Women EXCEL, YWCA Tri-County Area Discuss Age and Ethics

By Jennifer Hetrick  

How do you manage a multigenerational staff?

Sealstrip Corp. President Heather Chandler had plenty of advice for the 22 women attending Friday’s Women EXCEL breakfast meeting, hosted by the YWCA Tri-County Area at Sealstrip Corp., Douglass Township, Montgomery County.

“The goal of Women EXCEL is to support professional development and networking of women,” explained Stacey Woodland, YWCA Tri-County Area’s executive director.

The YWCA Tri-County Area hosts its monthly breakfasts for Women EXCEL members from September to June each year, and coordinates brainstormed topics and speakers through its advisory committee.

The topic, “Managing a Multi-Generational Staff and Developing an Award Winning Workplace Culture,” was something Chandler knows well. On top of the company receiving numerous awards and honors in recent years, Chandler’s contribution at a state level involved her serving as a member of former Gov. Tom Corbett’s Advisory Council for Manufacturing.

Chandler spoke on categories of age groups by recent generations: the matures, baby boomers, Generation X, the millennials and the outliers who don’t fit within these generalizations for one reason or another.

One example of the differences Chandler discussed was how the matures tend to be loyal to the company, baby boomers loyal to their jobs, Generation X workers loyal to their