When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed last week, major corporate clients like Roku reassured employees and investors that they could still make payroll. Smaller companies, however, weren’t so confident.

For Lauren Schulte Wang, CEO and founder of The Flex Company — which sells eco-friendly period products — SVB’s collapse was a crisis. Her 30 full-time employees were about to go without pay while revenues from new sales landed in a frozen account. So she did something many CEOs might not: cut her own personal savings in half.

“The last thing we want is for employees to [worry about] whether or not they’re going to be able to feed their kids, or pay their mortgage or medical bills,” Wang told CNBC.

Fortunately, the FDIC informed Wang that The Flex Company would regain access to the funds. Dipping into her own finances was a huge risk, but she can probably bank on employee loyalty in return.

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Millennials vs. workplace ageism: Yesterday’s kids are turning 40.

Pick your battles: Let your directs learn from (low-stakes) failure.

St. Paddy’s: Celebrate with the Tipperary, a classic Irish cocktail.

The last time that every single Major League Baseball team played on the same day was in 1968, but that’ll change for Opening Day 2023 on March 30. Your baseball-loving customers will be glued to a TV set somewhere, so make sure it’s in your establishment with 2023 MLB EXTRA INNINGS from DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS.

Beyond Opening Day, 2023 MLB EXTRA INNINGS delivers up to 90 games per week in HD quality, along with the STRIKE ZONE CHANNEL (commercial-free highlights and updates every Tuesday and Friday) and MLB NETWORK (24/7 look-ins, interviews, analysis, and live games). With the GAME MIX CHANNEL, you can even show up to eight simultaneous games on a single screen.

That’s why 85% of restaurants and bars that subscribe to MLB EXTRA INNINGS say DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS provides a more enjoyable, lively atmosphere. Baseball fans might’ve had it good in 1968, but they’ve got it EXTRA in 2023.

(Source: Shutterstock)

As the multigenerational U.S. workforce’s largest age cohort, millennials account for more than one-third of employees. While some may feel they are treated unfairly because of their age, others are now actually old enough to be legally protected against age discrimination in the workplace. 

The exact birthdate range for millennials will vary depending on whom you ask — in fact, anyone born on the cusp years may be willing to fight you on it. However, the Pew Research Center identifies this group as people born between 1981 and 1996. Quick math: a bunch are soon turning 40, if they haven’t already.

Additionally, Gen Z workers are the new kids on the block, so millennials risk facing ageism from older and younger coworkers in different ways.

What is ageism in the workplace?

Age discrimination is the unfair treatment against an employee because of how old they are. Roughly one-third of people believe they have been treated unfairly at work due to their age.

Although the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) generally only protects people 40 years or older, many workers face unfair treatment or bias for being young as well. A study reported by SHRM found the most common age-related stereotypes to be:

• Younger workers are inexperienced (70%) and disloyal to organizations (58%).
• Older workers are incompetent with new technology (68%) and resistant to change (64%).

Unfortunately, some business leaders and HR professionals incorporate these age-related stereotypes into their hiring decisions, routine operations, organizational change, and job promotions.

Millennials stuck in the middle

As millennials enter their forties, they’re not just facing the usual criticisms from older generations about laziness, participation trophies, and avocado toast splurges. Zoomers might find them cringe-y (or “cheugy”) as well.

While many millennials have advanced to management roles, they’re not quite at the top: The average age of incoming CEOs is 55, solidly Gen X. 

So, millennials could seem too experienced for entry-level positions (if they’re attempting to start a new career) and too inexperienced for senior-level ones, potentially narrowing their employment options during a time of layoffs in tech, marketing, media, and other millennial-heavy industries.

What can you do to prevent ageism?

It’s important that millennials hitting 40 are informed of their ADEA legal protections. Additionally, every organization should work to combat age stereotyping of any type.

To stop your workforce from judging each other because of their age, you can:

• Reevaluate your recruitment and hiring processes to remove age-related information and assumptions. SHRM found that 19% of HR professionals think hiring managers at their organizations are creating job descriptions that screen out certain workers based on their age.
• Train managers on how to make unbiased job-related decisions.
• Survey your workers to identify any areas for improvement.
• Incorporate age-related issues into DEI training; only half of organizations with DEI training include information about age.

Employees of all ages can bring value to your organization. Older workers might bring wisdom and experience, whereas younger workers might bring a fresh perspective and new techniques. At this point in millennials’ lives and careers, they might bring the perfect balance of each.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Dr. Steven Rogelberg is a Chancellor’s Professor at UNC Charlotte and former president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

As a manager, your direct reports will often bring you problems to solve. You’ll likely throw out solutions that make sense, based on your experiences and reasoning.

This approach may yield a good result, but it can be a missed opportunity to develop and engage with your direct. To combat this, I want to share an alternative approach.

Engage Your Directs in Problem-Solving

First, ask what potential ideas your direct has for the issue they’ve raised. After all, they are closest to it and likely have initial thoughts on how to proceed.

This will also help foster buy-in to any solution (since it was theirs in the first place). Some questions you could ask include:

• “Do you have any thoughts on next steps?”
• “What’s your gut telling you on how to address this? Why?”
• “What two approaches might work best? What are the pros and cons of each?”

See what ideas emerge from this exercise. You might hear some novel ones that you haven’t considered yourself.

Listening to Directs Will Build Dedication

Even if your direct’s proposed solution does not fully align with your top choice, try going with theirs anyway (as long as it’s viable). Not only does this signal trust, it also stimulates motivation and commitment, instilling their feelings of importance to the organization.

If you believe their solution is a poor one, then it’s reasonable to push for yours instead — especially if the stakes are high. But if their solution is decent and there are no meaningful consequences of failure, why not? If it doesn’t work out, they can learn from their mistake and grow; if their solution does succeed, it’s a win-win for all.

The point being: pick your battles. Your solution may not be the only path forward. Listen and engage to develop your directs’ own problem-solving skills.

Do you have a business question for the Organizational Psychologist’s Couch? Send it to b.newsletter@business.com and our experts may answer in an upcoming issue.

• A.D. 180: Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius died at the age of 58. Today, his journals are still quoted at annual development conferences.
• 1845: Stephen Perry patented the rubber band.
• 1929: General Motors acquired German automaker Adam Opel AG for $33 million. In 2017, GM sold Opel for $2.3 billion.
• 1988: Apple sued Microsoft for copyright infringement over Window 2.0’s similarity to the macOS, but a judge ruled in Microsoft’s favor. In 1995, the Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s appeal.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Green Guinness and shots of Jameson are St. Paddy’s traditions, but if you want to celebrate with something more obscure, try a Tipperary. This cocktail, named after a county in Ireland, has been around since 1917.

Make it with two ounces of Irish whiskey (your call), three-quarters ounce of sweet vermouth, and a half ounce of Green Chartreuse. Stir in ice and then strain into a coupe or cocktail glass. Sláinte!

Written by Skye Schooley and Aaron Goldfarb. Comic by John McNamee.