Generational Differences

Generational Differences By: Sandi Bullington /

GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES • GI • Silent/Mature • Boomers • Generation X • Millennial/Y • Generation Z -Futuristic

1901-1924 Greatest Generation • High achievers, • Fearless but not reckless, • Patriotic, Duty, Honor, Country • Dedication, Sacrifice • Idealistic, • Morally consciences

1901-1924 • America's first astronauts, • Nobel laureates, • Legendary movie stars, • Political leaders

1901-1924 • "G.I." stand for general issue or government issue • Throughout the G.I. life cycle, • Federal government directed and supported its members with new programs and departments. • A generation of "doers' and "believers," • Survivors of the great depression

1901-1924 • Good team player • Put their trust in • Government, • Authority • Community.

1901-1924 • Fun Fact • A dollar in 1924 is equal to $11.37 in 2005 • Birth Name (Death) • 1901 Walt Disney (1966) • 1902 Charles Lindbergh (1974) • 1902 John Steinbeck (1968) • 1907 John Wayne (1979) • 1916 Walter Cronkite (2009) • 1924 Lee Iacocca

1901-1924 • Formative Experiences • Roaring 20s • Great Depression • FDR Administration • Rationing • Pearl Harbor • Atomic Bomb • Korean War

1901-1924 • They will remember where they were when: • The stock market crashed in 1929 • Black Thursday • Pearl Harbor was bombed • December 7, 1941

1901-1924 • Lifestyle • Boy & Girl Scouts founded • Electricity discovered • Freon discovered • First retail stores established • Woolworths

1925-1945 • Cautious • Patience • Unadventurous, • Unimaginative, • Withdrawn, • Silent

1925-1945 • Generation without a cause • Many looking for cause (Peace Corp founded) • Wanted job security offered by big corporations • Earliest marrying group in American history • Women became mothers and stayed at home • Start of the "divorce epidemic"

1925-1945 • Duty, honor, country • Dedication, sacrifice • Conformity • Patience • Hard, hard times then great prosperity • National pride • Doing a good job was most important • Age=Seniority

1925-1945 • Fun fact • A dollar in 1942 is equal to $11.93 • Birth Name (death) • 1925 Margaret Thatcher • 1926 Queen Elizabeth II • 1928 Marin Luther King (1968) • 1936 Jim Henson (1980) • 1941 Bob Dylan

1925-1945 • Formative Experiences-Grew up with social turmoil • Television • Korean War • Cold War • Civil Rights • Space Race

1925-1945 • Will remember where they were when • John Kennedy was assassinated • November 20, 1962

1925-1945 • Lifestyle • Parents strict with their children. • Pressure to conform came from the adults not from peers. • Housing developments increased • Many moved to the suburbs • Suburban life encouraged conformity • Women started to wear trousers • Transistor radio, television, and electric typewriter mass marketed

1925-1945 • In the Workplace • More direct because of life experiences • Appreciate formality and order • Managers don’t always know how to treat women in workplace • Like to be asked about their past experiences • Comfortable with top-down organizational structure-respectful of hierarchical authority • Loyal to their company

1925-1945 • How to Motivate • Personal touch • Allow them time to chat between tasks • Honor their hard work and achievement with symbols • Ask them their life story

1946-1964 • Developed under parent's care • Dedicated to nurturing their children to success • Stay-at-home moms • devoted to children's social, economic, & spiritual. well being • Advice from Dr. Benjamin Spock • Develop personalities that mixed high self-esteem with self-indulgence • Taught to think critically by questioning everything • Justify, purify, and force change wherever they believed it was necessary. • Made themselves heard by lighting social and political fuses

1946-1964 • Formative Experiences-Grew up with social turmoil • Cold War • Civil Rights • Space Race • Assassinations • Vietnam War • Energy Crisis • Watergate

1946-1964 • Will remember what they were doing when • John F Kennedy was assassinated • The Challenger exploded

1946-1964 • Lifestyles • Poodle Skirts, bobby socks • Bell bottoms, bikini • Jonas Edward Salk Develops PolioVaccine • Dr. Christian Neethling, a South African surgeon, performed the first human heart-transplant

1946-1964 • In the Workplace • Work ethic = work ethic, workaholics, motivated • Positive, optimistic, over-confident, question authority • Still believe in hard work and service • Like having a consensus to plan • Like face to face meetings; Like being star of show • Want loose structure that has temporary power • Defined by their job • Today, hold majority of management & leadership positions

1946-1964 • How to Motivate • Public recognition • Give them a chance to prove themselves • Perks associated with status • Reward working long hours

1946-1964 • What Boomer Women brought to the Workplace • Job sharing • Daycare in business • Flex-time • Telecommunity

1965-1985 Baby Busters 1965-1980 MTV Boomerang Generation 1975-1985 • Older generations classify this generation as • Irresponsible, • Reckless, • Uneducated, • Violent • X’ers find this criticism both overblown and very unfair. • Suspicious of Boomer values • No common heros

1965-1985 • X’ers observed adults not in control of their own lives or their country • Vietnam War • Three Mile Island; • Skyrocketing divorces • Working mothers created "latchkey" kids • Children without a childhood • Forced to grow up fast • Overloaded with information, • Had to learn to fend for themselves

1965-1985 • X’ers find it hard to understand • What is truth, • Right from wrong, • How to achieve success • Confronted with • Drug addiction, • AIDS, • Sexual freedom, • Uncontrollable violence, • Environmental and world problems created by past generations.

1965-1985 • Fun Facts • A dollar in 1961 is worth $6.51 in 2005 • Popular Toys: Game Boy,Rubik's CubeTransformers • Popular Movies1982 - The Extra Terrestrial1991 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind • Birth Name (death) • 1963 Michael Jordan • 1961 Princess Diana (1997) • 1961 Eddie Murphy

1965-1985 • Formative Experiences • Roe vs Wade • Challenger Explosion • Latchkey Kids • Fall of Berlin Wall • Persian Gulf War • AIDS • Clinton Administration

1965-1985 • Important Events • Roe versus Wade - 1986 - Abortion Case • Challenger Shuttle Explodes on Takeoff - 1986 • Berlin Wall Dismantled - 1989

1965-1985 • Lifestyle • Most households have parents working full-time jobs trying to give their kids the best of life, especially materially, yet at the same time leaving many of the X’ers to fend for themselves • Communication between family members is done only by portable telephone, beepers or e-mail. • Best expresses their feeling through music groups, Internet communication, and with what they wear.

1965-1985 • Lifestyle • A preppie is an upper-middle class conservatively dressed in fifties retro country club style • Adult Preppies are better known as Yuppies. • Internet - 1995 • First to develop an ease and comfort with technology • First Test Tube Baby

1965-1985 • Workplace • Watched parents get downsized and don’t believe in corporate loyalty • Grew up with computers and tend to be techno-savvy and entrepreneurial • Very self-reliant • Want to build skills that will transfer to a new job

Millennial Generation Generation Y also know as Echo Boomers 1978 – 1990 Politicians and parents are taking an interest in improving conditions today that allows this generation to grow up in a nurturing environment Stay away from drugs, alcohol, profanity, improper TV, unchaperoned gatherings, aggressive behavior, beware of AIDS, and avoid teen pregnancy. Ambitious yet clueless Generation of hope Sometimes called the Y Generation

Millennial Generation 1978 - 1990 • Fun Facts • $1 in 1982 is worth $2.02 in 2005 • Popular Movies • Braveheart 1997 • Titanic 1998

Millennial Generation 1978 - 1990 • Formative Experiences • Oklahoma City Bombing • World Trade Center Collapse

Millennial Generation 1978-1990 • Lifestyles • Styles from past generations make comebacks (bell bottoms) • Women cloths expose more of the body • Dress to feel good about self • Live in the moment • Hang with pals • Use Immediate technology • Earn money for immediate consumption • Think Matures are cool!

Millennial Generation 1978-1990 • In the Workplace • Beginning to become employment age • Racially and ethnically diverse • Individualistic, yet group-oriented • Short attention span • Question everything • Goal oriented • Entrepreneurial • Acknowledge and admire some authorities • Demonstrate respect only after being treated with respect

Millennial Generation 1978-1990 • How to Motivate • Challenge them • Let them work with friends • Constant, constructive feedback • Use latest technology • Combine work and play

1995-2007 • Generation Z the New Silent Generation • Rise of the Information Age/Internet/dot com bubble • Digital Globalization • Still to be determined!

If your boss is a Boomer • My way is the right way • Look over shoulder • May not give enough respect

How you can improve your relations with a Boomer boss • Come in early • Stay late • Ask for their advice

Assignment 1. Design a power point with each demographic segment-GI, Silent Mature, Boomers, Gen x, Millennial, Futuristic (6 slides) 2. Using only pictures show appealing brands of the following categories: Food Technology Service Clothing Entertainment

Generational Differences