TAKE A GENERATIONAL QUIZ

This quiz is from From Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman and can be found at About.com: Human Resources


WHEN GENERATIONS COLLIDE AT WORK QUIZ

QUESTIONS

1. Which of the following is important for a Baby Boomer (Born 1946-1964)?
Build parallel careers.
Build a stellar career.
Build a legacy.
Build a portable career.

Your response? _______________________


2. Which of the following is important to Generation Xers (Born 1965-1980)?
Give me balance now, not when I'm sixty-five.
Support me in shifting the balance.
Help me balance everyone else and find meaning myself.
Work isn't everything; flexibility to balance my activities is.

Your response? _______________________


3. Which of the following feedback do Millennials (Born 1981-1999) prefer?
Sorry to interrupt, but how am I doing?
Once a year, with lots of documentation.
No news is good news.
Feedback whenever I want it, at the push of a button.

Your response? __________________


ANSWERS

1. Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964): Build a stellar career.
Loyal to a fault, Traditionalists expected to build a lifetime career with one employer, or at least in a single field, and to make a lasting contribution.

2. Generation Xers (Born 1965-1980): Give me balance now, not when I'm sixty-five.
Gen-Xers, the generation that brought balance to the forefront of today's workplace, aren't just carefree kids anymore. They have adult concerns, including young children, and want the time and flexibility to take care of them, perhaps better than they saw their parents do.

3. Millennials (Born 1981-1999): Feedback whenever I want it at the push of a button.


CLASHES AROUND CAREER GOALS
Traditionalist (Born 1900-1945): Build a legacy.
Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964): Build a stellar career.
Generation Xers (Born 1965-1980): Build a portable career.
Millennials (Born 1981-1999): Build parallel careers.

CAREER GOALS OF THE WORKPLACE GENERATION
Loyal to a fault, Traditionalists expected to build a lifetime career with one employer, or at least in a single field, and to make a lasting contribution.

Listening to the tick of the career clock, Baby Boomers find themselves questioning where they've been and where they're going. Yet the idea of having a stellar career is still utmost in the minds of many.

Intent on looking for career security rather than job security, Generation Xers believe it is critical to build a repertoire of skills and experiences they can take with them if they need to.

Millenials, who are just beginning to enter the workforce, have grown up multi-tasking, and believe that they will be able to pursue more than one line of work at the same time.

*** Once a manager has the different generations' goals in mind, it is critical to provide different routes for each workplace generation to reach them. In particular, Traditionalists and Boomers tend not to have career paths laid out in nearly the amount of detail they are expected to produce for the Generation Xers they are often supervising.

Generation Xers, on the other hand, are constantly pulling out their career maps to double check that they are headed in the right direction. Unless managers are always looking over these maps with their Generation X employees, they won't be aware of the change of direction until someone who is paying attention comes along and steals the talented Xer away.

WORKPLACE CLASHES AROUND WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Traditionalist (Born 1900-1945): Support me in shifting the balance.
Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964): Help me balance everyone else and find meaning myself.
Generation Xers (Born 1965-1980): Give me balance now, not when I'm sixty-five.
Millennials (Born 1981-1999): Work isn't everything; flexibility to balance my activities is.

*** Many Traditionalists have reached a point of financial and career stability where they are able to ask for more balance, yet they want the support and the approval of their employers in making the shift, including the transition to retirement.

With single parent households, growing kids, aging parents, demanding jobs, and retirement looming on the horizon, Baby Boomers have realized there simply isn't enough time to go around, and are asking for help in achieving a better balance.

Gen-Xers, the generation that brought balance to the forefront of today's workplace, aren't just carefree kids anymore. They have adult concerns, including young children, and want the time and flexibility to take care of them, perhaps better than they saw their parents do.

Millennials, the most over-programmed generation ever, have had the concept of balance drummed into their heads since birth by their Boomer parents.Balance initiatives are one of the most strategic approaches for companies to attract workers, retain the workers they have, and reduce stress and distraction in their lives. But balance means something different to each of the generations so understanding different perceptions of balance is the key to success.

WORKPLACE CLASHES ABOUT FEEDBACK
Traditionalists (Born 1900-1945): No news is good news.
Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964): Once a year, with lots of documentation.
Generation Xers (Born 1965-1980): Sorry to interrupt, but how am I doing?
Millennials (Born 1981-1999): Feedback whenever I want it at the push of a button.

*** The generations clash about feedback style as well as format: formal vs. frank, verbal vs. written, e-mail vs. memo, on the spot vs. a set time. Put all of these styles together and the feedback a Traditionalist thinks is informative and helpful can seem formal and preachy to the Boomers and the Xers.

Feedback a Boomer thinks is fair and judicious can seem uptight and overly political to a Generation Xer or a Traditionalist. Feedback a Generation Xer thinks is immediate and honest can seem hasty or even inappropriate to the other generations. Clearly, the generations have not signed off on what the feedback contract is supposed to look like.