Employers seeking ways to adapt
Program put on by HireOne at Chester County Development Council looks at the different ways generations approach work
With baby boomers slowly but surely leaving the workplace, employers are working overtime to figure out what makes their younger counterparts tick.
Within seven short years, millennials will be the largest age demographic in the American workplace as they dwarf in numbers the older Generation X-ers, as the baby boomers fade from the scene, and before many members of Generation Z are of working age.
Those were a few of the observations shared by Carol HattonHolmes and Victoria Goodrich of Gener8tional Connections at a program Wednesday called, “The Generational Puzzle: How the Pieces Fit Together So You Can Manage Most Effectively.”
Put on by Hire One and held at the Chester County Development Council offices, Hatton-Holmes walked area employers through what the changes mean to their workplaces — from changing the way communication is done to finding new motivational tools.
“A lot of the same things that were said about the baby boomers are now being said about the millennials, which makes sense since they are the children of boomers,” Hatton-Holmes said, adding that “it’s time to stop complaining and to start training.”
The current generation workplace includes:
• WWII Generation, who are now 72 and older;
• Baby Boomers, who are 57 to 71;
• Generation X, who are 37 to 56;
• Millennials, who are 17 to 36;
• and Generation Z, those born between 2001 to present, who are just starting to enter the workforce now.
Baby boomers are retiring at a rate of about 10,000 a day, but they shouldn’t be forgotten.
“If I’m in HR now, I want to know how I can leverage the baby boomers who still want to work but who no longer are striving to become vice president,” Hatton-Holmes said, noting that many boomers would like to continue working on a part-time or less ambitious basis after retirement.
One of the biggest challenges
for managers in today’s workplace is to find the ways to effectively communicate with their workers. The WW II Generation wants face-to-face contact; baby boomers are comfortable with in-person, phone, voice mail and email; GenXers like email; while millennials prefer texts.
“A millennial won’t even listen to their voice mail,” Hatton-Holmes said, drawing agreement from the managers in attendance.
Coming up behind those groups is a Generation Z, whose members “have been raised by technology,” Hatton-Holmes said. “You see a 2-year-old today, they have and Ipad in their hand, and they know how to use it.”
Generation X workers were latch key children who grew up in a time of high divorce rates.
“They’re kind of independent and adaptable,” Hatton-Holmes said. “They don’t want constant feedback or status meetings.”
Their motto, generally, can be summed up like this: “As long at it gets done, what does it matter how and when?”
Millennials, like their baby boomer parents, are a bit more high maintenance, seeking feedback and a career path, Hatton-Holmes said. They tend to be optimistic, are able to multitask and believe in volunteerism and service to the community.
“Life is good and will stay that way,” would be their general outlook, HattonHolmes said.
Early signs indicate Generation Z is more cautious and more private. An observation from them might be “The digital footprint is seen as a potential danger that can be used against you.”
Among those who attended the event was AnneMarie Staples, who works at M. Cohen and Sons, a Broomall maker of custom fabricated metal, glass and wood products.