What Keeps You Awake at Night Part 3: It All Comes Down to FOGs and FYGs in Dealing with the Generation Gap

At our CSAE session last week on NFP trends, I asked for a quick show-of-hands to see what the generational makeup was: The results were interesting:

Between 70-75% of the AE’s in the room were baby boomers.  Gen Xers represented pretty much everyone else. Including myself, there were two (2!) of us representing the lonely ‘Y’ contingent.

The most obvious challenge associated with the generation gap, of course, is the aging population. The NFP executives we spoke to know this is going to become a critical issue in the next ten years that will affect their organizations on all fronts.  Some of the comments we’ve been hearing are along the following lines:

• “We’re going to lose 80% of our top management staff in the next 10 years.”
• “We aren’t able to recruit people who want top management roles.”
• “50% of our members are under 35 but the average age of our board is in the mid-50’s.”

A second serious challenge that came to light as I interviewed and spoke with these sector leaders was a glaring clash of values, priorities and perceptions that exists between the older and younger generations.

The symptoms are everywhere:

On the HR and leadership side of the equation, AE’s are concerned about the increasing demands of younger professionals (YP’s) for that thing many of them have heard of (but have not achieved for themselves) called “work-life balance.”

They get that not all YP’s want or are willing to work 50+ hour work-weeks. At the same time, many of these overworked and under-resourced AE’s struggle daily with the overwhelming amounts of work that need to get done.  Reconciling this is a real challenge.

On the membership side, associations are facing a growing number of members who are retiring. In many cases, the retirees aren’t being replaced at the same rate by new, young members. Typically, the reasons for this are two-fold:

• First, there simply isn’t the same number of people entering the professions, trades and industries many associations represent as are leaving it;
• Second, the current association model isn’t drawing young members by actively targeting and meeting their needs.

The cause at the bottom of all of this, as many of the AE’s we spoke to seem to recognize, is a failure to communicate and the annoying tendency we all have as humans to “paint different groups of people with the same brush.” 

One workshop participant summed it up perfectly:

“Most associations have too many FOGS (Freaking Old Guys) and not enough FYGS (Freaking Young Guys). Both think they know everything...but they don’t talk to each other.”

So...what are AE’s doing about these challenges?  Following are some of the actions the individuals we spoke with are currently taking for each key stakeholder group:

Human Resources

• “We try where we can to cross-pollinate so that everybody knows a bit of everything”
• “ We work on an open input so that everybody has an opportunity to contribute”
• “We’re probably going to reformat expectations and demands on the jobs we recruit for”

Board of Directors

• Actively recruiting young leadership to the board: “10 years ago, the average age of our board was in the 50’s. Now it’s between 30 and 40”
• Making sure there are YP’s on committees

Membership

• “Aggressive recruiting” at post-secondary institutions
• Using communications technology that appeals to the younger generations

A few other big ideas that came out our session last Saturday on tackling this issue were:

• Up and down mentoring in recognition that FOGS and FYGS have a lot to teach one another
• Member needs research to redefine how the value proposition has changed and reset programs and services accordingly
• Create a YP leadership group within the association to ensure they have a voice within the organization
• Revise the governance structure to ensure generationally diverse representation at the board level

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with the steps the AE’s we spoke with are doing/considering? Do you have any big ideas to add?

Want up-to-date research on the generation gap and the Canadian NFP sector? Download a copy of the Not-for-Profit Pulse on the Generation Gap, here.

Photo courtesey of Joi Ito on Flickr

The Nintendo Generation?

Not too long ago, I was at a dinner where I found myself in a conversation with a senior association leader. He chaired the board at one of a model non-profit and had been around the block more than a few times in the business world. So, needless to say, I was all ears when he decided to share with me his theory on young professionals. He said: “I like to think of young people today as the ‘Nintendo Generation.’”

Click to read more ...

NPO's Neither Panicked Nor Overly Prepared for the Generation Shift

Well, the results for last month’s NFP Pulse on the Generation Shift have been tallied and analysed...and I have to say I’m a little surprised at some of the results.

It seems that the demographic changes about to occur are definitely on the radar of the 95 NPO’s we surveyed...but it’s not an issue that is keeping non-profit leaders awake at night. When asked how concerned respondents were about this issue on a 1-7 scale with 7 being 'extremely concerned', the average response was a moderate 4.4.

What was really interesting is that most respondents acknowledge the issue will become critical within the next 5 (36%) or 10 years (28%). Despite this, very few (13%) claim their organizations are “extremely” or “very well prepared” for what’s coming down the pipe in the not-too-distant future.

Let’s take a step back and think about this for just a minute: Next year, the first Baby Boomers will hit the golden age of 65. This massive demographic bulge represents 26% of the American population (U.S. Census 2006) and 30% of the Canadian population (Statistics Canada 2006)...they are going to start leaving the workforce in growing numbers without enough new workers entering the labour force to fill their shoes.

The private sector is already scrambling to position themselves for the impending shift by creating strategies to appeal to, attract and retain quality personnel from generations X and Y and shifting business models to appeal to evolving customer demographics...so why haven’t non-profits (at least the ones we surveyed) adopted a similarly proactive approach?

It’s not too hard to see that all of the not-for-profit sector’s core stakeholder groups are extremely vulnerable to the impact of the demographic shift:

Staff and Leadership: Not only will good personnel and leadership become harder to find, but necessity will dictate that younger people with less tacit knowledge and experience will be put into roles of increased leadership and responsibility.

Membership: Maintaining and growing membership is already a core challenge for many non-profits. Not only will this be exacerbated because of membership losses due to aging, they will also have to battle it out to attract the comparatively smaller number of younger members needed to ensure the organization’s survival into the future.

Volunteers and Donors: As with members, there is and will continue to be a shrinking number of volunteers and donors relative to the organizations in need of their support. Volunteers and donors will also contribute in different ways than their predecessors.

Now, I’m the first to take my hat off and acknowledge that non-profit leaders are extremely busy people, many who struggle to cram 30 hours of work (or more) into a 24 hour day. Staff, volunteer and funding shortages are the ‘norm’ for many NPO’s, meaning they often need to prioritize which of the many “critical” issues to focus their already-stretched resources on.

Whether it is a current priority or not, what is clear is that demographics are becoming a big issue. Non-profits are going to have to be ready to change in a number of different ways, ranging from how they communicate and appeal to younger demographics as well as to evolving programs, services and volunteer opportunities to fit the needs, values and priorities of their evolving stakeholder base.

In some cases, it isn’t too unrealistic to predict that organizations may have to evolve their very mission, vision and/or structure if they are to continue to fit stakeholder needs in terms of value and meaning in the years to come.

So, why wait for the crisis to hit? Given the expected timeframe predicted by survey participants if for this issue to become critical within the next 5 or 10 years, perhaps now is the time for non-profits who haven’t already done so to put this issue on the agenda for their next strategic plan.

Am I right when I suggest that the reason why non-profits aren't dealing with this issue is because they are busy dealing with other priorities? What is your experience in terms of concern and preparedness with this impending issue? Is it a priority for your non-profit? 

This is the first in a series of blog posts reflecting on the results of the Association Resource Centre's second edition of the Not-for-Profit Pulse, which highlights the level of concern and preparedness of not-for-profit organizations relative to the impending generation shift. The sample for this survey comprises a total of 95 Canadian not-for-profit organizations with representation from industry/trade, professional, charity and special interest groups. It is important to note that the results of this survey reflect the responses from those surveyed only and are not necessarily representative of the entire not-for-profit sector.

Ready or Not, Here it Comes: How Will The Generation Shift Affect Your NFP?

We’ve all heard the warning bells:  The baby boomers are creeping toward retirement leaving larger and larger gaps behind them in organizations of all shapes and sizes.  Even more alarming is the shortfall that is already starting to occur in the number of working-age adults available to fill their substantial shoes. 

This is an issue affecting countries across the globe. For our U.S readers, here are some interesting statistics and projections compiled by the U.S. Census (2006).

Because this is such a top-of-mind issue for NFP’s, and because it has just been selected as the topic for the next edition of the Not-for-Profit Pulse, I thought I would share with you some interesting information I came across last week from Statistics Canada (Highlights from Statistic’s Canada’s Population Projections for Canada, Provinces and Territories 2005-2031).

• The median age of Canada’s population is expected to rise from 39 years in 2005 to between 43 and 46 years in 2031 and between 45 and 50 years in 2056.
• By 2056, approximately one out of ten Canadians will be 80 years and over, compared with about one in 30 in 2005.
• The proportion of the working-age population will decline steadily in the 2010s and 2020s, reaching about 62% of the total population at the beginning of the 2030s

The generation shift is fast becoming a huge issue for NFP’s across North America – not only are associations and charities struggling to find qualified people to work, volunteer and to lead their organizations into the future, but the makeup of their member and donor bases are also evolving, putting into question everything from programs and services to membership categories.

What do you think? Are you alarmed? Surprised? Overwhelmed? Underwhelmed?

If this issue is of interest to your not-for-profit, I urge you to take five minutes to participate in this months’ NFP Pulse survey on the Generation Shift taking place across this country.   Not only will you receive a free copy of the participant report, but by sharing your own organization’s experience with this issue, you will be helping yourself and others to start thinking about some of the ways NFP’s can start preparing for the shift that is already starting to occur.

There are only a few days left to participate! Click here now to complete the survey.