be communicating with your grandchild, right? You’re not always setting down face to face with them and that’s some of the challenges in the workplace, right? So you’ve got the Greatest Generation that are accustomed to more relationship communication, more face to face, eye to eye, handshake is good enough to solidify a deal for them. But no. This younger generation, they’re all about technology and if there’s not more technology they’re not happy enough. A lot of what their rewards and incentives they’re looking for are going to be different and centered around their own lifestyle.
Dave: So you’re right. When you start out where we started is one size does not fit all.
Pat: No.
Dave: Now as a manager of individuals, team members, how in the world do I get my arms around this?
Pat: Well and I think you’ve got to stay in tune to what their needs and wants and wishes, desires. You got to interact with them. You got to ask them questions. You got to engage. So you can’t make the assumptions that all right this one solutions going to work to every situation that you’re involved with. Whether it’s … you’re rewarding, recognizing employee or you’re coaching and counseling and disciplining them, you’ve got to … I think to be most effective you’ve got to be in tuned to what works best for who they are.
Dave: Is there training out there that will help employees deal with fellow employees?
Pat: There are. And there’s a lot of business consultants that … have done a lot of work putting together workshops and seminars … could even come inside organizations, if it’s a really big challenge and work hand in hand with management and leadership. But it’s something that we’ve evolved to. But for organizations that are feeling really challenged by it then they can find resources to help them through those challenges.
Dave: Sure. Kind of a visual example for our listeners. You walked in, you don’t have your cell phone with you. Earlier today we did another recording a much younger individual and the cell phone was right in front of them. So I guess, there’s part of the communication.
Pat: Well and actually that kind of draws an example … I sat down with a business vendor that would love me to change our HR systems out. I’m working. I’m a paper kind of guy, tactical and she’s working off her iPads scribbling notes and capturing everything there electronically. So you see these differences in everyday experiences.
Dave: From your experience, can you give us some examples of how each generation … and maybe some preferred methods of communication? I know just give us a couple just to get a feel for the differences.
Pat: Yeah, so I mean think about it as even how you celebrate somebody’s birthday today. Your grandparents are going to send the card, send the letter and it’s going to be multiple pages. Right? If that’s same birthday message is coming from the younger generation, that 20-something, it’s going to be a text, it’s going to be a tweet, it’s going to be likely not even an email because email is out of vogue for them. You’re going to find emails coming from that 40 to 50 year old and just those generational differences. Look to see what it’s done. You don’t see as many Hallmark gift card shops around because the demand’s not there. But you got the tweets and the texts flying around as well, maybe Snapchats and Instagram. I mean I’m by no means an expert in all those social media channels. They just … You got to be aware of them.
Dave: Now, let’s back this up just a second here. All right. So okay, I’m okay with getting a tweet or a text that says, “Happy Birthday” but if I have … if you’re working on an assignment for me or a project or we’re working together on a project, you mean to tell me you’re going to text me about the progress of that?
Pat: Yeah. Or how about you as a manager, you have somebody send you a text and say, “I quit” or “I resign”. I mean there’s no more the day of the letter of resignation if you’re potentially interacting with that younger generation. No more might be the … “Hey, I’m going to walk down and knock on Dave’s door and resign today. I’ll just send him a text.”
Dave: So by my phone and my computer I need a list of all the employees and their ages and then their preferred method of communication.
Pat: Well, I’d like to tell you … You could over simplify that but I think you got … You do have to be careful because we have some of the Greatest Generations that are the best tweeters out there and texters.
Dave: Absolutely.
Pat: But right? But I think you also have to take in consideration what’s the preferred method, be engaged with the individual to know what their preferences are. I mean when you think about their working on an assignment and you want the highest level of productivity, how do I engage them further? That may be the face to face conversation. It may be you need to put it in writing and that writing may be a lengthy message that you have to put together over an email or an attached document or it may be just that, “Hey, I’m checking in on you. See how you’re doing,” and that could be a quick text message.
Dave: Yeah. So from a business perspective, a business advantage for me to learn the various methods of communication or preferred communication will actually help with the workflow. We laugh about it but if you can get your arms around it, that would be … that would help.
Pat: Well and I think too, business leaders are always worried about how to keep the workforce engaged. So knowing how to best communicate and interact and share information as well as get information from your workforce is those lines, channels of communication you’re going to use.
Dave: So we’ve got letter, telephone, email, text, multimedia, wearable devices, anything else? Anything else I missed? Smoke signals, anything in there?
Pat: Well, those probably work for the cowboys and Indians back in the day. But I mean to relate it to an experience, I have a human resource assistant. She’s probably more confused than she ever has been as to, “Well, how do I best communicate with Pat? I can call him. I can text him. I can email him. I might catch him in the hallway when he’s walking through the department.” We had a situation the other day where, unfortunately, paramedics had to come in and assist one of our employees that was having a health situation. I get an email. I’m not in the building. But I get an email notification and then … okay the email’s a lower priority for me. I went to her and I said, “Margy, okay, let’s revisit this. If the fire, police or EMS show up I probably need a phone call. At minimum, I need a text. Something that’s going to blow up my phone and device and get my attention.” So that’s just a common example of generationally, sometimes not being on the same page.
Dave: Yeah. You and I occasionally share a text but it’s over a ballgame or two isn’t it not about a work issue.
Pat: [crosstalk 00:14:37] ballgame. That’s true.
Dave: Question for you, going back to your 93 year old employee, does she have a cell phone?
Pat: She does.
Dave: Does she text?
Pat: She texts.
Dave: All right.
Pat: She’s probably pushing the envelope when it comes to technology and her computer systems, the knowledge that she has to navigate them. She’s doing it with the best of them.
Dave: Would you suggest that I get rid of my flip phone?
Pat: Yeah, you might. There’s a little more functionality. My iPhone 5, whatever … I’m noticing it’s slowing down and I may need to upgrade my phone too along with your flip phone.
Dave: Also communication in … we’re kind of laughing but communication is important in every business at all levels. I think this is a good way to bring that to our listeners. The other thing we want to talk about with the generation labels and the generation gap and managing is the preferred incentives. Not everybody’s charged up by the same thing. But let’s start with cash.
Pat: Yeah. So the old adage, “Cash is king,” while it is for some and it’s not for others. Right? So as you think about the lifestyles of individuals and a lot of that’s shaped by world events and what’s going on. For younger generations, it’s about mobility and flexibility and work from home with my wearable devices, my iPad, iPhone, whatever. I can do business anytime of the day, any day of the week from any location. So that group, that 20-something … again keep in mind they’ve been working with computers and technologies. Even school’s taught differently than the one school room with the chalk board and erasers you and I went to school in. But these are kids that are learning anywhere and everywhere. So they want the mobility. They want the flexibility. They want … with their expectations, they want their work culture to resemble that.
Dave: Right.
Pat: Now you get with that Greatest Generation, they’re more accustomed to the structure and … They had pension plans and they had trust and faith in Social Security being there for when they retired. So they’re going to have their expectations more along the lines of recognition and titles and roles and responsibilities but cash resonates with them.
Dave: Yeah. Well you know to be a player in the HR world and make sure you’re attracting and retaining the top talent, you have to be flexible and be able to communicate with the employees that want to be flexible, work outside the office.
Pat: If you want to be fully staffed and get the top talent that’s going to help your business be sustainable and grow. That’s how the whole employment arena has changed through the decades. Now it appears that we’re going to be in this good economic times for some cycle to go with unemployment continuing to hover around in Ohio three to four percent. So you have to think outside the box. You have to be a bit more flexible. Doesn’t mean you have to give away the checkbook but there’s … You’ve got employees that are … with different expectations and want to be treated differently.
Dave: What about dress code? You don’t want to answer that question? Now, come on. You got to answer that question.
Pat: Well, I can answer the question. You’re going to align your policies and programs for the employer. Why I chuckle is … The organization I’m with we’re a bit more conservative. So we have a strong brand, a national brand that’s recognizable and the AAA logo. So our members have a certain expectation. We tend to be more uniform like displaying the logo, a bit more business professional. Our CEO that I work with, his expectation is it’s suit and tie five days a week. At Rea and Associates, it was a bit more relaxed, certainly still professional and presentable to the clients. So I had to kind of remind myself how to tie a tie-
Dave: How to tie a tie again.
Pat: I might be needed to go buy a few more dress shirts and a few more ties.
Dave: I think you’d look good in a bow tie. That might work for you.
Pat: I have tried a bow tie before. A little side story about dress code maybe to add some humor to this. So in changing my employers, my daughters, a high school senior and college sophomore, said, “Dad, come on. You got to get with the times. You got to change up your sock game.”
Dave: Your socks?
Pat: My sock game. I didn’t know that you could have a game with socks. So today yes, yours truly, is wearing a pair of orange socks with sunfish on them.
Dave: Wow. Can we get that on YouTube? Can you get that up … Let’s get that sock up there on … all right.
Pat: So the story about the socks are my daughters have now found an easy gift idea for dad.
Dave: [crosstalk 00:19:57] socks.
Pat: Birthdays … All socks. So I might have a pair of socks that are monsters. I might have ice cream cones, sunfish, you just never know what socks I might get on. So what’s funny about that is when I go into present to new employees in our orientation …
Dave: You have socks on.
Pat: I usually have socks and I’ve got a story to go with it.
Dave: There you go.
Pat: You got to change … Dress code’s important and it has to fit the organization.
Dave: You’ve covered a lot of territory in a short period of time. I’m trying to summarize, in my mind, what I learned today and I learned I probably ought to step up my sock game.
Pat: Got to change your sock game.
Dave: I got a black and I got a brown. I went out on a limb. I got black ones that have a little stripe on it. And that’s it.
Pat: There you go.
Dave: I mean you can barely see it.
Pat: Well, you’re showing your personality.
Dave: There you go. But certainly one size does not fit all as we talk about multigenerational workforce. We got to work on our communication.
Pat: True.
Dave: I mean again it … I think you’ve explained how important that can be between the various different levels. If we do that I think as an organization you’re going to be able to maximize workflow and have a better organization if you can recognize that. So this didn’t exist ten years ago. This didn’t exist five years ago.
Pat: Right.
Dave: So you’ve done a great job of bringing that to the table on this podcast. So our guest today has been Pat Porter, HR Director for the Auto Club of West Central Ohio I guess or Central Ohio-
Pat: Pretty close. Yeah.
Dave: Overseeing 600 plus employees. Well done. I’m really proud of you as a Rea alumni.
Pat: Thank you.
Dave: Thanks again for joining us on Unsuitable today, Pat. The generational debate continues to be one that all employers grapple with. I think you brought some interesting insights along with your socks to our audience. Listeners if you haven’t already done so be sure to go back and listen to episode 93 with Desiree Lyon, which is part one of our HR mini-series. Hopefully between these two episodes, you have some new ideas and strategies that will help you recruit and retain top talent in your business. Don’t forget we always offer a variety of great resources on our website at reacpa.com podcasts. Check it out.
If you’re just joining us on Unsuitable and like what you hear, go ahead and take the next step and subscribe. You can find Unsuitable on Rea Radio nearly anywhere and everywhere. ‘Til next time, I’m Dave Cain encouraging you to loosen up your tie, think outside the box and wear crazy socks.