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Bridging the Generational Gap
Ashley Tare | City of Lynchburg
(434) 455-3932
Today’s Current Workforce
•Baby Boomers
•Generation X
•Generation Y / Millennials
•Generation Z / Boomlets
Objectives:
• To give you practical tools to use in your workplace
• To help you gain a better understanding of different generations
• To help you more effectively supervise and work well within teams
• To help you intentionally equip the next generation of leaders
Article by Ira S. Wolfe: “I Asked Managers to Describe Millennials, Here's What Happened Next”
Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (55-73)
Popular Songs
Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (55-73)
Events:
•End of World War II
•Vietnam drafts
Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (55-73) “Pioneers”
•Car phones
• Space exploration
• Instant camera
•“Lazy Bones”
•Direct dial telephone service
Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (55-73)
“Pioneers”
•Cassette tapes
• Shopping malls and Walmart
•American moon landing
•Barbie doll
Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (55-73)
Medicine:
•Polio vaccinations
•Anti-smoking campaigns
Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (55-73)
Entertainment:
•“I Love Lucy”
•Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly
Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (55-73)
Politics:
•Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech
•President Kennedy’s assassination
•President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act
The Silent Generation
Born before 1946
What’s trending?
•Face-to-face interaction
•Auditory learners
•Meetings and committees
•Resistant to change
•Company loyalty and legacy
•Technology averse
•Value hard work: “Live to Work"
In practice:
•Face-to-face news and updates
•“Talk things out”
•Action items in meetings
•Working with change: “What would need to be in place to make this work?”
“Is the way we’re currently doing it most effective?”
In practice:
•Acknowledge loyalty and legacy
•Ask their opinion based on their experience
•Longevity vs. competence
•Communicate values
•Train technology use
Generation X: 1965-1982 (37-54)
Popular Songs
Generation X: 1965-1982 (37-54)
Events:
•Landmark TV series: “All in the Family,” “Wheel of Fortune,” and “Saturday Night Live”
•Mass layoffs, unemployment, and inflation
Generation X: 1965-1982 (37-54) “Advancers”
•Home personal computers
•Flight travel
•Medicine
•Visual stimulation
Generation X: 1965-1982 (37-54)
Entertainment:
• Superbowl
•Woodstock
•Drug overdose
Generation X: 1965-1982 (37-54)
Medicine:
•AIDS
Generation X: 1965-1982 (37-54)
Politics:
•Voting Rights Act
•Feminism
•Watergate scandal
•End of Vietnam war
•President Nixon’s resignation
Baby Boomers
1946 - 1964
What’s trending?
•“Latch-key” kids
•Visual learners
•Workplace freedom and flexibility
•“Work smarter, not harder”
•Distrust institutions and authority
•Technological multi-taskers
•Value family life: “Work to Live"
In practice:
• Independent
•Visual news and updates
•Productive meetings
•Efficiency
•Trust is earned
•Work-life balance
Generation Y/Millennial: 1983-2001 (18-36)
Popular Songs
Events:
•Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger
• Stalking, child abuse, and sexual abuse
•Columbine shooting
•Y2K
•9/11
Generation Y/Millennial: 1983-2001 (18-36)
Entertainment:
•“60 Minutes” and “20/20”
•WWE
•Nintendo entertainment system
•“The Simpsons”
Generation Y/Millennial: 1983-2001 (18-36)
Generation Y/Millennial: 1983-2001 (18-36)
Medicine:
•Eating disorders
Generation Y/Millennial: 1983-2001 (18-36)
Politics:
• President Bush declares “War on Drugs”
•Gulf War
• President Clinton’s scandal
• No Child Left Behind Act
• Invasion in Afghanistan
Generation X
1965 - 1982
What’s trending?
•Communication via technology
•Kinesthetic learners
•Workplace individuality and flexibility
•“Why?”
•Competency in leadership
•Educational pressure
• Instant gratification
What’s trending?
•Technology for efficiency
•“Adaptors”
•Value passion: “Pursue satisfying work”
In practice:
•Bite-sized; clickbait
•Learn by doing
•Give them directives, goals, and development
• Speak to the “why”
•Earn their trust
• It takes time; “Good things don’t come easy”
In practice:
•“Tech support”
•Equip the “adaptors” for change
•Find their motivators
Gen Z/Boomlets: 2002-Current (0-17)
Popular Songs
Events:
•V-Tech shooting
• Stock market crash
•Rise in mass murders
•Clicklist and online shopping
Gen Z/Boomlets: 2002-Current (0-17)
Technology:
• iPhone
• Social media
Gen Z/Boomlets: 2002-Current (0-17)
Entertainment:
•YouTube
•Netflix binge watching
•“The Office,” “This is Us,” and “Game of Thrones”
Gen Z/Boomlets: 2002-Current (0-17)
Medicine:
•Mental health disorders
Gen Z/Boomlets: 2002-Current (0-17)
Politics:
•A lot
Gen Z/Boomlets: 2002-Current (0-17)
Generation Y
1983 - 2001
What’s trending?
•Virtual communication
•Technologically immersed
• Socially connected, socially isolated
•Highlight reel
•Live feed
•Collaborative
What’s trending?
•Rapid information processing
•Peer reviews, SMEs
•Value impact: “Do meaningful work”
In practice:
•Value the human connection
•Allow failure
•Close the feedback loop
•Mind the authority gap
•Tie work to impact
In practice:
•Organization, systems, software improvement
•Collaboration
•Know your facts
Objectives:
• To give you practical tools to use in your workplace
• To help you gain a better understanding of different generations
• To help you more effectively supervise and work well within teams
• To help you intentionally equip the next generation of leaders
How can you empower the next generation?
• Identify and appreciate their differences
•Draw out the good characteristics
•Be mindful of how you’re raising the next generation
• Invest in the next line of leaders
Bridging the Generational Gap
Contact Information:
•Ashley Tare | City of Lynchburg
• (434) 455-3932