Last week I attended the NTCA PR and Marketing Conference held for the marketing personnel from the ILEC community. It is quite timely given the need for many of the ILECs to begin adding to their product portfolios, evolving their brands to reflect today, or developing new brands as they sell outside their traditional service areas. Since ANPI is a vendor to the ILECs, much of what was discussed did not pertain to our specific business model but it was very important to be informed of the priorities brought forward by the ILEC marketing teams. That said, one speaker, Cheryl Cran, did touch upon a subject that has been of interest to me for some time.

I have worked purposely to build a marketing team that is multi-generational. I have done so in order to surround myself with people that do not think as I do and have life views that are very different from mine and each other. This produces a very dynamic and often surprising creative group with a broad spectrum of ideas. Cran, has authored a book called “101 Ways to make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy at Work”. Before going into the book and what I found to be some very interesting perspectives, I should define “Zoomers”. The term “Zoomer” is credited to Moses Znaimer who defines the term as a baby boomer who refuses to age. Since I am a baby boomer, one thing I know for sure is that I am subjected to the consequences of age. However, a key difference is that we don’t see the need to act as though our ages restrict us from living life to the fullest. Okay then.

Why care whether these various generations want to work together? Well for me it is always about the facts. According to The Conference Board, an objective, independent source of economic and business knowledge, worker job satisfaction has fallen from 61% in 1987 to 45% in 2009. A more recent study by Right Management found that in 2012 only 35% of workers were either “satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their jobs. It is becoming increasingly important to address the reasons for this level of job dissatisfaction. Understanding the strengths and interests of the various generations of workers is one way to accomplish the task.

Cran notably identifies each generation by grouping them by age and then identifying its key characteristics:

• Generation Y, people in their twenties.
• Generation X, people in their thirties and to mid-forties.
• Generation Zoomers, people in their mid-forties to fifties.

Not surprisingly, each generation has different motivations and objectives, however, Cran’s initial exercise for the attendees was to identify the commonalities between a cat and a refrigerator. This activity generates thinking of the similarities of the generations before focusing on the differences. It is also a way of activating a team’s creative juices.

On Thursday I will attempt to summarize the characteristics of each generation and some of the actions that can be taken to improve the work environment. However, Cran’s book is 266 pages and I will not do it justice with another 400 words. Download it today and learn a few tips on how to improve worker satisfaction in your organization.