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Generations In The Workplace

Module 3National Guard

Technician Personnel Management Course

It's hard to know just where one generation ends and the next one begins, but it's somewhere around 9 P.M." ~ unknown

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Understanding the GenerationsGENERATIONS in the WORKPLACE is a

30 minute training video.

This video explores each of the generations’ defining events, characteristics, work preferences, and perspective on members of other generations.

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While Watching The VIDEO

• 1. Notice how each of the generations is portrayed.

• 2. Notice where there is breakdown or difference of opinion.

• 3. Reflect on the people they work with – team members, customers, and colleagues.

• 4. Look and listen for how people and situations in the video are reflective of their work experience.

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Understanding The Generations

“People resemble their

times more than they

resemble their parents.”

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Video Debrief

What characteristics stood out for you about George, Patricia, Derek, and Ashley?

George thinks the company “takes care of people”. What do you think it means for a company to “take care of its people”?

How and why do generations tend to have differing perspectives on this?

How have people’s expectations changed?

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Video DebriefWhich person had more of a

connection to historical events?George

A.

Which person do you think would be more comfortable with technology?

Ashley A.

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Video Debrief

If George tends to be more impressed by history, civic pride and respect for authority, who tends to have more knowledge of and desire for tofu than steak?

A. Ashely

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Video Debrief

Baby Boomers like to have their work ethic acknowledged. Who in the video especially valued recognition?

A. Patricia

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Video Debrief

Which of the generational types would seem to value a more flexible workplace?

A. Generation Xer’s

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Understanding the GenerationsWith which generation do you think

you experience the most conflict?

Attendees shares some experience.

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Understanding the Generations

This generation sees the world asconnected, global, and round-the-clock. Who are they?

A. Millennials

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Understanding the Generations

Which generation might have more of a tendency to base their decisions on what has worked successfully in the past?

A. Baby Boomers

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Understanding the Generations

While Boomers tend to see relationship and results as interrelated, this group wants to get right to the point...?

A. Generation Xer’s

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Understanding the GenerationsAt work they’re the classic

“keepers of the grail” and an irreplaceable repository of lore and wisdom. Who are they?

A. WW II Generation

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Understanding the Generations

Three Strategies for being more effective in mixed-generation settings:

1) Learn about and talk through generational issues.

2) Acknowledge and appreciate differences.

3) Develop your knowledge of each generation’s preferences.

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Understanding the Generations

Employment Retention Factors:

George (WWII)

• Clear Direction

• Professional standing/job status

• Stability and security

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Understanding the Generations

Employment Retention Factors:

Patricia (Baby Boomer)

• Recognition

• Organization/Agency Reputation

• Collaboration

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Understanding the GenerationsEmployment Retention Factors:

Derek (Gen Xer)

• Flexibility

• Development

• Fun

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Employment Retention Factors:

Ashley (Millennial)

• Work/life balance

• Positive environment

• Recognition

Understanding the Generations

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Understanding the GenerationsWhat Young Employees Want in a Leader

• A role model. “Walk the talk.”

• A teacher and mentor. Help us improve our skills

• Someone who shows empathy & understanding.

• A challenger. They want to gain valuable experience.

• Someone who has confidence in them.

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Understanding the GenerationsWhat Young Employees Want in a Leader

• A delegator. They learn by doing.

• A promoter. Take every opportunity to praise team members.

• A listener. Younger employees insist on being heard!

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Quotes to Ponder

There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age - I missed it coming and going.  ~J.B. Priestly

It's one of nature's way that we often feel closer to distant generations than to the generation immediately preceding us.  ~Igor Stravinsky

People who don't cherish their elderly have forgotten whence they came and whither they go.  ~Ramsey Clark

They say genes skip generations.  Maybe that's why grandparents find their grandchildren so likeable.  ~Joan McIntosh

We're the middle children of history.... no purpose or place.  We have no Great War, no Great Depression.  Our great war is a spiritual war.  Our great depression is our lives.  ~From the movie Fight Club, about Generation X

The older generation thought nothing of getting up at five every morning - and the younger generation doesn't think much of it either.  ~John J. Welsh

That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in another.  ~Adlai Stevenson

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Quotes to Ponder•

First we are children to our parents, then parents to our children, then parents to our parents, then children to our children.  ~Milton Greenblatt

When women feel they have learned to forgive their mothers - and men, their fathers - all it usually means is that they've decided to allow themselves the same kind of behavior.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Every generation revolts against its fathers and makes friends with its grandfathers.  ~Lewis Mumford, The Brown Decades

The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents and the second half by our children.  ~Clarence Darrow

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it.  ~Haim Ginott

In my day, we didn't have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned.  ~Jane Haddam

There is nothing wrong with today's teenager that twenty years won't cure.  ~Author Unknown