PERSPECTIVE
How to accommodate generational differences for a
Stronger TEAM
Baby boomers, born between the years of 1946 and 1964, sought out careers and ways to support their growing families after emerging from the gloom
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Implement Success | Summer 2019
of World War II. The idea of living in a nice home, having a nice car, and living and working within a community was most appealing. Baby boomers worked and sought stability in their job in order to support growing families. The last thing most wanted to do was to pull up roots from a company and job that they knew well and start anew with another company or in another city. This did happen in some instances, of course, as everyone’s circumstances are unique, but it was not the norm.
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Let’s take a look at a couple of examples.
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Studies have shown that the distinctions between generations continue to increase, specifically in the areas of interests and engagement. A simple example might be to look at why each generation seeks a job in the first place, and how they define loyalty to that employer.
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Earlier this year, I spoke at the AMC annual conference on the subject of Engaging Multiple Generations in the Workforce. The talk was put together after speaking with a half dozen members of the organization to understand the most significant challenges they face in today’s everchanging economy. Manufacturers from across Canada, and even within the United States, all shared stories and examples of how they struggle to attract, retain, and even more importantly, develop a cohesive team among their employees.
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Unless your business contains some sort of superpower of unknown origin, chances are that you are, or at least have been, facing challenges in integrating multiple generations. Put more simply, with the growing numbers of millennials entering the workforce, and with Gen Z soon to follow, the level of complexity and difficulty in aligning individuals and teams around organizational goals is a challenge.
“With the growing numbers of millennials entering the workforce, and with Gen Z soon to follow, the level of complexity and difficultly in aligning individuals and teams around organizational goals is a challenge.” Let’s contrast this against Generation X, the children of the baby boomers, many of whom grew up watching their parents work in unfulfilling jobs that they did not like. Many Gen Xers recall the massive layoffs that happened during the recession of the 1980s and experienced first-hand how little support their parents received from their employers when job cuts were necessary. Often pushed by their
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