Great Tips For Navigating the Multigenerational Workforce

Incessant rain didn’t deter 110 attendees from attending an engaging evening of networking, educational and recruitment opportunities on January 17. WIT’s “Navigating the Multigenerational Office: Communication Strategies for Successful Teams” event, hosted and sponsored by KPMG at their DC office, and also sponsored by Fiscal Note, was a huge success.

The presentation featured moderator, Ginger Bonin, Managing Director, KPMG, who represented the Baby Boomer generation’s point of view.  The panel of generation representatives included Dawn Fournier, (Gen Y) an experienced marketer and Georgetown MBA student, Lisa Frumin, (Gen X), CEO, The Heart Alchemist, Leadership & Career Coach and Nora Chazan, (Millennial) a Senior Associate, KPMG.

The engaged, mostly female audience asked questions and added ideas about to find success. 

Here are a few nuggets of wisdom heard from our panelists and audience.

  • Millennials need different communication channels and open dialog. The use of reverse mentoring is especially helpful to show other generations how to manage and market to this segment, noted Dawn Fournier.
  • Lisa Frumin remarked that “constant communication through different modes is essential to keep Millennials engaged.”
  • “We want to be heard, get feedback, and because of the way we were brought up (think seeing Facebook ‘Likes’ and text messaging), we want things fast and need instant gratification,” said Nora Chazan, when relaying what she feels makes Millennials happy.
  • “I help my team by providing the strategy,” noted one Boomer in the audience, while Ginger Bonin noted she helps her team understand how to manage the client and uses her many experiences to provide guidance and advice.
  • Another audience member felt all should be ‘humble’, while in the same light, another mentioned the need to be respectful of others and understand the differences each generation has based on how each generation was brought up.
  • Many mentioned technology and how the ‘younger’ generations are the most ‘in the know’, however, one Boomer from the audience warned that in 10 years the younger panelists will be in his shoes, as the technology keeps advancing and kids today are beginning even younger with technology, giving them yet another point of view.

The event could not have been a success without our sponsors KPMG, Fiscal Note, and the Women in Technology Programs team - Irene Lane, Linda Smith, Sarah Ghessie, Priyanka Komala, and Reggie Kouba and her registration team. Special thanks to Cara LaMaina, Sage Communications, Robert Williams from The Silicon Hill and Monica Kang from Innovators Box for their social media support.

L to R: Moderator Ginger Bonin, Panelists: Dawn Fournier, Lisa Frumin, Nora Chazan

WIT team behind the event - L to R: Linda Smith, Priyanka Komala, Irene Lane

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