The North Central NAMA Chapter set the stage for its spring 2011 meetings with a panel representing the generations in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work force. \u00c2\u00a0Four professionals representing the age groups: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, shared their perspectives on today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work place. Syngenta hosted the November meeting at their new state-of-the-art facility. Teri Otte from Land O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Lakes moderated the panel.<\/p>\n
Joe Turner, formerly in the publishing industry and now an independent realtor, represented the Traditionalist point of view. \u00c2\u00a0These individuals are 70 plus years old and were not touched by computer technology during their professional careers. \u00c2\u00a0Turner said he considered the work day to be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and each day he had breakfast and dinner with his family. \u00c2\u00a0That work day was influenced by the fact that you caught a train to work in the city and you had to catch that train home in the evening.<\/p>\n
Turner shared that he was quick to adopt the technologies, such as faxes and cell phones, but during his professional career those technologies were not available. He used a desk phone, or pay phones when he was out of the office, to make sales calls. Also, there weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t many women in the workforce.<\/p>\n
When asked about the type of relationship he expected between him and a supervisor, Turner said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A boss is not a buddy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He expected to be given the parameters of a job and then he did the job. \u00c2\u00a0He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have an expectation to be friends with his boss.<\/p>\n
That sentiment was echoed by Tim Burke from Martin|Williams. \u00c2\u00a0Burke represented the Boomer generation on the panel. \u00c2\u00a0This group is 50 plus and some on the upper end are approaching retirement. He said that in his 30s and 40s he rarely used all of his vacation days. \u00c2\u00a0There wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t an emphasis on work\/life balance. \u00c2\u00a0However, as he has gotten older, his attitude has changed and he realizes the benefits of taking time off. \u00c2\u00a0Technology also made it easier to be more efficient.<\/p>\n
Burke said that the adoption of technology among Boomers was quick as it developed. \u00c2\u00a0In his early days of advertising, they hand wrote reports, gave them to an assistant to type, proofed the reports, retyped if there were errors and mailed reports to clients. \u00c2\u00a0The first computers didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come into his workplace until 1986. \u00c2\u00a0He said technology such as cell phones, e-mail and improved transportation made it easier to balance work and personal life.<\/p>\n
Wendy Clark from Hoards represented the Generation X employee. These workers are in their 30s and 40s. \u00c2\u00a0Computers didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really become common until high school. Clark said she got her first e-mail account and cell phone in college. Computers were mostly desktop versions and laptops weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really common.<\/p>\n
Clark said her work day is a traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but she telecommutes three days a week. \u00c2\u00a0She worked in the Hoards office for the first year to truly learn the business and then began telecommuting. Technologies such as a smart phone and laptop make it possible for her to do her job remotely. \u00c2\u00a0As a working mom, Clark has to balance her job with the needs of her young family.<\/p>\n
When asked about the type of relationship she wanted with her boss, Clark said she would like more feedback from her manager, a more mentor-like relationship. She admitted that with a boss that is a Traditionalist that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily an easy situation, however, they have adjusted to each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s communication style.<\/p>\n
Kayla Irvin from Syngenta was the Generation Y representative on the panel. Irvin has been around computers since kindergarten. \u00c2\u00a0Every computer she has owned or worked on is a laptop and cell phones were always in existence.<\/p>\n
Irvin said she places a high value on work\/life balance. \u00c2\u00a0As a full-time employee and also a graduate student, Irvin values working hard, but she isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to wait for retirement to relax. \u00c2\u00a0She said she plans to reward herself with an extended vacation once her graduate degree is complete. Irvin views her co-workers and her boss as mentors in developing her professional career. She said a personal relationship with her co-workers and her boss is important.<\/p>\n
This panel lays the groundwork for the February, 2011 North Central NAMA meeting when the meeting topic will focus on how to establish strong working relationships across the generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The North Central NAMA Chapter set the stage for its spring 2011 meetings with a panel representing the generations in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work force. \u00c2\u00a0Four professionals representing the age groups: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, shared their perspectives on today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work place. Syngenta hosted the November meeting at their new state-of-the-art facility. Teri […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[280,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-activities","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3172"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3201,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions\/3201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}