'Generation Gaps in the Classroom' is the title of a feature article by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines and Bob Filipczak in the current issue of Training Magazine.
"Today’s work force is made up of four distinct generations—and you’ve got members of each one in your next training session. Gulp."
"There’s a new challenge in your training room. It doesn’t come from downsizing, rightsizing, the pace of change, new technology, pointy-haired bosses, bad breath or cubicle envy. It’s from a clash of the generations, a collision of values, ambitions and mind-sets.As this century draws to a close, it’s likely the folks attending your training are a more age-diverse crowd than ever before. The organizational hierarchy and pecking order that once kept generational cohorts together and isolated from other age groups no longer exist—or they exist in much less rigid, more permeable states. Merit is quickly overtaking length of service as the deciding factor in advancement. Older employees sometimes hold jobs once considered entry-level, while they report to technosavvy youngsters the same age as their grandchildren."
The implications for trainers are explored in the article.
