The Ultimate Generational Difference Solution: Baby Boomers and Millennials Partner To Help Others

Jan. 31, 2011 - PRLog -- Grand Junction, Colorado—Tinker Barnett has officially put the Baby Boomer industry on notice: They no longer have to find second careers to fulfill their need for helping others.
Millennials, age thirty and younger, also value serving others and look to work for companies where people are a priority. Baby Boomers and Millennials will work together to mutually benefit their careers and create opportunity from their generational differences.  

Baby Boomer and Millennial generations have good reasons for partnering. Among Baby Boomers ages 46-64, 77 million are approaching traditional retirement age.  A recent article in USA Today, highlighted at GenYSuccessZone.com, tells of a growing movement to pursue second careers. Many want to get a piece of their nest-egg back before they retire and yet, many want second careers like the ones they set-aside as young adults in order to make a living.

At the same time, Millennials, who are also 77 million strong and fairly new to the workforce, are socially conscious and wish for workplaces that blend the value of helping others into the work they do. In the PEW Research Center 2010 report  Millennials identified “helping people in need as one of the most important things in their lives”.

Donna Fenn, author of “Upstarts” argues that Millennials are “an entrepreneurial generation with a new way of doing business radically different from older generations”. They are alert to new technologies and impatiently aware of outmoded business functions. They have good relationships with their Baby Boomer parents, often partnering directly with them, hiring them as employees or taking over family-owned companies at a young age. Their collective “why” for doing what they do, i.e., helping others, is powerful for helping companies reach solid levels of sustainability.

Secondly, Youth Enterprises has identified several key benefits for Baby Boomers and Millennials when it comes to partnering:

•   Baby Boomers will stay longer in good-paying professions.
•   Baby Boomers will continue to use their expertise within their chosen professions.
•   Millennials will move less from job-to-job.
•   Millennials will be in position to lead when Baby Boomers are ready to leave.
•   Neither will have to sacrifice good-paying careers to improve job satisfaction as they work together to integrate “people importance”.

These beneficial steps are just part of a wider generational difference solution. For broader benefit, Baby Boomers will contribute additional years of irreplaceable talent and Millennials will add creativity and innovation, preparing businesses for increasingly competitive markets. Yet, generational differences are a challenge.

Finally, generational differences are roadblocks but, roadblocks with opportunity. Time and technology issues create serious frustration at work. Generalized as “workaholics”, Baby Boomers stay long hours at work, sacrificing family and personal time to get more done. Millennials negotiate for time-away from work as much as they do for money, placing family and friends above career and financial success. Technology in the Baby Boomer workplace is often confined to specific use or is out-of-date. Older bosses more often believe that Millennials are wasting, rather than saving time with technology. Read more about generational differences at GenYSuccessZone.com.

The good news is that some differences between Baby Boomers and Millennials are complimentary.  Baby Boomers want the better health and the time-off they denied themselves over the years. They often look to Millennials to reverse-mentor technological skills. Millennials greatly need the skills, structure, and stability of Baby Boomers.

With an abundance of media about generational differences, it is rarely mentioned that Baby Boomers and Millennials are similar in some important ways. Both will be the most highly educated for their time, value teamwork and collaboration, have strong commitment to their work, are confident, and desire meaningful work. Baby Boomers are pro-change and Millennials are highly adaptive to change. With help for understanding generational differences and how to mitigate them, Baby Boomers and Millennials can work together for the benefit of each other and for the people they will help.

As Tinker added, “Our Generational Differences Presentation has gone the coaching industry one better. Whereas most companies in this market give clients suggestions for adapting to what Millennials want at work, our coaching inspires generations to examine differences for innovative solutions that will “Rock the Future”.

For media inquiries, or to arrange for an interview, please contact Tinker Barnett at
970-245-5707.

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Tinker Barnett is CEO of Youth Enterprises, LLC, headquartered in Grand Junction, Colorado, USA and has over 30 years of experience in business and youth programming.
Youth Enterprises helps businesses get top performance from their young Millennial-Gen Y employees, saving thousands in turnover costs and lost productivity. We bridge the generation gap with Baby Boomer and Millennial teaching and coaching.
www.GenYSuccessZone.com