Multigenerational Workforce – Baby Boomers

African American woman in group of peopleContinuing with the Generations in the Workforce series, the next generation we are highlighting are the Baby Boomers. Still being one of the most dominant groups in the business world, Baby Boomers have been known as one of the largest generations in history. Expecting a looming retirement, many of Baby Boomers are still working and have expectations that need to be met in the workplace.

Baby Boomers are not attached to Careers

Baby Boomers are not likely to view employment as their identity (Roberts et al., 2008). Because of this, employment is not something that they feel tied to. Baby Boomers easily move from one career/company to the next and are hard to retain. This is why it’s very important that employers understand what is keeping each employee from this generation in their position. Without this information, it can be easy for employees of this generation to leave.

Baby Boomers Like to be Successful

Baby Boomers enjoy being leaders and getting the rewards that come along with do so. They like to win, to be in charge, and to make a difference. Baby Boomers are ambitious and they gauge success through material possessions (Eisner, 2005). Well-travelled, having done more than their parents, they enjoy free time and new adventures. Incentives that allow these experiences like paid time off are most appreciated.

Baby Boomers Appreciate Recognition

Baby Boomers enjoy recognition and praise. They can be motivated by being told that they are competent and doing a good job. They should be provided with regular feedback on their job performance. You cannot use the same techniques to motivate other generations in the same fashions as you would a seasoned Baby Boomer employee. They should not be placed in the same category or treated in the same fashion.

Baby Boomers Should Remember Their Experiences

When Baby Boomers came on to the workforce, they were met with obstacles from older generations because they felt that the Baby Boomers where edging them out of their positions. Now that the Baby Boomers are in the same position, they need to remember the position that they were in previously when working with the generations coming up after them so that they don’t create the same type of generational work tension.

In conclusion, focus on understanding the individual, not the generation. After all, everyone is an individual first. Baby Boomers span one of the largest gaps of time, which means that they can be one of the most complex groups of people. So let’s not lose focus of the importance of each individual within your company.

Penn Foster Webinar

Last night I had the great opportunity to present for Penn Foster’s Early Childhood Webinar series on a topic very close to me, How to Recruit, Hire, Train, and Retain the Right Person for the Job. For those of you who didn’t have a chance to see this presentation in the past, this presentation goes over what tactics you need to know as someone working in early childhood education when employing your staff. I am so grateful to the Penn Foster community and Nancy Moretti for allowing me to speak in such a great arena. Those of you who attended, I appreciated your questions and I hope you learned a lot of things you can apply back to your work.

Guest Post – Why Millennials Aren’t Awful

Starting with this article, I’m beginning a series highlighting each generation in the workforce. With this first one, highlighting Millennials, I have a guest writer that is very close to me and also a Millennial, DJ Bond.  Having his Bachelors in English and his MBA concentrating in Marketing, DJ currently manages social media content and designs publications.

Why Millennials Aren’t Awful

By DJ Bond

So I’ve heard a lot about my generation over the course of a few years. Ever since the term “millennial” came out to describe people born between 1980-1997, I’ve heard it used more as a negative term than ever as a positive. People mistake Millennials strength for flightiness or a hipster trend, but the real strengths come from the lessons that Millennials learned from their parents and what life they want.

Millennials Multitask Like It’s Their Job

Everyone hates multitasking Millennials but you can blame computers and video games for that. Every Millennial that is texting, listening to music, and writing an email at the same time was taught this way. One of the most common misconceptions out there is that multitasking means you aren’t paying attention. I was at a seminar where the speaker called me out while I tried to schedule social media posts for my job saying, “ok Mr. Millennial, l know you can multitask but let’s not distract everyone else”. Not only did I automatically disconnect from the speaker, but I felt like they only saw me for my generation and didn’t try to know me.  Many studies have shown that things like doodling actually help you to retain information better, so don’t assume multitasking means they don’t care. Multitasking isn’t for every situation, but for smaller tasks that can be tedious, this keeps people motivated to finish the task.

Millennials are not Workaholics

I think a common trend in the business world in the past was the idea of the workaholic. The people with their Blackberries who sent their work email at 9:00pm during their child’s soccer game, which prompts a phone call at 11:00pm with their boss about the 8:00am meeting tomorrow. Millennials are not about that life. Now don’t mistake that for laziness, Millennials are known to give more time and effort on the job if it’s not forced, but Millennials value social time with family and friends more than work.

Millennials Want It All

Does anyone remember those participation trophies that people started getting to make everyone feel like a winner? Well that’s how Millennials feel. We were told that we can do anything if we put our minds to it and the crazy thing is that we believed it. As a result, Millennials will not like jobs where they don’t feel appreciated. Millennials want to hit their goals, which means that they are going to find ways to work more efficiently, especially using technology, and take advantage of professional development opportunities.    

Millennials are not Focused on Money

Millennials are not running to companies paying the highest rate. They are looking for jobs that are doing things that they believe in and have good work/life balances. Millennials will leave jobs, taking pay cuts for jobs at companies that offer these things. Many employers are shocked by this, but it means that their core values are more important to them and they don’t want to be miserable for money.

Overall, many of the generalizations about each generation are just that. Generalizations. Each individual person is unique, which means that not everyone is going to fit the profile of a Millennial or Baby Boomer or whatever generation you speak of. So make sure you don’t paste your judgements of one person onto another because you assumed that was a generational trait.

Multigenerational Teamwork Handout

Recently, I presented at the MiAEYC Professional Development Institute on a topic that is very relevant to the workplace currently. My presentation was called “Building a Stronger Workforce Through Multigenerational Teamwork”. I had an great time presenting and all of the participants were awesome! I appreciate how great of an audience I had and how creative their skits on good and bad examples of multigenerational teamwork were.

I have here my handout from the conference for anyone to take a look at. If you missed the conference or can’t find your handout, feel free and read through the tips on this.

Multigenerational Handout

 

Arrange Your Classroom to Eliminate Blind Spots

ClassroomA blind spot is any area in the classroom where you are unable to see the children from every vantage point. You should be able to see the children from a standing or sitting position. When blind spots are removed you are able observe all of the children no matter if they are playing in an area, at the table, or sitting on the floor.

To check for blind spots: you should walk around the classroom and observed all areas from different vantage points. This will determine if you have any blind spots or potential area for blind spots. When reviewing the classroom for blind spots you have to remember that children will go into small spaces to hide. The classroom should be checked for blind spots when you originally set-up, when you rearrange the developmental area, and periodically to ensure that there are not any blind spots.

The Advantages

The advantage of eliminating blind spots within the classroom is that you can always observe the children. This will allow you to always know through observation what is going on in the classroom.

Never having to tell a parent that you did not know or observe what happened to their child when the receive an injury at the center.

You can see how the children are interacting with each other.

You have developmental areas that allow the children can flow through freely without any restrictions.

The Disadvantages

The disadvantage of blind spots within the classroom is that you cannot always observe the children. You will not always know what the children are doing in classroom.

Children have been injured at the center in blind spots and the staff will not know how the child was injured.

Children have engaged in inappropriate behavior unnoticed in the classroom.

Children have engaged in inappropriate touching.

Staff have been inappropriate with children in the classroom. Having cameras in the classroom may help but reducing blind spots to start is even better.

Staff tend to be inappropriate with the children in the area where they know others cannot observe their behavior.

Children can be left unattended in the classroom because the staff could not see them and they left the classroom thinking that it was empty. This is also true of the outdoor playground area.

Therefore, eliminating blind spots within your classroom will create a safer environment for all of the children and a higher level of comfort for the parents. I can assure you that the last thing that any parent wants to hear when their child has an injury is that the staff has no idea what happened. Overall, parents will maintain a higher level of comfort at a center when staff are able to communicate how their child was injured. Remember that as soon as a parent’s comfort level is broken as it relates to trust in the center, they will start looking for another child care facility for their child.