So here is the Dummies' Guide for helping you to distinguish yourself or as simple to know others' generation.
The Greatest Generation (1901-1924) are people who encountered and experienced World War II in adulthood while Silent Generation (1925-1945) are people who experienced the war in their childhood. They are called the Veterans. They are hard work, know respect in authorities, duty before fun and adhere the rules. For them Work is an obligation. They are usually Individualist and communicate formally.
Then here comes the Baby Generation or Hippies (1946-1964), i dunno why they are called Baby boomers but they are born between the space exploration age and first modern counter culture. They are usually workaholic and know how efficiently work, for them work is an adventure and loves to have meeting because they are mostly team players.
- Boomers scored high in being a productive part of organizations (69%), "hardworking" (73%, the highest), a "team player" (56%), and nurturing and essential for others’ development (55%).
- While members of the boomer generation were strong performers in most areas, they were not viewed as the "best" generation in areas such as being adaptable (10%); collaborative (20%); social media opportunists (6%); and "brand ambassadors," or leveraging various channels (e.g., social media platforms, speaking engagements) to build an emotional connection and engagement with a brand (16%).
- Boomers are considered the least "tech savvy" (27%) of the three generations, and this attribute had the widest disparity among generations (a 58% gap between boomers and Gen Y)
The Baby Busters (1965-1980) people who experienced Vietnam war or Cold War. These people are the Generation X. They are usually children of the baby boomers and silent generation. They usually eliminate the task, self-reliant, want structure and direction and skeptical at work. They usually like direct and immediate communication. Generation X are focused on balancing their family, work and life.
- Compared with other generations, members of Gen X achieved the top scores in being considered a "productive part of my organization" (73%), a "team player" (65%) and "nurturing and essential for development opportunities" (56%).
- In addition, when asked which generation is the "best" at displaying select positive characteristics, respondents cited members of Gen X most frequently in seven out of 11 attributes. Examples include being a "revenue generator" (58%) and "relationship builder" (53%), as well as possessing traits of "adaptability" (49%), "problem-solving" (57%) and "collaboration" (53%). However, members of Gen X lag behind boomers in being perceived as "best" at displaying executive presence (28% vs. 66%) and being cost effective (34% vs. 59%).
- They were least likely to be considered "difficult to work with" (16%) or "cynical and condescending" (29%).
The Millennials or sometimes referred as Generation Y, refers to the cohort of individuals born, roughly, between 1982 and 1994. These are usually the children of Baby Boomers and people in early Generation X. Generation Y grew up with many world-changing events including the rise of mass
communication and the Internet. They usually do multitasking, know tenacity at work, entrepreneurial and Goal Oriented. They are usually communicate via electronic or voice mails. Like Generation X they like balancing work and family.
- Members of Gen Y were viewed as the "best" at being "tech savvy" (78%) and being social media opportunists, or leveraging social media beyond marketing (70%) – the two largest endorsements any generation received. Gen Y also scored higher than boomers for being the "best" at "collaboration" (27% vs. 20%), "adaptability" (41% vs. 10%) and being "entrepreneurial" (29% vs. 15%).
- Support for Gen Y to manage in 2020 nearly doubles, according to survey respondents, but this generation needs to improve several characteristics to get there. Members of Gen Y scored high marks for being "enthusiastic" (68% agree) but had lower scores than other generations for being perceived as a "team player" (45%), "hardworking" (39%) and "a productive part of my organization" (58%).
- They also scored highest in three out of four negative traits in the survey, such as being perceived as "difficult to work with" (36%), "entitled" (68%) and "lacking relevant experience" (59%). Yet it’s interesting to note that members of every generation view their own generation as entitled to a degree, including 60% Gen Y, 49% Gen X and 27% boomers.
and for now the last but not the least, Generation Z is the generation of people living in Western or First World cultures that follows Generation Y. Experts differ on when the earliest members of Generation Z were born, ranging from 1990 to 2001. They the youngest among the category, they usually communicate via social media and other internet based communication, they love networking online but most of them quite shy talking personally. They are self reliant but need assistance from the older generation. They are not-so Goal oriented and need fuel and drive to go on top. They are adaptable and easy to get along. According to Entrepreneur.com "For Gen Z, the need for attention and to be seen, has grown substantially, compared to Baby Boomers surveyed at the same age."
Generation gap is keep on widening, whether you are in business or just simple person at home you have to know how do these people interact, in order to adjust, adapt and learn how to communicate effectively. Don’t confuse character issues like immaturity, laziness or intractability with generational traits because those are traits that are seen passively. Age is just a pure number but remember respect is not measurable like what Lakhdar Brahimi "Be modest, be respectful of others, try to understand."
Data from: Analyzing perceptions: Positive and negative characteristics of members of each generation
