Talkin' 'Bout My Generation...

Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation… Generational Impact for Workplace Culture
ATTD 6210 Trend Report #2
Laura Pasquini

The Generations
Defining the Generations
Differences & Similarities
Effective leadership and learning styles
Implications in for Education, Workplace & Culture
Key Points to Consider

The Generations
The Silent (Veteran) Generation (born 1929-1945)
Baby Boomers (born 1946-1965)
Generation X (born 1965-1981)
Generation Y (born 1982-1999)
Rowe, K.A. (2010, March). Managing Across Generations. Infoline: Tips, Tools, and Intelligence for Trainers. Volume 27, Issue 1003.

The Silent Generation

The Silent Generation Attitudes • Trust • Privacy • Conformity • Faith in institutions • Respect for authority • Patience • Responsibility before pleasure • Formality • Social order Contributions • Consistent • Detail oriented • Non-complaining • Mediators and facilitators • Commitment Cautions • May not see "gray" - mostly black & white • Assume "no news is good news" • May sound parental • Often complacent when they disagree The Silent Generation (a.k.a. Veterans)

Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers
experimental
individualism
free spirited
social cause oriented
less optimistic
distrust of government
general cynicism
Baby Boomer from Wikipedia

Generation X Douglas Coupland

Generation X
resourceful and hardworking
meet commitments
value self-reliance
well-honed survival skills
nurtures networks
are comfortable in a global and digital world
adopted the collaborative technology
Guiding Generation X to Lead , ASTD

Generation X
has an unconscious acceptance of diversity
ability to redefine issues & question reality
skeptical and innovative
look for different ways to move forward
prepared to serve as pragmatic managers
options thinkers – like choices
like to develop multiple skills because that provides them with the opportunity to move in various directions
Guiding Generation X to Lead , ASTD

Generation Y

Generation Y
Close to family
Attentive and respectful
Programmed
Team oriented
Pressured to succeed
Involved
Egalitarian
Use technology
Stressed
Multi-taskers
Socially conscious
Inclusive
Powerful
Impatient
Active/hands-on learners
The Millennial Generation - Generation Y

How Millennial Are YOU? Take the Quiz: http://pewresearch.org/millennials/quiz/ I am surrounded by Generation Y - so it’s no surprise that I scored 93%

Millennial Inc. White Paper

Implications for Practice
Buckingham (Galagan, 2008) suggests management considers the strength solution process, which focusses on having employees work and develop their strengths to better support the needs of the organization. In application, this concept has the ability to reach all generations in the workplace and optimize productivity for employees. The reinforcement of utilizing ones strengths provides motivation and empowerment for those contributing to the organizational goals.
Galagan, P. (2010, August). Engaging Generation Y: An interview with Marcus Buckingham. ASTD Training + Development Magazine.

Leaders in the Field
Neil Howe
William Strauss
LifeCourse
http://www.lifecourse.com /

LifeCourse Associates
The LifeCourse Associates interpret the qualitative nature of a generation’s collective persona to help managers and marketers leverage quantitative data in new and remarkable ways—and to lend order, meaning, and predictability to national trends. They design products and services help companies, government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profits solve marketing and workplace problems and exploit strategic opportunities.

A Future Read...
Don Tapscott
Author of:
Wikinomics
Growing Up Digital
Macrowikinomics
http://dontapscott.com/blog/

Embrace the Net Generation
Net Generation might initially be thought to be a burden, however they are an incredibly capable, talented group of people who want to be challenged and come to the workforce highly prepared. Gen Y find value in learning and mentoring with other generations at the workplace as they value collaboration and communication. Organizations should initiate a relationship rather then recruit, engage rather than just train, build collaborative work systems rather than just supervise, and evolve with the working relationship rather than just retain (Tapscott, 2009).

Encourage Relationships Between Generations

Implications for the Workplace
As more generations work side-by-side, there will be a few areas for management to consider for the organization. The competition for talent will be initially addressed in the array of benefits to attract the top talent from across the generations (Rowe, 2010). It is also costly to replace experienced and skilled labor. Organizations need to create programs to encourage workers to stay or partially retire to help employee retention of mature workers.

Suggested Practices for Any Generation

How Wide Is the Generation Gap?
Building collaboration across the generations with different work values may be difficult for some & provide opportunities for others.
Diversity allows for better problem solving, greater innovation & improved performance improvement.
Critical for organizations to appreciate the differences and strengths each generation will bring to to the table
It is important to review and assess if generational differences are impacting the workplace, and plan for strategies to help improve the generation gap.

Thoughts To Ponder...
How will employers embrace generational differences?
How will different generations impact the workplace?
What will the idea multigenerational workplace look like?

Approaches for Multiple Generations:
communicating information in multiple ways
promoting collaborative discussion, decision making or problem solving
using team-building activities
offering different types of training to accommodate different generations
creating mentoring program between generations
training managers on dealing with generational differences
2004 SRHM Research: Generational Differences

Key Points for Trend
Define what engagement means at your company
Conducting an organizational audit, gathering data, implementing a force field analysis, identifying action steps, and setting objectives and metrics for individuals and the organization.
Shifts in age demographics of the workforce is a compelling issue, such as brain drain, responding to the marketplace, surplus and shortages in the labor force.

Key Trends Continued...
Access to the flexibility needed to fulfill work and family responsibilities is one factor that is associated with higher levels of engagement among Gen Y employees.
Supervisor support is one factor that is associated with higher levels of engagement among older Baby Boomers and Traditionalists.
All generations have similar values. In fact, they all value family the most. They also attach importance to integrity, achievement, love and competence.
Trust matters. Distrust of the organization and in upper management is prevalent among all age groups.
No one really likes change. resistance to change has nothing to do with age; it is all about how much one has to gain or lose within the change.

More Key Trends
Feedback can come in many forms, and all generations want to know how they are performing.
Organizations are benefiting as the different generations work effectively together.
Economic meltdown intensified generational conflicts in organizations.
Conflicts in the workplace are due to influence and power & negative stereotypes about each generation
Generations have similar values and desires.
Organizations need to make sure that employees of all generations are heard and feel respected.
The generation gap at work is really wide with vast discrepancies when it comes to what the appropriate use of technology.

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Talkin' 'Bout My Generation...

by Laura Pasquini

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