generational differences
Post on 21-Mar-2016
44 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Generational Differences
In the Workplace
Generations(Weston, Blauth, McDaniel, Perrin)
• Group of people born in the same general time span who share some life experience– Historical events– Pastimes– Heroes– Work experiences
Roll the Dice
• Roll the dice• Each will reveal a word• Use the word(s) to tell about yourself or
someone with whom you work.
Who Are You?• Traditionalists (1900 – 1945) – Great Depression, WWII,
Korean War, … John Wayne, Joe DiMaggio
• Boomers – (1946-1964) – Suburban sprawl, television, Vietnam, Watergate, … Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. Spock
• Gen X-ers – (1965 – 1980) – Sesame Street, MTV, PCs, Divorce, latch-key kids, … Michael Jordan, Bill Gates
• Millennials - Gen Y – (1981 – 2000)- digital cameras, social media, YouTube, 9/11, Katrina, … Mark Zuckerburg.
Fire Service and Union Leadership• Today, there are at least three distinctive
generations in the workforce. • Boomers are team players, love social
interaction at work and invest time to work their way up
• Gen X-ers are sceptical, determined to do a good job but also go home and have a life
• Millenials (Gen Y-ers) have little patience, if they’re not happy… They leave.
What is Your Perception of Work
• Review the Quiz• Circle the description that best describes
your perception of work• Add your points
Boomers (1946-1964)
• Focus on the American Dream
• Value loyalty• Equal rights• Team Oriented• Good communication
skills
• Live to work• Competent • Want to make a
difference• Able to handle crisis• Ambitious• Ethical
Gen Jones (1953-1965)• As teens in the 1970’s—popularized the slang
term “jonesin’” (meaning a craving or yearning)… – turned out to be a core personality trait of this
generation of huge expectations left unfulfilled• Between the personality extremes of the
Boomers’ idealism and the Xers’ cynicism lies the more balanced mainstream “Jones” quality
• The “keeping up with the Joneses” connotation reflects a collective competitiveness of the Generation Jones birth years
Gen X-ers ( 1965-1980)
• Latch-key kids• Angry but don’t know
why• Confident• Pampered by parents• Results driven• Self sufficient
• Project oriented• Strong sense of
entitlement• Willing to take on
responsibility• Work/life balance is
important
Mil/Gen-Y Characteristics(1981-2000)
• Refuse to work a job that does not bring them a sense of joy.
• Care about the earth and servicing their community• Text one another, IM, watch each other on YouTube,
and sometimes do all three at the same time! • Do NOT care about what you have to say unless you
have been endorsed by their friends. – They care about what their community says, and they take
each others recommendations VERY seriously.
Traditionalist Baby Boomers Generation X-ers
Millennials /Gen Y-ers
Core Values Respect Authority ConformersDiscipline
OptimismInvolvement
SkepticismFunInformality
RealismConfidenceExtreme FunSocial
Family Traditional Nuclear
Disintegrating Latch-key Kids Merged Families
Education A Dream A birthright A way to get there
An incredible expense
Communication/ Media
Rotary phonesOne-on-oneWritten memo
Touch-tone phoneCall anytime
Cell phonesEmail Internet
Text messagingPhoto phoneSocial media
Money Pay cash Save
Buy now/ pay later
CautiousConservativeSave
Earn to spend
Traditionalist Baby Boomers
Generation X-ers
Millennials /Gen Y-ers
Work Ethic
• Hard Work• Respect authority• Sacrifice• Duty before fun• Adhere to Rules
• Workaholics•Work efficiently•Crusading cause•Personal fulfillment•Desire quality•Question authority
• Eliminate the task• Self-reliance• Structure and direction• Skeptical
• What’s next• Multitasking• Tenacity• Entrepreneurial• Tolerant• Goal oriented
Work Ethic
Work Struggles
• Respect for Diversity• Uncomfortable with conflict• Reticent to take leave
• Technology• Sharing praise/rewards• Balancing work and family
• Career development• Office politics• Skeptical / distrustful of authority
• Respectful communication• Functional literacy• Supervision • Structure
Gen Y Invented by the Boomers• Boomers raised Gen Y to believe that they can
do anything and be anything. • Boomers made their lives easy enough that
they now believe they deserve to live first and work second. (How dare them!)
• So the first thing Boomers have to do is stop being pissed off at their own creation and embrace the brilliance of this Gen Y community.
Gen Y’s Four Main Motivators
• Challenging, stimulating and varied work -work on a variety of projects ,learn and use new skills
• Pay - high self esteem gives high expectations, and if they feel pay is low, they feel undervalued. May also be paying off school loans.
• Career growth learning and development - need to know how the tasks they are assigned now will fit into the “big picture” of overall career.
• Enjoyable work environment - all about interacting with their peers…don’t want to be isolated. Want their work environment to be fun.
Gen Y-ers
• Demotivated by four factors:– boredom– a lack of respect or recognition – an inability to learn, grow and
develop– having a bad boss
How Do You Reach Them?
• Understand that Gen Y is an “experience” culture.
• Don’t want to be told what to like or what to do.
• Want to experience the world for themselves and pass their own judgment.
• Love to be in the trenches of life, and they want to be there with their friends.
How to Earn Their Respect
• AUTHENTICITY • They don’t waste time on people who are not
being real with them. – Authentic is cool. – Authentic is truthful.
• This generation has seen it all, from televised wars to 9-11 to the hanging of Hussein.
• They know real when they see it, and it takes them all of three seconds to pass that judgment.
How to Connect with Millenials /Gen Y-ers
• START by listening • Hang out with them. • Experience life with them. • Respect them. • Their outlook on life will change you. • --------------------------- • Note: Tattoo parlors (36 percent of them have
at least one tattoo)
Txting: Can U Cnct?
• Text codes used to communicate.• Try it• Complete the texting exercise
Generation Differences in the Military
• Senior officers didn’t understand social media– Blocked access to MySpace, YouTube and other
sites– Appalled to see junior officers still using Facebook
to organize their squadrons• DOD Decision – – Forbid the behavior and lose benefits of online– Risk wrath of senior officers who didn’t
understand it
Generation Differences in the Military
• Traits of Millennials (Gen Y-ers) adverse to Military Tradition– Adoption of culture (baggy clothes, piercing, tattoos)– Casual indifference to distinctions (race, ethnicity,
sexual orientation) e.g. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell – feels absurd to them– there is no shame in asking or telling.
– Most tolerant generation on record• The oldest members are Navy lieutenants and
Captains in the Air Force, Army and Marines
Military: Millennials/ Gen Y-ers
• Larger than Boomers• 50% larger than Gen –Xers• Committed to family/community/ teamwork• Volunteering for nonprofit work• Reversing trend toward drug use, criminal
activity, and teen pregnancy• Can-do spirit
Military: Millennials/ Gen Y-ers
• Communicate through text, handhelds, videos, audio mixes, blogs and social media pages.
• They are adept at gathering and sharing information• They tend to be quick and effective decision makers• Amazing ability to multitask• Their openness can be used to break down barriers– Training procedures must address this issue if privacy or
secrecy is necessary
Military: Opportunities to Grow
• Inexperience in negotiating agreements
• Deficient in face-to-face social skills
• Inability to ‘win hearts and minds’
Military: Best of Both Worlds• Combine best aspects of networks and best
aspects of ‘command and control’• Infuse the organization with a sense of urgency
and unified mission• Make people responsible for taking
commonsense actions• Seamless communication, speed, agility, and
ability to multitask• Balanced leadership should provide direction,
discipline, and cohesion
Generation Gap Overemphasized
Are we Victims of stereotyping ---- Blind to commonalities ?
• Boomers, X-ers, and Millennials have same expectations from employers– Work on challenging projects– Competitive compensation– Opportunities for advancement and learning– Fair treatment– Work/life balance
Building Together
• Sheets of paper• No other materials• Construct the tallest free-standing structure
Building Together• Planning/Timing – who planned/who ran out of
time?• Pressure – what were the effects?• Innovation – Ideas?• Risk – who took risks?• Learning – could you do better if given another
chance?• Best practice- Look around… what techniques could
be combined to make it better/stronger?• Skills – what skills were valuable?– who had the
skills?
The Mission: All Generations Must Fulfill the Mission
• Differences can be tolerated as long as they do not interfere with the mission– Cell phones on emergency responses– Taking their time when alarm goes off (can’t get out
of bed– or won’t stop task)– Disregarding a command because you don’t like the
tone of the officers voice (or don’t like the officer)– Disregard policy
• Wearing proper uniform – not FDNY t-shirts on duty (unless you work for FDNY)• Tobacco - (chew because you can’t smoke)
Focus on Shared Values
• Similar ‘top’ values – Family tops the list for all generations
• Everyone wants respect – though not defined the same way.– Boomers – “give my opinions the weight deserved”– Millennials/ Y-ers – “listen to me…pay attention to
me”• Nobody likes change – age is not a factor… Has
to do with what you will loose/gain
Focus on Shared Values
• Loyalty depends on context – e.g. hours at work – older workers may spend more time because they are at a different level.
• Everyone wants to learn – want to have the education needed to perform well
• Everyone likes feedback – want to know how they are doing/ what they can do better
Ways to Minimize Differences
• Avoid characterizations based on age – “Old Farts vs. Young Punks”
• Focus on Similarities- use body part analogy• Recognize that change occurs – punch card,
floppy disks, thumb drives wireless• Recognize value – keep what works from the
past and be open to new ideas• Become curious for the unknown – desire
knowledge
Ways to Minimize Differences
• Ask questions rather than make statements – teachable moments (e.g. Do you think that was the best approach?)
• Define acronyms – IT people have great difficulty talking with non IT people
• Paraphrase before answering – (Your perception and their intended point may be very different)
• Acknowledge when someone of a different age is correct – maturity, learning and experience can enlighten
Advice for Boomers• Get to the point• Avoid clichés – be genuine• Learn to use technology• When making assignments explain the
expected endpoint (then let them figure out how to achieve it) … their ways may not be the same as yours
• Communicate benefits• Lighten up!
Advice for Y-ers• Show respect for Boomers• Take your time- get to know people (not just the
task)• Be friendly – relationships are important• Choose face-to-face conversation• Give your full attention – don’t do something else
when talking to someone• Learn the job… don’t just want to LOOK the Part• Learn the structure/ politics of the organization• Learn the history– seemingly odd decisions are often
based on history
Advice for Managers
When Communicating with:
• Traditionalist – words and tone should be respectful, good grammar, clear diction, no slang.
• Boomers – words should be relational over coffee/lunch, ask about interests, get their input, link to mission and values.
Advice for Managers
When communicating with:
• Gen X-ers – don’t waste time, be direct/ straightforward, avoid corporate speak, send email with details
• Millennials/ Gen Y-ers – be positive, send a text message, tie to personal goals or to goals of the team, don’t be condescending, avoid cynicism and sarcasm.
Ideal Leader for all Generations
• Lead by example• Act as a coach/mentor• Be accessible• Encourage followers by helping them see how
they contribute to organization• Challenge followers• Hold others accountable
Where and How did Kennedy Die?
• In Dallas from a gunshot
• In a plane crash in Martha’s Vineyard
• Of a brain tumor at home
• Who’s Kennedy
top related