Project teams have stakeholders with different ages that create natural conflicts between generations. It is iumportant to understand the behaviors and beliefs of each generation for better leadership of the group.

1. Managing Generation Gaps in
the Clinical Research Industry:
Boomers Vs. Xers
June 21st, 2011

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2

3. What is this all about?
• Three different generations in our workforce
working together side-by-side:
– Boomers
– Xers
– Millennials/Nexters/Gen Y
• Each generation was impacted by various events
that shape who they are and how they work
• Need to understand what motivates the various
generations and how to work together

4. Workplace Conflicts
• Conflicts frequently have generational issues
as their cause
– “He is not committed to his job.”
– “She has a poor work ethic.”
– “He does not follow direction.”
– “I can’t believe the way he/she dresses.”
– “What do you mean I can’t work from home on
Friday’s.”

5. Aging Labor Pool
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
40.0%
Age 0-4 Age 5-19 Age 20-44 Age 45-64 Age 65-84 Age 85+
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
Source: Department of Labor

6. Generational Experiences
Definition of a Generation
• Coincidence of Birth
• Common tastes
• Attitudes
• Experiences
– Economic
– Social
– Sociological
– Demographic
• Events that capture the attention and emotions of individuals
at a formative stage of their lives

7. Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)
1955 Polio Vaccine
Rosa Parks refuses to move
1965 Vietnam
1957 First Nuclear Power Plant
Civil Rights Act
1966 NOW Founded
China Revolution
1960 Birth Control Pills Introduced
Kennedy Elected
1968 MLK & Robert Kennedy
Assassinated
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
John Glenn circles the earth
1969 First Lunar landing
Woodstock
1963 MLK leads march on D.C.
President JFK assassinated
1970 Kent State University
Experiences

8. Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)
Collective Personality
• Believe in growth and expansion
• Perused their own personal gratifications
• Think of themselves as stars
• Generally optimistic
• Learned about teamwork first
• “Cool”

9. Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)
Assets
• Service oriented
• Driven
• Willing to “go the extra mile”
• Good at relationships
• Want to please
• Good team players
Liabilities
• Not naturally “budget minded”
• Uncomfortable w/ conflict
• Reluctant to go against peers
• May put process ahead of results
• Overly sensitive to feedback
• Judgmental of those who see
things differently
• Self-centered

10. Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)
Development/Feedback
• Need development in strategic planning,
budgeting, coaching skills, and many “soft skills”
• Work to address the “I know all that” chip
• Provide developmental experiences that can help
develop their skills
• Read business books and tapes

11. Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)
Motivating
• Try the personal approach
• Give lots of public recognition
• Give them a chance to prove themselves and their
worth
• Give them as many perks as possible
• Help them to gain name recognition throughout the
company
• Get consensus whenever possible
• Reward work ethic and long hours

12. 1970 Women’s Liberation protests and
demonstrations
1986 Challenger disaster
1972 Arab terrorists at Munich Olympics 1987 Stock market plummets
1973 Watergate Scandal
Energy crisis begins
1988 PanAm 103 bombing
1976 Tandy and Apple market PCs 1989 Exxon Valdez
Fall of Berlin Wall
1978 Mass suicide in Jonestown 1991 Operation Desert Storm
1979 Three Mile Island
U.S. corporation begin massive layoffs
Iran holds sixty-six American hostages
1992 Rodney King beating, LA riots
1980 John Lennon shot and killed
Ronald Reagan inaugurated
Experiences
Xers (1965 – 1977)

13. Xers (1965 – 1977)
Collective Personality
• Self-reliant
• Sense of family
• Balance
• Non-traditional orientation about time/space
• Like informality
• Approach to authority is causal
• Skeptical about everything
• Attracted to the edge
• Technology savvy

14. Xers (1965 – 1977)
Assets
• Adaptable
• Technoliterate
• Independent
• Unintimidated by authority
• Creative
Liabilities
• Impatient
• Poor people skills
• Inexperienced
• Cynical

15. Development/Feedback
• Keep materials brief and visual
• Need encouragement to inventory learning
• Coach for responsibility
– How do you plan to go about solving this?
– How do you think you might best approach this
topic in the next staff meeting?
Xers (1965 – 1977)

16. Motivating
• Multiple tasks and projects, that they can
prioritize (More control the better)
• Provide positive feedback with sincerely
offered and often
• A little freedom goes a long way
• Resentment from very visible expensive
recognition programs
Xers (1965 – 1977)

17. Comparing Generations
Boomers Xers
• Fight against authority • Go around authority to turn it in your direction
• Media darlings • Avoid the media and the limelight and above
all, don’t let them label you
• Workaholic • Get a life
• Political • Politics never solved anything, and usually
they made it worse
• Political at work • Corporate politics wastes time we could
spend doing something we enjoy

18. Average Rate of Unemployed
18
Source: Department of Labor

19. What Next?
• Examine your team mix
• Be careful not to stereotype
• Begin to individualize
• Ask for feedback
• Impact of current economic environment has
yet to see full impact

20. Thank You!

21. Additional Resources
When Generations Collide (Lancaster & Stillman)
Generations at Work (Zemke, Raines, Filipczak)
Rocking the Ages (Smith & Clurman)
Bridging the Boomer Xer Gap (Karp, Fuller & Sirias)
Agequake (Paul Wallace)
Bridging the Generation Gap (Gravett & Throckmorton)