GENERATIONS “ Speaking their Language”

1. GENERATIONS“Speaking their Language” Presentation By: Gonzalo Huerta Dean of Instruction for Applied Sciences Imperial Valley College March 6, 2009

2. Mexican Baby Boomer Biker Dean

3. How is a Generation Defined? • Each cohort has its own “Generational Personality” • Shared life experiences of formative years • Similar attitudes, values, and life approaches • Similar learning and work styles shaped by • Headlines of the times • Politics • Economics • People • Places • Conditions • Events

4. US Generations(Debates on dates and titles) • GI Generation………...…….. • Greatest Generation…......... • Jazz Age………………......... • Silent Generation………....... • Matures (Traditionalists)....... • Baby Boomers…….………... • Generation X………………... • Generation Y……………….. • Millennials…...…………....... • Net Generation……………... 1900-1924 1911-1924 1918-1929 1925-1945 1909-1945 1945-1964 1965-1980 1970-1990 1980-2000 1994-2001

5. Training Styles(What they like) • Baby Boomers • Variety of formats • Team building • Seminars and workshops • Generation X • To learn by doing • Opportunity to practice skills • Computer-based learning • Immediate feedback • Millennials • Learning anytime and anywhere • Clear orientation • Cross-training TEAM COMPUTER LEARN

6. Classroom and Workplace Expectations • Baby Boomers • Process-oriented • Personable • Like agreement and harmony • Avoid conflicts • Generation X • Frank and honest • Evaluate ideas on merit, not on years of experience • Welcome change as opportunity • Like freedom to do it their way • Admire competence, but don’t work well under micromanagers • Prefer to set up their own schedules and work terms • Millennials • Can be positive and engaging • Technology is a way of life • Embrace new technological ideas and implement them easily • Expect to learn and work in an environment that is fair and where diversity is the norm

7. Classroom and Work Environment • Baby Boomers • Equal rights, humane, and democratic • Personal growth • Team oriented • Rewards that include money, titles, and recognition • Generation X • Fast paced environment • Functional with loose boundaries around leadership • Balanced personal-work perspective • Flexible and informal • Millennials • Collaborative, creative, and positive learning and work culture • Comfortable in a place with more supervision and structure • Like to be rewarded for their achievements • Technology savvy • Prefer frequent feedback

8. Work Ethics • Baby Boomers • “No one wants to pay their dues anymore.” • Generation X • “It is just a job.” • Millennials • “Let’s get it done here and now.”

9. Communication Behaviors and Tips • Matures (Traditionalists) • Do not expect them to share their thoughts immediately • Focus on words rather than body language and inferences • Face-to-face or written communication is preferred • Do not waste their time or make them think it is being wasted • Baby Boomers • “Show me” generation, so show them • Body language is important when communicating • Answer questions thoroughly and expect to be pressed for details • Present options, and answer why, • Demonstrate flexibility in your thinking

10. Communication Behaviors and Tips (continued) • Generation X • “Prove it to me” generation, so prove it to them • Use e-mail as the primary communication tool, informal communication style • Talk in short sound bites to keep their attention and answer why • Ask them for their feedback and provide them with regular feedback • Share information with them and keep them in the loop • Millennials • Provide positive reinforcement • Use action words and challenge them at every opportunity • They will resent if you talk down to them • Prefer e-mail communication • Provide them with regular feedback • Rule # 6: Do not take yourself too seriously

11. “Build a Legacy”Matures’ (Traditionalists’) Career Goals • Expect to build lifetime career with one employer or in a single field • That loyalty and desire to leave a legacy has guided career steps for them • Organizations make mistake when fail to recognize their personal responsibility toward workplace

12. “Build a Stellar Career”Baby Boomers’ Career Goals • Always want to excel in their careers and to earn at peak capacity • Less likely to job-hop, but employers can no longer assume they’ll wait forever for top positions • Developing challenging career paths may be best solution. (Does not mean more work. Think opportunity or visibility.)

13. “Build a Portable Career” Generation X Career Goals • Feel that their careers need to keep moving forward or they die • Have switched from job security to career security • Want to keep building a repertoire of skills and experiences that are portable • Greatest fear is that they might become stagnant

14. “Build Parallel Careers” Millennials’ Career Goals • Being coached by their parents to build extensive portfolios for college admission • Understand importance of balancing hobbies, sports, volunteer activities, and work • Multi-taskers looking for parallel careers • Why decide whether to be a waitress, a hostess, or a cashier when you can be all three? • Cross-training is a great retention strategy which reduces expense of turnover

15. Who Has Better Values? • No one has better values! • They only have different values!

16. Bridging the Gap • Know who you are talking to • Learn to accept and appreciate another’s perspective • Discuss expectations right away • Inquire about immediate tasks (How does going to A get you to B?) • Look at ways to cut bureaucracy and red tape • Don’t be put off by overt ambition • Keep up with technology

17. As a Manager… • Focus on goals • Because of value-driven differences, workers can easily lose sight of objectives • Distinguish between lively debate and stalemate • Help resolve problems without dampening enthusiasm or disparaging opinions • Make everyone feel included • Keep an open mind • Encourage each generation to mentor the other • Break the bonds of tradition • Expect resistance when changing the status quo • Older employees may want to proceed with caution • Younger ones will want to move ahead without worrying about the risks

18. As a Manager...(continued) • Invest in talent • Help employees develop skills to succeed within the company and in their careers • Work toward giving everyone an equal footing • Subsidize further education that is not job related • Show employees the future • Tell them where the organization is going, how they fit in, and how to prepare • This can help them thru “dark times” or temptations for competitors • Little changes make a big difference • Employees of all ages place a high value of balancing their work and personal lives • Build it and they will come and stay

19. Nearly all generation-gap experts agree that dating yourself in a speaking situation can be disastrous.

20. Major Events & Pop CultureMatures (Traditionalists) • Born: 1922 – 1945 • Population: 44.2 million • Events: Pearl Harbor Bombing WWII Great Depression The New Deal Korean War • Icons: Readers Digest, Blondie, Golden Age of Radio • Music: Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Charlie Parker

21. Major Events & Pop CultureBaby Boomers • Born: 1946 – 1964 • Population: 76.8 million • Events: John F. Kennedy’s Assassination Vietnam War Civil Rights Movement Women’s Liberation Moon Landing • Icons: Television, Doonesbury, Peace Symbol, Fallout Shelters, Discos • Music: Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, the Supremes

22. Major Events & Pop CultureGeneration X • Born: 1965 – 1978 • Population: 52.4 million • Events: John Lennon’s Murder The Challenger Disaster Fall of the Berlin Wall Operation Desert Storm • Icons: Personal Computer, the Simpsons, Music Videos, Tattoos • Music: The Cure, U2, Madonna, Guns N Roses, Metallica, Nirvana, Green Day, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers

23. Major Events & Pop CultureMillenials • Born: 1979 – Present • Population: 77.6 million and counting • Events: Oklahoma City Bombing OJ Simpson Trial Columbine School Shootings Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal • Icons: Internet, PlayStation, Beanie Babies, Body Piercing • Music: ‘NSync, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Beyoncé, 50 Cent, The Strokes, The Killers

24. Questions