Generational Differences Between Baby Boomers and Millennials and the Impacts on Hr

Diversity is about respecting individual differences these can be: ethnicity, physical abilities, gender, age, religious, beliefs, sexual orientation, material status, politic, region, religion, disability.

Diversity means different individuals valuing each other regardless of intellect, age, disability race or religion.

diversity in US today is not limited to ethnicity, race – other factors: social class (SES or socio-economic status), education, size of group, religion, language

The recent growth in the number of older adults in the United States is unusual in the history of America. The anticipation of the elderly population (65+) by the year 2050 will be almost 89million people, or greater than the population of the elderly in the year 2010 (CDC 2013).

Currently the Millennial generation comprises between an estimated 10-17% of the Controller’s Office, when defining a millennial as someone between the ages of 18 to 34 (Pynes, 2004, p. 28). In the chart below (Figure 1), you can see the breakdown of the office’s age groups. As the 60-65 year olds leave the workforce it will be important to recruit individuals within the younger generations to develop a visionary workplace

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).

Diversity extends beyond race or ethnicity, religion, culture or newcomer status to include factors such as geography, language, politics, gender, beliefs, sexual orientation, economic status, abilities, skills and interests.

Over the next decade, it will be a challenge for employers to attract, keep, and develop a skilled work force for numerous different reasons ranging from the evolution of technology to fewer foreign students coming to America for work. Adding to the problem, companies are finding themselves managing four generations of workers. Based on their generation’s life experiences, each group has its own diverse characteristics, standards, and attitudes towards work. The four generations are as follows: Silents (1925-1946), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation Xers (1965-1980), Generation Ys or Millennials (born after 1980). It is up to management to relate and motivate employees of different age groups. The purpose of this paper is to inform readers

For many years, many organizations focused on aging workforce issues; however, the shift is moved to trying to manage a multigenerational workforce (Cekada, 2012). Many Baby Boomers are still working – with Obama Care, they are working to pay for Affordable Health Care costs and prescriptions. With the Baby Boomers about to leave the workforce, there are steps that an organization must take to keep the baton of knowledge from leaving with them. First is to assess the training needs; second, set up a budget to meet the needs; third, choose between Traditional or Technology-based method to deliver the required training.

During this paper, we will discuss the difference between baby boomer, and Gen X/Y. Baby boomers was the original 'generation'. And it was a useful label because, initially, it described those born in the immediate years after World War II, when there was – thanks to soldiers returning home – a significant spike in births, both in America and in Britain. Baby Boomers, as a phrase, was first used in 1970, in a Washington Post article. The phrase Generation Y was first used in a 1993 Ad Age article, while Millennials was coined by sociologists Neil Howe and William Strauss. As well as being comfortable sharing their entire life online, this is a selfish, self-regarding generation. "Let me take a Selfie," is their catchphrase. The man credited

Baby boomers like work and they have a strong work ethic. This generation group have a positive attitude towards work and are not afraid to toil hard in the workplace. The baby boomers obtain their satisfaction and self-worth directly from career and professional achievements. Due to the dedication and positive attitude that this group has towards work, it may be challenging for them to establish a working balance between home and work. On the other hand, the generation Xers lack the workaholic attitudes that their boomer parents have. They do not prioritize work and the Xers tend to have a negative attitude towards work and may change jobs frequently. Generation Xers are treated as the slacker generation. Their diverse attitudes towards work are attributed to the concept of developing a life/work balance. Generation X question the authoritative figures in the workplace (Lyons & Kuron, 2014). The millennials or generation Ys are the current groups of workers regarded as a global-centric generation. The millennials are predicted to make approximately half of the workforce globally by 2050. The millennials are lazy and see work in a slightly different way compared to the earlier generations.

Managing multiple generations can pose a challenge for employers. Managers have to find a balance. Taylor (2014) state “The modern workplace is no different than those of years past, with Generation Y, Generation X and baby boomers all coexisting in the same office. But as more boomers work past retirement age, and tech-savvy millennials continue to graduate and enter the workforce, the stark differences in the values, communication styles and work habits of each generation are becoming increasingly pronounced.” (Taylor, 2014). Taylor (2014) also states “"As new generations join the workforce, there is a period of adaptation that 's required on both ends," said Rich Milgram, CEO of career network Beyond.com. "New talent needs to respect and assimilate, while established talent needs to adjust and remain flexible. Companies should challenge their employees to rise above [generational differences], think outside their comfort zone and tackle problems together."” (Taylor, 2014).

More than ten thousand Baby Boomers retire every single day (Gurwitt, 2013). Combine that with the fact that there are currently four generations are in the workforce and managers of today have their work cut out for them. These leaders must ensure the knowledge from the retiring baby boomers is transferred to the remaining workforce, while simultaneously managing the retention of the disloyal, self-centered Millennials. Many leaders in this situation are finding it difficult to create and develop an organizational culture that supports this and conflict is manifesting in many organizations (Carpenter & DeCharon, 2014).

“Generation X” (“Gen-Xers”), born from about 1960 – 1980, maintained some attributes typical of the “Baby Boomer” generation, but feel that their upbringing was too strict. They added an emphasis on work/life

When it comes to Millennials, there is nothing that screams “business as usual.” Consequently, savvy leaders who want to remain successful in the global business arena, must concede their current method of attracting, engaging, developing and retaining Millennials as future global leaders is ineffective. Therefore, today’s leaders must develop a more compelling strategy to entice Millennials into leadership. Failure to use strategic foresight to recognize trends regarding future organizational trends and take timely actions to change their tried and true, old school philosophy regarding developing and retaining talented employees will result in losing the competitive edge, which is driven by technology-laden Millennial’s who are poised to innovation.