READING Success across generations in pairs, Discuss the questions. 1 What wore your parents’ and/or grandparents’ attitudes to work? What wore their ambitions and aspirations? Were they typical oftheir generation? 2. Were your parents /grandparents’ ambitions and aspirations in fe very diferent from yours? if s0, how? the article describing the characteristics and ‘aspirations of three different generations, Answer tho uestions. 1. Why's understanding generational ciferences important for human resources managers? 2 Which generation seems to be the most rounded or balanced? Which the least? Why do you say this? rons ine arc apsin. ak notes uncer these headings (ed) for each of the three groups (Baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y). Then compare notes with a ‘a Charactovistics of the age b Family ito ‘© Working habits Attitude tokio in goneral @es words or phrases in the text with the following 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 meanings. works hard to reach (a goal (para 1) things that are usual, a standard (para 1) for a good reason (para 2) became noticeable and in need of attention (para 3) ‘olaxed and easy-going (para 3) pressure from your own age group (para 3) ‘exactly when you want or need it (para 4) disadvantage (para 4) regard as very valuable or important (para 5) with simiar ideas and values (para 5) Ore in pairs. Give possible examples of the following oanens jeas. Then compare answers with another conservative attitudes (ine 12) soif-exploration and personal growth (ine 2) 1 (mora) pragmatic approach to life (ine 20-20) everything is available on demand (line 38) issues in and outside the home fine 41-42) Contribution to the community fine 52) One 1 2 Do you recognize any of the characteristics described in the articl in yoursat, in society or among people you know? Do you think these kinds of categorizations are useful? ‘Why? / Why not? VOCABULARY Success and failure 1d the sentences. Match the phrases (1-10) in bold ‘with their meanings (a-e). Ho's made it as a jouralist. Ho's dropped out of caloge. ‘A fw people on the course fell by the wayside. ‘Sho's set her heart on becoming a singer. That bern fo He's got his sights on the top job. They blew their chance. They're definitely going up in the world, ‘She's realized her lifelong ambition, hhaving a goal achioving success (on the way to succeeding ‘not getting to the end faling i i See ee ° ° Sst rok ee tae notes ‘from Exercise 7 to describe the successes and failures of people you know about (including yoursel) (My fond Jaime has mad it as a sports journalist -ho's got a realy good job with the BBC now. SPEAKING Generation Z PS ‘Work in small groups. What do you think willbe the characteristics of the next ganeration - Generation Z (bom 2004-2020)? Think about these areas: attitude to technology attitude to work and money _attitud to thoir paronte and authority attitude to the environment definition of success ]Work with another group and compare your answers. ‘Then look at the analysis on page 177. Were your answers similar?Success across generations ‘Sucoess at work — and in lfe more generally ~is something that every generation strives for. But what we mean by suocess and how we measure it can vary greatly. Over time societal norms and expectations change and evolve. People working in human resource management take a keen interest in these changes as they attempt to manage and motivate the workforce of the present and prepare the ground for the workforce of the future, One approach they have adopted is building profes of different generations that help them to analyse their attitudes and motivations. Although there is some debate about where each generation starts and ends, the main three categories are broadly defined as follows. Baby boomers, born roughly between 1946 and 1963. 10 This group came typically from stable family backgrounds with stay-at-home mums. Although their parents on the whole had conservative attitudes, they were brought up in atime of ‘great social and econamic change the 1960s), a period when youth was celebrated and traditional ways of doing things 18 were being challenged. As a result, they tended to grow up, ‘questioning authority. They are an optimistic goneration and with some justification ~ economic opportunities wore good for them and for those with a university education, financial success, or at least comfort, was more or lass guaranteed. At 2 work they putin long hours and strove to be experts in their fields, because they measure success by how good they are ‘at what they do. n a similar way, outside work they aspired to solf-exploration and personal growth, Generation X, born roughly between 1964 and 1983 ‘This goneration, much smal in number than that which preceded or succeeded it, is also known as 2 tho ‘lost generation’. Perhaps this is because the world of thar chidhood was rather less clearly {defined and more uncertain: global problems ke AIDS and the energy crisis cams to the fore; fees ‘were smal, but chidren spent lass tie with ther parents; peqple also seemed more cynical about ‘progress. Accordingly, Generation X fl they had to ray on themselves to sucoaed and so a more 'Bragmatic approach fo le emerged, with an emphasis on a career education. itis fairto say his ‘group were less happy-go-lucky than the baby boomers, more focussed on hard work and its tractional reward ~ money. In tum, this (monetary) definion of success gave rise to reator poor [pressure 1 conform and ‘grow up’ more quickly Generation Y or Millennials, born roughly between 1984 and 2003, CGonoration Y are as numerous as baby boomers. The age they were born into is ‘characterized firstly by is strong and sustained economic growth and secondly by the development ofthe Internet and digital technologies, an age where ‘everything is available on demand. I's also important to note the attitude oftheir parents, the baby boomers. They adopted a much more consultative approach to parenting than the previous generation, alowing their children to negotiato their own educational options and encouraging them to discuss issues in and ‘oursige the ome. The resun Is a more ourwarc-Iooking generation and one hich believes in negotiation and collaboration. The downside, perhaps, is that they have high expectations and often demand instant gratification. ‘Secing their parents work long hours, they want a more balanced life and put {a premium on free time rather than money or their rank in an organization's hierarchy. They are keen to develop in creative areas and the increased connectivity ofthe Internet world affords them ready access to a liko-rrinded ‘and appreciative audience. In this context, success can be measured on ‘smaller scale ~ something as simple as someone liking a post on your ‘social network pags. Milonrials also tond to view success in torms of thoir ‘corinoution fo the community = they expect the companies they work for and the projects they work on to be ethical, socially inclusive and to answer roal ‘needs in society.