Generational Diversity

1
Generational Diversity

• Melanie Holmes, Vice President of Corporate
  Affairs

mix
match
2
A Generation

• Defined by age boundaries
• Share similar experiences growing up
• Share similar values and attitudes

3
The Generations

• GI 1901 1931
• Traditionalists 1932 1945
• Baby Boomers 1946 1964
• Generation X 1965 1980
• Generation Y or Millennials 1981 1994
• Digital 1995 to the present

4
For the first time in history four generations
are working together!
5
Traditionalists (born before 1946)

• Respect authority
• Place duty before pleasure
• Believe patience is its own reward delayed
  gratification
• Value honor and integrity
• Avoid challenging the system
• Maintain dedication to a job once they take it
• Believe in law and order
• Team player

6
Traditionalists

• Social Security System established
• Wheaties
• Flash Gordon
• Joe DiMaggio
• Puritan ethics
• Big Bands
• Blondie and Dagwood

• Pearl Harbor
• World War II
• The Great Depression
• Rationing
• The atomic bomb
• Homemaker mother
• The radio

7
Baby Boomers (1946 1964)

• Live to work
• Maintain a general sense of optimism
• Because of their numbers enjoy unprecedented
  influence
• Willing to go into debt betting on the future
• Strive for convenience and personal gratification
• Preserve their youth and are nostalgic about it
• Great majority will work after traditional
  retirement
• Looking for self-fulfillment

8
Baby Boomers

• Kent State
• Civil Rights
• Watergate
• The Pill
• Vietnam
• Television (3 channels!)
• Duck and Cover

• John Lennon
• Woodstock
• Brown v Board of Education
• Kennedy assassination
• Working mother
• Rock n Roll
• Romper Room

9
Generation X (1965 1980)

• Work to live not live to work
• View jobs within context of a contract
• Believe in clear, consistent expectations
• Require opportunities to grow
• Want versatility
• Money is only part of the equation
• Contribution to the whole is important
• Skeptical and cynical

10
Generation X

• Fall of the Berlin Wall
• HIV / AIDS
• Video games
• Energy crisis
• Disco
• Test tube babies
• The Brady Bunch

• Roe v Wade
• Single mother
• VCRs
• MTV
• Personal computers
• Star Trek
• Three Mile Island meltdown

11
Generation Y (1981 1994)

• Live in the moment
• Rely on the immediacy of technology
• Demand clear and consistent expectations
• Earning money translates into immediate
  consumption
• Will respect only after they are treated with
  respect
• Question everything
• Be more diverse
• Family-oriented

12
Gen Y

• Internet
• Virtual reality
• Oklahoma City bombing
• Computer viruses
• DNA
• Designer drugs
• Bill Gates

• Single mother / single father
• Princess Diana
• Globalization
• Cell phones
• Britney Spears
• The Simpsons
• iPod

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Synergy the combined result is greater than the
sum of the parts.
14
Potential Issues

• Different values drive different behavior
• There is the potential for conflicts
• Communication styles are very different
• The generations may clash over priorities
• We all may succumb to stereotypes

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That May Increase

• Tangible costs
• Turnover
• Productivity
• Intangible costs
• Morale
• Grievances and complaints
• Perceptions of inequity

16
Importance of Valuing Differences

• Information flows in all directions
• Successful leaders let everyone be heard and know
  no one has all the answers
• Appreciation of diversity encourages each group
  to contribute to positively impact the success of
  the organization

17
Benefits of the Multi-Generational Team

• The team can attract and retain talented people
  of all ages
• The team is more flexible
• The team can gain and keep greater market share
  because its members reflect a multi-generational
  market
• Decisions are stronger because they are
  broad-based
• The team is more innovative
• The team can meet the needs of a diverse public

Source www.generationsatwork.com
18
Contributions of the Generations

• Traditionalists provide stability and experience
• Boomers are loyal
• Gen Xers contribute out-of-the-box thinking
• Gen Yers provide innovation and excitement while
  staying committed to the organization

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Value differences!
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Thank You!

• Melanie Cosgrove Holmes
• Vice President, Corporate Affairs North America
• Manpower
• 5301 North Ironwood Road
• Milwaukee, WI 53217
• Voice 414.906.6383
• Fax [phone]
• Mobile [phone]
• Email melanie.holmes_at_na.manpower.com
• www.manpower.com