July 8, 2009
Edited and Written by Ira S. Wolfe
Published by Success Performance Solutions. Major Sponsor,
2008 Best Places to Work In Pennsylvania
What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:
A Gen X Response to Lack of Loyalty
During the final editing and proofing of my newest book Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization, I received dozens of responses and lots of feedback. Mostly I found that the Veteran generation "couldn't put it down." The Boomers told me they didn't like what they read but found the book "fabulous." The Gen Xs liked everything but what I wrote about them. And the Gen Y? Well, they are waiting until it comes out on the Kindle or a podcast! One of the final proof readers (and one of the best if I say so myself!) was my daughter - a Gen X latch-key kid all the way. She's also admittedly obsessive about grammar and punctuation -which is one of the few things she didn't get from her parents. I was thrilled to get a little pay back from all the tuition bills and a perspective from another generation.
What transpired was an experience I hope can be duplicated many-fold when the book is finally published, tentatively scheduled for early September. Jennifer and I had several engaging and enlightening conversations about different generational attitudes and points of views. We shared our favorite heroes, musicians, and TV shows. Not unexpectedly we disagreed on several points such as whether prime-time soap operas Dallas and Dynasty were seminal events for Gen Xs - or their Boomer parents. But whether we agreed or disagreed doesn't matter. What mattered most was we were talking - parent to child, Boomer to Gen X.
In a sign of the times, Jennifer emailed me her checklist of 11 things she thought I should change - even though she was in the other room. I guess if she was a Gen Y, I would have received a series of text messages instead. (Actually there were only 10 recommendations; the eleventh was a comment how much she "liked the chapter on Second Life.")
Her sharpest criticism targeted my chapter on Gen X hits the Gray Ceiling. She wrote "my experience has been the opposite...most of the Boomers I know are more at risk for losing their jobs because they're usually in that dreaded middle management level that is getting eliminated [in organizational downsizings]. They've been there forever so they don't have tons of job offers elsewhere. They've pigeon-holed themselves due to complacency. IMO*, unless you're a professional something, staying in one industry too long is stupid. Anymore than 5 years in the same position in the same industry, you get pigeon-holed and your pool of available jobs shrinks by 95%. Dumb."
Whether I agreed with her or not wasn't relevant. This was her reality and differed from her peers who I had the opportunity to interview or study with in my Masters program. The result in either case is that Gen X are apt to leave organizations in mass if management doesn't do something quickly. In the case of Gen X who feel they are hitting the Gray Ceiling, those with the most talent will leave if Baby Boomers don't make way for them soon. For those Gen X who fear getting pigeon-holed, management must begin to offer lateral career movement and opportunities to acquire more challenging and diversified responsibilities.
Early comments from book reviewers indicate Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization will get managers, employees, and parents talking.
Perfect Labor Storm Warnings 
Nearly 6.2 million people (16.0%)between 16 and 24 years of age were high school dropouts in 2007.
Source: Left Behind in America: The Nation's Dropout Crisis
For more workforce and hiring trends. subscribe to the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 blog.
Purchase the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 books (soft and hard cover versions) at PerfectLaborStorm.com.
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Quotes from Hire Authorities
"We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it -- and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again -- and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore."
Mark Twain
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