Dr. Peter

Andersen

Professor San Diego State University

Impactful Communication:

Influencing Bosses, Boomers, and

Gen X and Y

Professor Peter Andersen

Fleet Management in the New

Millennium

• Fleet Mangers: More than vehicle specialists

– Persuaders – of bosses, employees, salespeople, city managers, city and country officials

– Innovators – Implementing the next generation of economical low emission cars and digital devices.

Influential Issues and Actions

• Fleet Telematics

• Vehicle Procurement and negotiation

• Fuel Consumption

• Fleet Safety

• Environmental Concerns

• Data Attainment

• Fleet Maintenance

Cultures of the past and future

• Postfigurative Learning

• Cofigurative Learning

• Prefigurative Learning

• Avoiding Future Shock

Future Shock and Generational

Change

• An automotive anecdote

• Innovation and prefiguration

• Working for change

• Becoming digitally resilient

Five Generations

• Greatest Generation: born before 1930 – Almost gone from the workplace

• Silent Generation born between 1930 and 1945 – Next year they turn 1970

• Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 – Oldest are on social security-youngest have just turned 50

• Generation X born between 1965 and 1979 – Small generation sandwiched between boomers and millennials

• Millennials (Generation Y or Echo boomers) born 1980-2000 – Huge generation that are the sons and daughters of baby boomers

Greatest Generation

• You many have been raised by one

• Traditional

• Technological laggards

• Loyal to company, church, and political party

• Formed or shaped the organizations we work for

• Respond to authority-based influence

Silent Generation-Baby Bust

• Oldest members of organizations

• Children of Depression and WW II

• Conservative, formal, hard working

• Organizational Loyalty-internal promotions

• Respond to rules and authority appeals

Baby Boomers

• Largest and most famous generation

• Shaped by Vietnam, Watergate, civil rights, the women’s movement, sexual revolution, drugs, and rock and roll.

• Most of todays leaders and managers

• Very work-centric group-often overacheivers

• Huge generation gap with parents

• Nonconformists, individualists, & hedonistic

• Anxious and ambivalent about retirement (75 million will retire in the next decade)

Dealing with Boomers

• More open to innovation than pre-boomers

• Value openness, expression, questionning

• Like to win, make an impact, innovate

• Responsive to appeals about making impacts

• Identify with profession, long hours

• Rely on old media, TV, newspapers, & email

• Reject values of older generations

Generation X

• Raised with MTV, AIDs, Drugs & Divorce

• Company loyalty abhorrent to this group

• Latchkey kids, street savvy survivors

• Alternative sports, excitement,

• Value individualism, autonomy, flextime, telecommuting

• Do not read newpapers or watch TV news

Appealing to Gen X

• Avoid authority based appeals

• Do invoke company loyalty

• Appeal to entrepreneurial spirit

• Receptive as independent contractors

• Minimize rules, especially the irrelevant

• Low allegiance to political parties, alienated

• Appeal to individualism, autonomy, merit, and work life balance (they want appreciation)

Generation Y: The Millennials • Half the workforce by 2020, 75% by 2025

• Multiracial, post racial, post national, post generational

• Digital Natives-tied to devices, connected, casual

• Creative, collaborative, idea sharers, innovators, want to make a difference

• Multitaskers, everywhere, focus on several ideas

• Few land lines, televisions, or newspapers

• Focus on performance not on seat time

• Multiple jobs/careers/91% on job < 3 years

• Individualists, marry late, not organization joiners

• Self-determining, self-disciplined, organized, educated, entitled.

Appealing to Millennials

• Text, tweet, Facebook or instagram

• Train them digitally on mobile devices

• Use change messages

• Appeal to creativity, self-determination,

• Appeal to lifestyle, work-life balance, new technology, sustainability

• Give them flexibility to get job done

• Listen to them, transparency, dialog, voice

• Do not take them for granted, mobile

Conclusion slide

Take Aways for Today’s Presentation

• Understand your workforce and the differences among generations.

• Turn to oldest organization members for knowledge and institutional memory.

• Turn to peers for standard operating procedures and confirmation.

• Turn to your youngest employees to avoid future shock, become digital, and move into the future.

Bibliography • Andersen, P. A. (2008). Positions of power: Status and dominance in organizational communication. L. K.

Guerrero & M. Hecht (Eds.). The Nonverbal Communication Reader (3rd Ed.)The Nonverbal Communication Reader: Long Grove, IL: Waveland.

• Andersen, P. A. (2009) The wisdom or Long Term Organizations: Creativity and Communication Across Generations. International Training Center, San Diego, CA.

• http://fleetanswers.com/content/disappointments-fleet-management-programs-help-guide-future-purchase-decisions#sthash.IRidihED.dpuf

• Mead culture and Commitment

• Meister, J. (2012). Three reasons you need to adopt a milleniel mindset regardless of your age. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/10/05/millennialmindse/

• Guerrero, L. K., Andersen, P. A., (2014). Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships. Thousand Oaks California, Sage Publications.

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/03/07/more-diverse-millennial-generation-rewrites-traditions/

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/03/07/more-diverse-millennial-generation-rewrites-traditions/

• United Nations, Overcoming Generation Gaps in the Workplace, Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (and Generation Z) Working Together, United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund