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Know Your Demographics 59

that work for a Boomer is Baby Boomers The gen-
rather like playing your eration of people born
grandfather’s favorite between 1945 and 1962.
record to your 14-year-old Generation X The generation of
child: an affinity in tastes is people born between 1963 and 1982.
not impossible, but it’s Generation Y The generation of
highly unlikely. A retention people born after 1982.
strategy that’s attractive to
a Boomer can often seem like a version of purgatory to a Gen-
Xer ... and vice versa.
In this chapter we’ll examine the differences (and the simi-
larities) between the techniques that work for Boomers and
those that work for Gen-Xers.

Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y: The More Things Change,
the More They Stay the Same

The literature on generational differences is enormous and
growing every day. Opinions and theories about what defines
and distinguishes the generations are abundant.
The Boomers Join ...
Beyond dispute is the fact that the Boomers grew up in the
shadow of war: their parents lived through WWII, their grandpar-

Sweeping Generalizations Ahead!
In this chapter,broad,sweeping generalizations and not a
little caricaturing are employed in order to make some
points clearly and concisely.
Of course,not everyone born in any specific span of years demon-
strates all of the characteristics I’ve attributed to the generations and
there are few people who exactly fit the Boomer or Gen X profile.
Additionally,there’s a natural tendency (especially among the Gen-
Xers) to resist attempts at categorization.
Nonetheless,demographic categorization is useful,if not vital,to
efforts to improve retention of top employees. If you find in this chap-
ter only one retention technique to amplify or downplay with your
Boomers or Gen-Xers,then making the demographic distinction will
have been worthwhile.