Multigenerational Workforce

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Multigenerational Workforce
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Multigenerational Workforce

• Workforce demographics
• Generational characteristics
• Collisions in the workplace
• Implications
• The newest generation one companys experience
• How you can help

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The Changing Workforce

• 2010 shortfall of 10 million workers
• 2008 25.3 million over 55
• 2008 median age of workforce 41

Source Doing Nothing is Not an Option Facing
the Imminent Labor Crisis by Robert K. Critchley
2004
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Current Workforce Demography

• Cohorts (birth years) (million)
• Gen Yers (1978-85) 20 14
• Gen Xers (1965-77) 42 29.5
• Cuspers (1963-64) 7 5
• Boomers (1946-62) 58 40.5
• Silents
• (before 1946) 16 11
• (before 1931) 1.7

Source Managing the Generation Mix From
Collision to Collaboration by Carolyn C. Martin
Bruce Tulgan, RainmakerThinking estimates 2001.
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Generational CharacteristicsBoomers (born
1946-65)

• Life Defining Events
• Prosperity
• Children in the spotlight
• Television
• Spread of suburbia
• Assassinations
• Vietnam
• Civil Rights Movement
• Cold War
• Womens Liberation
• The Space race

• Core Values
• Optimism
• Team orientation
• Personal gratification
• Health and wellness
• Personal growth
• Youth work
• Involvement

Source Generations at Work by Zemke, Raines
Flipczak
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Generational CharacteristicsXers (born 1965-77)

• Life Defining Events
• Watergate Nixon resignation
• Latchkey kids
• Single-parent homes
• MTV
• AIDS
• Computers
• Challenger disaster
• Fall of Berlin Wall
• Persian Gulf
• Glasnost, Perestroika

• Core Values
• Diversity
• Thinking globally
• Balance
• Technoliteracy
• Fun
• Informality
• Self-reliance
• Pragmatism

Source Generations at Work by Zemke, Raines
Flipczak
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Generational CharacteristicsYers (born 1978-85)

• Life Defining Events
• Computers
• Schoolyard violence
• Oklahoma city bombing
• TV talk shows
• Multiculturalism
• Girls movement
• McGwire Sosa
• It takes a village

• Core Values
• Optimism
• Civic duty
• Confidence
• Achievement
• Sociability
• Morality
• Street smarts
• Diversity

Source Generations at Work by Zemke, Raines
Flipczak
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Collisions in the Workplace

• Sources of human conflict
• ? Personal characteristics and issues
• ? Interactional difficulties
• ? Perspective and perceptive differences

Source When push comes to shove Managers as
mediators by Tim Porter-OGrady David G.
Epstein in Oct 2003 Nursing Management
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Collisions in the WorkplaceGenerational
Delineators
Source Raines,C Hunt,J. (2000). Twelve
Delineators. In The Xers The Boomers From
Adversaries to Allies A Diplomats Guide (p
40). Berkeley, CA Crisp Publications, inc.
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Implications

• How helpful is it for you to understand this?
• How helpful would it be for the younger workers
  to understand this?

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The Newest Generation One companys experience

• Appropriate dress
• Familiarity with applications
• Interview etiquette
• Phone etiquette

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How do you prepare?

• Resume Writing / Applications
• Experience
• Professional references
• Communication
• Phone etiquette
• Communication with different generations
• Manners

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How do you prepare?

• Work ethic / Responsibility
• Asking for help
• Finishing tasks or assignments quickly
• Arriving on time

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How do you prepare?

• Survival of the Newest by Kenneth Oldfield
• Dont over-commit
• Choose, dont juggle
• Determine morning vs evening personalities
• Perform unpleasant tasks
• Delegate
• Make a task budget
• Meetings
• Lead Time

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How do you prepare?

• Survival of the Newest by Kenneth Oldfield
• Human behavior
• Temper
• Choosing associates
• Being liked vs being respected
• Practice
• Join professional associations
• Develop a sense of humor
• Exercise

Source Survival of the Newest by K. Oldfield
Personnel Journal March 1989