The Leadership Role Of The Supervisory Staff Directing And Training

It’s the first time in American history that five generations are sharing the workplace, from Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, the Millennials or Generation Y, and the new unnamed generation. With five generations come five sets of ideas, how to conduct one’s self, approach activities, values and motivators. Different beliefs, understandings, and undertakings create misinterpretations and frustrations. The fire service is currently facing a similar situation. It’s imperative to recognize and understand these differences to avoid misunderstandings and to help your department work effectively to meet its goals. Not every employee displays aspect of their generation category, but understanding the individualities of each generation will help with teamwork, supervision, embracing change, and productivity. With each generation there are different communication styles and driving factors that motivate production. It is essential that you understand how each generation communicates and what they motivators are so that you can communicate ideas and organization vision to them. What can we do in the fire service to prepare to handle these challenges?

“After a century of trying to control people, processes and information, we have come to a point in organizational history where we need to recognize that what worked before just simply isn’t enough anymore.” This goes to prove that over time just like everything else evolves our behaviors towards our colleagues has to evolve as well. And management has to learn the new behaviors of his/her employees. The Millennials and generation Z needs to know that they are appreciated and need to be challenged before they get bored, hence the reason why managers need to learn

The generational span is exceedingly larger today than in the prior history of our nation. The multiple generations consist of the veterans 1922-1945, the baby boomers 1946-1964, the generation X 1965-1981, and, the generation Y 1982-1999, in addition, upcoming millennial generation born 2000-2016 (Murray, 2013). There frequently are misconceptions and misunderstandings based on the differing perspectives of each generation. Moreover, as an effective leader, one must comprehend and acknowledge the characteristics of each generation and utilize these individualities to mentor and motivate the staff they are leading (Hendricks & Cope, 2012). In addition to considering the impact of the generational

Currently the Millennial generation comprises between an estimated 10-17% of the Controller’s Office, when defining a millennial as someone between the ages of 18 to 34 (Pynes, 2004, p. 28). In the chart below (Figure 1), you can see the breakdown of the office’s age groups. As the 60-65 year olds leave the workforce it will be important to recruit individuals within the younger generations to develop a visionary workplace

In the article “Can Generation Xers Be Trained?” Shari Caudron indicated training Generation Xers is different from training other age groups in terms of

You made a good point about the younger generation not respecting law enforcement. This could be due to the harassment they endure from the police. For example, The Department of Justice found the Baltimore Police, guilty of making unconstitutional stops, searches, and arrests (Justice Department Announces Findings, 2016). If police departments are engaging in unconstitutional behavior, there should be no expectation of respect from the people being exploited. Law enforcement maybe the individuals that have taken an oath to serve and protect, however, law enforcement are also the same entities that violates its citizen’s constitutional rights.

The article “Teaching, Learning, and Millennial Students” by Maureen E. Wilson is nothing more than an amalgamation of various teachings, learnings and findings for college and an analysis of the Millennial generation. The purpose of the article is to look at established teachings, learnings and findings as well as millennial students and analyzes how one can benefit the other. The abstract sums up the article perfectly,

The second recommendation is for the creation of a formal mentoring program. Results of the study show that 55% of millennials agreed with the implementation of a formal mentoring program, as opposed to just 22.86% of non-millennials. An explanation for the result is that millennials are still at the onset of their professional career and the non-millennial cohort make up a larger percent of upper management. What this means is that development may not be a need or benefit given that a significant amount of non-millennials are already in leadership positions. The United States Air Force General Michael V. Hayden, stated, ‘‘only if we mentor effectively – only if we teach our new recruits and learn from them – will we achieve the objectives of our Strategic Intent” (Hershatter, & Epstein, p.220.)

In situations where a Baby Boomer or Gen Y attends training that is not conducted in their preferred method of learning, they seem, uncomfortable, bored, or overwhelmed in the class. When a student in a training course is focusing on their boredom, being uncomfortable, or being overwhelmed, they are not fully present in the course and retraining knowledge properly.

It has been long documented that baby boomers learn beter and are more apt to respond to interactive learning. They need to be given activities to complete throughout the training. Baby boomers also ask themselves how is this going to benefit me so you need to be prepared to ensure they get the feeling that the training does benefit them. GenXers on the other hand do not do their best learning in hand on environment. They like self-direct learning better where they are able to work at their own. Unlike baby boomers who always want to know how will benefits, GenXers welcome extra training and know that it will help them along in their career

Effective leaders of my age are faced with a few challenges, quite a few actually. One being the generational divide that currently exists between four different workplace peer groups: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, my age group of Generation X, and Millennials. Aside from increased global diversity, our workforce has mushroomed with generational cultures as well. Young associates of today are the future leaders of tomorrow, yet there is an obligation to honor the long-term commitment of our older associates. When bridging these distinct generations,

The interviews provided general consensus that Millennials were not giving regularly, proportionately, or generously. Stein and Evans have Millennial children. Youngberg had Generation X children. Most had some teaching exposure with Millennials as teachers, designers, and home life as parents. Between the four previous teachers and designers of the curriculum, there was a unique mix of a certified public accountant, engineer, master’s in business administration, pastor, and an average guy. The ability of those members of the teaching team and the design phase to handle most questions and provide a balanced approach was the genius of the group. Both Evans and Youngberg expressed frustration that Millennials need to step up more and own

In earlier days, the supervisor was the person in charge of a group of towrope pullers or ditch diggers. That person was literally the “fore man,” since he was up forward of the work crew. His authority consisted mainly of chanting the “one, two, three, up” that set the pace for the rest of the workers. In Germany, the supervisor is still called a vorarbeiter (“fore worker”); in England, the term charge hand is used. Both terms suggest the lead-person origin. The term supervisor has its roots in Latin, where it means “looks over.” It was originally applied to the master of a group of artisans. Today, the supervisor’s job combines some of the talents of the “foreman” (or leader) and those of the “master” (skilled

When it comes to Millennials, there is nothing that screams “business as usual.” Consequently, savvy leaders who want to remain successful in the global business arena, must concede their current method of attracting, engaging, developing and retaining Millennials as future global leaders is ineffective. Therefore, today’s leaders must develop a more compelling strategy to entice Millennials into leadership. Failure to use strategic foresight to recognize trends regarding future organizational trends and take timely actions to change their tried and true, old school philosophy regarding developing and retaining talented employees will result in losing the competitive edge, which is driven by technology-laden Millennial’s who are poised to innovation.

Millennial employees will request a wide range of responsibilities, even on the first day of work and do not be astonished will they completed the entire assigned responsibilities. They have a can-do attitude, but often require frequent feedback