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By Dong Chen, PR Magazine
June 2009
The original Chinese version of this article by Hoffman’s Dong Chen can be viewed here. An English translation is below.
Individuals born in the late 1980s are now entering the workforce and becoming the backbone of China’s PR industry. This generation is usually scolded for their irresponsibility and overreaching. I once pondered how my “late-70s” self could get along with these “late-80s” folks. I started to worry whether I could manage them well and make them functional on a team. Got a headache? Kind of.
The Hoffman Agency believes that everyone has his or her own merits and unique talents. I also firmly believe this. So I determined that I would exploit the late-80s’ merits, or “catch their fancies,” to bring greater team cohesion. Despite the common shortcomings of this generation popularized by others, I didn’t find it difficult to see their merits.
Give them a sense of honor
Someone said that what the late-80s care least about is how others view them. In fact, all the late-80s colleagues and friends I have met regard team and individual honor as highly important in their lives. “We don’t want to be a drag on the team because of our inexertion,” Zhang of our Shanghai office said when I first asked “What are you most scared of in your work?” Through making contact with other late-80s colleagues, I decided that though they might go at their own pace in life, they do care a lot about others’ opinions at work and have a strong will to prove themselves.
Giving team members a sense of honor is not difficult. But what is difficult as a team leader is to be aware of their will to be confirmed and encouraged, and to give them that confirmation and encouragement from your heart. There is a good way to do this, which I call the “magnifier.”
Recently we won a new client. After I got confirmation from the client, I sent an e-mail to the global Hoffman staff announcing the good news and acknowledging all the team members who participated in the campaign presentation. On the team was Li, a late-80s who did a desk research survey and brainstorming for the presentation. We fully recognized her contribution and showed appreciation for her thorough research and hard-won ideas. The girl told me afterwards that it was her happiest moment since she had started at the company and her boss praised her in front of her global colleagues. Now, when she recalls the competitive presentation she thinks about that e-mail instead of the boring research, late nights and repeated rehearsals.
For me, some of my best memories of my early career also surround praise and encouragement from my team leaders.
Give them reasons to refuse to grow up
With the growing competition in the PR industry, clients demand us to be unceasingly creative. Who’s the most creative? Kids, thanks to their innocence! It is said that the late-80s refuse to grow up; though I feel that they just have innocent hearts. Since originality is a core element of successful PR, why would we force the late-80s to grow up and become mature? What we need is their innocence.
Also in the competitive presentation mentioned above, there was a girl full of unusual ideas. In our last rehearsal she suggested adding a sketch to the presentation. She designed the sketch and created a stage for the presentation with the simplest materials. She playfully laughed at me, the “old man,” and used exaggerated facial expressions to illustrate how much her generation needed the client’s products during the presentation.
All of us were impressed. So was the client, since it was targeting its products at her generation. Also, her sketch caught the client’s attention early on and was key to our success.
If the innocence of the late-80s could bring us effects like this, who cares if they refuse to grow up?
Give them opportunities
If someone said that the late-80s avoid challenges, I would have to stand up and oppose him because they never do so. They desire trust from their companies and expect to experience new challenges and tasks.
Many companies make the late-80s do the most basic work repeatedly on the grounds that they’re not ready or it’s too risky for them to take on more complex tasks. This rubs out their confidence, dash and courage.
Actually, observing from another perspective, doing this shows that the team leader lacks creativity to find interesting work that the late-80s are ready for and lacks the guts to balance risk and the growth of his team members.
The corporate culture of The Hoffman Agency is to never to say no to a person’s desire for opportunities and challenges.
When I first joined The Hoffman Agency, Gu, a late-80s, told me that she wanted to manage a client’s event independently, which was a task she had never tried before but one that could help her develop to the next level. We agreed. Before the project started, we gave her adequate training and made sure she noticed all the details like a seasoned project manager. When she thought she was ready, we let her go for it. At the same time, we let her know that we were right there for her in case she met some difficulties.
One month later, the project was completed successfully. Although there were small setbacks, we overcame them together. The success of the project is not important. What really matters is the experience and confidence Gu gained in the process.
The late-80s never lack courage. What they need is the chance and a little encouragement, support and help.
Give them another home
Some late-80s colleagues have called me “master” or “boss.” At first, this sounded comfortable since it showed respect. Later, it made me feel alienated. It sounds good to be called master and boss, but would someone who called me that feel comfortable giving me advice? Does anyone trust their boss or master enough to tell them things? No, young people trust their friends the most. So we should become their friends.
I started sparing some time to talk to them about things other than work, like entertainment gossip, store discounts and weekend trips. I befriended them on social networking Web sites, laughing with each other, making fun of each other, and exposing the most real and even “risqué” parts of our lives. I encouraged frankness. We praised each other for good things and criticized each others mistakes. We shared achievements and solved problems together.
All of this could be done naturally among friends, but awkwardly among colleagues. It is the “title” that makes the trouble. At Hoffman, we do our best to break the gaps between levels. The Asia Pacific president sits at an open desk as does everyone else. Each member of the office has the right to know about and vote on the company’s important decisions. Without the so-called power, friends could be naturally made.
The late-80s don’t hide their thoughts any more and they participate in the business and management of the company with greater passion. The office is not only the place for them to work, but another home for them. They don’t call me master or boss anymore. Instead, they call me “Bro Dong.” I like this title, which is only reserved for family.
Home is the warmest place in everyone’s heart. The late-80s PR people all want their workplace to be such a “home.” We have no rights to change the way they live their lives, but we have the ability to create a home-like environment where they can thrive.
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