There are no clear

boundaries for
generations, often they
over cross each other,
yet…
 Generational TEST
 Do you have your own web page? (1 point)

 Have you made a web page for someone

else? (2 points)

 Do you IM your friends? (1 point)

 Do you text your friends? (2 points)

 Doyou watch videos on YouTube? (1

point)
 Generational TEST
(cont’d)
 Doyou remix video files from the Internet?  (2
points)

 Have you paid for and downloaded music from

the Internet? (1 point)

 Do
you know where to download free (illegal)
music from the Internet? (2 points)

 Do you blog for professional reasons?  (1 point)

 Do you blog as a way to keep an online diary?

(2 points)
 Generational TEST
(cont’d)
 Have you visited MySpace at least five times?
(1 point)

 Do you communicate with friends on Facebook?

(2 points)

 Do you use email to communicate with your

parents? (1 point)

 Did you text to communicate with your parents?

(2 points)

 Do you take photos with your phone? (1 point)

 Results
0-1 point - Baby Boomer

2-6  points - Generation Jones

6- 12 points - Generation X

12 or over - Generation Y

 …it is clear that differences
exist!

And in order to understand

them, you have to know
what group they belong
to!
What are the
Generations?
Gen Jones
Gen Jones (cont’d)
 Gen Jones (cont’d)
 They fall into 3 main groups:
Mainstream, Conservative and
Radical.

 The Joneses have the highest

personal and household income.

 Gen Jones views itself as more

laterally thinking, creative,
energetic and politically active and
aware than the generations
around it.
Gen Jones (cont’d)
Gen Jones (cont’d)
Gen X
 Gen X
 Accept diversity  Mistrust
institutions/Cautious
in giving trust &
 Pragmatic/practical
loyalty
 Adoptive &  PC/Use technology
responsive to
change
 Killer life
 Self-
reliant/individualistic  Multitask

 Reject rules/Prefer  Friend-not family

informal workplace
 Gen X Associate:
Music
 New Wave and R'n'B styles,
giving birth to the Boy Band
phenomenon

 Alternative Rock (Nine Inch

Nails & The Smashing
Pumpkins)

 Grunge music (Nirvana &

Pearl Jam)

 The underground hip hop

developed into the gangsta
rap: East Coast (The
Notorious B.I.G. & Puff
Daddy) & West Coast (2Pac,
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg)
labels.
 Gen X Associate:
Movies
& Actors
 Gen X Associate:
Movies
& Actors
Gen X Associate: Technology/Media
 Libraries still using
index cards for
looking up books.

 Writing letters &

corresponding with
pen pals.

 Mail-by-order
books/comics.

 Communication via
telephone landlines.
The Distinct End of Gen X
The Distinct End of Gen X
The XY Cusp
 XY Cusp

Born in the mid-to-late 1970s & early 1980s.

Their generational identity is mixed, uncertain, or deviant
from X or Y or both, but does not constitute a separate
generational group in themselves.
Crossover with Beginning
of “True" Generation Y:
 Generation Y, The
Millenials
 Generation Y, The
Millenials

Spot Them
-self-absorbed,
gregarious,
multitasking, loud,
optimistic, pierced-
 Spot Them
 Blackberry E-
mail is only the
beginning. Gen Y
craves
connection, and
these gadgets are
the fix.

 Digital camera,
 Spot Them
 “Hipster
clothes, Jeans,
sneakers, hoodie
- and a jacket?
Behold, the new
corporate
uniform.”

 “Yoga mat, He
 Spot Them
 “Designer
coffee, Half-caf,
nonfat, short, tall
and sometimes
not coffee at all,
it's a Gen Y
staple.”
 Spot Them
 “Laptop, It's how
Gen Y does work.
Who needs the
office when you've
got cafes, parks and
your own living
room?”

 ”Spotthe Gen Y
Big headphones A
boom box for the
 The Millennial
Generation:
Up & Coming
 Raised at the most child-centric time in
our history, displaying a great deal of
self-confidence.

 Millennials want a relationship with their

boss.

 All
Millennials are new to the professional
workplace. Therefore, they definitely
 The Millennial
Generation:
Up & Coming
 Demanding,
Impatient & Bad at
Communicating.

 Generation Y workers are dissatisfying,

with poor spelling and grammar & no
understanding of appropriate corporate
behaviours.

 Most employers praised the energy &

 Gen Y
 Celebrate Diversity  Internet/Assume
Technology
 Optimistic/Realistic
 Multitask/ Fast Paced
 Self-Inventive/Value
Creativity in their Jobs  Friends =
family/Helicopter
 Individualistic & Team Parents*
Oriented
 Irrelevance of
 Rewrite the rules Institutions
 The www Camera phones/ SMS
'consumer'-friendly
Social Networking
PCs with modern OS
& mouse-based (facebook, MySpace)
point-&-click
3D virtual worlds
Graphics in video ( Second Life, Entropia
games, animated Universe)
movies & TV shows
GPS/Satellite radio/
Digital Online gaming
cable/Broadband
Internet
Touch Screens
Cell phones/ MSN
Domestic robots such as
Technology & usage
DVD/MP3 players/ Roomba, Scooba, &
This generation
Digital Cameras RoboMower
was the first generation
to use or witness the following technology
Robotic & Digital
 Technology &
Usage
97% own a computer

94% own a cell phone

76% use Instant Messaging

15% of Instant Messenger users

are logged on 24 hours a day/7
 Technology &
Usage

34% use websites as their

primary source of news

28% own a blog and 44% read

blogs

49% download music using peer-

 Technology &
Usage
75% of students have a Facebook
account

90% of college students have a

MySpace account and almost all
teenagers over the age of 16 have
one as well.
 Gen Y Associate:
Music
2000s pop is more musically one-
tracked on rap and rap/R&B.

The importance of low-cost or

free music for Generation Y
should not be underestimated.
 Gen Y Associate:
Movies
 Now Attract & Retain

“The most demanding generation

in history”
What is most important to them?

 Quality friendships

 Feeling they can make a contribution on

the job
 Now Attract & Retain

What entices them to join an organization?

3. Salary

5. Friendly casual work environment

7. Growth & development opportunities

 Now Attract & Retain

How to position your recruiting to actually

reach the Gen Ys?
II. Technology & Advertising:

4. Advertise jobs on multiple online job

posting boards local, national, trade
related, or all three.

6. Create a job posting board on your

company’s website.
 Now Attract & Retain

How to position your recruiting to actually

reach the Gen Ys?
II. The Copy of the Ads is Critical:

4. Include key words to which Gen Y can

relate to

 Short & Snappy that gets right to the

point of what they will be doing
 Now Attract & Retain

Ads will need to include statements

such as:
 Individual contribution  Do it your way

 Work / life balance  Opportunity to grow

 Family friendly  No rules

 Fast paced  State of the art

technology.
 "They'reso vocal that you can almost take an
associate to a meeting with the CEO," says
Asher, "because something that comes out of
her mouth is going to be actually outside the
box, something that none of us have ever
thought about."

 Gen Y can thrive when given real responsibility.

Mark Meussner, a former Ford manager,
remembers one instance when, faced with a
serious manufacturing problem and two young
engineers begging for the chance to solve it, he
took a chance on them. He gave them one
more-experienced person as a counsellor, and
they made what he estimates was a $25 million
 Never mind that they often need an
entire team - and a couple of
cheerleaders - to do anything. For some
of them the concept "work ethic" needs
rethinking. “

 Ina conversation with the CFO of a big

company in New York, says Tamara
Erickson, co-author of the 2006 book
"Workforce Crisis," "he said, 'I can't find
anyone to hire who's willing to work 60
hours a week. Can you talk to them?‘ She
said, 'Why don't I start by talking to you?
What they're really telling you is that
 This is our Future
Workforce!
 Understand it

 Look at Best Practices to Attract & Retain

it

Still…
 We have to continuously ask
these questions to increase
the chances of Success!
 How can I tailor-make reward packages to
attract and retain the best Gen Yers in the first
place?

 How can I ensure that the work my Gen Yers do

will bring out the best in them?

 How can I ensure the Gen Yers in my team step

up and show accountability for achieving their
goals and objectives?

 How can I ensure the Baby Boomers and Gen

 Finally, Gen Z is the
Generation succeeding Gen Y
with its birth years beginning
around 1993 and its ending
point may be around the
events of 9/11 and the digital
revolution.

… Giving Us Roughly 6 Years to

Start
 Thanks!
Questions
Please!