How to Motivate a Millennial and a Baby Boomer

By: JUSTINE N. CASER

Divine Word College of Vigan, 2017

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the motivational triggers or drivers of Baby Boomers versus Millennials particularly in learning to love and enjoy their job, to accept responsibilities and perform their job with the best of their abilities, to appreciate the companies/employers they work for, and eventually to be satisfied and to settle permanently in their respective companies.  Based on the theories of motivation and the writer’s personal experiences and observations, having worked in various government and private companies, this paper shows the differences and similarities of the two generations.

Keywords

Motivation, Generation, Millennial, Baby Boomer

Introduction

The Motivation Proclamation[i]

By: Good Charlotte

I'm realistic and narcissistic. You say I'm selfish and absurd.
You try to change me. You try to save me. You say I'm gonna learn
I'm so blind. I'm out of time. You're so unkind sometimes.
I never lied. 'Cause I never said that everything would be okay
I never said that we would live to see another day

Motivate me
I want to get myself outta this bed
Captivate me
I want good thoughts inside of my head
When I fall down would you come around
Pick me right up off the ground?

Generation, particularly “generation gap”, is a very current issue. Generation is “a group of individuals, most of whom are the same approximate age, having similar ideas, problems, attitudes, etc” and the average age gap between generations is 20 to 30 years.[ii]  This is classified in to four (4) basic groups: the Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials/Generation Y.  There are countless discussions regarding the generation gaps but mostly about Millennials defending their generation from misconceptions given by Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials themselves.

The “motivation” that prompted me to write this paper is identity-crisis. I would like to know what generation do I really belong – not based on the timetables established by various individuals/groups but by how each generation type is generally defined in terms of the culture and attitude towards life and work.

Basically, I identify myself as “born in the 80’s, raised in the 90’s” kid. There is a Facebook page dedicated to this age group – posting pictures of the games we played, the food we ate, the television programs and movies we watched, the songs we listened and danced (like crazy) to, the slang words we used, and even the various means of punishment we received.[iii] I can say that those were the good times… yes, THE good times.

The major drawback is making this paper as objective and as formal as possible (you may notice the “I”, “myself” and “me”). Looking at the definitions given to the generation types, one cannot help her/himself but to agree or strongly disagree, to the point of becoming in denial and defensive. The topic is very relatable and debatable. It is an argument stimulus that sometimes, instead of giving a positive impact by providing more understanding between people of different ages; it has become another form of type-casting which results to “bigger gaps” between people.

In the work place, there is no significant effect of generation gaps with regard to the relationship between employees based on my experience. One, employees have one goal inside the work place, that is to uphold the vision and mission of the company. Two, employees, especially those employed in the company for more than one (1) year have a deeper bond – having personal knowledge between each other, hence, the sympathy and empathy toward each other, and especially, the inside jokes. This somehow erases the generation gaps because employees are of the same wavelength.  In fact, most work-related conflicts occur between co-workers within the same age group.

The difference between generations shows when work interferes with personal life or vice versa. The priorities between baby boomers and millennials differ which affects their choices in settling in a company they work for. This has been one of the problems of many companies/employers/management – how to motivate employees in order to gain loyalty, reducing employee turnover rate. Just like the song above, how do companies/employers get baby boomers and millennials out of their bed to get to work and how to put good thoughts inside their head to stay?

“Millennials” versus “Baby Boomers”

The historical and social events, economic changes and development of technology are among the myriad factors that brought about the distinct culture and attitude of people, hence, the categorization of generations.

There are different generation timetables which are mostly, if not all, based on social generation studies in the United States of America. Generation Timetable A shows the birth years and influencers between generation types.

Generation Timetable A:  Generational Differences Chart

	Traditionalists	Baby Boomers	Generation X	Millennials / Generation Y
Birth Years / Age	1900-1945 (63-86 years old)	1946-1964 (44-62 years old)	1965-1980 (28-43 years old)	1981-2000 (8-27 years old)
Influencers	WWII, Korean War, Great Depression, New Deal, Rise on Corporations, Space Age	Civil Rights, Vietnam War, Cold War/Russia, World War II, Space Travel	Energy Crisis, Dual Income families and single parents, First Generation of Latchkey Kids, Y2K, Energy Crisis, Activism, Corp. Downsizing, End of Cold War	Highest Technological Advancement, Digital/Social Media, Terrorist attacks, Economic expansion.

Baby Boomers were born in years 1946 to 1964. They are also called the Post-War Babies because of the increase in birth rate in the US after World War II. Generally, their characteristics include: ability to handle a crisis, competitive, ethical, good communication skills, idealistic, rebellious, hardworking, workaholic, and responsible. They are the most educated among the generations. Education is very important in order to land a good job. Having a good job is a status symbol[i].

Millennials or the Generation Y were born in years 1981 to 2000. This generation were born and raised during the booming technological advancements. They are generally: technologically knowledgeable, ambitious, adaptive, independent, family- and peer-oriented, educated, self-absorbed, and with strong sense of entitlement. [ii]

The above description of Baby Boomers and Millennials may not be fully applicable for Filipinos. However, the historical events that happened in the Philippines during those same periods are similar or related to the events that occurred in the US. Moreover, during those periods, the Philippines were already “westernized” so the Filipinos’ attitude and belief were greatly influenced with the American culture though still more conservative.

Filipino Baby Boomers were born after World War II and lived during the trying times of post-war era, and then the Martial Law era[iii]. Similar with the American Baby Boomers, they are also educated, idealistic, workaholic and handles crisis very well. This generation are the current leaders in the Philippines today.

Filipino Millennials are also technologically savvy, independent yet support-needing, family- and peer-oriented, and educated and aware because information is now just a touch of the fingertips.

“Motivation Proclamation”

Motivation is the process of stimulating people to act and accomplish goals. In relation to work, the factors stimulating the people’s behavior can be:  desire for money, success, recognition, job-satisfaction, team work, among others. In the workplace, the company/employer/management is responsible in motivating the employees to perform the best of their abilities.[iv]

There are three (3) basic content theories of motivation. These are also called needs theories which focus in determining what motivates a person.

1.      Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – This theory identifies five levels of needs which motivates human: Physiology (food, water, sleep), Safety/Security (shelter, health), Social/Belongingness (love, friendship), Self-Esteem (recognition, achievement), and Self Actualization (personal growth and fulfilment of personal potential). As each level is satisfied, a person is then motivated to satisfy the next level in the hierarchy.[v]

2.      Clayton Alderfer’s ERG Theory – Alderfer reduced the five levels of needs to three that is, Existence, Relatedness and Growth needs. Unlike Maslow’s theory, the order of the needs may be different depending on the need of a person. It also allows the different needs to be pursued simultaneously and if a higher level of need remains unfulfilled, the person may regress to the lower needs that are easier to satisfy.

3.      Frederick Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory – The theory differentiates factors that satisfy employees and factors that dissatisfy employees which Herzberg termed intrinsic and extrinsic factors, respectively. Intrinsic factors or satisfiers include: achievement, recognition and responsibility. Extrinsic or hygiene factors include: salary, job security and management style.  Herzberg explained that only the satisfiers can motivate, hence, the presence of intrinsic factors would cause satisfaction but their absence would not cause dissatisfaction. On the other hand, the presence of extrinsic factors would not cause satisfaction but their absence would cause dissatisfaction.

These three theories are the most adapted theories in businesses. Among the three, Herzberg’s Two Factory theory is more closely related to the working environment because the factors identified are specifically job related which employees both need and want from their work. Extrinsic factors must be present in the job before intrinsic factors can be used to motivate an employee.[vi]

However, whichever theory the company is adapting, the process of motivation is always the same.  Though there are also various theories on the process of motivation, basically, the stages are similar which consist of the following:

1.      Identification of Need

2.      Fulfilling the need

3.      Accomplishment of goals

In the work environment, this is why it is very important for the company/management to know what the employees’ wants and needs so that it could create methods to motivate the employees which are often in the form of rewards.[vii] Consequently, when employees are satisfied, they would learn to love and enjoy their job, accept responsibilities and perform their job with the best of their abilities, appreciate the companies/employers they work for, and eventually settle permanently in their respective companies. A win-win situation for both employer and employee.

“Motivate me. I want to get myself outta this bed. I want good thoughts inside of my head.”

Looking at the general description of the generation types, most notably, Baby Boomers are workaholic while Millennials are family and peer-oriented.

According to studies, the major motivator for Baby Boomers is salary. They are very workaholic and career-oriented but with a strong work ethic. They work efficiently and favor team approach in accomplishing their job. They often work long hours to build a perfect career. They live to work. Baby Boomers prefer a work environment that is democratic, socially adaptable, and has no organizational hierarchy with equal opportunity to all employees. They are loyal and committed to the companies they work for.

Baby Boomers need motivations in terms of monetary rewards and appreciation with the good job they accomplished because they need to have a sense that they are making a contribution to the company with their hard work.  Hence, a company should give incentives or higher salary. It should also regularly give positive feedback and public recognition for a job-well-done. Further, rewarding Baby Boomers may be more effective after a certain period of time has gone by, e.g. those with perfect attendance and zero tardiness are rewarded at the end of the year.

Millennials are motivated by maintaining personal life. They are also efficient in work due to their knowledge in new technologies. They are goal-oriented and ambitious. They desire for meaningful work, stable careers, and long-term relationship with their employers but in their own terms.  They want balance between work, family and social life, but actually, they want more personal time than work so they often desire flexible work schedules in order to have time with their personal endeavors, yet expecting high wages. They are driven and obsessed with career development yet they would choose lifestyle over career growth if conflict between work and personal life occurs. They are independent yet they have high expectations on superiors to assist and mentor them to achieve their career goals. They are adaptable to change and prefer diversity, informality and pleasure. Millennials prefer a work environment that is collaborative, achievement-oriented, creative, positive, diverse, fun and flexible. They also want superiors to give them continuous mentoring and feedback with regard to their accomplished job.

To motivate Millennials, companies/management, therefore, should allow flexible schedules or at least not the employees to work overtime. Companies should create a friendly and fun environment, and provide technologically up-to-date or advanced facilities in the work place. They should provide trainings and good salary.[viii][ix][x]

Conclusion

It is truly difficult for companies/managements to motivate employees coming from different generations because a company cannot implement custom made policies for certain employees. Though various studies define Baby Boomers and Millennials very contrarily, at this age and time, these two generations are not that different in the work environment in the Philippines mainly because of culture.

Both Baby Boomers and Millennials are family-oriented so their goal is to have a balance between work and personal life. Both generations are hard-working; some may be more workaholic than the other, nevertheless, they work hard primarily for their families. They aim for a high paying and stable job that would provide career growth and tenure in their respective companies. Of course, they want a happy and friendly workplace – a company where their efforts and hard work are recognized and duly compensated.

Companies in the Philippines are already providing performance-based incentives, perfect attendance incentives, among others. They also provide trainings and seminars for career advancements of employees, and offer entrepreneurial trainings for starting a business. Some have sport facilities inside the office buildings for employees to enjoy and annual team-buildings to improve interrelationship among employees. However, companies tend to exploit their employees particularly in obliging employees to work overtime without pay. In fairness to companies, this type of exploitation often occurs in the lower divisions, which policy-making managements are unaware of. As mentioned, Baby Boomers are the current leaders of today. Majority of the officers/superiors in a company are exactly the epitome of the overly workaholic and non-family-oriented Baby Boomer who requires their employees to work like them, which is very unethical. Different people have different approach in doing their jobs. In this regard, companies/upper managements should regularly conduct discrete investigations in order to resolve such issues because employees are unable to report these cases in fear of losing their jobs.

The general definition of the two generations may be true at some point in their life, however, as people mature, their priorities change. Baby Boomers may be more career-oriented than family-oriented during their younger years; now that they are older, they have become more family-oriented.

On the other hand, Millennials, with their me-against-the-world and I-can-do-anything attitude, are the generation that are mostly misunderstood. This is why they are always trying to prove themselves and projecting to be independent. It is true that Millennials give more importance in their personal life than career but it does not mean that they consider their career insignificant.

The following verse of the song “Motivation Proclamation” by the Good Charlotte perfectly captures the general description slash misconceptions of Baby Boomers and Millennials.

I'm realistic and narcissistic. You say I'm selfish and absurd.

You try to change me. You try to save me. You say I'm gonna learn

I'm so blind. I'm out of time. You're so unkind sometimes.

I never lied. 'Cause I never said that everything would be okay

I never said that we would live to see another day

Today, in this work-to-live age, the motivation that Baby Boomers and Millennials need is personal time. It has been proven many times by social and scientific studies that overwork, resulting to restlessness, negatively affects the quality of work hence decreasing an employee’s productivity.

“The quality of an organization depends on the quality of the people.”[xi]

I still identify myself as “born in the 80’s, raised in the 90’s” kid – the product of Baby Boomers, influenced by the culture of Generation X, and living in the Generation of Millennials, who is lucky enough to experience the age when there were no cellphone and now with the touch-screen and finger print/retina-scanning cellphone…and flat-screen televisions.

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[i] Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Powerpoint Presentation: Generation Gap in Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.picpa.com.ph

[ii] West Midland Family Center. Generational Differences Chart. Retrieved from: www.wmfc.org

[iii] Tan, M.L. (2013, June 27). Pinoy Generations. Philippine Daily Inquirer, Retrieved from http://www.inquirer.net

[iv] Management Study Guide. What is motivation?, Retrieved from http://www.managementstudyguide.com

[v] The Content Theories of Motivation, Retrieved from https://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MBA/9791F/ BusinessServices/LO/1207_020138_605F_02_wi/1207_020138_605F_0204_wi.htm

[vi] School of Open Learning. University of New Delhi. Organisation Theory & Behaviour, Retrieved from https://sol.du.ac.in

[vii] Management Study Guide. What is motivation?, Retrieved from http://www.managementstudyguide.com

[viii] West Midland Family Center. Generational Differences Chart. Retrieved from: www.wmfc.org

[ix] San Agustin, B. (2013, January 17).  Understanding and Managing the Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Traditionalists in Your Organization, Retrived from http://www.ourknowledge.asia

[x] Villanueva, J.P. (2017, March 23). Villanueva: Generation Gap, Retrived from http://www.sunstar.com.ph

[xi] Mr. Jesse Rebustillo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, in his speech during seminar organized by the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP). Retrieved from http://www.sunstar.com.ph

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