The Technocrats&

Multigenerational Communications

PRESENTED BY: Beth Petrunich, Nichole Robinson, Robin McLaren

WHAT IS A GENERATION?

HOW DOES IT MATTER IN THE WORKPLACE?

Examination of Generations

• Historical Events of Youth Bond them Together

• Common Events influence Attitudes Behaviors, and Expectations

• A Group Traveling Together through Time

COMMITTED

DEDICATION LEADS TO REWARDS

WHO THEY ARE

HARD WORK

PUNCTUAL

HUMBLE

SELF-SACRIFICE

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Greatest Generation

• AKA: Traditionalists, Matures, the Silent Generation, and Veterans, Loyalists

• Born: between 1925 and 1946

(McShane & Von Glinow, 2010)• Experienced: the Great Depression,

Pearl Harbor, and the World War II, GI Bill

Workplace Values

• Loyalty• Recognition• Self-Sacrifice• Traditional Values and Gender Roles• Resistance to change• Past-oriented

Work Styles

• Consistency and uniformity• Seek out technological advances• Command and control leadership

reminiscent of military operations• Prefer hierarchical organizational

structures and will continue to view horizontal structure in a hierarchical way

HARD WORK AND EFFORT WILL LEAD TO SUCCESS

Greatest Generation’s Tag Line

COMPETITIVE

DISTRUST AUTHORITY

WHO THEY ARE

LIVE TO WORK

TEAM WORK

FACE-TIME

VALUES STATUSWORK-CENTRIC

Baby Boomers

• AKA: Sandwich Generation, The “Me” Generation

• Born: 1946 and 1964• Experienced: the Women’s Movement,

the Civil Rights Movement, and the moon landing.

• Witnessed: the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther, the resignation of President Nixon, and the Vietnam War.

Workplace Values

• Dedication• Face Time• Place a high value on Independent

Thinking• Confidence in tasks• Emphasize team building• Seek collaborative, group decision making• Avoid conflict

LIVE TO WORKBaby Boomer’s Tag Line

AUTONOMY

VALUE WORK/LIFE BALANCE

WHO THEY ARE

WORK TO LIVE

individualistic

INFORMAL

Flexible

TECHNOLOGICALLY ADEPT

Generation X

• AKA: The Slacker Generation and Baby Bust (Fogg, 2008)

• Born: 1965 to 1979

(McShane & Von Glinow, 2010)• Experienced: High Divorce Rates,

Latchkey, Berlin Wall, Challenger disaster, Rapid Change

Workplace Values

• Highly Mobile• Loyal to work groups and bosses (not firms)• Dislike Hierarchy• Rewards should be based on merit not

seniority• Prefer to work alone with informal work

arrangements

Work Styles

• High-quality end results• Productivity• Balance between work and life- work to live not

live to work• Flexible work hours/ job sharing appealing• Free agents• See self as a marketing commodity• Comfortable with authority but not impressed

with titles

WORK TO LIVEGen X Tag Line

DIGITAL NATIVES, NOT IMMIGRANTS

WHO THEY ARETREND-SETTERS

HIGHLY CONNECTEDLAZY

SELF-CENTERED

SPOILED / CODDLEDAMBITIOUS

THE FUTURE

INFLUENCERS

NOW – FOR EVERYTHING!

Source: 2008 Brand Mercenaries, LLC :: Colorado-based Generation Y Experts

Generation Y

• AKA: Millennials (Fogg, 2008) Technocrats, Echo Boomers, iGeneration, Internet Generation, or Net Generation

• Born: 1980 to 2002 (McShane & Von Glinow, 2010)

3x as many as Gen X• Experienced: Internet Era, 9/11/2001,

Columbine Massacre, Facebook, Cell Phones

Workplace Values

• Everybody Wins!• Feedback• Recognition• Fulfillment• Advanced Technology• Fun• Constant Flow of Information• Egalitarian

Work Styles

• Want to know the big picture• View their work as an expression of themselves;

not as a definition of themselves• Exceptional Multi-Taskers• Seek active involvement• Less likely to seek managerial or team leadership

positions that would compromise life outside of work

TELECOMMUTINGPRODUCTIVITY ≠ HOURS AT DESK

Millennials Tag Line

CROSS GENERATIONAL COMMUNICATION

WHAT HAPPENS IN

What Happens if these Generations Fail to

Communicate?

• Turnover rates may increase • Intangible HR costs may increase • — Morale may suffer • — Grievances and complaints may

increase • — Perceptions of fairness and equity may

suffer

Potential for Intergenerational

Misunderstanding of the Traditionalist

• Younger managers and staff may view Traditionalists as being dictatorial, narrow, rigid, techno-illiterate and slow

• Traditionalists might misinterpret dry humor or sarcasm since they prefer direct communication.

• Respecting authority, they prefer the straightforward, ‘tell-me-what-you-need-me-to-do’ supervisor approach.

• Traditionalists tend to be highly offended with uninhibited workplace banter

• Traditionalists despise workers who jump ladder rungs on a way up to a promotion.

Potential for Intergenerational

Misunderstanding of the Traditionalist

• Traditionalists might view emails, voicemails, pagers and other informal means of communication as lazy & impersonal.

• Their focus on one task at a time, might lead people of other generations to view them as incompetent and unable to multi-task.

Potential for Intergenerational

Misunderstanding of the Traditionalist

Potential for Intergenerational Misunderstanding of the

Boomer:

• Boomers’ long hours is evidence that they have an unhealthy work/life balance.

• In organizations in which telecommuting is possible, X’ers might misinterpret Boomers’ demands for employees to stay on-site as limited confidence in their work or decreased trust.

• Boomers might believe that employees who fail to put in ‘extra time’ lack commitment, focus, and loyalty.

(Consider the implications for a performance rating and doling of pay raise).

• Boomers might not recognize or fully appreciate the off-site contribution of employees

(such as grading tests at home for teachers, etc.).

“If your car isn’t in the parking lot, you must

not be working…”

Potential for Intergenerational Misunderstanding of the

Boomer:

Potential for Intergenerational Misunderstanding of the X’er:

• Employees of previous generations may experience a bias against having a supervisor that is the same age as their own kids.

• Previous generations might resent an X’er who is in a management position if he/she hasn’t used the corporate ladder or ‘paid their dues.’

• X’ers might lose interest in meetings where non-critical information could’ve been shared in more expedient ways (email, overhead announcements).

• Their disinterest might be perceived as a failure to get-along with coworkers or be a team player.

• As a result of their independence, X’ers may need to be reminded to delegate.

• X’ers’ off-site contributions to an organization might go unrecognized.

Potential for Intergenerational Misunderstanding of the X’er:

Potential for Intergenerational Misunderstanding of the Y’er:

• Those not comfortable with technology might perceive the Y’er’s PowerPoint presentation and Excel graphing as attempts to ‘show-off.’

• Y’ers might assume fellow employees share the same technological skills in the workplace.

“It’s easy--all you have to do is modify your settings so that you allow keychain encryption.”

• Y’ers find letters, pagers, faxes, answering machines and email communication as too slow.

• To the Y’er, multi-tasking is second nature. Previous generations tend to see this as blatantly rude and insulting.

Potential for Intergenerational Misunderstanding of the Y’er:

• ‘Diversity Awareness’ might be stating the obvious.

• Y’ers are using a new form of shorthand. BRB (Be Right Back) and LOL (Laughing Out Loud) are two examples. This shorthand also may be used on Post-ItTM notes and emails to members of other generations. – Older staff might view this shorthand as cryptic, unnecessary and

exclusionary. (What in the heck is BRB?’…)

Potential for Intergenerational Misunderstanding of the Y’er:

TRENDS SHARED BY ALL GENERATIONS

Where is the common ground?

Values Shared

• Feeling Valued by Peers, Supervisor(s) and the Organization

• Inclusion in the Communication Loop

• People like to be included.

Values Shared

• All employees want to receive clear communication about their work environment and employers’ expectations, preferably in the style the employee values.

• As an aside, we wonder whether the ever-present organizational complaint related to ‘poor communication’ really suggests that employees believe that they are not being provided with communication in the style (mode and frequency) they prefer.

Values Shared

• Work/Life Balance• Rewards, Benefits and Compensation• Life-Long Learning Opportunities• Although staff may prefer different methods of

learning, people of all generations value learning things that will help them personally or on the job.

• Learning opportunities need to be available to all employees.

BUILDING COMMUNICATION BRIDGES

How does an Organization Traverse the Generation’s Communication Divide?

Alternatives

Awareness Training:

PROS

• Helps employees use empathy

• May encourage others to learn/try a new form of communication

• Least expensive option.

CONS

• Taking time for any training takes people away from doing their jobs.

• May meet resistance at first.

Alternatives

Force everyone to use all forms of communication: face to face, phone, fax, email, texting, teleconferencing, video conferencing, social networking, IM

PROS

• Workforce will be able to keep up with technological advances.

• Employees will be able to tailor communication method for the generation he/she wishes to communicate with.

CONS

• Each generation may have its issues utilizing each type.

• Employees could present resistance to new ideas. Works under the assumption that employees have access to each form all of the time.

• Taking time for any training takes people away from doing their jobs.

• Would need updated equipment

Alternatives

Communication Bureaucracy

Indicates when employees must use each type of communication

PROS

• Employees will have diverse communication experience.

CONS

• Some may be unfamiliar with new technology and it would require training.

Recommendation

Awareness Training:

Employees will communicate most effectively when they use the method with which they are the most comfortable.

Once people develop their emotional intelligence to empathize between the generational gap, co-workers may be able to understand why each method is preferable to different generations, thus smoothing out the communication process.

References

• A Boomer’s Guide to Communicating with Gen X and Gen Y - BusinessWeek. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_34/b4097063805619.htm?chan=magazine+channel_special+report

• Bayer, A. (2011). A Waste of a Generation: Social conflict may rear its head as graduates with reduced opportunities are forced to fund their profligate predecessors generous benefits. National Underwriter Company dba Summit Business Media. Retrieved from http://proxygsu-sho1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/854391577?accountid=13843

• Creating sustainable work systems ... - Google Books. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?id=yNbh1PHbUqcC&pg=PA56&dq=work+related+stress+generation&hl=en&ei=qSPCTZbFDYTbgQfI-ezdAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=work%20related%20stress%20generation&f=false

• Docherty, P., & Shani, A. B. (2008). Creating sustainable work systems: developing social sustainability. Taylor & Francis.

• GenerationalDiversityPHRAProject.pdf. (n.d.). . Retrieved from http://www.pittsburghhra.org/UserFiles/File/carrer_bank/GenerationalDiversityPHRAProject.pdf

• Hofstede, G. H. (1984). Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values. SAGE.

 

References

• How the “Millennial”; Generation Works - ProQuest Research Library - ProQuest. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://search.proquest.com.proxygsu-sho1.galileo.usg.edu/pqrl/docview/209613139/12F24006C20217C6885/19?accountid=13843

• Kunreuther, F., Kim, H., & Rodriguez, R. (2008). Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership. John Wiley and Sons.

• Lovely, S., & Buffum, A. G. (2007). Generations at school: building an age-friendly learning community. Corwin Press.

• Using the kaleidoscope career model to examine generational differences in work attitudes - ProQuest Research Library - ProQuest. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://search.proquest.com.proxygsu-sho1.galileo.usg.edu/pqrl/docview/219334535/fulltext/12F24166C527ACD60D3/1?accountid=13843

QUESTIONS?