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People try to put us d-down (talkin\u2019 \u2019bout my generation) This is my generation \u2013The Who, \u201cMy Generation\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Generational divides are common intra-familiarly as well as in the workplace. That is nothing new, but never in modern history has the workforce comprised five generations as it does now. Longer life expectancies, the high cost of living, and technological advances that have morphed offices into laptops and smartphones have extended the work lives of many seniors. \u201cRetirement\u201d is more than Barcaloungers and bingo; the Boomer and silent generations are still well represented in the workforce.<\/p>\n The convergence of changing demographics, declining birthrates, The Pandemic,<\/a> The Great Resignation<\/a>(a\/k\/a Great Reshuffling), \u00a0talent wars<\/a>, digital transformation<\/a>, geopolitical instability, climate change, mass migration, and other socio-economic forces have changed workforce dynamics. The rapid, widespread shift to remote work in response to COVID-19\u00a0<\/a>and the sociological, psychological, and ideological changes it has produced are profound. Paradoxically, the workforce is perpetually connected even as many feel more detached and isolated because of the shift from the physical to virtual workplace.<\/p>\n Technology has elevated-not minimized- the importance of humanizing<\/a> the workplace, human contact, and empathy.<\/p>\n For millions, \u201cjobs\u201d have become \u201cgigs<\/a>,\u201d \u201cside hustles,\u201d and a fluid view of where, when, how, and why they work. \u201cCareers<\/a>\u201d are no longer linear paths to retirement. Most in the workforce\u2014legal professionals included\u2014can expect to have multiple jobs\/gigs and, perhaps, transition to another sector. These and other dynamics have altered the meaning of work and how it is balanced with other facets of life.<\/p>\n Millennials, middle-management, and those in the midstream of their work lives are particularly struggling. They had anticipated a smooth glide path to advancement, then retirement. That is no longer the norm. Instead, they are caught in the shorthairs of automation,<\/a> generative AI<\/a>, data platforms<\/a>, blockchain<\/a>, quantum computing, and other technological advances that threaten to marginalize or make them redundant. Most lack the context to see the opportunity that these changes can provide\u2014the creation of new jobs for those \u201cskating to where the puck will be.\u201d They are too stressed to look beyond the day-to-day grind to up-skill<\/a>, and open their minds to new ways to do things that better serve the end-users of their services. They tend to resist change even as their recalcitrance casts the redundancy die.<\/p>\n The challenges of managing a five generation workforce are legion but so too are the opportunities. Spoiler alert: culture,<\/a> human behavior, and adaptation\u2014even more than technology, data, and process\u2014 are the keys to intergenerational collaboration, cross-functionality, and enterprise-wide resources and tools necessary to solve complex challenges as well as to seize opportunities. An organizational culture that respects individuality while aligning a holistically diverse workforce has created a solid foundation for a successful, sustainable digital enterprise.<\/p>\n Digital transformation is about people and their ability to embrace a common purpose, collaborate to advance it, and utilize new tools in a fit-for-purpose way that benefits the enterprise, customers, and society. Intergenerational collaboration is an important element of this process.<\/p>\n A Spectrum Of Generational Talent But Scant Collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n Multigenerational workforces may be commonplace, but collaboration among them is scarcer. A 2020 Study <\/a>by The World Economic Forum found that employing multigenerational workforces can create a significant competitive advantage by generating a stronger pipeline of talent, improving workforce continuity and stability, and assisting the retention of knowledge. It also found that mining the potential of a multigenerational workforce is a challenging process that few enterprises have mastered.<\/p>\n \u00a0A Deloitte study on Global Human Capital Trends<\/a> \u00a0found that corporate leadership ascribed a high level of importance to multigenerational workforces but only 6% of companies are equipped to lead them effectively. The Living, Learning, and Earning Longer Collaborative Initiative<\/a> survey<\/a> found more than 80% of corporate leaders said multigenerational workforces are key to growth, yet 53% did not include age diversity in their DEI initiatives.<\/p>\n \u201cMultigenerational\u201d and \u201cintergenerational\u201d are not synonymous; the distinction goes well beyond semantics. A multigenerational workforce is\u00a0one that spans different generations. (i.e., Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, baby boomers and the silent generation). Multigenerational refers to generational characteristics that too often become stereotypes (e.g., \u201cGen Z\u2019ers are \u2018difficult.\u2019).<\/p>\n Generational differences are forged by social, technological, geopolitical, climatic, and other changes confronting those coming of age and entering the workforce. Stereotyping individuals of a particular generation is a societal and workplace challenge. The individual\u2019s character, ability to collaborate<\/a>, curiosity, empathy, and ability to earn and extend trust are core qualities whose importance far eclipses generational categorizations.<\/p>\n \u201cIntergenerational\u201d describes the impact of the interaction between\/among different generations. Intergenerational collaboration, like other forms of diversity<\/a>, has intrinsic and extrinsic value. It promotes an agile<\/a>, cross-functional, team-oriented approach to problem solving. It is conducive to forging important human connections that promote physical and emotional well-being. This is especially important in remote workforces that are geographically dispersed, culturally diverse, segmented by business line and\/or function, and rarely convene in-person.<\/p>\n Intergenerational workforces are fostered by organizational cultures that value humanity, promote common purpose and teamwork, invest in the health, well-being, up-skilling, and career progression of its workforce. Senior leadership are, ideally, the talismans of enterprise culture. Good leaders insure that they are not the sole champions of organizational culture. They recognize multiple leaders within the organization and task them with ensuring its values are well understood, practiced, and reinforced across the enterprise. Trust, respect, shared purpose, customer-centricity<\/a> and social responsibility are among those core values.<\/p>\n Not only is this an ideal environment for intergenerational collaboration, but it is also one that attracts, advances, and retains holistically diverse talent. It is also good for business. A\u00a0Gartner<\/a>\u00a0study revealed that a highly inclusive environment can improve team performance by up to 30%. Another by\u00a0McKinsey & Company<\/a>\u00a0suggested that companies with the most diversity outperform those with the least by 36% in profitability.<\/p>\n Creating an intergenerational workforce is neither a simple nor quick process. Its success is grounded in humanity, collectivity, and agility that enables adaptation. Agility applies not only internally, but also with customers as well as society. This is a fluid, ongoing process, one designed to adapt to change in real time. It benefits from the collective skills, expertise, cultural awareness, and mutual trust of a diverse workforce.<\/p>\n Organizations that create a culture built on diversity and collaboration across functions, generations, supply chains, and other facets of business have laid a solid digital foundation. That includes employees of different ages, backgrounds, skillsets, and mindsets learning from each other (a\/k\/a \u201creverse mentoring\u201d. The organization cannot mandate this; teamwork must be a core element of its culture\u2014in hiring, indoctrination, evaluation, and advancement. Organizations must hone their ability to identify the skills and strengths of each individual in the workforce and identify how best to engage with them as well as identify strengths that can be leveraged to advance team goals.<\/p>\n The Challenges Of Legal Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n Law is an analog function in a digital world<\/a>. Its culture\u00a0<\/a>is the principal cause.<\/p>\n Legal culture derives from the myth of legal exceptionalism manifest in its worldview of \u201clawyers and \u2018non-lawyers.\u2019\u201d The industry operates on the premise that \u201clawyers know best.\u201d It is\u00a0self-regulated<\/a>, self-selective, (read: homogeneous), and self-contained<\/a>. Its legacy stakeholders\u2014law schools,<\/a> legal providers, regulators, and the judiciary\u2014continue to operate as a guild.<\/a> They cling to stasis in a world where change has become one of its few constants.<\/p>\n Law\u2019s hierarchical structure impedes collaboration in a variety of ways. The workforce is segmented by rank\u2014usually conferred by seniority.\u00a0Expertise is, likewise, often associated with years of practice, not aptitude, experience, results, professional judgment, or leadership skills. Performance,<\/a> especially in law firms, is measured by input, not output. The larger the law firm, the farther removed most attorneys and legal professionals\u2014especially younger ones\u2014 tend to be from the client. This affords them little context for what the overriding strategy is, how their work fits into it, and what the client\u2019s objectives are and the process of meeting them. This piecemeal approach to tasks virtually eliminates the opportunity to collaborate with those that fashion the strategy or to learn by observing them. Conversely, seniors tend to pursue approaches that may have worked in the past but may not be so effective now. They can learn from younger generations that are often in the vanguard of change.<\/p>\n Remote working, high turnover (especially among firm associates), limited mentoring opportunity, \u00a0and a tactical, short-term approach to systemic challenges are hardly fertile ground for harvesting intergenerational knowledge sharing. That\u2019s why valuable \u201creverse-mentorship\u201d programs created by a handful of corporate legal teams and law firms are a rarity. Those that exist\u2014Reed Smith is an example\u2014 provide an opportunity to exchange perspectives, experiences, knowledge, and no-how. Equally important is that these programs build trust, shatter stereotypes, promote team building<\/a>, bridge generational language barriers, and advance mutual respect, understanding, and empathy. Humanizing<\/a> the legal sector would help address its health, well-being, performance, and sense of purpose.<\/a><\/p>\n What can <\/em>the legal industry do to cure its legacy cultural hangover? How can it create an environment that is more attractive and welcoming to the multidisciplinary, holistically diverse, collaborative<\/a>, curious, agile<\/a>emotionally intelligent<\/a>, learners-for-life<\/a>, customer-centric<\/a>, socially aware, and compassionate workforce required to meet the changing needs of business and society-at-large? Is this a mirage?<\/p>\n Here are several recommendations for fostering a culture that defines itself by those cpre values and qualities. The points below apply not only to intergenerational collaboration but also to diversity, equity, and inclusion\u00a0<\/a>(DEI) and the enterprise-wide digital journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nota Bene: <\/em>legal stakeholders.<\/p>\n It\u2019s past time to reverse that trend and to create a more humane, diverse, customer-centric, socially responsible, efficient, transparent, accessible, affordable, scalable legal function that is far less lawyer-centric and far more multidisciplinary. All five generations of legal professions, together with legal consumers and those with unmet need for legal products and services should have a voice in this process.<\/p>\n
Just because we get around (talkin\u2019 \u2019bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin\u2019 \u2019bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (talkin\u2019 \u2019bout my generation)<\/em><\/p>\n
This is my generation, baby<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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