Understanding The Baby Boomer Generation

This article about the Baby Boomer Generation is part of a series of articles about the generation gap at work.

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The purpose of this article is to help you to have a better understanding of the people from this generation. What’s their values? How do they think about work and career? What motivates them?

Before I start, I would like to emphasize again that this is not personality types. You can’t categorize everyone from this generation into all these characteristics and behaviors. PLEASE DON’T GENERALIZE

Just like with the other generations, there are so many things to say...or shall I say write. Books have been written on this generation. So instead of creating a website on its own, here is a brief summary.

If you want a summary of all the other generations, read this article on the generation gap.

How do you know you are from the Baby Boomer Generation?

People from the baby boomer generation were roughly born between the 1940’s and 1960’s. It will differ slightly from country to country and from culture to culture, but here is a general dipstick.

USA: Born between 1943 and 1962

Europe/UK: Born between 1946 and 1965

Japan: Born between 1945 and 1965

South Africa: Born between 1950 and 1969

General Attitude

“If you’ve got it, flash it.”

Likes

Shopping. Winning. Leading. Vision.

Dislikes

Paying off debts and aging.

Characteristics

Talkative. Bossy. Inquisitive. Stylish. Competitive.

Heath Issues That Define the Baby Boomer Generation

Cancer and heart attacks.

Where Were They Born?

In a hospital. The incidence if caesarean sections and epidurals increased rapidly.

Family Structure They Grew Up In

Mom, Dad (if he survived World War II). Four children. A house cleaner. Two dogs. Grand parents who often lived in the countryside.

Attitude Towards Their Parents

“They were too strict. I couldn’t breathe. I had to rebel.”

As Parents

Permissive. Detached. Freeing. Warm.

Mealtimes

Still, sat down dinner with their parents, but there was noisy chatter and they expounded their views on issues of the day.

This generation invented fast foods to help them in their frenetic, workaholic lives.

Attitude Towards Education

“It’s my RIGHT to attend university and school”

Attitude Towards Authority and Respect

Openly rebellious. Teachers beat them into order.

Dress

They were the first to make a huge distinction between youth and adult clothing. Jeans arrived with a bang. They wore labels on the outside with the rationale that there’s no point wearing Armani if nobody knows that it’s Armani.

Dating and Courtship

The film “Grease” summed it up beautifully. This generation started dating with cars that have massive back seats, were parked in drive-in movies, and drove up at roadhouses. Boys without cars suffered.

It was still boys who asked girls out. Girls that asked boys out were considered “fast”.

Attitude Towards Training

“Challenge us.”

Attitude Towards Work

“Work is self-fulfilling; it makes me feel important”

Attitude Towards Changing Jobs

You may have to change jobs, but it will set you back in your career.

Advertising

“It must enhance my image”.

Attitude Towards Medical Aid

“Medical aid must pay…or else”

Attitude Towards Finances

“Something I’ll always owe the bank”

Music

Rock ‘n Roll. Elvis. The Beatles. Rolling Stones.

Fun and Leisure Time

They like activities where you are in control like horse riding, go carting, motorbikes and fast cars.

Working Environment

Branding is very important to this generation. They want the office to reflect them and their products. The “look of success” is very important.

Office blocks are massive open plan affairs with impressive entrances, hanging gardens, fish tanks, precious hothouse pot plants and coffee on tap. The baby boomer generation like impressive, dramatic effects, so their offices are often big.

Just like the previous Silent and GI generations, structure is still very important. They are very aware of the pecking order. This is evident in their attachment to designated parking areas and special access cards.

Recruiting The Baby Boomer Generation

People from the Baby Boomer generation will expect a fairly traditional recruitment interview. They will probably be very formal in their approach to it. You will need to sell your vision, mission, strategy, passion and values.

Emphasise that not only will your company be in existence for years to come, but also that it is going places. Setting out and selling that career path is vital. Boomers want to know their prospects in the company.

Unlike Generation X, where the interviewee interviews the interviewer, you will probably ask most of the questions during an interview with a Boomer. Expect them to want to take the glossy corporate brochure home with them.

When a Boomer start work, ensure that everything is ready and waiting…the phone, the desk and the business cards. Boomers like to hit the ground running.

Company Induction

They will probably not be that interested in orientation courses. However, if it is presented in an upbeat and motivational manner, they might like it.

How They Think About Career

In general, The Baby Boomer Generation, consciously or not, choose a career path that shows the community that they amount to something.

They seek challenges and once they achieved something, they want to be noticed. Either within the company with things like grand offices or titles. Or in the outside world in business magazines, newspapers and the internet.

This generation just entered retirement recently. So they are now heading towards a time in their lives where every generation begins to contemplate its future.

If Boomers are setting out on a new career path at this stage of their lives, they will want to know that they are doing something meaningful and not just for financial reward.

Many of them often feel trapped in a career, which they selected decades ago in another lifetime, in another world.

Attitude Towards Teamwork

The Baby Boomer Generation wants everybody on the team to be empowered, to have their say and to experience a common vision and a common way forward. This is their reaction to their bossy, domineering parents and bosses.

They believe that effective teams are those with common values and are homogeneous in purpose and approach. This is why, in most companies that are headed up by Boomers, you will find a vision, mission and purpose. They also like to express the values and strategic action plans.

There is layer upon layer of paperwork, ensuring that everybody is on the same page and in the same ballpark. They want everyone to share the same word view and outlook on life.

How They View Rewards

For this generation of strivers, the rewards are all about the corner office, seniority, money, title and a permanent parking lot. They have always been competitive and because there are so many of them, they had to make a name for themselves.

They want the “job well done” announced on a front page advertisement or editorial.

They have also been accustomed to disposable income. So rewards may also include a company car or a holiday away from home.

Anything that keeps their frantic lives together will also be appreciated. On site car cleaning. Car servicing. Child care. All of these are good rewards for Boomers.

Feedback and Evaluation

They like annual or quarterly feedback. Keep it formal and prepare the necessary paperwork. You would also need to warn them well in advance.

Have a policy in place about how it is conducted and why.

Work/Life Balance

Unlike Generation X, this generation work to live. They have the same attitude towards work than their GI and Silent generation parents.

There is, however, signs that this generation is going through some kind of an awakening where they want more balance. The best way you can retain the services of such employees is to help them to get the balance they want.

Give them time off. Counsel them and retrain them if that is what they want. If they want to downscale, let them do it without losing face. The cost of giving them their free time is much less in the long run than replacing them.

Loyalty

You can “buy” most Boomers’ loyalty by not retrenching them in tough times. They will remain loyal if you give them challenges that allow them to be self fulfilled. They will also be loyal if you give them a clear upwards career path and if you are transparent.

Fun

Just like the generations before them, they view fun as something separate from work. Fun is something you do at a conference or on a Friday afternoon. It might lose you your position or even your job.

Attitude Towards Retirement

“I don’t want to retire. I love working”

Leaders of the Baby Boomer Generation

Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, George W Bush, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Vladimir Putin, Bob Geldof

Attributes of the Baby Boomer Generation Leaders

Visionary. Idealistic. Workaholic. Enthusiastic. Energetic. Bossy. Passionate. Principled. Loud. Rewards driven.

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