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Four Generations – One Workforce

By Debbie Morrison, December 2, 2009

Bill. The Baby Boomer.

How many times have you secretly rolled your eyes at a co-worker? Or battled to get your point across to a room full of people unwilling to listen to your perspective? Do you hate feeling like you’re being micro-managed?

You’re not alone.

Go ahead and blame it on your parents because you’re a product of the generation you were born into!

For the first time in history, there are four generations in the work force. And these players are different than ever before. We have a workforce that is increasingly diverse in age, experience, work styles and backgrounds. This is why understanding generations and how they work is critical. Today’s 25-year-old Millennial worker is not the same as a 25-year-old Generation X worker was 10 years ago or a Baby Boomer 20 years ago. There are distinct differences that must be understood – and appreciated.

Check out where you fall into the generations, and see if some of the traits are characteristic of you.

Tradionalists
Birth Years: Pre-1945
Population Size: 75 million (25% are still in the workforce)
Traits: conservative, fiscally prudent, loyal, faith in institutions, sensitive to minority positions, masters of policy, committees and processes, trust credentialed experts.
Communication style: administrative, policy-oriented, letter of the law, masters of the expert opinion, think tanks.

Baby Boomer Debbie. True to her description.

Baby Boomers
Birth Years: 1946-1964
Population Size: 80 million
Traits: ambitious, idealistic, strong work ethic, highly competitive, multi-taskers, value vision and mission, believe in the importance of personal indulgence over institutional might.
Communication Style: megaphone, brilliant message crafters, good creators of content that aligns to purpose and values with appeal to higher purpose and meaning.

Generation Xers
Birth Years: 1965-1981
Population Size: 46 million
Traits: independent, resourceful, adaptable, value pragmatic, realistic approach to daily life, now-oriented, skeptical, distrust institutions.
Communication Style: independent, not connected to an organization, focused on micro-subjects and personal expression of style work, masters of the internet, blogging and publishing resources.

Alissa, a cusper, is quite tech savvy. She feels right at home between Generation X and Generation Y.

Millennial (Gen Y or GenNext)
Birth Years: 1982-2000
Population Size: 76 million
Traits: tech savvy, environmentally conscious, open minded and accepting of differences, socially conscious, value team, cohesiveness and their special mission as a generation.
Communication Style: upbeat, rally together, focused on the activity and approval of their peers, masters of mobile and hand-held devices.

I think the conclusion is clear, awareness is half the battle – understanding the unique traits of each generation and what makes us all different. So, instead of rolling our eyes about the generation gaps let’s embrace the many benefits of our multi-generational workforce and work together to create a dynamic work environment – but that’s just our opinion as an entitled, lazy, tech savvy Millennials.

So which Generation are you a part of? And what generation dominates your work place?

The co-authors, Brooke and Andrea. Both Millennials.

*Learn more about the generational divide by reading When Generations Collide by Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman.

Posted in Flint Group, HatlingFlint | Comments

Tags: Bill Hatling, Conversation, Flint Group, HatlingFlint, Social Media

What’s your idea of beautiful?

By Chris Hagen, November 25, 2009

Recently I had the opportunity to meet a beautiful, dynamic woman with an impressive resume. Shelly Gompf is a senior vice president at Ulteig in Fargo. She’s also the newly-crowned Mrs. North Dakota International. Our conversation reminded me of one of my favorite integrated brand advertising and public relations campaigns—the Dove© Campaign for Real Beauty.

Dove first launched the campaign in 2004 as it expanded its product offerings. Using women of all shapes, sizes and ethnic backgrounds the campaign confronted our cultural perception of beauty head-on and worked for positive change. It still does so today.

The Dove campaign came up because Shelly’s platform as Mrs. North Dakota revolves around building self-esteem in girls and women. She is a trained facilitator of self esteem workshops through one of Dove’s partners, Girls Inc.. Dove’s efforts map perfectly to its mission to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening stereotypical views of beauty, by provoking discussion and encouraging debate.

This campaign has definitely created discussion and debate. And you’ll find it integrated into every aspect of their communications—ads, websites, print, social and more. The Dove website links directly to bloggers on girls’ self-esteem, videos, many of which have gone viral. (I’ve been forwarded the link to the video Evolution multiple times since this video reached more than 3 million views on YouTube in 2006.) Customers are encouraged to be part of the effort on multiple levels, from entering UPC codes to increase the Dove self-esteem fund to becoming a fan on Facebook.

You’ll hear our PR team talk about developing and adopting community relations programs and initiatives that make your brand relevant to your customers and important audiences. The really good programs are those that are genuine, enduring and map back to your mission. This one is a beautiful example.

Can you think of others that are equally as integrated, effective and impactful?

Posted in AadlandFlint, Flint Communications, Flint Group, Flint Interactive, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: Branding, Communications Strategy, Facebook, Public Relations, Social Media, YouTube

If you build it they will come…will they?

By Andy Reierson, November 19, 2009

Last week I was speaking to a group of students at a college in Duluth about the different ways businesses can use social media. As I was finishing, a student asked a very important question, a question I’m confident many of you are struggling with.

His question was this, “I intern for a local company who has a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account but we don’t have any fans or followers. How do we get more people interested and engaged in our social media efforts?”

Am I right? Do you find your company in this same predicament?

Take a step back

First off, why did you jump on Facebook or open a Twitter account? Do you have a strategy or was it because you heard all of the hype and thought you needed to be there? If it’s the latter, at the minimum you may want to think about and answer these questions…

What are your goals for your social media program? Is it to gain awareness? Increase sales? Or create loyalty? Do you know who your target audience is, what social media services they use and how they use them? Do you have a plan to engage, empower and connect your followers/friends? Or are you going to use it as a message board to talk about yourself or your company? If that’s the case, use your website.

Okay, I get it…but that still doesn’t get people to “follow”, “fan” or “friend” me.

When you open a new location or add a new service, do you just sit back and hope that customers will figure it out? No, you tell people right. The same is true about your social media efforts…if you don’t let people know where you are and what you’re doing, nobody will know or care.

How do you do this? Use your website, online media, signage in stores, and/or TV and radio commercials, basically any and all different forms of media will work. The important thing is to give them a reason to join – what added value are they going to get from joining your social media program?

What companies do you connect with in social media? How did you learn about/find them? How active are you? What benefits do you receive for being a part of their social media community?

Photo courtesy of Justin Brockie.

Posted in Flint Group, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: Advertising, Conversation, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Strategy, Twitter, WestmorelandFlint

5 Question Friday with Flint Group Senior Communications Strategist Colin Clarke

By Andy Reierson, November 13, 2009

Colin Clarke sits down with me to discuss communications strategy, social media, hockey and work/family balance. He shares his insight on how he keeps up with the new developments, technologies and advancements in marketing and applying them to client work.

Posted in AadlandFlint, Flint Communications, Flint Group, Flint Interactive, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: 5 Question Friday, AadlandFlint, Colin Clarke, Communications Strategy, Flint Group, Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Strategy, Twitter

Do u luv or h8 txting?

By Josh Hoffman, November 9, 2009

The advent of mobile technology gives marketers the opportunity to reach target audiences with a very personalized message, any time of day, delivered right into their hands. But the tool is not without controversy. Concerns have been raised about the impact of frequent texting on literacy and the English language.

txt msging has now bcome a freq used mode of comm among the young peeps. u can stay connected w/ ur bffs round the clock & on ur own terms. u can send a msg whnevr u want & u can ignore a msg rec’d or rply 2 it when u feel like it. w/ such a small space 2 write ur txt, words r reduced down to abbrevs or symbols. while this is eff 4 txt msging, the habit of using txt lingo is moving byond the mble device & is used in evryday writing. so the ? is this – is txting ruining the English lingo? lol

Critics claim text messaging has reduced the art of the written word to the literary equivalent of vanity license plates—clever, but gimmicky and trite. In our haste to communicate quickly, speed triumphs over syntax, punctuation is disregarded, emotions are misinterpreted, and the search for the perfect word completely abandoned. We are faced with no less than the destruction of the English language. Forever. A tragedy as profound as the prose of Shakespeare himself (who, btw, happily made up thousands of words).

Others—including some linguists—are less alarmed, pointing out that language, and the rules governing how we use it, have continually evolved to reflect how people communicate, and rightly so. Still others go so far as to say texting actually makes younger people better communicators, contending the more children use language, the more verbally skilled they become. In fact, studies have found no evidence that online language is degrading other aspects of language.

Is this controversy a linguistic tempest in a teapot? What do you think? Do you believe texting is ruining the written word?

Text: MOBILE to: 38681 Once you text MOBILE to 38681, you will receive a reply with that very question.

Check back to this post and we’ll let you know the consensus.

So, after a week of responses here is the consensus: 8 feel that it is ruining the language and 13 feel it is not. If u took the txting surv on the phone, the correct answer is: “At the rate that texting is growing, we are not gonna see this new language go away soon!” But I have to include some of these wonderful responses. “Good grief, I was wrong, it is ruining the English language.” “blah, blah, blah texting is growing…blah, blah, blah. apparently I am not txt savvy.” “I know I sound like a neanderthal, but if illiteracy is in vogue, I’m happy to look like a bafoon!” “Can’t translate. Point made.” “OK then.”

Your carrier might charge you for the text message, and no, we won’t sell your phone number to anybody. It will only be used for this survey.

Posted in Flint Group, HatlingFlint | Comments

Tags: Advertising, Conversation, Flint Group, HatlingFlint, Social Media

Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

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