Who are the generations? There are four:
1) the Traditionalists; 2) the Baby Boomers; 3) Generation X, and; 4)Millennials.
The next question we need to ask is: What generation do I belong to? To answer this we have to take a look at the generational divide.
Traditionalists were born before 1946. Baby Boomers were born between “1946-1964”. Generation Xers were born between “1965-1980” and the Millennials were born between “1981-2002”.
A more interesting way to determine the generation you belong to is to ask yourself, ‘Who was my favorite musician growing up? Glen Miller, The Beatles, Madonna, or Usher? What about your favorite toy? Marbles, a hula hoop, Barbie and G.I. Joe, or maybe it was a Gameboy or Playstation?
After figuring out your generation, let’s take a closer look at the personality traits and behaviour of each generation. Traditionalists value hardwork, dedication, sacrifice and are known as the “Work to Live” generation. They focus on building a better future and are
authoritarian, expect pyramid shaped organization. (Keyword: “Loyal”)
Baby Boomers are competitive, individualistic, question authority, and “Live to Work”. Known as the “Me Generation”, they want to build a stellar
career. (Keyword: “Optimistic”)
Generation X are electric, resourceful, self-reliant, distrustful of institutions, highly adaptive to change and technology. They believe that the world is
not as safe as it once. Are children of divorce, latch key children, impacted by downsizing and right sizing and wait
a long time to start families (career first) and now seek work/life balance. (Keyword: “Skeptic”)
Millenials have been over schedualed from birth.They were born into the information age; expect multi tasking, multimedia and have high expectations
of self, and organization. Team oriented, need to feel valued and are known as the “the collaboration generation”. (Keyword: “Realistic”)
The attraction and retention of workers is a key issue facing employers today. There is a need to create working environments that will appeal to the employees you want to attract and retain. The answer is not in one size fits all strategies, it is in creating a range of solutions to meet all generations needs, as well as address how everyone’s workplace needs change throughout the day/week.
The key issues being addressed are:
-Healthy environments (daylight/views, air, temperature)
-Sustainable spaces/energy efficient
-“Future proofed” – able to grow & shrink
-Mobile/changeable, sometimes by employees
-Diversity of spaces to meet diverse needs
(public/private/interactive); (temporary, changeable, permanent)
-Reflect corporate image & culture
-Affordable (and often more dense)
A multigenerational workforce requires companies to meet the
varying needs of each type of wroker. Companies will have to
develop multiple strategies not a single dramatic one. Each
companies approach will require a unique approach tailored to
suit their needs. The companies who do it best will get the best
people.
Total Office Business Furnishings in Kelowna understands the
above issues facing all kinds of businesses, corporations and
government institutions. We are here to help all our customers
from concept to completion and beyond. Total Office is not just a
supplier of office furnishings, architectual walls, and ergonomic
accessories.
We do all that, but in addition Total Office provides
planning and design services through a collaboration processes
with the customer, architect, contractor, designers and/or project
manager. We support every project full circle, from informing,
educating, assisting, brainstorming, floor planning and installing.
We do it all with service excellence as our driving force for
building long-term business-to-business and business-tocustomer
relationships.
For more information Contact:
TOTAL OFFICE
Planning Services - Professional Delivery & Installation
420 Banks Road Kelowna, B.C. V1X 6A3
Tel:250.717.1626
Toll Free:1.800.558.DESK (3375)
E: info@TotalOfficeBC.ca
W: http://www.totalofficebc.ca/
