Communication Between Baby Boomers And Millennials

Different groups in America are classified by the eras that they were born into. The active generations who had the great impact on society today are the Baby Boomers and the Millennials (Debevec, 2013). In between the baby boomers and the millennials are the Eco Boomers and the Gen Xers (Kennedy, 2000). According to population projections released by the U.S. Census Bureau, Baby Boomers are the generation defined by the boom in U.S. births following World War II. They were born in the years between 1946 and 1964 (Brownstein, 2012). On the other hand millennials are the generation born in the years between 1981 and 1997 (Brownstein, 2012). There are 77 million boomers and 82 million millennials (Fallon, 2015). Both generations overlap in time, and are linked in that most of the Millennials are generally the children of the Boomers, but they are actually completely different in economics, education, politics, and lifestyles (Fallon, 2015).

It is important to understand our current generations and previous generations. Understanding generations’ differences can help us when serving the clients. Human service workers will be meeting clients not only from different cultures but also from different generation cohorts. Generation cohorts usually define as grouping people together who born 12-15 years apart and have common experiences. There are five generational cohort groupings: Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennial Generation (Generation Y) (The University of Iowa [UIOWA], 2009), and Generation Z. “Each generation has unique experiences that shape their behaviors and attitudes” (Kilber, Barclay, & Ohmer, 2014, p. 80).

Lest you think that social media is too complex for seniors, the Pew Research Center notes that there are already over 50 million American seniors on Facebook, and social media goes beyond just Facebook. It also includes such useful and fun programs and apps such as Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and even Skype.

This mixture of generations creates many issues in the modern workforce, as many differences in culture, norms, behaviors, values and perceptions of the workplace exist across these generations. Also, for perhaps the first time in history, four distinct generations are working alongside each other in the business world. As noted by Sam in his email, the coexistence of different generations can have many influences on the workplace. One of the biggest influences is the different attitude and acceptance of technology, as the millennial generation was the first one to

“If you don’t think generation makes a difference, think of this example. When asked to recall how and where Kennedy died, the Veterans and Baby Boomers would say gunshots in Dallas, Texas; Generation X remembers a plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.; and Milinials might say, “Kennedy who?” (FDUMagazine Online, p. 2) Each individual generation brings different values and skills to the table, but the pronounced differences can cause conflict within the workplace. Bill Brennan’s “Generational Differences” discusses the generational differences between the four main groups, or generations, of the United States; Veterans (born before 1945), Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and Millennials, Gen Y, (born between 1980 and 1994). Through his depiction,

#1 fact: 57% percent of boomers may use social networking, but are also more unlikely to use them regularly, and value their privacy while being less likely to share pictures or personal information than younger people are (CNN, 2012).

They both refer to individuals born between 1965 to 1980 as Generation X and people born in 1981 through 2000 are Millennials. Both assert that both generations have many similarities and interests. Both are independent, tech savvy, favor balance, security, personal responsibility, personal growth and easily adapt to change. However, Bennett suggests that Millennials are multitaskers, idealistic, value diversity, favor teamwork and need constant feedback, while Gen Xers work independently and need extraordinarily little feedback. Dunn’s analysis accounts for four generations, while Bennett’s analysis identifies individuals born after 2000 as “Nexters” and describes this group as tech savvy individuals with low attention spans, minimal interpersonal communication skills, who need constant feedback and favor

Because the development of racial stereotypes is important to address and understand, in terms of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination, the ongoing exploration it is to know how will individuals limits those actions. The current study indicates the ways in which Baby Boomers and the Millennials generation uses racial stereotypes towards one another. The evidence and research allow us to discover that the Millennials generation is most likely to use more racial stereotypes because of the exposure they were given. A highlight of the research that was given was by writer Todd Nelson, in which he stated “Researchers know more about racism & sexism, but comparatively little about prejudicing & stereotyping based the generation” (Nelson 1998),

I see a younger generation such as “Net Gens” to use slang in certain friend groups. For example speaking to someone my age who is 20, I would use the term “sick” and people around my age would understand in a certain context it is viewed as a good thing meaning cool. Using that term with majority of people who are 40+ would view it as being sick rather than the other way. Another communication difference is revolving around technology. Many Baby Boomers and Gen X wouldn’t prefer texting or using social media apps comparing to Millennials and Net Gens. Millennials and Net Gens can easily communicate through the internet with social media, texting, or any form of communication that requires internet. The other two generations would probably call each other and won’t be too familiar with the internet. I see people stop having sex around the age of 47-60 years old. I view people sex drives to reduce and when people get older they get more

American politics and the government surrounding it are often marred in cynicism and negativity. Such skepticism is, obviously, unhealthy and is not very conducive when it comes to encouraging the younger generation to get involved in political affairs. David Rankin attempts to tackle this dilemma in his 2013 book US Politics and Generation Y: Engaging the Millennials. In this paper, Rankin’s work will be summarized, followed by an evaluation of myself using Rankin’s criteria, and then discussing a recent political event that arrested my attention during my tenure as a Political Science 104 (POL 104) student at the University of Wisconsin – Richland.

Most people have a learning style that mirrors how they were taught when they were younger. It should be noted that there is not a one size fits all method when it comes to learning. The key to being able to appeal to each of the different generations is to offer diversity in teaching styles in order to satisfy the different preferences. As of now, there are four generations that are in the workforce and those four generations are: The Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials. This paper will examine the characteristics of these four generations, how their learning styles differ, and what to

In a work environment everybody wants to climb the totem pole. For Millennials, they want to rise to leadership without working too hard for it. They are trying to reach the leadership positions as fast as they can and at times they are unprepared for the position they enter because they have not experienced enough along the way. Where Millennials are too fast to rise to leadership, people considered to be Generation X, who are known for their hard work ethic and experience are often complacent in the workplace. Though they gained their experience (unlike Millennials) by working their way up the chain of command and gradually paying their dues and though they also do not expect to be handed a higher position, like Millennials who feel entitled to higher positions in the workplace, they are also not as motivated as Millennials. (Bresman)

The research showed them that there is a problem between Millennials and Baby Boomers. Millennials were not interesting to be a volunteer because they don’t get something in return.

The conflicts or differences can be caused due to various reasons like the preferences in the Communication Style, the Traditionalists and the Baby Boomers prefer more of face to face communication and the GenX and the Millennial prefer email and text messaging ([16] Glass ,2007:[52]Wagner,2007) Differences can also happen how they view authority and Management like Traditionalist believe in a chain in command , Baby Boomers believe in a consensus Model ( Roy,2008a,b) And when it comes to career stability, Traditionalists and Generation X likes to focus on employability over climbing the career ladder. And Generation Y has a high preference for engaging workplaces

According to this article millennials are the going to be the largest portion of the working force by 2030. With so many millennials coming into the workforce, they bring new perspectives on interoffice relations and how an office should run. However, if they do not feel like they are being challenged or have the opportunity to grow, they feel the need to leave for another company where they can. This causes turnovers to happen more frequently than with other groups. The best way to stop these is for a more active relationship with their boss. It has been proven that the more feedback millennials receive from their bosses the more comfortable they feel in their roles and the more likely that they will stay on with the company.