IN THIS EPISODE…

Have you ever found yourself struggling to understand, or get along, with people who are older or younger than you?

Perhaps a clash in communications style, working preferences, belief systems, values or motivational needs?

Many of the business leaders that we talk to in our work at Front¢re® tell us how difficult they find driving higher levels of motivation and engagement from younger sales teams.

They say that age is just a number… except it isn’t, is it?

GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES ARE REAL

The nuances of dealing with people across the generations can prove to be challenging, whether consciously or unconsciously, and the solution, as we’ve talked about so many times on KAMCast, is in the ability to raise your awareness, understand yourself, understand others and then choose if and how to adapt your behaviours to get the best out of your relationship interactions, whether it be with your teams or Key Customer contacts.

Whether you are working closely with the external customer base or whether you recognise your internal customers, on your team and colleagues across the business, you are likely to come up against the ‘generation gap’, highlighted by the notable differences across the different age groups.

In this episode of KAMCast, I talk to Henry Rose Lee - one of the few inter-generational diversity experts in the world.

Henry works with all generations in the workforce and particularly with Millennials and Gen Z - to help them become more productive and effective. As an author of three books on maximising today’s young talent, (consisting of Generation Z and the Millennial generation), Henry busts myths and provides business leaders with practical tactics for attracting, recruiting, engaging and retaining your youngest employees.

I hope you enjoy it – let me know what you think!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE:

When I was preparing for this conversation, I was conscious that for many, this is a burning topic and I was keen to get a deeper understanding of:

• What the differences across generations really are
• How those differences play out in the workplace, particularly in a virtual working environment
• How communication styles, techniques and strategies will vary across the ages and where ‘clashes’ are likely to happen
• How, as leaders, we can drive higher levels of engagement and motivation from our younger teams

Ultimately understanding how we can MIND THE GAP in generational diversity across our key accounts and sales teams.

I wasn’t disappointed!

When you listen to this episode – you’ll gain some really pragmatic and practical advice from Henry Rose Lee who helps us look through the intergenerational lens from a position of understanding.

ENGAGE THE MOTIVATIONAL NEEDS OF YOUNGER TALENT

I particularly liked Henry’s thoughts on engaging the motivational needs of younger talent on our teams.

With three quarters of Gen Z yearning to start their own business - I wonder if you have a team of entrepreneurial salespeople? And how you harness their enthusiasm and creativity within the remits of your organisational structure?

• Do you build a COMMUNITY that your talent can feel part of?
• What are the CAUSES that you, you teams and your business care about?
• And what CAREER progression opportunities are available to your team to grow and develop in their role and bring higher levels of commitment, enthusiasm and contribution to your business?

CHECK "IN" RATHER THAN CHECK "UP"

I’m often amazed at the lack of trust between sales leaders and their teams. Henry gives us some great advice on how to build trust and I love the notion of checking IN, not checking UP.

She shares that you...