1.
The Generation Gap

2.
Today’s Workforce

3.
Today’s Workforce
Traditionalists (1922 - 1945)
✤ Aliases: Veterans, Silent Generation, Greatest Generation
✤ Lived through WWII and were taught core values, respect for authority
✤ Traditionalists enjoy sharing their knowledge and history
✤ High value on loyalty and hard work
✤ Want to provide more opportunity to their children than they had

4.
Today’s Workforce
Traditionalists (1922 - 1945)
✤ Aliases: Veterans, Silent Generation, Greatest Generation
✤ Lived through WWII and were taught core values, respect for authority
✤ Traditionalists enjoy sharing their knowledge and history
✤ High value on loyalty and hard work
✤ Want to provide more opportunity to their children than they had
Baby Boomers (1946 - 1964)
✤ The most educated generation in history
✤ Making sacrifices to get ahead
✤ Take on big projects, want to make an impact
✤ Loyal to colleagues and employers
✤ Prefer face-to-face communication

5.
Today’s Workforce
Generation X (1965 - 1980)
✤ Aliases: Gen X, Xers
✤ Latchkey generation, watched their parents forge a new
work environment
✤ First generation to grow up with computer technology
✤ Care more about productivity than hours put into the
position
✤ Good balance in work and family
✤ Requires minimal supervision

6.
Today’s Workforce
Generation X (1965 - 1980)
✤ Aliases: Gen X, Xers
✤ Latchkey generation, watched their parents forge a new
work environment
✤ First generation to grow up with computer technology
✤ Care more about productivity than hours put into the
position
✤ Good balance in work and family
✤ Requires minimal supervision
Generation Y (1981 - 2000)
✤ Aliases: Gen Y, Millennial, Echo Boomer
✤ Continually connected, speak their own language
✤ Skeptical of authority, influenced by peers
✤ Seek recognition and fame, enjoy off humor and absurdity
✤ Skim information and text quickly
✤ Easily bored, expressive and digitally creative

7.
Perspective

8.
Perspective

9.
Approach

10.
Approach
Facebook Emailing Texting Twitter Mobile
Vs.
Faxing Memo Telephone Office Meeting

11.
Facebook & Twitter

12.
Workplace Behavior

13.
Workplace Behavior
Traditionalists (Age 65 - 88)
✤ Seniority and age correlate
✤ Climb the ladder by hard work and perseverance
✤ Understand value and money (conservative)
✤ Not uncommon to have only one or two positions throughout
their career
✤ Respects authority

14.
Workplace Behavior
Traditionalists (Age 65 - 88)
✤ Seniority and age correlate
✤ Climb the ladder by hard work and perseverance
✤ Understand value and money (conservative)
✤ Not uncommon to have only one or two positions throughout
their career
✤ Respects authority
Baby Boomers (Age 46 - 64)
✤ Team Oriented
✤ Interested in health and wellness
✤ Always learning, and always loyal
✤ Workaholics
✤ Espouse value of ‘inclusive’ relationships

15.
Workplace Behavior

16.
Workplace Behavior
Generation X (Age 30 - 45)
✤ Change Agents
✤ Prefer flexible work hours and informal work environment
✤ Started 80% of new businesses in the last 3 years
✤ Easy to recruit, hard to retain
✤ High value on ‘having fun’ at work
✤ Require minimal supervision

17.
Workplace Behavior
Generation X (Age 30 - 45)
✤ Change Agents
✤ Prefer flexible work hours and informal work environment
✤ Started 80% of new businesses in the last 3 years
✤ Easy to recruit, hard to retain
✤ High value on ‘having fun’ at work
✤ Require minimal supervision
Generation Y (Age 10 - 29)
✤ Goal setting is a priority
✤ Can-do attitude of traditionalist
✤ Teamwork attitude of Boomers
✤ Technological savvy of X’ers
✤ Think DIFFERENTLY than any other member of the
workforce

18.
Generational Motivators

19.
Generational Motivators
Traditionalist Motivators
✤ Loyalty is valued and rewarded
✤ Plaque for the wall
✤ Formal meetings or lunches
✤ Letting them know that their experience is appreciated and
respected

20.
Generational Motivators
Traditionalist Motivators
✤ Loyalty is valued and rewarded
✤ Plaque for the wall
✤ Formal meetings or lunches
✤ Letting them know that their experience is appreciated and
respected
Baby Boomer Motivators
✤ Expand public profile (feature in company newsletter or on
website)
✤ Make clear the objectives and desired results
✤ Make sure the steps toward the defined goals are very visible

21.
Generational Motivators

22.
Generational Motivators
Generation X Motivators
✤ Regular, honest feedback and mentoring
✤ Informal recognition (a day off)
✤ Effective leadership
✤ Let them set priorities on tasks

23.
Generational Motivators
Generation X Motivators
✤ Regular, honest feedback and mentoring
✤ Informal recognition (a day off)
✤ Effective leadership
✤ Let them set priorities on tasks
Generation Y Motivators
✤ Provide opportunities for continuous training
✤ Explain how your goals for them fit into the “big picture”
✤ Use email and ad hoc hall conversations for alternative
communication
✤ Be more of a coach, less of a ‘boss’

24.
Bridging The Gap
Traditionalists and Baby Boomers need:

25.
Bridging The Gap
Traditionalists and Baby Boomers need:
✤ To feel important — they are the “stars” of the organization
✤ To be treated fairly
✤ To see that their knowledge is valued
✤ They need to be heard

26.
Bridging The Gap
Traditionalists and Baby Boomers need:
✤ To feel important — they are the “stars” of the organization
✤ To be treated fairly
✤ To see that their knowledge is valued
✤ They need to be heard
Gen X and Gen Y are looking for:

27.
Bridging The Gap
Traditionalists and Baby Boomers need:
✤ To feel important — they are the “stars” of the organization
✤ To be treated fairly
✤ To see that their knowledge is valued
✤ They need to be heard
Gen X and Gen Y are looking for:
✤ Constant learning and growth
✤ Flexibility to try new things or voice new ideas
✤ Access to information and people (want to be kept in the loop)
✤ Ways to link what they do to the bigger goals of the company or firm

28.
What You Can Do
Mentorship Programs

29.
What You Can Do
Mentorship Programs
✤ Make an effort to implement mentorships for older members to share and younger
members to learn.

30.
What You Can Do
Mentorship Programs
✤ Make an effort to implement mentorships for older members to share and younger
members to learn.
✤ Make this a selective process to ensure profitable mentorships.

31.
What You Can Do
Mentorship Programs
✤ Make an effort to implement mentorships for older members to share and younger
members to learn.
✤ Make this a selective process to ensure profitable mentorships.
✤ Most senior partners received much more informal mentoring. They were taken to court
more frequently; partners debriefed a big transaction upon completion; colleagues had
more time to teach younger lawyers because business moved at a slower pace.

32.
What You Can Do
Mentorship Programs
✤ Make an effort to implement mentorships for older members to share and younger
members to learn.
✤ Make this a selective process to ensure profitable mentorships.
✤ Most senior partners received much more informal mentoring. They were taken to court
more frequently; partners debriefed a big transaction upon completion; colleagues had
more time to teach younger lawyers because business moved at a slower pace.
✤ Younger lawyers receive much less mentoring today. This means more stress and
longer hours as they struggle to teach themselves the law without the benefit of senior
lawyer guidance.

33.
What You Can Do
Listen

34.
What You Can Do
Listen
✤ Whether your firm implements a quarterly ‘ideas for forward progress’ meeting or sends
out a periodic internal survey on ideas improve business, employees want to be heard
and love to express their ideas.

35.
What You Can Do
Listen
✤ Whether your firm implements a quarterly ‘ideas for forward progress’ meeting or sends
out a periodic internal survey on ideas improve business, employees want to be heard
and love to express their ideas.
✤ They should be encouraged, not afraid, to share. Create a time and place for them to do
just that. You never know, you might just find that new marketing push you’ve been
looking for.

36.
What You Can Do
Emphasize Value

37.
What You Can Do
Emphasize Value
✤ Celebrate the successes along the way, big and small. If an individual contribution has
helped the team move forward, make sure your firm or company has a policy that
addresses this.

38.
What You Can Do
Emphasize Value
✤ Celebrate the successes along the way, big and small. If an individual contribution has
helped the team move forward, make sure your firm or company has a policy that
addresses this.
Enhance Culture

39.
What You Can Do
Emphasize Value
✤ Celebrate the successes along the way, big and small. If an individual contribution has
helped the team move forward, make sure your firm or company has a policy that
addresses this.
Enhance Culture
✤ Make sure your firm’s culture is appealing to all generations. If you are a growing firm
looking to attract top talent, even on a senior level, only firms or companies with a
culture that appeals to every generation will be able earn candidate loyalty. Do you
need a culture adjustment?

40.
What You Can Do
Sharing Knowledge and Social Media

41.
What You Can Do
Sharing Knowledge and Social Media
What intellectual property, knowledge, and “know-how” is walking out the door when
traditionalists and baby boomers retire?

42.
What You Can Do
Sharing Knowledge and Social Media
What intellectual property, knowledge, and “know-how” is walking out the door when
traditionalists and baby boomers retire?
✤ How do we retain the traditionalists and baby boomer IP?

43.
What You Can Do
Sharing Knowledge and Social Media
What intellectual property, knowledge, and “know-how” is walking out the door when
traditionalists and baby boomers retire?
✤ How do we retain the traditionalists and baby boomer IP?
✤ How might we keep them engaged to continue to provide valuable insights and
information?

44.
What You Can Do
Sharing Knowledge and Social Media
What intellectual property, knowledge, and “know-how” is walking out the door when
traditionalists and baby boomers retire?
✤ How do we retain the traditionalists and baby boomer IP?
✤ How might we keep them engaged to continue to provide valuable insights and
information?
✤ How might we capture, extract, glean what they know before they leave?

45.
What You Can Do
Sharing Knowledge and Social Media
What intellectual property, knowledge, and “know-how” is walking out the door when
traditionalists and baby boomers retire?
✤ How do we retain the traditionalists and baby boomer IP?
✤ How might we keep them engaged to continue to provide valuable insights and
information?
✤ How might we capture, extract, glean what they know before they leave?
✤ How might we use social technologies to bridge the gap between baby boomers and
next generation leaders?

46.
What You Can Do
Sharing Knowledge and Social Media
What intellectual property, knowledge, and “know-how” is walking out the door when
traditionalists and baby boomers retire?
✤ How do we retain the traditionalists and baby boomer IP?
✤ How might we keep them engaged to continue to provide valuable insights and
information?
✤ How might we capture, extract, glean what they know before they leave?
✤ How might we use social technologies to bridge the gap between baby boomers and
next generation leaders?
✤ How might we leverage Gen X & Y’s comfort and mastery of technology and social media
to bridge the information gap between both generations?

47.
The Generation Gap