The document discusses the four generations currently in the workforce - Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. It describes the defining events for each generation and their core values and preferences. Differences in perspectives and work styles between the generations are noted. Managing a multigenerational workforce effectively requires understanding these generational differences and adapting practices for attracting, motivating, and retaining each generation.

1. Bridging the Generation Gap in the Workplace Presented by: Michelle Crandall Director of Administrative Services for the City of Dublin Email: [email_address] Sharon Zimmers, Ph.D Director of Ohio North Central Association Commission on School Improvement and Accreditation Email: [email_address]

2. What Generations Exist in the Workplace Traditionalists Born between 1927 - 1945 Boomers Born between 1946 - 1964 Gen Xers Born between 1965 - 1981 Millennials Born between 1982 – Present (?)

3. What Generations Exist in the Workplace Traditionalists 46.5 Million Boomers 79.9 Million Gen Xers 58.5 Million Millennials 80.0 Million (?)

4. What Defines a Generation? “ The events and conditions each of us experiences during our formative years determines who we are and how we see the world. As a result of these events and conditions, each generation has adopted its own “generational personality.” - Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman When Generations Collide

5. What this Means in Our Workplace? Each generation brings its own set of beliefs, values, culture, perspectives, likes, dislikes and skills/traits to the workplace

6. Why Should We Care? We know these differences impact our employees and the effectiveness and productivity of our businesses A great labor shortage is beginning to occur… We need to be able to attract and retain the best and brightest of all four generations in order to remain competitive.

7. Workplace Readiness Sixty percent of the federal government’s workforce is eligible for retirement in the next 10 years. Ninety percent of them are senior executives. Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management

8. Exercise Traditionalists Baby Boomers Gen Xers Millennials Issues that defined each generation

9. Traditionalists Born Between 1927 - 1945 “ The difficult we do at once; the impossible takes a bit longer.” -Motto of the Seabees

10. Traditionalists Events that Define Them Stock Market Crash Great Depression FDR and the New Deal The Dust Bowl Pearl Harbor – enter WWII D-day in Normandy Korean War

11. Traditionalists What They Are Rebelling Against Economic and national condition of the country –responsible for responding Generation battle cry of: “ Bear any burden, pay any price” …and “do it big” Re-build the U.S. back into a great country

12. Traditionalists Their Preferred Work Culture Command and Control Leadership Clear Direction Clear Roles and Responsibilities Security and Stability Like Teams Work Ethic/Work Focused – “Work is not equal to fun.”

13. Traditionalists What Other Generations Say About Them Boomers say they are: Rigid and resistant to change Technologically challenged Narrow in their view Dictatorial

14. Traditionalists What Other Generations Say About Them Gen Xers say they are: Set in their ways Need to learn how to use e-mail The ones with all the money

15. Traditionalists What Other Generations Say About Them Millennials say they are: Trustworthy Good Leaders Brave

16. Baby Boomers Born Between 1946 and 1964 Those born during or after World War II and raised in the era of extreme optimism, opportunity, and progress

17. Baby Boomers Events that Define Them Television Civil Rights Movement Prosperity Family Planning JFK, MLK and RFK assassinated Woodstock Vietnam War Kent State Rock and Roll

18. Baby Boomers What are they rebelling against? Established social norms of the Traditionalist Effective due to large number

19. Baby Boomers Core Values Optimism Team orientation Personal gratification Health and wellness Personal growth Youth Work Involvement

20. Baby Boomers Their Preferred Work Culture Like opportunity and security Most like work environments that are democratic Advocate teams and team building, consensus and participative management Want to prove themselves so they are good at delivering service

21. Baby Boomers What Other Generations Say About Them Traditionalists say… “ They are self-absorbed” “ They talk about things they ought to keep private…like intimate details of their personal lives” Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak

22. Baby Boomers What Other Generations Say About Them Gen Xers say… “ They are self-righteous.” “ They are workaholics.” “ They do a great job of talking the talk, but they don’t walk the walk.” Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak

23. Baby Boomers What Other Generations Say About Them Millennials say… “ They’re cool. They are up to date on the music we like.” “ They work too much.” Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak

24. Gen Xers Born Between 1965 - 1981 A generation born in the shadows of the Boomers

25. Gen Xers “ It’s no wonder Xers are angst-ridden and rudderless. They feel America’s greatness has passed. They got to the cocktail party twenty minutes too late, and all that’s left are those little wieners and a half-empty bottle of Zima.” Dennis Miller RANTS

26. Gen Xers Events that Define Them Nixon Resigns Energy Crisis Divorce Rate + 2 Working Parents Technology Revolution Stock Market Crash Corporate Downsizing Fall of Berlin Wall Challenger Disaster Operation Desert Storm Rodney King and L.A. Riots

27. Gen Xers What are they rebelling against? Work/life imbalance of the Boomers

28. Gen Xers Their Values and Beliefs Self Reliance Balance in Life Technoliteracy is the answer Approach to authority is casual Informality – less “corporate” Don’t care for politics in the workplace Skeptical Have fun at work

29. Gen Xers What Other Generations Say About Them Traditionalists say: They don’t respect experience They don’t follow procedures They don’t know what hard work is

30. Gen Xers What Other Generations Say About Them Boomers say: They are slackers They are rude and lack social skills They are always doing things “their own way” They spend too much time on the Internet and e-mail They won’t wait their turn

31. Gen Xers What Other Generations Say About Them Millennials say: Cheer up already!

32. Millennials (also known as Generation Y) Born After 1981 A flip-flop wearing, I-pod toting, multi-tasking generation that is optimistic and ready to change the world and your workplace!

33. Millennials Events that Define Them Oklahoma City bombing School violence Technology Busy, over planned lives Clinton/Lewinsky Multiculturalism TV talk shows September 11th

34. Millennials What are they rebelling against? Complacency of the Gen Xers They are ready to change the world… for the better … and they have the numbers to do it

35. Millennials Core Values Civic Duty Achievement – in all aspects of life Diversity Confidence Optimism Goal Oriented

36. The Age of the “Helicopter Parent” Hovers near at all times ready to swoop in and save the child from whatever peril may face him/her Wants to contact professors, bosses and HR to correct grades, salaries and working conditions

37. Millennials - were bombarded with a unique set of compelling messages growing up… Be smart—you are special Leave no one behind Connect 24/7 Achieve now Serve your community (Fifty percent of high school students reported volunteering in their communities—On one Roper Survey, Millennials were asked for the major cause of problems in the US, they answered--selfishness

38. Millennials Their Preferred Work Culture “ Millennials resemble the Traditionalists in many ways—they believe in collective action, optimism about the future, trust in centralized authority, a willingness to get things done, and a heroic spirit in the face of overwhelming odds.” Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak

39. Millennials Their Preferred Work Culture Collaborative Diverse and Inclusive Goal-oriented Sociable Civic focused – a company that cares about social and/or environmental issues Challenging Lots of opportunity to learn and grow

40. Cone Millennial Cause Study (October 2006) 83% will trust a company more if it is socially/environmentally responsible 79% want to work for a company that cares about how it impacts and contributes to society 42% who volunteer weekly describe their “ideal” work environment as one that will make the world a better place (outranking all other factors, including high salary)

41. Workplace Expectations of the Millennial Generation 74 percent of employers said these workers expect to be paid well 61 percent expect to have flexible work schedules 50 percent expect to have more vacation or personal time 56 percent expect to be promoted within a year

42. Managing Millennials – What do They Want From Managers? You be the leader – grew up structured and supervised and are looking for a role model Challenge me … or I’ll find someone else who will Let me work with my friends Let’s have fun! Respect me and my ideas Be flexible – I have many other parts to my life I need to fit in

43. Millennials What Other Generations Say About Them Traditionalists say… “ They have good manners.” “ They’re smart little critters.” “ They watch too much TV…with crude language and violence.” Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak

44. Millennials What Other Generations Say About Them Boomers say… “ They’re cute. “ They can set the time on the DVD/VCR.” “They need to learn to entertain themselves; they need too much attention.” Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak

45. Millennials What Other Generations Say About Them Gen Xers say… “ Here we go again…another self- absorbed generation of spoiled brats.” “ What do you mean, “What’s an album?” Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak

46. Managing the Generational Mix As companies’ cultures evolve with each generation… You have the unique challenge to ensure that work teams become and remain culturally and generationally diverse because of the wealth of information and experience that individual team members can offer.

47. Managing the Generational Mix Organizations that emerge as winners in the battle for talent will have their fingers on the pulse of the newest generation. They’ll design specific techniques for recruiting , managing , motivating , and retaining them.

48. Attracting, Retaining and Motivating Means… Thinking differently to accommodate differences in perspectives and workplace expectations. Flexibility in how we design and implement recognition, feedback, recruitment, orientation, benefits, teams… and on and on. “ One size fits all” won’t work if we want our companies to remain employers of choice.

49. To Sum It All Up

50. To Sum It All Up

51. References Generations At Work , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak, 2000 When Generations Collide , Lancaster and Stillman, 2002 Millennials Rising , Howe, Strauss, 2000 Geezers, grungers, gen-Xers and geeks-a look at workplace generational conflict , Tony Diromualdo, 8/14/06

52. References The Fourth Turning , Strauss and Howe, 1997 How Veterans, Baby boomers, Generation Xers and Generation Nexters Can All Get Along in the Workplace , Zemke, Raines, Filipczak, 2006

53. Communicating with Gen X and Millennials (Gen Y) TECHNOLOGY Gen X—keep it up to date and motivating. Music at work, BlackBerrys, IM, and fast technology Millennials—More comfortable with technology than any other group—learn from them

54. Communicating with Gen x and Millennials (Gen Y) COMPENSATION Gen X—Be willing to negotiate. Gen X has the experience to make them marketable. Consider offering perks like a better title or a flexible work schedule if you can’t budge on compensation Millennials—Highlight the importance of building their resume instead of their bank account. An impressive work history can make all the difference in a slumping economy

55. Communicating with gen X and Millennials (Gen Y) COLLABORATION Gen X—Limit in-person meetings. Offer alternatives like conference calls, video and, Web conferencing when collaboration is truly needed. For face to face meetings, stick to small productive groups and skip long planning sessions. Millennials—they started online social networks. Think about how you can leverage them in the workplace to encourage team collaboration and knowledge sharing.

56. Communicating with Gen X and Millennials (Gen Y) ATTIRE GenX—Give them a heads up if they should dress nicer for specific meeting or when customers are visiting the office. Millennials—They’re new to the job market and might be oblivious to your company’s culture. Let them know dressing better will help defeat “slacker” misconceptions, build credibility with execs, and help their career over the long haul—especially in a weak economy.

57. Communicating with gen X and Millennials (Gen Y) SOCIALIZING Gen X—Invite but don’t push them to participate. They’re used to being overlooked by boomers and tend to dislike corporate politics anyway. Millennials—Appeal to their career goals. Millennials are more likely to attend a networking event that will expand their personal contacts.

58. Communicating with Gen X and Millennials (Gen Y) CORPORATE LOYALTY Gen X—Limit bureaucracy. Provide access to information and resources without burdening them with corporate politics and excessive meetings. Millennials—Don’t discount them because of their age. Despite the weakening economy, Millennials tend to job-hop—especially if they think they’re being judged on “seniority” instead of “quality.”