If you want to engage, motivate, and retain young workers without driving the veteran workers away, Generation Blend can help you. This timely book explores how generational attitudes toward technology affect issues as diverse as recruitment and retention, employee training, management decision-making, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and work/life balance. Looking to solve the puzzle of productivity across the technology age gap? Start with Generation Blend.
Table of Contents:
Preface xiii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Technology as the Locus of Conflict 4
Technology as the Enabler of Potential 8
Why Should We Care about Generational Attitudes Toward Technology? 10
Generation Blend 13
Chapter 2: Changing Workforce, Changing Work 17
The Looming Skills Shortage 18
How Technology Changes Work 27
Disruptive Impacts of Technology 35
Outlook 42
Chapter 3: Understanding the Generations 45
Life Stages and Generations 45
Generational Analysis as a Forecasting Methodology 48
Generation vs. Generalization: A Few Caveats 50
What is a Generational Attitude? 53
Generational Attitudes and Workstyles 56
Outlook 61
Chapter 4: Older Workers: Blending Experience with Technology 63
The Silent Generation 65
Older Boomers 68
Growing Up Pre-Digital 71
Technology Issues Facing Older Workers 75
Why It Matters: Capturing Knowledge 85
Outlook 88
Chapter 5: Younger Workers: With Great Potential Comes Great Expectations 91
Who are the Millennials? 92
Millennials and Technology 96
Millennials in the Workforce 102
Why It Matters: Managed Innovation 120
Outlook 125
Chapter 6: Generation X-ecutive: Leadership from the Outside In 131
Late-Wave Boomers 132
Generation X 135
GenX in the Workforce 140
Midcareer Workers: Technology Created in Their Image 145
Why It Matters: Becoming Leaders 150
Outlook 152
Chapter 7: Reintegrating Older Workers into the Connected Information Workplace 155
The Digital Age Gap 157
Serving the Technology Needs of Older Adults 159
Learning Style of Older Adults 162
First Steps 163
Moving Beyond the Basics 169
Bringing Skills and Experience to the Connected Workplace 172
Becoming Comfortable in the Digital Culture 174
Navigating Unmanaged Information Space 176
Connecting the Generations 182
Keeping Pace with Rapid Change 183
What Other Organizations Can Learn from OATS 185
Outcomes 187
Chapter 8: Ambassadors of the Future: Turning to Younger Workers for Strategic Insights 189
Microsoft and the Future of Work 191
Scenario Planning 193
Following Up: Board of the Future 2005 197
Technology and Society: The Perception Study 200
Refining the Scenarios: Characters and Narratives 203
Forecasts 205
Outcomes 208
Chapter 9: Across the Digital Age Gap 211
Are You Clearly Explaining the Benefits of Technology? 212
Are You Providing a Business Context for Your Technology Policies? 217
Are You Making the Technology Accessible to Different Workstyles? 220
Does Your Organizational Culture Support Your Technology Strategy? 225
Are You Building Bridges, Not Walls? 231
Final Thoughts 237
Acknowledgments 241
Index 245
About the Author :
ROB SALKOWITZ is a writer and consultant specializing in the social implications of new technology. He has worked with leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, to help formulate market strategy and articulate business goals. Rob is coauthor (with Dan Rasmus) of Listening to the Future: Insights from the New World of Work (published by Wiley). He lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
www.generationblend.com
