Bridging the Generation Gap: How to Get Radio Babies, Boomers, Gen Xers, And Gen Yers to Work Together And Achieve More

223 Pages·2007·0.43 MB·English

by  Linda Gravett

BRIDGING THE GENERATION GAP
How to Get Radio Babies,
Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers
to Work Together and Achieve More
Linda Gravett, Ph.D., SPHR and
Robin Throckmorton, M.A., SPHR
Franklin Lakes, NJ
Copyright © 2007 by Linda Gravett and Robin Throckmorton
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International
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information storage and retrieval system now known or hereaf-
ter invented, without written permission from the publisher,
The Career Press.
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Gravett, Linda.
Bridging the generation gap : how to get radio babies, boomers, Gen
Xers, and Gen Yers to work together and achieve more / by Linda Gravett
and Robin Throckmorton.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56414-898-8
ISBN-10: 1-56414-898-X
1. Work. 2. Conflict of generations. 3. Psychology, Industrial. I.
Throckmorton, Robin. II. Title.
HD4901.G756 2006
658.3’145--dc22
2006011950
Dedication
We would like to dedicate this book to our families, long-
suffering in their willingness to proofread, serve as a
sounding board, and live without our company for days
on end while we were writing. We couldn’t have done
this without you.
4 Bridging the Generation Gap
Acknowledgments
We’d like to acknowledge the 2,500 people across gen-
erations who patiently filled out a survey or sat through
an interview as we barraged them with questions about
their life, their dreams, and their needs and wants in the
workplace. You’re anonymous to readers of this book in
name, but many will relate to your comments!
Contents
Preface 9
Chapter 1: Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?! 11
Case Study: Managing Gen Ys 16
Chapter 2: Let’s Talk Dollars and Sense 19
Case Study: The Cost of Miscommunication
Across Generations 25
Chapter 3: The Generations in Context: How Did
We Get This Way? 31
Case Study: Career Goals 47
Chapter 4: How to Entice Each Generation to Join
Your Organization 49
Case Study: Recruiting 67
Chapter 5: Retaining Quality Radio Babies 69
Case Study: Hiring Older Workers 75
Chapter 6: Retaining Quality Baby Boomers 77
Case Study: Retaining Boomers 83
Chapter 7: Retaining Quality Gen Xers 87
Case Study: Promoting Younger Workers 95
Chapter 8: Retaining Quality Gen Ys 97
Case Study: Gen Y Work Ethic 104
Chapter 9: Get Ready, ’Cause Here I Come 107
Case Study: Retaining Millennials 113
Chapter 10: Managing Conflict Across Generations 115
Case Study: Managing Conflict 123
Chapter 11: Older Workers, Younger Bosses 125
Case Study: Younger Managing Older Workers 136
Chapter 12: They Want What?! Working With the
Gen Y Entitlement Mindset 139
Case Study: Entitlement Mentality 147
Chapter 13: Tailoring Training and Development
Across Generations 151
Case Study: Training for the Generations 163
Chapter 14: Building a Bridge Across
the Generations 167
Case Study: Creating a Cohesive Team 174
Chapter 15: Generational Imposters: A Presentation 177
Case Study: Interviewing Younger Generations 183
Chapter 16: Frequently Asked Questions 189
Case Study: Managing Conflict With Younger
Generations 195
Appendix A: Research Results 199
Appendix B: Worksheet: Calculating Turnover Costs 207
Appendix C: Generation Birth-Years 211
Reference List 213
Index 217
About the Authors 221
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Preface
We are a Gen Xer and a Baby Boomer (respectively)
who have successfully worked together in several capaci-
ties over the years. We know it’s possible to come from
different perspectives and collaborate to achieve mutually
satisfying results. Our experiences together and observa-
tion of people in the workplace compelled us to write this
9