Page 70 - Retaining Top Employees

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4

Know Your

Demographics

Born after the war, a baby of the boom,
The last generation allowed to slowly bloom.
I had a stay-at-home Mom, there every day,
Homemade cookies, when I came in from play.
—Pamela Gayle Smith
“Lifespan of the Boomer Generation”

Won’t get fooled again.
—Pete Townshend (The Who)

he vast majority of jobs in the workplace are currently held
Tby members of one of two generations—the Baby Boomers
and their successors, frequently referred to as Generation X.
(Generation Y—people born after 1982—are only just entering
the workforce, so we’ll consider Gen-Yers only briefly at the end
of this chapter.)
As with all generations, Boomers and Gen-Xers have dis-
tinctive features, preferences, and beliefs, many of which have
affected their view of the workplace and impact materially on
their retention. Attempting to retain a Gen-Xer using techniques

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