Generation Y is the fastest growing segment of today’s workforce. However, what is the difference between this and the previous generation? What should professionals know to understand this new identity that has emerged in the teaching world? In this presentation, presenters talk about the characteristics of different generations and how they can be prepared to achieve common results.

1. Generation Y
A New Identity in the English Teaching
Community
• Evania Netto & Carolina Piacenti

2. Agenda
• Talk about some historical events that
impacted our lives.
• Take the quiz “Which generation do you
belong to?”
• Talk about generational characteristics.
• Discuss some generational conflicts people
face at work and come up with solutions.
In this presentation we will:

3. Warm Up
Think about some of the most important historical
events that happened in the 20th
or 21st
century. Which
one(s) influenced you the most? How do you think it
(they) influenced you as a professional? Talk about it
with a partner.

4. Warm Up
• Brasília the new capital (1960)
• The military revolution (1964)
• First test-tube baby (1970)
• John Lennon’s death (1980)
• “Diretas Já” (1983)
• Rock in Rio (1985)
• Brazilian new Constitution (1988)
• Senna’s death (1994)
• September 11 (2001)
• The creation of Facebook (2004)
• Other

5. Generations
• According to Kullock (2011) a generation
encompasses a group of people born in a
determined time and influenced by specific historic
context that determines some kind of behavior
which impacts the evolution of society.

6. • Miller, M. (2012) says that
some of the generations
include:
• The Silent Generation
(Traditionalists)
• The Baby Boomers
• The X Generation
• Generation Y
Generations

7. What generation do I belong to?
• Look at the year that you were
born.
• Consider yourself another
generation if you are born
close to the generation before
or after.
• Generational definitions are
based on major cultural,
political, and economic
influences (ROBINSON, M.)

8. a.Up to 1945
b.Between 1946 and 1964
c.Between 1965 and 1976
d.Between 1977 and 1996
1- When were you born?

9. 2- In their work place, people from your
generation...
a. are extremely dedicated and like strict
hierarchy.
b. are optimistic, rebellious and believe
that they can change the world.
c. try to balance work with personal life.
d. are self-assured and strongly believe
they could be successful if only they
were given a chance.

10. 3- How do you and your university friends feel
about work and money?
a. “Work hard to be financially secure, and
don't waste your money.”
b. “Work should be short, so you can get on
to your true interests. Money isn't all that
important.”
c. “Work should be meaningful, and money
should be spent on something you love.”
d. “Work should be as fun as possible. Life is
short, so enjoy your money.”

11. 4- In their lives, people from your generation
a. sacrife themselves to reach their
goals.
b. don’t conform and tend to break
rules.
c. think that family relations are what
matter the most.
d. want short term results and believe
they have the right to be happy.

12. 5- Which of the sentences would describe you
and your adolescent friends?
a. “I need to get a good job.”
b. “I need to study more.”
c. “I want to watch TV this afternoon.”
d. “I want to play RPG with my friends.”

13. 6- As teenagers, your friends
a. respected their parents no matter what.
b. rebelled and challenged authority.
c. found their friends to be more important
than your family.
d. counted on their parents for advice and
guidance.

14. 7- In my generation, birthday parties
a. didn’t exist.
b. were only for rich people.
c. Included a cake and some sweets that
we enjoyed.
d. meant coming up with a new theme
each year.

15. 8- The first thing my generation wanted to buy
soon after graduation was
a. a home
b. a car
c. a personal computer
d. a company

16. Results
• Write down the letters corresponding
to your answers. Which letter do you
have the most? Find the generation
you tend to have more characteristics
from.
• A- Traditionalists B- Baby Boomers
C- Generation X D- Generation Y

17. The Generations

18. The Silent Generation / Traditionalists
Their “Silent” label refers
to their conformist and
civic instincts.
The Silent
Generation
1925-1945

19. The Silent Generation / Traditionalists
• Born before 1945.
• Grew up during wars and the
great depression. “Waste not
want not” attitude, conformity,
conservatism, traditional family
values, strive for financial
security.

20. The Silent Generation / Traditionalists
• Having faced hard times,
silent generations are
faithful to their companies
and are willing to sacrifice
themselves to reach their
goals. They also enjoy rigid
hierarchy.

21. Baby Boomers
Label is drawn from the great spike in
fertility that began after the end of World
War II and ended in 1964, when the birth
control pill went on the market.

22. • Born between 1946 and
1964.
• Having been born after the
war, this generation lived the
hippie movement, the fears of
cold war and the beggining of
space age. They have also
broken rules in terms of style,
politics and consumption
attitudes.
Baby Boomers

23. • Conservative, baby boomers
worked hard to climb the
corporate ladder. Their work
values are based on ambition,
competition and power. They
are also willing to change jobs
to advance in their careers.
• However, even though baby
boomers crave positions of
authority, they prefer to make
decisions according to a group
consensus.
Baby Boomers

24. Template
Generation x
Generation X
1965-1977
The label, which meant a group of
undetermined young people who had to face
the uncertain future, long ago overtook the
first name affixed to this generation: the
“Baby Bust”.

25. Generation X
• Born between 1965 and
1977.
• Grew up with emerging
technologies.
• Highly educated, active,
balanced, savvy, happy and
family oriented.

26. Generation X
• Unlike their parents, who
challenged leaders with an
intent to replace them, Gen
Xers are less likely to idolize
leaders and are more
inclined to work toward long-
term institutional and
systematic change through
economic, media and
consumer actions.

27. Generation Y – Millennials
Generation Y
1977-1994
The label refers to the first
generation to come of age in
the new millennium.

28. Generation Y – Millennials
• Born between 1977 and
middle ninety’s.
• Confident, self-expressive,
liberal, upbeat and open to
change. They are history’s
first “always connected”
generation. Steeped in
digital technology and social
media, they treat their multi-
tasking hand-held gadgets
almost like a body part.

29. Generation Y – Millennials
• In weighing their own life
priorities, Millennials place
parenthood and marriage far
above career and financial
success. Also, millennial
employees, in general, are
unconvinced that excessive
work demands are worth
sacrifices to their personal life.

30. Generation Y – Millennials
• Millennials also have great
expectations from their
workplace. Actually, studies
predict that Millennials will
switch jobs frequently, holding
many more jobs than
Generation Xers due to their
great expectations.

31. • However, Millennials say that
creating a strong cohesive,
team oriented culture at work
and providing opportunities for
interesting work that allows
them to thrive both personally
and professionally are
important to their workplace
happiness. Furthermore,
Millennials place a great
emphasis on being supported
and appreciated.
Generation Y – Millennials

32. Pair Work
Do you agree with the characteristics of
each generation? Do you have those
characteristics? Discuss it with a partner.

33. Pair Work
Look at some comments
given by different
generations working
together. What could be
done to avoid generational
conflicts in those
situations? Discuss them
with a partner.

34. Social Networking and Collaboration
I am leaving this
job because I feel
disconnected from
this institution.
The new employees
seem to communicate
more through
technology than in
person.

35. • Embrace the virtual colleague.
• Take a look at what policies will have to be
put in place concerning social networking.
• In case of strict policies concerning social
networking, communicate them clearly.
• Put Millennials together on teams.
• Manage the generational mix. Millennials
are a generation in search of mentors.
Solutions

36. Coaching
Maybe what the other generations don’t know is that we are
hungry to learn. Not all of us are lazy and just getting by. I
love it when people will teach me something. We are
curious. We ask a lot of questions. But that isn’t us being
disrespectful or trying to challenge someone. It’s just us
being curious.

37. • Be ready to coach.
• Coach on explicit and implicit know-how.(By
the coaching process Millennials will develop
the skill level they need to fly solo).
• Work on the generation mix by asking the
older generations to coach Millennials on the
challenges a project presents and on the
strategies to meet them.
Solutions

38. Millennials need for speed
I have been working here for over
a year, but things don’t seem to
get moving. I wish someone could
tell me my real chances of getting
a promotion, since I’ve got one of
the best evaluation scores from
my group.
I want to hit the ground
running and start making a
difference now!
I am used to instant
communication and feedback.
If I work at a place that
doesn’t offer it, it will be hard
to stay motivated.

39. Solutions
• Ramp up the feedback: pick up the pace of
communication. Millennials want instant feedback.
• Empower Millennials to take a role in the pace and
direction of their careers by putting the focus more
on what they achieve and less on arbitrary
timelines.
• Teach Millennials that what you do today, walks
and talks tomorrow.
• Work on the generation mix by putting Millennials
to work as reverse mentors, teaching and coaching
the other generations.

40. Millennials’ Expectations and Commitment
It is getting more and more
difficult to work with this new
generation. The impression I
have is that they are not as
commited to the institution as
we are.
I understand this
generation of employees
seek short-term results
but their expectations in
terms of a career are
quite farfetched.

41. Solutions
• Talk to variety of professionals to learn
what they look for in new hires.
• Think about building a diverse set of
skills: technical, professional,
interpersonal interactions.
• Show loyalty.
• Adapt to other generations in the office.
• Realize the value in learning from older
generations.
• Commit to become a life-long learner.

42. Final thought
Each generation is shaped by different events
and conditions that result in unique ways of
looking at the world. And by seeing where the
generations are coming from, we can move
beyond accepting our differences, to a more
powerful place where we embrace them and
use them to our strategic advantage.

43. Thank you
Gen X Gen Y
• Evania A. Netto
• evanianetto@hotmail.com
• Carolina Piacenti
• cpiacenti@yahoo.com

44. • CAPRINO, K. How Millennials Can Better Prepare For Today's Workforce: 10
Critical Steps, 2014. Available at:
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2014/02/22/how-millennials-can-better-prepare-
for-todays-workforce-10-critical-steps/>. Access in April 2014.
• KULLOCK, E. Por que as geracoes estao no nosso foco?, 2011. Availabe at:<
http://www.focoemgeracoes.com.br/index.php/por-que-as-geracoes-estao-no-nosso-
foco/> Access in April, 2014.
• LANCASTER, L.; STILLMAN, D. The M-factor – How the Millennial generation is
rocking the workplace, 2012.
• MILLER, M. Leadership in a Multigenerational Workforce- Learning how Boomers,
Gen X and Gen Y can work together, 2012.
• PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS. PWC´s NextGen: a Global generational study -
Evolving talent strategy to match the new workforce reality, 2013. The University of
Southern California and London Business School. Availabe at:
<https://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/hr-management-services/pdf/pwc-nextgen-study->.
Acess in April, 2014.
• ROBINSON, M. The Generations - What generation are you?. Availabale at:<
http://www.careerplanner.com/Career-Articles/Generations.cfm>. Access in April, 2014.
• Template: Presentation Magazine website. Available at:
<www.presentationmagazine.com>
Reference