HUMAN RELATIONS
Baby Boomers The Baby Boomers are
the generation that is the first to arrive in the work- place and the last to leave. They were born between the years of 1946 – 1964. Being “work-centric,” Baby Boomers are extremely
hardworking and motivated by position, perks and prestige. Baby Boomers view work as exciting and an adventure and are loyal to their organizations. This is the generation where education was considered a birthright and was part of the first touch-tone phone revolution.
The fact that the
Boomer generation loves to work, and enjoys their power and position can be a turn-off to younger generations.
today. The type of telephone communication in the home or at work was a rotary phone; therefore, their preferred communication is short, to the point, and not with the use of email, text message or social media platforms.
This generation also was obligated to pay cash for
what they needed or wanted so, when it comes to their spending habits, they tend to save money and are viewed as conservative spenders when managing budgets. When working with these individuals in the organization, theymay resist using a lotof technology, smart phones, apps, emails, or digital filing systems to communicate, stay organized or run their team. They also view the workplace as an obligation and take a lot of pride in their sweat equity, and when you have to address this generation they like to be addressed one-on-one.
This generation also may view the new school employees who like to have work-life balance or use a lot of technology on the job as lazy and not focused. For example, I was in my bosses office, who is a traditionalist, and he was trying to explain some- thing he needed done. However as he was explaining things I was responding to important work emails. Even though I was working, my boss thought I was being very disrespectful and made a comment to let me know he was offended. So I have learned to just take a pad and pencil in the office and leave the phone on silent and not interrupt until he is done.
40 Automotive Recycling | November-December 2016
This is also the generation that implemented the buy-now-pay-later mentality with layaway and credit cards. Therefore, in the workplace, the Baby Boomers value working in teams, they tend to be the one to schedule team meetings. Remember, this generation is loyal to the company and comes to work early, so therefore they may tend to put those expectations on their team. They are also motivated by job titles and monetary rewards. This is one of the many tools they use to measure how successful they are. Now the downside to this generation is because they are so motivated by work and watched the use of computers evolve, they have taken a lot of time away from the home in order to provide for their families, which leads me to our next generation.
Generation X
Generation X is the gen- eration of transition from the old school to the new school and was the gener- ation to change the work- place environment. Gen- eration X was born between 1965 – 1979, values fun and is
skeptical when it comes to core values. Workplace loy- alty is a relic, Gen X’ers know that the idea of one company or employer for a lifetime of employment is outdated.
This is also the generation that was the first era of cellphone and internet usage. Some of you may remember AOL and the dial-up to get on the internet which meant you couldn’t use your house phone! Generation X is considered the innovator of the
term work-life balance where being at home with the family was very important to them, due to the results of having Baby Boomer parents who worked long
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