Generation Xers In The Workplace

most watched in the classroom. As people born after men landed on the moon, they intuitively understand that the world is one small ecology and one large, global economy.
• Most significantly, members of Generation X understand employment in a very different way than their predecessors. Whereas their Veteran elders expected that career success involved long-standing loyalty to one organization, with a corresponding guaranteed employment for life, Generation Xers expect success from short term employment with less permanent relationships. As young children, Generation Xers watched their parents work extremely long hours and sacrifice leisure time for success at work. This alone has motivated them to desire employment where they can create

Their resourcefulness, independence, strong peer friendships, technical sophistication, and adaptability to change are increasingly valued. More than that, Generation Xers have a pragmatic focus on outcomes, rather than process (Murray, 1997). As a result, they often can analyze bureaucratic barriers and identify ' innovative processes which produce better and more cost-effective outcomes.
• Millennial Generation (Born between 1980 and 2000)
• The Millennial Generation has nearly as many members as the Baby Boomer Generation. Once again with a large generational cohort, the spotlight has returned to children. During their youth, "baby on board" signs in automobiles signaled a resurgence of protectiveness and family values. Largely born to older mothers, their births were well attended by both parents with 70% of fathers watching their children's delivery (Raines, 2003). Although 60% of Millennials were born into a home where both parents worked, in contrast to the experience of Generation Xers, an established infrastructure supported them and

Based upon world events that framed their youth and initial work experiences, members of each generation have develop somewhat unique mental models. These learned models/patterns are logical and consistent with their lived experience. Although each individual is unique, members of each generation do develop a collective personality with assumptions about organizations, attitudes related to authority, and expectations for success at work (Zemke et al. 2000).
• Certainly, differences between generations are not new. However, two significant changes over the past 60 years have forced the current generations in the workforce into more intense interaction. First, the nature of work itself has shifted. In traditional, bureaucratic structures, the interactions between people from different generations followed hierarchical lines. People from younger generations were in