Engage Generations X, Y, and Z
At XYZ University, our area of expertise is teaching organizations how to engage Generations X, Y, and Z; those skeptical, instant-gratification generations who were raised on technology and credit cards and are often labeled socially inept, entitled slackers. Indeed, these generations are different from the generations that have come before them. They are moving to [...]
This is part 2 in the series of posts on workplace evolution. I may be a Millenial, but I’m not too young to remember The A-Team. The best thing about the A-Team was that each member was so different and brought a unique talent. There was no B-squad; they could do it all. As Gen [...]
This post is part 1 of 2 related to workplace evolution. Remember when doctors smoked at the office? You don’t have to watch Mad Men to appreciate how much the workplace has evolved in the last 50 years. Right now we have three generations–Boomers, Gen X and Millenials–in the workforce with varying needs and expectations, [...]
Generation X, the 48 million Americans born between 1965 and 1981, have become accustomed to being invisible –but no company can afford to ignore them now. Unfortunately, most companies haven’t come to this realization yet. Sanwiched between two behemoth, ego-centric generations, Generation X has become the Jan Brady of the workforce. Since they entered the workforce, Xers [...]
Last week I spoke at a corporate event where younger generations were getting a tongue-lashing from their Baby Boomer counterparts. The Boomers were scolding Generation Y for needing constant feedback, being unable to prioritize, and wanting to have (gasp!) fun at work. Indeed, there’s a stereotype in many offices that younger employees–especially those born since [...]
Remember when associations and other membership organizations, like Rotary and chambers of commerce, enjoyed a lock on their markets? The Baby Boomers joined associations in droves. Now, participation is changing, fueled by social changes, generational shifts, a recession-prone economy, and rapidly-changing technology. I just authored a book on this very conundrum –The End of Membership [...]
Picture in your mind a playground with three children fighting over a teeter-totter. The oldest child is fighting to keep the teeter-totter firmly planted on the ground. He has a content grin on his face and he’s plugging his ears. He’s plugging his ears because the youngest child, seated on the other end of the [...]
In my work with generations, I’ve heard so much about how employers fear change, even loath change. Well, maybe they haven’t described it in exactly those terms, but when employers say things like: “Why do these younger employees expect praise just for showing up?,” or “We can’t have people working from home because we don’t [...]
I read with great interest a recent blog posted by Talent Management magazine. While the blog's headline mentions 42 percent of employees don't feel their employers are looking out for their best interests (as evidenced by a fall 2009 TalentScope study of some 50,000), the article goes on to quickly dismiss this data (in the first paragraph!) [...]
