Wow. Blaming Mr. Rogers! They forgot to attack Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Kermit. Wait a second. Sesame Street Characters are to blame for the Gen X'ers, not the Y's . . . aren't they?
Sure. And Eddie Haskell is to blame for all of the brown-nosers of the Boomers. Hey, it is our parents who are to blame/thank. Not a TV show or personality.
I just love the "profiling" that is done about an entire generation. If memory serves me correctly (I'm over 50 so I'm not sure it does), my generation - the boomers - were all dope smoking, long-haired hippies who made love, not war. There wasn't CNN or the internet then but ABC, CBS and NBC sure talked about us that way. Those people that tried to lump EVERYONE in my generation as a dope smoking, hippies are the same people who are lumping all the millennials into how the 60 Minutes segment describes the new generation.
We are lucky there are people like Steven Rothberg at collegerecruiter.com and Eric Chester at GenerationWhy.com. These guys know and understand the power of the millennial generation and are great coaches that not only help us Boomers learn how to recruit, hire and retain employees but they also help coach the millennials. Most importantly Steven and Eric provide the voice of reason and the voice of hope for this powerful generation. Their Web sites should be on every company's "favorites".
Recently a boomer asked me to describe the differences of the three working generations. My perception is the following. The scenario is that it is 10 a.m. in an office with three sales people - a boomer, an X'er and a Millenial. The Sales Manager tells each of them that we need to get new sales and the sales manager wants them to go out prospecting and come back with four appointments. I envision the following:
- The millennial is back by noon announcing that they have their four appointments, have a lunch appointment with their friend and will be back in the office right after lunch.
- The gen x'er starts to argue with the sales manager and asks why they have to go out of the office to prospect. Why they can't just use the phone to set the appointments and save some gas. They then ask why new sales are so important and get into a philosophical debate on growing new customers versus having to get new customers. At the end of the argument everyone is frustrated.
- The boomer grabs a cup of coffee and tells the rest of the people in the office how he used to be able to get 10 appointments a day. He goes on ad nauseam about how he knocked on doors, got around the gatekeeper, made huge sales to the president of the company, etc. By lunch time he is still in the office pontificating.
I agreed with most of it about my generation but the stuff about us being lazy I think is way off! I think that my generation is more efficient! I can come into work at 9 and get more done by 3 then most of my co-workers, I think we have learned to work smarter and quicker that’s why we take more time off and get bored more easily then other generations!
As far as the whole Mr. Rogers thing, I think that’s a bit much too! But I guess it would explain why we think we are all special but I think it steams from everyone, mom, dad, teachers, etc. Not just Mr. Rogers!
I think what they said is brilliant. The onus is on us, as managers and coaches, to change how we mentor and lead. We have a whole bunch of smart people who are about to descend on us. They are much more technological than us, aren't cynical like the previous generation, and can help us achieve our corporate goals. We need to challenge them, provide the environment for them that maximizes their potential, and keep up with them.
I hope that 60 minutes tells the rest of the story about them soon. It is a good one!
2 comments:
It's probably true that they work smart and efficient; but that's cause they need instant gratification (smaller/faster cellphones, quicker internet). That prize cookie at the end of the day as well, which is okay - if that's what keeps them going.
A problem from what I can see everywhere whether it be facebook, blogs, emails, texts...is that they can't write. When I came out of high school and into Uni I could already write fairly well (probably because I didn't txt all my feelings and opinions, and learned to write longhand). Crack that whip, and make sure they know the difference between 'then' and 'than',:
"I think we have learned to work smarter and quicker that’s why we take more time off and get bored more easily then other generations!"
...and how to use an apostrophe and some punctuation.
Before I start to sound like a cynical Gen-Xer I'll quiet down and agree with everything else. I, like them, need and enjoy being managed. I like attention. Furthermore, I care more about the work environment than money, for now.
Cya!
(also, can you allow for 'other' comments for your Comments section on your blog; I like to put in the direct link to my blog instead of my Google blog, which exists only as a link)
Good post... A couple great resources for marketers and managers interested in learning more about GenY-ers are Marketing to the Campus Crowd by David Morrison and Minding Your X's and Y's by lisa Johnson.
While the books are geared more towards marketing to than managing GenY-ers the insights into their media and communication habits, values, social groups, etc... are applicable for managers trying to understand this radically different generation.
I, like you, believe that understanding and connecting with generation is essential for sales managers who want to be successful in the next decade.
As Johnson writes in her 2006 book, "It is increasingly urgent for businesses to understand generations X and Y. In five years, this group will render many traditional business and marketing practices obsolete.
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