Generational Differences By: Sandi Bullington /

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

 High achievers,  Fearless but not reckless,  Patriotic, Duty, Honor, Country  Dedication, Sacrifice  Idealistic,  Morally consciences Greatest Generation

 America's first astronauts,  Nobel laureates,  Legendary movie stars,  Political leaders

 "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

 Good team player  Put their trust in – Government, – Authority – Community

 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

– Formative Experiences Roaring 20s Great Depression FDR Administration Rationing Pearl Harbor Atomic Bomb Korean War

– They will remember where they were when: The stock market crashed in 1929 –Black Thursday Pearl Harbor was bombed –December 7,

– Lifestyle Boy & Girl Scouts founded Electricity discovered Freon discovered First retail stores established –Woolworths

 Cautious  Patience  Unadventurous,  Unimaginative,  Withdrawn,  Silent

 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"

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

 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

 Formative Experiences-Grew up with social turmoil – Television – Korean War – Cold War – Civil Rights – Space Race

 Will remember where they were when – John Kennedy was assassinated November 20,

 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

 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

 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

 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 

 Formative Experiences-Grew up with social turmoil – Cold War – Civil Rights – Space Race – Assassinations – Vietnam War – Energy Crisis – Watergate

 Will remember what they were doing when – John F Kennedy was assassinated – The Challenger exploded

 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

 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

 How to Motivate – Public recognition – Give them a chance to prove themselves – Perks associated with status – Reward working long hours

 What Boomer Women brought to the Workplace – Job sharing – Daycare in business – Flex-time – Telecommunity

 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 Baby Busters MTV Boomerang Generation

 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

 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

 Fun Facts  A dollar in 1961 is worth $6.51 in 2005  Popular Toys: Game Boy,Rubik's Cube Transformers  Popular Movies The Extra Terrestrial Close Encounters of the Third Kind  Birth Name (death)  1963 Michael Jordan  1961 Princess Diana (1997)  1961 Eddie Murphy

 Formative Experiences – Roe vs Wade – Challenger Explosion – Latchkey Kids – Fall of Berlin Wall – Persian Gulf War – AIDS – Clinton Administration

 Important Events – Roe versus Wade Abortion Case – Challenger Shuttle Explodes on Takeoff – Berlin Wall Dismantled

 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 . – Best expresses their feeling through music groups, Internet communication, and with what they wear

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

 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

 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 1978 – 1990 Generation Y also know as Echo Boomers

 Fun Facts – $1 in 1982 is worth $2.02 in 2005  Popular Movies – Braveheart 1997 – Titanic

 Formative Experiences – Oklahoma City Bombing – World Trade Center Collapse

 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!

 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

 How to Motivate – Challenge them – Let them work with friends – Constant, constructive feedback – Use latest technology – Combine work and play

 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

REFERENCES  Generational Differences, David Adams, Missouri Training Institute, Lecture 2004  Generational Change in the Workplace, John McMahan, Center for Real Estate Enterprise Management, 2001  y.htm y.htm  

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: 1.Food 2.Technology 3.Service 4.Clothing 5.Entertainment