Welcome to the Start of a Career - Part 2

This is a continuation of a series I started that provides career guidance to young professionals entering the workforce. The first part covered the importance of mentors and the various roles a mentor can take. I also provided some guidance on what a new-to-role employee can accomplish as they start.

You can find this article here.

The next 2 chapters cover topics which I find very interesting and tend to be popular in discussions.  They are also topics everyone has an opinion on and many may disagree with my perspectives.  Howeve it should at minimum allow you to pause and consider how you view these issues in the workforce and in your career.  I encourage readers to provide me feedback and perspectives drawn from their experiences.

Generations of Diversity

This topic is appropriately placed between what I already covered about mentors and the following chapter on Work-Life Balance.  We are in an interesting period where the workforce is represented by a broad number of generations: Millennials, X-Gen, Baby Boomers, and even Veterans. Each of these generations typically have their own work philosophies, communication styles, and work and career expectations that are diverse from one another.  I don’t like to stereotype since I believe regardless of what generation you represent, you are uniquely an individual and your values may vary.  However, for the sake of this chapter’s purpose of guiding individuals on how best to maneuver through a career, please indulge me in identifying high-level characteristics that the generations tend to portray and how that may impact your career.

I am not an expert on how and why Millennials, X-Gen, Baby Boomers, and Veterans vary in their work philosophies and expectations but what I do know is that there are some commonalties among people of the same generation and that differences do exist between generations.  These differences also should be recognized as a diversity strength for a company and that your own work philosophies and expectations may conflict or align with them.  These various generations’ work philosophies and expectations likely stem from the environment they were raised in. Examples of environments that mold an individual include an economic recession and hardship being prevalent during their upbringing and/or adulthood or the role relevant technology played in their lives.  Another example are the many experienced managers I've met tread carefully when it comes to hiring to meet high work demands because they remember the unpleasant periods of letting employees go during down cycles.

I have observed that individuals will have varying philosophies on work commitments, approach on technology and communication (IRC chat, Cell phone texting, email, etc.), work-life balance, work ethic, career management, company loyalty, etc. As you engage your mentors, supervisors, direct reports, and peers, be aware of these differences – be aware of yours.

During an assignment as a project manager, I had a fellow employee - let me call him John - drop by and ask me for assistance on getting information.  I directed him to see an engineer in my team - let me call him Joe - who had the information readily available.  John returned to my desk and said he couldn’t get the information since Joe had headphones on and appeared to not want to be disturbed.  This event has been a significant learning for me in terms of the differences between generations in the workforce:

• The inquiring employee, John, was from a more mature generation
• The engineer in my team, Joe, who had headphones on, was from a younger generation
• John viewed the headphones Joe was wearing as a “do not disturb” sign while I also knew full well that Joe would have been happy to assist anyone through a tap on the shoulder or if he could have captured his attention

The above example demonstrated to me that the habits, intentions, and perceptions of one generation such as Joe’s, could be misinterpreted by other generations such as John’s. Neither was at fault however, it introduced a “conflict” unintentionally.

I have found that more mature generations have different approaches to work and career management than younger generations. Some believe in remaining with a company for their entire career while others may believe career management is moving through several companies; others may view that long hours are expected daily while others prioritize differently; some consider their senior mentors as peers and equals while others believe there is a hierarchy or order to seniority of experience; some believe to be direct on communicating career expectations and goals while others believe it is at the discretion of others.  Whether you agree or not with the philosophies of other generations is not focus I debate, rather it’s to be aware that these work philosophies and expectations exist and that they will play a role in your career.  Building awareness is essential and it’s quite possible your mentors and supervisors expect from you the same approaches to work as they practice.

A few years ago, I was traveling with a colleague of significant experience.  He has since retired, but for the purposes of this story, I'll refer to him as Richard.  Both Richard and I were having a disagreement on how the young individuals in the company should approach relationship management with peer counterparts in other companies.  Richard firmly believed that relationships were based on handshakes, face-to-face meetings, and frequent calls.  However, what he saw in his younger team were individuals who used IRC chat windows and What’s App as replacements for the face-to-face meetings.  Richard struggled with how these forms of communication would sustain a relationship.  I asked him if the younger employees he referred to were successful at what they were doing and if their like-minded counterparts were using the same forms of modern communication.  Richard acknowledged it was working and they were successful, but regardless, it was wrong.  So, we agreed to disagree.  A few days later, Richard indicated frustration at not being able to contact his younger nephew regardless how many times he called and left voicemails.  I then asked him to pull his mobile phone out and send his nephew a text.  Grudgingly, he did so believing it to be a waste of time.  Within seconds, his mobile alarmed and he received a response from his nephew.  I looked at him and he understood the meaning of that event as it related to our earlier debate.  If the method of communication works, is effective, and gets the job done who is anyone to argue?  My guidance is that you understand one another’s communications methods and apply what will work…and by the way, don’t assume what works for you will work for others.  Communication is the critical learning and your career, so getting it right is essential.

Work-Life Balance – Its Bogus

I’m sure the chapter header has got your attention and this is likely to be the most controversial topic I may cover.  It is also core to the how your work and personal life co-exist.  Allow me to be direct: The recipe for work-life balance will be different for everyone and will change over time.  What may work for one individual will not necessarily work for others.  Only you and your family can define it but it must be defined weighing the consequences and benefits.  Therefore, is only bogus to others but very important to you.

I will say that a successful career – meaning progression in seniority – does require you give a bit of your time to work beyond the typical expectations such as month-end financial close, meeting project deadlines, late night conference calls with international locations, etc. Therefore, as interns and professionals newly entered in the workforce, consider investing some extra time to your job.  There are several tips to consider:

• Time management is a must-have skill – with the time you have in the office, be wise and frugal with how you use it
• I have found working from home once the children have gone to bed to be very effective to catch-up
• Ask yourself if the extra work is time critical and compulsory or are you unnecessarily pressuring yourself
• As a supervisor and manager, delegate responsibilities to your team - do more through others

Have that all-important discussion on work-life balance with your family and your mentors and really understand that your personal life and work life will always be a revolving door of compromises and therefore will never be perfect.  But also realize that an ideal work-life balance can only be determined by you and your family.  Whatever recipe you land on, it will likely not be the same as anyone else’s.

I do hope to see feedback on the perspectives outlined and at minimum it has you contemplating these topics.  If you have tips on the above that others may value, I encourage you share.