It's amazing! Every time I'm out at a business event or social gathering the conversation turns to the generations. Now I know that I might tend to be a magnet for the conversations as it's an area that I'm quite passionate about, but really everyone (a.k.a. lots and lots of people) is talking about one of the generations.
A quick overview of what they are talking about might be helpful:
Traditionalists (a.k.a. Matures) born between 1927 and 1945 are currently 61- 79 years old.
Baby Boomers (a.k.a. Boomers) born between 1946 and 1964 are currently 43 - 60 years old.
Gen X-ers (a.k.a. X-ers) born between 1965 and 1977 are currently 30 - 42 years old.
Millennials (a.k.a. Gen-Y) born between 1978 and 1999 are currently 8- 29 years old.
Why are we talking about the generations? What is so important about understanding each generation and how they think, what they value and what they believe...
Bottom line it's affecting the way and how successfully we do business, how we attract, grow and retain our top talent and loyal customers.
Corporations and associations are feeling the pinch as the talent market tightens and the competition for leaders, members and employees heats up.
Currently...
Traditionalists make up 10% of the workforce and are ready to retire.
Baby Boomers (80 Million strong) make up 46% of the workforce and are poised to start retiring or at least change their jobs.
Gen X-ers make up only 29% of the workforce. Only 44 Million ever born, this generation of leaders numerically can't fill in the gap the Boomers will leave, and frankly don't want the same "live to work" life style. They are declining the offers of management saying, "Thanks, but no thanks." to the promotions and senior-management positions that are rapidly opening.
Millennials (76 Million) currently 15% of the workforce and will definitely expand to fill more of the workforce however these "Echo Boomers" will not be quite ready for the top leadership positions for a few years.
Organization leaders need to be asking themselves the tough questions.
- Why do they want to work for us?
- How do we match their values and needs?
- What would their career path look like in the first 6, 12, 18 months?
Because they are going to be faced with them in interviews (both formal and informal) and knowing and living the answers will make all the difference in attracting and retaining the next generations.
By Anna Liotta
Anna,
I'm a "traditionalist" with two questions. First, Where do the definitions for the various generations come from. Secondly, is a traditionalist always a traditionalist with the characteristics of that generation?
More specifically, many of my friends retire and then re-enter the work place. In thier second careers they are not motivated by the same concerns they had when they first went to work. Do they then become some kind of a hybrid generation?
Love your blog, the infomation is definitely relevant particularly to anyone who expects to manage in todays business environment. JKC
Posted by: JKC | May 30, 2007 at 11:54 AM