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Meet the Generations
Click on the link below for a detailed description:
Traditionalist
Baby Boomer
Generation X
Millennial
The Future Generations
Meet a real traditionalist
Born prior to 1946
This is Fred also known as Mr. Traditionalist. You can just call him Sir for short. Fred's been working at the same company for the past 35 years. He's quite proud of the fact that he started in the mailroom and has worked his way up.
Fred celebrates Business Casual day by walking around the office without his jacket on. He has a difficult time understanding why others wear Dockers on this particular day. He believes you should dress like your boss.
Fred loves fast cars. He can be heard boasting to others about the V-8 engine in his 1992 Cadillac. His reserved parking spot is in the front of the building. He believes this perk was given to him as a reward for his years of service. If the truth were known, he received this spot because it was the only one that could accommodate what others affectionately call his boat.
Fred is proud of the fact the he has a home computer and can e-mail pictures of his grandchildren to anyone in the office who might want to see them. This puzzles some of the younger workers as he has a difficult time sending e-mail attachments at work.
Fred is a member of the Shriners Club and proudly displays his red fez on his desk. He and his wife are active members at the local country club where they spend weekends taking golf lessons together and listening to swing music.
Fred is a company man and can recite the company mission and goals without referring to the card that he carries in his pocket. He can often be found in the lunchroom quizzing younger workers on this very topic. Over the years, Fred has put money away for his "golden years." Every now and again, he talks about retirement and has plans in place to do volunteer work once he feels he is no longer productive at work.
Meet the Baby Boomer
Born 1946-1964
This is Roberta, also known as Mom, Stella (the housekeeper), and Ms. Professional to her office co-workers. She takes her work seriously. In fact, she can be seen attending leisure activities with her laptop in her hand. Some people think she's keeping score for her child's soccer team, but, in fact, she's working on a presentation for the Shareholder meeting, which is scheduled for next month.
Roberta grew up in the 60's and 70's listening to Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springstein. She knows all the words to every song ever sung by these artists and can often be heard singing "Stairway to Heaven" as she walks up the stairs at work.
Roberta understands the concept of paying her dues. She started her career at the bottom... the way bottom... and quickly soared to senior management. She is proud of her MBA, which she earned while attending night classes at the University of Houston.
Roberta knows the value of money and savings. She put herself through private college and took advantage of her company's tuition reimbursement program to pay for her graduate degree. She is a self-made woman in every way and believes that today's generation will never experience the satisfaction of making it on one's own.
Roberta is proud of her job title and often uses it when introducing herself to newcomers in the organization. Younger workers appear puzzled by this. They thought titles went out when Dot.coms were introduced. Roberta looks forward to receiving her annual performance review and views this as an opportunity to hear direct feedback from her manager. In her free time, she can be found listening to management tapes.
Meet Generation X
Born 1965-1981
This is Michael. At least this is what he looks like on days that he has meetings. On other days, he can be seen dressed in jeans and a tee shirt. He doesn't see the value of spending his entire disposable income on dry cleaning bills.
Michael's workspace is decorated in early adventure. If you look around his cube, you can see pictures of Michael doing every extreme sport imaginable. His nights and weekends are spent practicing yoga. This is his idea of balance.
Michael is more of a conceptual guy and doesn't understand the need to call a meeting to talk about a meeting. If he's asked to attend one more meeting, he might wind up tossing his Sony Walkman at his boss. And we all know how heavy those things are compared to the weight of an I-Pod.
Michael likes to work with ideas. He likes to get things flowing and then document. This drives his baby boomer co-workers nuts as they have a hard time "conceptualizing" what they believe to be Michael's wild ideas.
Michael gets his work done, but on his terms. He leaves work early to attend to personal matters and can rarely be seen working past 5:00 PM. He thinks his older co-workers secretly would like to see him miss a deadline just so they can tell him they told him so.
Michael is a curious person and is always challenging senior management by asking "Why?" He believes in equality and therefore treats Fred the same way that he treats his best friend Doug. To him, everyone is "Dude." Michael believes he is techno-savvy, but he often hides when a younger worker passes by with a piece of technology that he has yet to master.
Meet the Millennial
Born 1982-2000
Meet Cassidy. She's young, she's hip, and she's ready to launch her customer service career... as soon as this song is over. It's her favorite Black Eyed Peas tune, which she just downloaded on company time.
Cassidy likes to be comfortable at work. Don't ask her to wear a suit for that important client meeting. She doesn't own one. Just be grateful that she's got most of her tattoos covered during working hours.
Cassidy's a techno wiz and has had her hands on a computer keyboard since she was five years old. She can out type most people in the office yet she can't seem to write a proper business letter. Business protocol? Fugedabout it! With IM she doesn't even need to leave her office to have a conversation. In fact she's probably text messaging someone right now as she is handles a customer complaint call. Now that's real multi-tasking.
Cassidy believes in technology for technology sake. She can't understand why her boss won't approve the newest digital gizmo that she can use for customer communication. He thinks it will just complicate matters while she thinks it will simplify life. Who cares what the customer thinks?
Cassidy is not interested in paying her dues. Never has been, never will be. She's from a generation who is not used to losing. After all, everyone gets a trophy. Don't get Cassidy started on conversations regarding environmental issues. She's a concerned citizen and even has a plant in her cube. She believes her generation will change things. Doesn't that sound familiar?
Future Generations
Born after the year 2000
Meet tomorrow's generation of workers. Their story hasn't been written yet, but you can bet it will be a good one!
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