Creating Adaptive Businesses: Growing Millennials and Working Across Generations

1. Creating Adaptive Businesses: Growing Millennials and Working Across Generations

2. Facilitator: • Merryn Rutledge, Ed. D., Principal, ReVisions LLC • Panelists • Becky Cohen, Internship Program & Special Projects Manager, VBSR • Tom Novak, business leader • Jessica Sabick, PHR, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation • Kerin Stackpole, Attorney, Paul Frank + Collins

3. Putting it all in Perspective • Multiple generations in the workplace for longer periods of time • We come to the workplace with different • Work Experiences • Educations • Perspectives • Life Experiences • Influences • Responsibilities

4. A World of Change • Social Systems • Community • Family • Marriage • Church • Education • Interaction with the World • Workplace Practices • Economic • Racial/Ethnic Diversity • Legal Protections • Title VII • Title IX • ADA, FMLA, WC • NLRA • Technology

9. When Generations Collide The WWII Generation Born 1925-1945 – Approx. 70 Million Baby Boomers Born 1946-1964 – Approx. 80 Million Generation X Born 1965-1980 – Approx. 50 Million Generation Y/ Millennials Born 1980-2002 – Approx. 76 Million

10. Why learn about the Generations? • 4 Generations are working side by side • Different values, experiences, styles, and attitudes create • Misunderstandings • Frustrations • Inefficient communication • Lower productivity • Understanding and appreciating differences can help bridge the gap.

11. WWII Generation (66 and older) • Influences • Great Depression, Roaring Twenties, • World War II, Korean War, G.I. Bill • Some Common Characteristics • Patriotic • Respect for authority • “waste not, want not,” • Faith in institutions • Military influenced top-down approach • Loyal and committed

12. Influential People/Events

13. WWII Generation (66 and older) • Logic, Hard Work, Discipline and Order are important • Tend to Struggle with Change • Loyalty and longevity are valued • Believe that Legacy is Important • Not Native Technology Users

14. Baby Boomers (46-65) • Some Common Characteristics • Competitive • Willing to Question Authority • Optimistic • Idealistic • Hoping to Retire, but afraid they will never get the chance • Influences and Life Experiences • TV, Vietnam, Suburban Sprawl, Watergate, civil rights movement, feminist movement, anti-war protests, drugs, rock ‘n roll • Saw war as it happened and watched body counts rise in Vietnam in real time. • Affected by the Draft

15. Influential People/Events

16. Baby Boomers (46-65) • Often called the “Me” Generation • Money, Title, Recognition • Want to Build A Stellar Career • Told They Could “Have it All” • Experiences of Men and Women in this generation are significantly different on this point. • Now, members of this generation are “in charge” • Entitlements are being challenged by the aging of this generation.

17. Generation X (30’s to mid 40‘s) • Influences and Experiences • Sesame Street, MTV, Game Boy, PC, divorce rate tripled in their lifetime, latch-key children, Title IX, Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas, 9/11 • Some Common Characteristics • eclectic, resourceful, self-reliant, distrustful of institutions, highly adaptive to change and technology, willing to change jobs for better opportunities or greater life balance.

18. Influential People/Events

19. Generation X (30’s to mid 40’s) • Possibly Most Misunderstood Generation • Seeking a balance between work and life – Freedom • Flexible and Motivated • Goal is to Build a Portable Career

20. Generation Y/Millennials (under 30) • Influences and Life Experiences • Rapid expansion of technology, climate change and natural disasters, social networking in cyberspace, school violence, cultural diversity, flexible and virtual work environments • Some Common Characteristics • Globally focused, realistic, very cyber literate, “personal safety” is a critical concern, seeking flexibility to achieve life balance, “informational overload,” comfortable with being constantly “connected”

21. Influential People/Events

22. Generation Y/Millennials (30 and under) • Value Diversity/ Change • Willing to make frequent changes to meet personal goals • Willing to “try out” jobs to “rule out” what they do NOT want • Community Activism is Important • Want Work to be Meaningful and to Have a Say in How Work is Done • Raised “by a Village” (and used to having the entire “Village” involved)

23. Generation Y/Millennials (30 and under) • “Helicopter Parents” • Less freedom given to this generation and more direct involvement by parents in their daily activities • Typically from smaller families • Education and Parenting methods based less on discipline and more on teaching • Good with Positive Feedback; Challenged by Negative Feedback

24. Making Diversity Work • Recognize that there can be conflicts between employees of different generations or cultural backgrounds around issues such as: • Goals (why we work) • Work Styles (work as work, work as fun, balance) • Feedback (style, frequency and method) • Rewards (money, title, time) • Career Path (stability, flexibility, fluidity)

25. Questions for Discussion • What practices work? • Looking ahead, what are top challenges vis-à-vis Millennials and future generations?

26. Additional Resources • Shepard, S.  Managing Millennials • http://www.shepardcomm.com/managing-millennials-wp.pdf • Rutledge, M.  Articles on Millennials and Managing Diversity • http://www.revisions.org/news.php • Human Resources Tips for Managing Millennials • http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementtips/a/millenials.htm