Gen-x taking over

This seems to be the current rip-and-tear headline making the rounds right now; baby boomers are going retire and create a vacuum.

Here's an article that takes a look at the gen-x side of it. As always my snarky comments are included.

A massive number of managers and executives, members of the Baby Boom generation, will retire in the next five years. This promises to leave a huge vacuum in leadership (x-er: Yippy), particularly for companies without succession plans (x-er: dumb asses). Generation Xers are poised to take their place. A key question for senior executives to consider is whether the leadership style and values of Generation Xers are the same as those of the Baby Boomers.

I like that last bit. It shows what control freaks the baby boomers are. They're leaving, what do they care what our management style is? We can't run the company into the ground and ruin their pension plans. They've already done that to themselves.

Baby Boomers, born between 1945 and 1960, grew up watching the Ed Sullivan show, ate TV dinners and gave the peace sign. The Baby Boom generation has dominated the economy, our lifestyles and leadership styles. Leadership for them has been characterized by workaholic tendencies and materialism. Baby Boomers have had a minimum number of careers or a single career path, are impressed by authority, are optimistic and are driven to achieve.

Basically, they are boring, materialistic and only do as they are told. Hmmmmm, are those really good traits?

Generation X, born between 1960 and 1980, grew up with pet rocks, platform shoes and watched The Simpsons. They question authority, seek bigger meaning in life and work, are technologically savvy, live in the present, are skeptical, see career as a key to happiness, are open to multi-careers, consider challenge and variety as being more important than job security and constantly aim to achieve work-life balance.

OK. Who writes this shit? I never owned a pet rock. According to wikipedia they were popular in 1975. I was seven and half of gen-x wasn't even born yet. Platform shoes? That's right, us 7 year olds loved our platform shoes. How those two things mix with the Simpsons I'll never know.

Skeptical? I don't believe that for a minute.

Work-life balance. That means that if you tell us we have to work the weekend and that we will have miss our kids little league game or recital then we'll tell you to fuck off and we'll go get another job. Baby boomers put their carers first (which they did because they put themselves first). Now their kids hate them and they can't figure out why. They also can't figure out why their divorce rate is so high. Hmmmmmm.

A study by Personnel Decisions International (PDI) in the- United States shows companies face a substantial employee skills shift and knowledge void. As Baby Boomer leadership exits, Generation X managers will bring a new, distinct skill set to the workplace. The study surveyed the competencies of 24,000 mid-level managers in 20 skill areas. It found Baby Boomers received higher ratings from managers in 10 out of 18 competencies, particularly in their ability to coach and develop people and to manage execution (x-er: that is because the micromanage the hell out of everything. That's not a competency that's an aggravation). Generation X managers received higher ratings in self-development, work commitment and analyzing issues.

That would be because we've had to raise ourselves. We know if you want something in life you need to do it yourself. No one is going to come along and do it fore you. Plus, we're just smarter.

Studies by Bruce Tulgan (Managing Generation X), Douglas Coupland (Generations X), and Australian company HCM Global Pty. Ltd., show the Generation X manger is typically mature beyond their years, very adaptable and flexible, and team oriented. They have high expectations of employees and don't buy into power structures, rather they prefer the project-based approach to work. Generation X managers need positive validation for their work or they will not hesitate to quit their jobs. They hate being micro-managed and want independence in their work, which may explain why so many of this generation have turned to entrepreneurship.

Generation X managers' assets are their adaptability, technological literacy, independence and creativity. Generation X leaders thrive on change, are fair, competent and straightforward -- sometimes brutally honest -- are results oriented, and see leadership as nothing magical. However, these managers do have liabilities, including impatience (particularly with authority), occasional cynicism (x-er: Wow you're fucking kidding me) and poor people skills (x-er: Yeah, fuck you too). Messages that motivate Generation X managers emphasize independence, reward for merit not years (x-er: I just saved the company $250k a year with this project so explain to me again why I'm not getting a bonus this year? Yeah! Well go fuck yourself and watch how I fuck up this next project while I look for another job asshole. HAHAHAHAHA!) , minimizing rules and bureaucracy, and informality and common sense.

Usually we won't hesitate to quit because it is the only carer advancement path open to us. I'm tired of this meme that we like change and don't value job security. I would prefer job security to bouncing around but the only way to increase my earnings and carer has been to move around. Hell, if I was still at my first employer I'd still be waiting for the positions above me to open. And I've been in the workforce 19 years now. (Holy crap!)

As the workplace faces radical changes, the new wave of leaders in organizations will largely come from Generation Xers. And their values, leadership style and approach to work is significantly different from their predecessors, which will have a subtle but important impact on the workplace.

I don't think there will be any thing subtle about it. Just wait until we're in charge of that next wave of downsizing. "Sorry boomer. You can't use your PC and your analytical skill aren't up to speed. We need people who are going to question the status quo and you're skill lie in other areas. We really are sorry but you have to go. Bye Bye."