1. Welcome to the 28th Annual Western Pulp, Paper & Forest Products Safety & Health Conference
You Are Too Strict – You Are Too Lazy Different Generations in the Workplace

2. You are too Strick – You are too Lazy Different Generations in the Workplace
This afternoon we will be looking at the different Generations in the workplace.
Hopefully you will be an active participate in discovering how generational differences impact you and your fellow workers.
Near the end of today’s work session you will be able to share your own ideas and concepts in how to successfully engage all generations in safety and health.

3. The Six Living Generations in America
In America, there are six living generations, which are six fairly distinct groups of people.
For the most part, each generation has different likes, dislikes, and attributes.
They have had collective experiences as they aged and therefore have similar ideals.
A person’s birth date may not always be indicative of their generational characteristics, but as a common group they have similarities.

4. The Six Living Generations in America
GI Generation, born
Mature/Silent Generation, born
Baby Boomers born 1946*-1964*
Generation X born between 1965 and 1980*
Generation Y/Millennials 1981*-2000*
Generation Z/Boomlets born after 2001*

5. The Six Living Generations in America
For each generational group lets talk for a few minutes about events that took place during your generation that had an impact on your life. Events that shaped who you are today.
An example for Baby Boomers, assassination of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr.

6. GI Generation Born
Children of the WWI generation, the war to end all wars
Fighters in WWII
Young in the Great Depression
…they become strongest models of teamwork

7. They saved the world and then built a nation.
GI Generation Born
Their Depression was The Great One; their war was The Big One; their prosperity was the legendary Happy Days.
They saved the world and then built a nation.

8. They are the assertive and energetic do’ers. Excellent team players.
GI Generation Born
They are the assertive and energetic do’ers.
Excellent team players.
Community-minded.
Strongly interested in personal morality and near-absolute standards of right and wrong.

9. GI Generation Born
Strong sense of personal civic duty, which means they vote.
Marriage is for life, divorce and having children out of wedlock were not accepted.
Strong loyalty to jobs, groups, schools, etc.

10. The labor-union-spawning generation.
GI Generation Born
There was no “retirement” you worked until you died or couldn’t work anymore.
The labor-union-spawning generation.
Safety, health & work conditions were becoming important in the workplace.

11. “Use it up, fix it up, make it do, or do without.”
GI Generation Born
“Use it up, fix it up, make it do, or do without.”
Avoid debt…save and buy with cash.

12. GI Generation Born
Age of radio and air flight; they were the generation that remembers life without airplanes, radio, and TV.
Most of them grew up without modern conveniences like refrigerators, electricity and air conditioning.

13. They are called The Greatest Generation.
GI Generation Born
They are called The Greatest Generation.

14. Mature/Silent Generation Born 1927- 1945.
Went through their formative years during an era of suffocating conformity.
But also during the postwar happiness: Peace! Jobs! Suburbs! Television! Rock ‘n Roll! Cars! Playboy Magazine!

15. Mature/Silent Generation Born 1927- 1945.
Korean and Vietnam War generation.
The First Hopeful Drumbeats of Civil Rights!
Pre-feminism women; women stayed home generally to raise children, if they worked it was only certain jobs like teacher, nurse or secretary.

16. Mature/Silent Generation Born 1927- 1945.
Men pledged loyalty to the corporation, once you got a job, you generally kept it for life.
The richest, most free-spending retirees in history.

17. Mature/Silent Generation Born 1927- 1945.
Marriage is for life, divorce and having children out of wedlock were not accepted.
In grade school, the gravest teacher complaints were about passing notes and chewing gum in class.

18. Mature/Silent Generation Born 1927- 1945.
They are avid readers, especially newspapers.
The Big-Band/Swing music generation.
“Retirement” means to sit in a rocking chair and live your final days in peace.

19. Mature/Silent Generation Born 1927- 1945.
Strong sense of trans-generational common values and near-absolute truths.
Disciplined, self-sacrificing, & cautious.

20. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964
Baby Boomers are the demographic of people who were born just after the Second World War; this would give the baby boomer generation an approximate date of between 1946 and 1964. 
World war two ended in 1945, and as a rule of thumb baby boomers are the children who are born as the war ended, as families settled down again.

21. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
Born between 1946 and 1964, there are Two sub-sets:
1. the save-the-world revolutionaries of the ’60s and ’70s and
2. the party-hardy career climbers (Yuppies) of the ’70s/’80s.

22. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
The “me” generation.
“Rock and roll” music generation.
Ushered in the free love and “non-violent” protests which triggered violence.
Self-righteous & self-centered.

23. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
Buy it now and use credit.
Too busy for much neighborly involvement yet strong desires to reset or change the common values for the good of all.

24. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
Even though their mothers were generally housewives, responsible for all child rearing, women of this generation began working outside the home in record numbers, thereby changing the entire nation as this was the first generation to have their own children raised in a two-income household where mom was not omnipresent.

25. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
The first TV generation.
The first divorce generation, where divorce was beginning to be accepted as a tolerable reality.
Began accepting homosexuality.

26. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
Optimistic, driven, team-oriented.
Envision technology and innovation will make the world a better place.

27. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
Tend to be more positive about authority, hierarchal structure and tradition.

28. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
One of the largest generations in U.S. history with 77 million people.

29. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
Their aging will change America almost incomprehensibly
They are the first generation to use the word “retirement” to mean being able to enjoy life after the children have left home.
Instead of sitting in a rocking chair, they go skydiving, exercise and take up hobbies, which increases their longevity.

30. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
The American Youth Culture that began with them is now ending with them.
Their activism is beginning to re-emerge.

31. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
“Latch-Key” came from the house key kids wore around their neck, because they would go home from school to an empty house.
The “latch-key kids” grew up street-smart but isolated, often with divorced or career-driven parents.

32. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
They are Entrepreneurial.
Very individualistic.
Government and big business mean little to them.
Want to save the neighborhood, not the world.

33. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
Feel misunderstood by other generations.
Cynical of many major institutions, which failed their parents, or them, during their formative years and are therefore eager to make marriage work and “be there” for their children.
Don’t “feel” like a generation, but they are.

34. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
Raised in the transition phase of written based knowledge to digital knowledge archives.
Most remember being in school without computers and then after the introduction of computers in middle school or high school.

35. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
Desire a chance to learn, explore and make a contribution.
Tend to commit to self rather than an organization or specific career. This generation averages 7 career changes in their lifetime, it is not normal to work for a company for life, unlike previous generations.

36. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
Society and thus individuals are envisioned as disposable.

37. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
AIDS begins to spread and is first lethal infectious disease in the history of any culture on earth which was not subjected to any quarantine.

38. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
Beginning obsession of individual rights prevailing over the common good, especially if it is applicable to any type of minority group.
Raised by the career and money conscious Boomers amidst the societal disappointment over governmental authority and the Vietnam war.

39. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
School problems were about drugs.
Late to marry (after cohabitation) and quick to divorce…many single parents.

40. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
Into labels and brand names.
Want what they want and want it now but struggling to buy, and most are deeply in credit card debt.

41. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
They may be conversationally shallow because relating consists of shared time watching video movies, instead of previous generations.
Short on loyalty & wary of commitment; all values are relative…must “tolerate” all peoples.

42. Generation X Born between 1965 and 1980*
Self-absorbed and suspicious of all organization.
Survivors as individuals.
Cautious, skeptical, unimpressed with authority, self-reliant.

43. Generation Y/Millennials Born between 1981* and 2000*
Aka “Echo Boomers” “The 9/11 Generation”
America’s next great generation brings a sharp departure from Generation X.
They are nurtured by omnipresent parents, optimistic, and focused.

44. Generation Y/Millennials Born between 1981* and 2000*
They Respect authority.
Falling crime rates. Falling teen pregnancy rates.
But with school safety problems they have to live with the thought that they could be shot at school.
They learned early that the world is not a safe place.

45. Generation Y/Millennials Born between 1981* and 2000*
They schedule everything.
They feel enormous academic pressure.
They feel like a generation and have great expectations for themselves.

46. Generation Y/Millennials Born between 1981* and 2000*
Prefer digital literacy as they grew up in a digital environment.
Have never known a world without computers
They get all their information and most of their socialization from the Internet.

47. Generation Y/Millennials Born between 1981* and 2000*
They prefer to work in teams.
With unlimited access to information they tend to be assertive with strong views.
Envision the world as a 24/7 place, want fast and immediate processing.

48. Generation Y/Millennials Born between 1981* and 2000*
They have been told over and over again that they are special, and they expect the world to treat them that way.
They do not live to work, they prefer a more relaxed work environment with a lot of hand holding and accolades.

49. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
In 2006 there were a record number of births in the US and 49% of those born were Hispanic, this will change the American melting pot in terms of behavior and culture.
The number of births in 2006 far outnumbered the start of the baby boom generation, and they will easily be a larger generation.

50. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
Since the early 1700’s the most common last name in the US was ‘Smith’. Not anymore, now it is Rodriguez.

51. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
Generation Z/Boomlets consist of two age groups:

52. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
(a) Tweens.
(a1) Age 8-12 years old.
(a2) By 2009 there are 29 million tweens.
(a3) $51 billion is spent by tweens every year with an additional $170 billion spent by their parents and family members directly for them.
(b)Toddler/Elementary school age.

53. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
61 percent of children 8-17 have televisions in their rooms.
35 percent have video games.
14 percent have a DVD player.
4 million have their own cell phones. They have never known a world without computers and cell phones.

54. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
Have Eco-fatigue: they are actually tired of hearing about the environment and the many ways "we have to save it".

55. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
With the advent of computers and web based learning, children leave behind toys at younger and younger age.
As children reach the age of four and five, old enough to play on the computer, they become less interested in toys and begin to desire electronics such as cell phones and video games.

56. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
Called “KGOY”-Kids Growing Older Younger, & many companies have suffered because of it, most recognizable is Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls. In the 1990’s the average age of a child in their target market was 10 years old, in 2000 it dropped to 3 years old.

57. Generation Z/Boomlets Born after 2001*
They are Savvy consumers and they know what they want and how to get it and they are over saturated with brands.
They are now starting to enter the workplace, bringing their own uniqueness and challenges.

58. You are to Strick – You are to Lazy Different Generations in the Workplace
This is only a guideline, remember that everyone is different and not everyone fits into this analysis, but for the most part you can generalize their behavior. It is important to know how to effectively communicate to these diverse generations.
In understanding their behavior, you can create the right communication, tailoring it specifically for each group’s needs and therefore effectively getting them involved in safety and health in and out of the workplace.
The dates for GI, Mature, and Baby Boomer and the beginning of Gen X are set and do not change, the dates for the end of *Gen X, *Gen Y and *Gen Z fluctuate depending on what source(s) you are using.

59. Learning Trends across Generations
As we have seen there are numerous factors that differentiate generations. An important question for workplace learning is, “Do those factors influence how people learn?” A major factor in workplace learning preference is the predominant educational trends during a student’s formal education.

60. Learning Trends across Generations
Diagrams like the ones shown here characterize three different generations of educational trends.

61. Baby Boomers approximate date of between 1946 and 1964.
Baby Boomers were taught in a linear fashion. They read books. Not only that, they read books from cover-to-cover.
They were taught by lecture.
Prevalent learning technologies included overhead projectors, filmstrips, and some video.

62. Generation X born between 1965 and 1980*
Gen Xers were taught in pods or modules.

63. Generation X born between 1965 and 1980*
When Gen Xers did research, they used the index in books to find the information they needed. They didn’t read books cover-to-cover.
They learned in a structured environment that included some lecture and small group activities. Were their minds affected by what is affectionately refer to as “Death by PowerPoint?”
These students had calculators. In 1980 there was one computer for every 92 students in U.S. public schools.

64. Generation Y/Millennials 1981*-2000*
Millennials were taught in a more constructivist environment, utilizing a primary teaching goal that students learn how to learn by giving them the training to take initiative for their own learning experiences.

65. Generation Y/Millennials 1981*-2000*
Characteristics of a constructivist classroom are:
the learners are actively involved
the environment is democratic based
the activities are interactive and student-centered
the teacher facilitates a process of learning in which students are encouraged to be responsible and autonomous

66. Generation Y/Millennials 1981*-2000*
Examples of Millennial Learning Activities
Experimentation: Students individually perform an experiment and then come together as a class to discuss the results
Research projects: Students research a topic and can present their findings to the class.
Field trips: This allows students to put the concepts and ideas discussed in class in a real- world context. Field trips would often be followed by class discussions
Films: These provide visual context and thus bring another sense into the learning experience
Class discussions: This technique is used in all the methods described above. It is one of the most important distinctions of constructivist teaching methods

67. Generation Y/Millennials 1981*-2000*
Millennials did research in a networked structure.
When asked to investigate a topic they would most likely turn to a computer. They wondered why anyone would consider reading a book.
They were the first entire generation of digital natives.
Their learning environment accommodated flexibility.
They had unlimited information available at their fingertips and were comfortable changing focus quickly.
Their new blackboard is the iPad.
Times have changed!

68. Generation Y/Millennials 1981*-2000*
Millennials (digital natives) are comfortable with computer technology. In comparison, those who learned to use computers later in life—are less comfortable with computers.
Does that mean Baby Boomers should learn through face-to-face training or books while Gen Xers and Millennials should participate in computer- mediated learning? No, it means that Baby Boomers acquired computer skills later in life than Gen Xers or Millennials.

69. Exceptions to the Rule
We all know exceptions to the stereotype of Millennials being more computer savvy than Baby Boomers.
The important consideration is that Baby Boomers probably need more explicit instructions and guidance when learning with digital media.
Never assume a computer interaction will be obvious or intuitive to all generations.

70. Generational Work Group
Work within your “Generational” group to develop suggestions on how to successfully engage all generations in safety and health.
Your approach might be tailor fit for specific generations.
If you like, pick a specific safety and-or health topic to focus on.
Select your groups spokesperson who will share, report out, your work group’s ideas and concepts.