Manage the Environment

171 Work doesn‟t happen in a vacuum. As demonstrated by the research role

analyses, and the Engagement Survey, the environment affects the way each person takes up their role. Managers need to understand and have continuous conversations with their people about the context within which the work is taking place. What are the organisational constraints to getting the job done and finding satisfaction in work? In ResOrg, the utilisation rates, performance measures, lack of transparency around promotion and competition between work groups affect the ability and willingness of older workers to transfer knowledge to their younger colleagues. On the other hand, their open work spaces, non-hierarchical seating and mixed-

generational project teams try to compensate for this, just as their desire for managers to have access to training and development acknowledges the need for people to keep learning and growing.

If the internal organisational environment needs to be understood, so too does the external environment. The effect of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 has shown how changing world conditions can greatly impact the individual‟s behaviour. Anecdotally, there has been less desire for Gen Ys to leave organisations in the past year than in previous years. And more over 60s have sought to defer their retirement as they feel the impact of their declining superannuation funds. This, however, has not always been possible, as in the case of ResOrg which was obliged to carry out

redundancies in 2009 due to the downturn in the global economy. Managers were asked to lay off 10% of their staff – they were not given a long time to deliberate. When asked if there was any intention to retain one generation over another, managers looked perplexed and denied that this was the case. They were also curious to know if any age-group had been favoured for redundancy; if so, it would not have been a conscious decision. The statistics from the Melbourne office which reflect those nationally, show that 42.5% of those laid off were in the 45 plus age group; 35.6% were in the 30 plus age group and 21.9% were in the 20 plus age group. This suggests that a greater percentage of workers from older age groups may have been laid off than their percentage representation in the company. It is therefore possible to surmise that older workers feel more vulnerable to

172 environmental impacts and managerial decisions. This is reflected in the

older workers‟ views on their leaders and managers in the Engagement Survey which were not as positive as those in the younger age groups. It is not surprising then that they strive to hold onto valuable knowledge and clients in order to maximise their security in a challenging environment. What is surprising, is that this strategy doesn‟t seem to be working. They may have valuable knowledge and client networks but they still get laid off.

In the previous chapter I indicated how feelings of envy, fear and incest can operate in organisations that are unable to provide the necessary containers or boundaries for their people to maintain their focus on the „primary task‟ (Rice, 1965; Newton, 2001;Hogget, 2006; Bion, 1961). „Often the primary task of the organization is hijacked by deeper, primitive, unconscious forces, to divert the work towards more destructive functioning‟ (Kapur, 2009). According to psychodynamic research in organisations, the achievement of a work group to focus on the primary task on an ongoing basis is rare, and more often than not, the „paranoid-schizoid position (Klein, 1985) of suspicion, rivalry and sometimes destructive competition becomes the operating norm. The traditional structures and processes of organisations will not, on their own, eradicate the anxiety of powerful unconscious destructive forces (Shapiro, 2000; Long 2008; Kapur, 2009) but there are certain things managers can do to enable members to surface and

ameliorate their anxieties. By creating an environment in which individuals feel respected, trusted and acknowledged for their efforts, managers can minimise the nervous energy and time wasted on unproductive activities.

Environment determines behaviour just as much, if not more, than the individual personalities or generational attitudes. It‟s dynamic. Change the environment and you change behaviour (Lewin, 1951). Every manager is an „environmental creator‟ and has the ability to create an environment in which people grow and thrive and learn or one in which people want to keep their distance and their heads down. Positive leaders are those who are able to focus on the needs of the people they lead over and above their own ego needs. They have enough belief in their own competence that they no

173 longer need to prove it. They also have a healthy appreciation of where they

may be incompetent. According to the younger workers in ResOrg, the best managers were those who took time to get to know them as individuals and who worked with them to find creative ways to help them develop and grow. All this in the full knowledge that they will eventually take their place.

In order for older managers to feel confident enough to put their focus on others, they need to be released from the fear of failure. This can only be managed by creating an environment where age and experience are respected and where people feel they have some control over their tenure in the organisation. One way to do this is to downsize only as a last resort. If it becomes necessary in order for organisational survival, then employees should be involved in the process and departing employees should be enabled to leave with their dignity intact. This results in the survivors feeling less threatened by the possibility of future redundancies. This can be done by relying on attrition, calling for volunteer redundancies, asking everyone to take a pay cut or holidays, and above all, treating the departing employees with dignity and respect.

Boomer managers want to be treated with respect for their contributions to organisational goals and for their loyalty. According to the Engagement Survey, they also want to be able to respect their leaders for their ability to collaborate across silos. They want to have time to develop others and to share their knowledge, but this needs to be built into the organisational systems.

The Gen X workers in ResOrg, just as those in the Hudson Report, found that they, themselves, had to „step up‟ to managing. They were beginning to identify a difference between managing and leading; they saw

management as attending to task and technical performance while leadership provided a sense of purpose and put the focus on the people. These workers were confident, if not a little surprised about their growing competence. They have reached the stage of being consciously competent at many things and are more able to work independently while taking on the

174 management of those younger than themselves. They require an

environment which enables them to experiment with managing and leading others while still doing the work themselves.

The Gen Y Research participants clearly favoured a management approach which was „horizontal‟. They want to be met half way (down the ladder as in Charlie‟s drawing) and guided to completion of common goals. They

require structure and access to senior consultants who have the knowledge but they want to be consulted about how to get the job done. This is

supported by research (Ventrice, 2008) which showed that those 25 and under want the most structure to their work. While they were inclined to agree with the statement: To be productive I need to be told not only what to

do but how to do it (p.1.), they disagreed about the degree of structure they

needed in terms of carrying out the job.

Findings:

The Research indicates that in order to minimise anxiety and dysfunctional conflict there is a need to create an environment in which each individual feels connected to the purpose and pulse of the organisation. Managers need to be clear about the organisation‟s primary task and help individuals to connect to it. By focussing on the people-side of the equation and being prepared to consult with them rather than direct them they will be able to enable people to voice their anxieties without fear or favour. There is a need to understand that managers will be as much victims of primitive emotions as the people they lead, for anxiety has become the „new order‟ in under- or over-bounded organisations (Krantz, 1998). Managers need to lead in ways which foster collaboration between work groups and be open and transparent about the organisation‟s short-comings – the gap between the espoused theory and theory in use (Argyris, 1978). Above all, they need to try to create a securely bounded environment which enables people of all ages to feel safe from persecution by individual managers and from

inappropriate or unnecessary downsizing.

175 2. Manage Systems and Processes

As demonstrated by the Engagement Survey and the individual interviews, systems and processes are a primary source of discontent in organisations. Utilisation targets, time sheets, IT systems, chargeout rates and „red tape‟ were among the highest items that detracted from „the organisation being a great place to work‟ across all age groups peaking in the Gen X/Boomer group (40-49). Gen Y want to know the reasons why they are being asked to do things; they are used to having their opinions listened to and want to be respected for their contributions. The fact is that there may well be good reasons why certain systems are in place, but until the people who have to work in them are involved in challenging them and improving them, they will resent them as obstacles imposed on them to impede performance.

Edwards Deming, referred to as the founder of total quality management due to his work with post-war Japanese organisations, argued that

individual performance is dependent on organisational systems. He argued that managers should stop blaming individuals and start improving the systems within which they were captive. Argyris argued that improving systems involves challenging the original assumptions on which they are based. This he called „double loop learning‟ (Argyris, 1996). Both Deming and Argyris advocate enabling the workers themselves to improve the systems within which they work and which they know best. This involves getting the different generations together to problem-solve the barriers to process improvement. There is probably no better way to create new, robust systems than by matching new, creative suggestions with the wisdom and experience gained through working in the old ones.

In ResOrg, despite their best efforts, there was more tension between the different professional domains than between the different age groups. This is common place in most organisations today –in ResOrg there was conflict between the engineers and the architects; in other organisations sales and production don‟t get on. The Engagement Survey reflects this

dissatisfaction with what is perceived as competition between the silos created through these divisions.

176 One way to connect the functional silos as well as the different age groups

is to involve employees from all levels across the silos in the strategic planning process. Gen Y want to be involved in meaningful work. Through a process of training hand-picked high potential employees across the silos and the age groups to gather information, senior managers can be

presented with a rich source of data about what works well and what gets in the way of effective performance. In this way they are enabled to listen to what‟s happening on the ground and plan accordingly in conjunction with the task force of employees. This process not only informs senior

management of existing problems – it also presents them with „unthought knowns‟ (Bollas 1987). This enables the undiscussible to be made

discussible and enables processes and systems to be improved by those of all ages and professional groups who work within them. Turf wars can be resolved by refocussing individuals on the larger picture and what is best for the business across the silos.

Findings:

Managers need to listen to the people who work in the systems and encourage them to challenge the assumptions behind them. By Involving people of all ages and professions in the strategic direction of the

organisation they will encourage engagement and create synergy from the differencesin the different identity groups.