Expert tells Organizers: Understand and Engage the Generations
September 3, 2008
When Jeff VanKooten, a generational studies expert, asked baby boomers to stand up at the 2008 Membership Development Conference, a powerful point was instantly made.
As the vast majority of the 1,300 delegates stood, VanKoten made his case for organizers better understanding the differences between the generations in IBEW workplaces.
With North Americans living longer, this is the first time ever that five different generations have coexisted in the workplace, said VanKooten. This places a severe challenge before a labor movement that only survives and thrives when workers are united.
In sometimes amusing detail, VanKooten outlined the differences between the Matures, born prior to 1946; the Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964; Gen X'rs, born between 1965 and 1981; Millenials, born between 1981 and 1999 and the Mosaics.
One of the major generational differences between baby boomers and those that follow is that the boomers tend to highly value faith in and loyalty to organizations and define themselves by their jobs. Gen X and Millennials rely more heavily on their own skills and knowledge to help ensure their future and see employment as a temporary contract.
From the use of technology to values and work ethic, each generation is a product of the progress of its predecessor. But, says VanKooten, organizers and leaders will only succeed if they "revisit their assumptions" of other age groups and engage them in finding out the best ways to communicate with them and establish a leadership style that they will respect.
"Generations have personalities," says VanKooten. Even adolescence is prolonged for many young people, extending into their mid-thirties, because there is not enough "cross-pollinating across generations," he says. This is compounded by an increasing depersonalization of society where fewer people even know their neighbors.
Organizers listened closely as VanKooten ended his presentation with an account of how he sat with his grandfather-who he described as his best friend-on his deathbed. "All our lives we listened to each other's stories," he said. "It is always so powerful for different generations to get in a circle and engage one another in authentic ways."
To receive VanKooten's newsletter from the Center for Generational Studies, visit www.gentrends.com.
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