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INVENTORY COUNTS What’s wrong with these kids?
Learning to manage your new warehouse employees
M
an, I feel old when I start referring to the next gener- ation of employees in the
distribution world as “kids.” But let’s face facts; it has been more than 25 years since I started working in the warehouse of my family distribution business. Things have changed. The way the job is done has changed. Much to the consternation of many warehouse managers, the behavior of the entry level employee has changed. Over the last year, I have been
teaching a warehouse operations course sponsored by the American Supply Association. We have hit cities all around the U.S. Many of the participants manage distribution warehouses or some aspect of the warehouse function. In the beginning of the course, I invite the participants to share their biggest frustration, with one caveat — if their biggest frustra- tion is sitting in the room with us, perhaps they should go on to the next biggest frustration. The most com- mon response is some variation on the theme of trying to manage this next generation of employees. It is usually followed by some declaration like, “In my day….” In most privately held distribution
companies, new employees start in the warehouse. Since promotion from within tends to be the most common mode of operation, the burden of cul- tural assimilation to our company rests squarely on the shoulders of the warehouse manager. Have we given them the tools to facilitate this re- sponsibility? The most frustrating thing for older managers is that their newer employ- ees think differently about work than they do. Leaders often expect new employees to learn the same way that they did. They expect them to have the same work ethic that was instilled by their parents, coaches or mentors. Managers often look at this new gen- eration as lazy or lacking in disci-
• Younger employees think differently than longer-term staff
• Taylor your approach to generation at hand
• Younger employees accustomed to supervision, structure • Forget “In my day...”
pline. While some of it may be true, I would like to make an argument to the contrary. I believe that it is actu- ally the manager who is lazy, not the employee. Managers have become so focused on the way they were taught that they have not taken the time to understand the motivations and influ- ences that have shaped this new crop of distribution professionals. Several years ago, I was tasked
with managing a regional facility in Denver. I oversaw about 20 employ- ees, ranging in age from 19 to 56. I found myself constantly getting frus- trated trying to shape this team into a
When you get into the study of generational influences, look for the similarities to your current employees. Don’t dwell on the differences. Remember, these kids aren’t wrong, they just see the world through a slightly different set of glasses.
cohesive unit. They just wouldn’t fol- low procedures. I would fire off e- mails and memos, expecting the pen to be mightier than the sword. I found it difficult to get anything done, be- cause people wanted to drop by my office all day to discuss problems we had gone over a week earlier. Could- n’t they just send me an e-mail? Then there would be a record of the ques- tion and the subsequent answer. It made a whole lot of sense to me, but for some reason these folks wanted to talk it out. In one of my less-than-stellar man-
agerial moments, I unloaded on my counter manager and bellowed, “Did- n’t you get my e-mail?” He said, “Oh, I only look at e-mail once a week.” After I picked my jaw up off the ground, I was struck with a monu- mental thought: He doesn’t work the same way I do. After this enlightening encounter, I
started to look for answers on how to understand the people I was supposed to manage. I stumbled across the sub- ject of generational motivation and, more specifically, the different gen- erations that make up the workplace. I bought the book, Connecting Gen- erations, by Claire Raines, and read it cover to cover in a weekend. I still recommend this book to a majority of my speaking audiences. It changed me as a manager, as a salesman and as a person. The book talks about the
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four generations of employees in our workforce: The Traditional, the Boomers, Generation X and the Mil- lennial. I was floored when I read the section on Generation X. She nailed my personality down to a tee. In her book, she explained some of the in- fluential moments that shaped certain behaviors. She had me at, “They usu- ally are unimpressed with authority figures.” More importantly, this study of
generational differences gave me some insight into working with the different people I was charged with managing. No longer did one size fit all. I was able to tailor my approach based on the generational cues of the employee. I believe that a great deal of frustration expressed by our ware- house management could be allevi- ated by just taking the time to learn about what makes the millennial gen- eration employee tick. In doing a little research for this ar-
ticle, I went back to the genera-
tionsatwork.com website. This is the website where Claire Raines and her team present articles and information on the subject. In an article titled “Millennials at Work”, Claire Raines and Arleen Arnsparger outline several keys to understanding and working
BY JASON BADER Inventory management specialist
the workplace. Communication will be a chal-
lenge. Millennials grew up commu- nicating through electronic devices. Personal interaction will be difficult at first. Extended group meetings will be uncomfortable. But there is a sil- ver lining: This generation was heav- ily influenced by humanitarian efforts, such as Hurricane Katrina, and will thrive when asked to work in a team environment. This group of new employees is
highly ethical. They grew up in a time where corporate greed was coming to a head and the sins of Enron and Worldcomm were splashed across the news. They will respond to leaders who have integrity and who view business transactions as win-win. I have just given you a taste of the
conclusions that can be drawn from understanding generational differ- ences. I hope you choose to dig deeper. Are these generational char- acterizations going to be perfect? Of course not; there will always be ex-
In one of my less-than-stellar managerial moments, I unloaded on my counter manager and bellowed, “Didn’t you get my e-mail?” He said, “Oh, I only look at e-mail once a week.”
After I picked my jaw up off the ground, I was struck with a monumental thought: He doesn’t work the same way I do.
with this generation. Some of the more interesting
pieces of the article were about some of the early influences that shaped be- havior. These kids were extremely busy as children. They were loaded with extracurricular activities. They had very tight schedules and parents who managed their time for them and were often referred to as “helicopter” parents, because they hovered over their children. From a managerial perspective, we should recognize that this generation tends to be used to a great deal of structure. They will probably have some challenge around self-directed assignments early on. Since they were used to a very strong parental influence, man- agers will need to provide constant feedback and direction. They respond well to a strong parent-like mentor in
ceptions to the rule. When you get into the study of generational influ- ences, look for the similarities to your current employees. Don’t dwell on the differences. Remember, these kids aren’t wrong, they just see the world through a slightly different set of glasses. Good luck.
n Jason Bader is the managing part-
ner of The Distribution Team, a firm that specializes in providing inven- tory management training, business operations consulting and technology utilization to the wholesale distribu- tion industry. Bader brings over 20 years of experience working in the distribution field. He can be reached at 503/282-2333, Jason@Distribu-
tionteam.com or at wwwthedistribu-
tionteam.com.
•THE WHOLESALER® — JUNE 2011
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