Bridging the Generational Gap

Ashley Tare | City of Lynchburg

ashley.tare@lynchburgva.gov

(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:

•Facebook

• iPhone

• Social media

Gen Z/Boomlets: 2002-Current (0-17)

Entertainment:

•YouTube

•Twitter

•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

•ashley.tare@lynchburgva.gov

• (434) 455-3932