Archive for the ‘Baby Boomers’ Category

September Webinars about Social Media and Managing the Multi-Generational Workforce

Link Me, Tweet Me, Friend Me

September 15, 2009 at 2:00 PM EDT

Wondering if your business needs to be on Facebook or Twitter?  Confused about LinkedIn and blogging? Then you don’t want to miss this 60 minute introductory webinar. Register here.

 Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization

September 16, 2009 at 2:00 PM EDT

Join author Ira S Wolfe for the official release of his new book Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization with a webinar and discussion led by author Ira S Wolfe.  Learn how four generations and technology will change business and how to manage the four major clashpoints that are dividing the multi-generational workforce.  Register here.

The “I’ll work forever” attitude of the Baby Boomers is bringing movement up the career ladder to a complete stand-still.  It’s like waiting for a table in a busy restaurant when the guests at the table you want have finished their dessert and paid the bill but are busy chatting well beyond their “allotted” time.  The longer they stay, the more intense the glares and more uncomfortable everyone becomes.

Fellow blogger Sue Danbom posed an intriguing post this morning when she asked, “Brett Favre – Poster Child for “Un-retirement.” Will Boomers Do the Same?”  There is no question the Baby Boomers will be hanging around the workplace longer than anyone ever expected.  For some organizations that’s a good thing….for others, it’s bad.  While Boomers may have the experience, they don’t always possess the talent and skills needed to compete in the “new economy.” (Don’t confuse the War for Talent with a shortage of people to fill the jobs.  The War for Talent is still being fought over skilled workers, with an emphasis on “skilled.”)

Sue highlights Favre’s journey from his Hall of Fame career to the soap-opera history of his retirement to un-retirement to retirement.  Last week he announced his latest un-retirement. And she rightfully asks if Boomers, “Like Favre, will they have second (and third and fourth) thoughts after they leave the workforce?”

That’s a great question and I strongly believe the answer will be YES.  But management will be remiss if they don’t anticipate the loss of Gen X who feel they are trapped by the likes of Boomers in Brett Favre clothing.   The postponed retirements and perpetual un-retirements is creating a measureable resentment in the Gen X cohort who are getting blocked by a thickening Gray Ceiling.  This ceiling is not only frustrating Gen X, but Gen Y too. 

For those organizations who don’t take heed, they could easily lose the experience and wisdom of both the seated guests (Boomers) and the wait list (Gen X and Gen Y at the same time.

It’s also important to recognize that Brett Favre is not a Baby Boomer.  While Brett Favre’s behavior might resemble that of an aging Boomer, he is a Generation X born in 1969.  So I ask, is Favre a Baby Boomer trapped in a Gen X body or is his behavior a sign of things to come for aging Gen Xers, too?

When the freshman class headed off to college in 1991, the headlines railed about government interventions, bailouts, bad loans, unemployment and greater regulation of the finance industry. The Tonight Show changed hosts for the first time in decades, and the nation asked “was Iraq worth a war?” 

Eighteen years later, the class of 2013 is arriving on campuses amidst headlines condemning bad loans and high unemployment while debating the value of government interventions, bailouts, and greater regulation of the finance industry.  Conan O’Brien has replaced Jay Leno and we’re still asking “was Iraq worth a war?”  

You might be thinking…the more things change, the more they stay the same.  That is until you take a deeper look – the headlines in 1991 were ink on paper.  Today the headlines are bits and bytes on electronic screens. Back in 1991, a man walking down the street and talking to himself was considered crazy.  Today, this same talking man might just be engaged in a conversation with his “Bluetooth” plugged in his ear.  

The 2013 Beloit College Mindset list, started in 1998 by Ron Nief, emeritus director of public affairs for Beloit College in Wisconsin, who was later joined by Tom McBride, professor at Beloit College, chronicles events, like the demise of print media, that have shaped the mindsets of the newest college class. It is these events that will shape their  points of view for the rest of their lives and ultimately define how collaborative or oppositional they are with other generations.

For instance, a favorite point of discussion among Baby Boomer managers is tattoos. Once considered to be the exclusive logo for drunken sailors and trashy girls, today they are quite chic and valued as a form of personal expression. This different point of view is creating quite a bit of tension in the workplace especially in the HR world.

Skimming over the list, it is easy to see how time flies and how differently the youngest Generation Ys experience the world. A few of more of my favorites on this year’s list:

1. Dan Rostenkowski, Jack Kevorkian, and Mike Tyson have always been felons.
2. The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.
3. They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
4. Salsa has always outsold ketchup.
5. Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.
6. They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.
7. State abbreviations in addresses have never had periods.
8. Condoms have always been advertised on television.
9. Women have always outnumbered men in college.
10. Amateur radio operators have never needed to know Morse code.
11. Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Latvia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Estonia have always been independent nations.
12. Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on.
13. Britney Spears has always been heard on classic rock stations.
14. They have never been ‘Saved by the Bell.’
15. CDs have never been sold in cardboard packaging.

The following comment posted on another blog sums up the difference just a few years makes:

“I was having my nails done last week when the young daughter of the person next to me said, “They didn’t have nail places everywhere when you were little? Geez, what kind of world was it back then?”

Read the complete 2013 Beloit College Mindset list.

What events did the Beloit College list miss?  Share them with us by posting them here or on our Facebook fan page.

Learn more about different points of view that bind and divide the generations in Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization.