What People Want

What do Gen-Y employees need from their Baby Boomer managers that Gen-Xers don't? How does gender affect employee-manager relationships? What separates introverts and extroverts? More than ever before, managing a diverse work-force requires flexibility, sensitivity to a range of values, and respect for each person's intrinsic needs, rights, and differences. With an eye toward the changing demographics and complexity of today's workplace, "What People Want" uncovers the truth about what people really want from their relationships at work. Interweaving interesting and often surprising insights from his original research, Terry Bacon lays out a set of proven best practices that focus on the seven needs that matter most to co-workers, peers, and direct reports: trust, challenge, self-worth, competence, appreciation, excitement, and an ability to develop and sustain an identity of merit. With dozens of real-world examples, sample dialogue, and nearly 200 tips and techniques, "What People Want" also offers a variety of tools to help managers address their own needs for personal and psychological space and work-life balance, and advice on how to avoid such bad behaviors as bullying and intimidation, which can demotivate staff and damage the organization.