Generationally Savvy

Generation X "Box" and Beyond - Part 2 of 2

The gamer generation has, in an important way, grown up in a different reality than the rest of us. The billions of dollar and hours they have spent in the virtual worlds has shaped how they relate and influenced their belief of what they should do to "make it" in "the world".

Part II - The WAY IT IS in the Gamer World

How People Relate

• It’s all about competition - You're always competing; even if you collaborate with others, there is some character or score to beat.
• Relationships are structured - To make the game work, everyone must play a role such as competitor/ally, or boss/subordinate.
• We are all alone - The gaming experience is basically solitary, even if played in groups.
• Young people rule - Young people dominate gaming. No attention is paid to elders. Paying your dues takes a short time.
• People are simple - Their skill may be complex, multi-dimensional, and user-configurable, but their personality types and behaviors are simple.

What You Should Do

• Rebel - Edginess and attitude are dominant elements of the culture.
• Be a hero - You always get the star's role; that is the only way to succeed or get satisfaction.
• Bond with people who share your game experience, not your national or cultural background - It's a very global world, in design, consuption, and characters. It creates an expectation of diversity in business life as well.
• Make your own way in the world - Leaders are irrelevant and often evil; ignore them.
• Tune out and have fun - When reality is boring, you hop into the game world. The whole experience of gaming is escapist.

Along with these new "rules' of engagement and gaming come expectations about what the workplace will be like i.e. diverse, fair, immediately interactive and welcoming to the new ideas and creations of the newest member on the team.

Business leaders looking to attract, grow and retain younger talent need to ask themselves, "Are we ready and willing to play the game?"

Generation X "Box" and Beyond - Part I of 2

If you’ve been reading along, it’s no surprise to you that each generation has unique forces in their lives shaping the way they make decisions and approach the world.

One of the major forces impacting the way Gen Xers and Millennials see business and beyond, is growing up in the time of video games.

The rules surrounding games create a world and reality that departs from the "business as usual" model of what we know today as Corporate America. Although it may seem to Baby Boomers and Traditionalists that "games are games" and business and play should not be confused, the rules of gaming are filtering into the way Xers and Millennials make daily business decisions. 

In "Got Game" published by Harvard Business School Press, we see how being a “Gamer” has influenced Gen Xers and Millennials systematic approach to working and learning.

Drawing on the work in "Got Game" by Beck and Wade the following rules illustrate the lessons games are "teaching" Xers and Millennials about "the world".

Part I

• The Individual's Role
• How The World Works

Part II

• What You Should Do
• How People Relate

Part I - The WAY IT IS in Gamer World

The Individual's Role

·         You’re the star - you are the center of attention of every game.

·         You’re the boss - the world is very responsive to your every choice and wish.

·         You’re the customer and the customer is always right - the experience is design for your satisfaction and entertainment; the opponents are tough, but never too tough.

·         You’re an expert - you have the experience of getting really, really good at something.

·         You’re a tough guy - you can't be hurt - no matter how many crashes and spills you take.

How The World Works

·         There’s always an answer - you might be frustrated for a while, but keep trying - it's there.

·         Everything is possible - you do amazing things and see other players defeat hundreds of bad guys single handedly.

·         The world is a logical, human-friendly place - games are basically fair. Events may be random, but not inexplicable.

·         Trial and error is almost always the best plan - It's the only way to advance in most games.

·         Things are (unrealistically) simple - you can figure a game out, completely. Games are built on models. Even complex models can be figured out.

These rules set-up the player to feel that high-risk and jumping headlong into uncertainty are the ways to win the game. The more you "die trying" or "crash and burn" the faster you develop mastery.

Check back for Part II  on - How People Relate & What You Should Do.

Attracting and Retaining the X-er Employee

In the current economy business leaders may find themselves answering a new question when interviewing a potential employee. Why should I work for you?

The equation has changed. The Interviewee is now putting the Interviewer on the hot spot to demonstrate the value of the company to him or her.

With low unemployment, increased ability to transparently search for a new job using on line tools like www.Monster.com, www.careerbuilder.com, and www.hotjobs.yahoo.com it's easier than ever to pick up your job skills and move.

Add to that the Gen-Xers (ages 30 - 43) have only 44 million peers versus the 80 million Baby Boomers, who filled the workforce before them, and you can see the talent crunch is upon us. However, the shrinking numbers of eligible candidates are not the only hallmarks of the leadership deficit.

While Boomers and X-ers both value hard work and quality results, how they approach producing them and what they are willing to sacrifice along the road to success and riches are quite different.

Boomers entered the workforce with 80 million peers to compete against for their job. In order to survive and keep ahead of their colleagues they put in long 20-hour days full of meetings, face time, and schmoozing. They generated lots of data, charts, reports and documentation to show how hard they were working and that they had a plan for the next 5, 10, 20 years.

The Gen-Xers saw a child's eye view of their Boomers work-centric parenting. They felt the impact of it personally when their parents, after years of loyal service to an organization, were let go in the 70's and 80's without warning. Life became even more uncertain for these young adolescents. The first generation of 'Latch Key Kids', they had been letting themselves into empty homes after school, managing their own snacks and schedules. All while trying to support their often single and frantic parent survive the uncertain and unstable world of the new corporate America, where loyalty was demanded from the employee, but not provided by the employer.

X-ers, now 30 - 43 years of age with young families, have decided that's not the world they want for their kids. They know the lasting impact it had on their confidence and self-esteem. They want something "better" for their children's childhood.

X -ers want to see their daughter's track meet and cheer at their son's football game. They are willing to tighten the budget and give up the next promotion that requires frequent time away on multi-night business trips.

They are not expecting loyalty from the organization they work for and don't expect to retire with their current company. They will serve there as long as they feel they are being treated fairly  and with respect. If there are new opportunities to learn, grow and expand their career and leadership skill sets, they will work hard.

But they are not adverse to jumping on a search engine to find the next place to park their mouse pad if the tide changes.

Loyalty is a two way street today. If leaders want loyalty (a.k.a. longevity of service to your organization) from an X-er you have to demonstrate you are interested in their future.

• How can they grow and learn with new opportunities at your company?
• How can they create the work/life balance to see their kids special events in person?
• How do you show them you respect and appreciate them?

If you can't answer these questions, chances are your top talented X-ers are looking for someone who can.

Selling to the Generations - X-ers The Forgotten Market

X-ers grew up on sophisticated marketing and have been deconstructing advertising messages since they were "knee high to a grasshopper" (aka very young).

X-ers, only 44 million ever born, are book-ended by the Boomer and Millennial generations and tend to end up being over-looked on many levels, and they resent it. The good news is if you pay attention to an X-er's interests and values and answer their piercing questions, you have a loyal customer who spreads the word quickly and earnestly about you.

          What are the X-er's thinking when they make purchases...

Well ... X-ers are quite cynical of big promises and hype. During their formative years they saw:

• institutions and leaders caught lying,
• divorce rates sky rocket, and
• big business layoff their parents without warning.

As they entered the workforce, they found it already filled to capacity by their Boomer predecessors and parents. However, a small window of promise and opportunity opened up through Technology. The Dot.com era was a time of possibility and opportunity for X-ers.

The world wide web was somewhere X-ers could thrive and be respected for their talents and unique contribution. But the crash in 2000 and the increases in off-shore outsourcing of IT jobs have left the X-er's more skeptical than ever.

So be ready to give it to them straight! They can spot hype from a mile away. They are street-smart and advertising savvy. X-ers need to be convinced that they can trust you and your promises. Remember they grew up on broken promises.

With guilt-ridden, divorced, dual-income parents showering them with presents, they grew up with expensive tastes and a good eye for quality. They respect quality and know it when they see it.

Being treated with respect is something they passionately desire. Avoid messaging that obviously stereotypes or compartmentalizes them. They are a generation of individuals. They don't like the term "Gen X" because it hasn't been explained that it is not a derogatory term. (And frankly too often it's been spoken with a derogatory tone by superiors.)

X-ers need more reassurance than other generations. With an underlying insecurity to their generation, you will do well if you position your products with positive and reinforcing signals, remedies and encouragement.

• Forget the hard sell.
• Get to the pragmatic facts.
• Reduce their uncertainty and show how they are protected with your product or service purchase.

But not in a schmaltzy way.

• Be straight
• Write in a clear and bottom line tone
• Be sincere  and show you caring about them

X-ers don't care about your product until you demonstrate you care about them as a customer, as a person, as a valuable partner for the future.

      

Generational Contributions - What Traditionalists, Boomers, X-ers and Millennials Bring to the Party

When you think about it over the centuries one thing has remained constant...... No matter what generation you are a part of, when you entered the workforce your parent's generation thought you: lacked work ethic, were rude, disloyal, lazy, etc.

A famous quote by Socrates underlines this point, "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they allow disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children now are tyrants." So it's nothing new, but oftentimes we over look what each generation brought to the party of life and work.

Our Traditionalists ages 61-79 created a solid foundation by the sweat of their brows, literally. If you consider it from Maslow's Hierarchy they were focused on the basics, food, shelter, clothing, safety. They made sure there was a free democratic union for us to live, love and flourish in today.

Our Boomers ages 43-60 got to move up the hierarchy to new levels of self-actualization focusing on education, human rights, civil rights, womens rights. They started charities by the thousands. In 1928  there were 128 charities and foundations mostly started by private families. By 2000 there were 90,000 not-for-profit organizations started by individuals and public organizations. Optimistic, idealistic and competitive, their drive and need to make their mark had many positive impacts, as well as a few environmental draw backs.

That's where much of the Gen X generation have focused their energies. The consumer "pig and the python" phenomenon of the Boomers left the Xers asking, "Ok, but what's the impact of that on the environment for my children's future? While Boomers consumed, Xers conserve- the Three R's, Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.

In come the Millennials (Gen Y) and they more than any other generation have the freedom to ask (Why?) What's my purpose? Do I have a place here? Does this make a difference?

A Traditionalist would say, "Charity starts at home".

A Boomer would say "I'm going to start a charity and change the world." "I'm going to the moon! (or there abouts.)"

An X-er would say "I want to change the world but I'm going to start at the grass roots level one-to-one. Focus, focus, focus! I don't want to over promise and under deliver."

A Millennial, well changing the world is just what they do. Volunteering with their late-Boomer early X-er parents from the time they were in diapers. They have a resume of charity, innovative projects that would make a "Buckhead Betty" proud by the time they enter college.

When trying to attract and retain and X-ers or Millennials showcasing how your company supports and actively encourages their core values can go a long way to persuading them to choose to come to you. Before they care about what you do, they need to know you care about what they value.