The workplace has always been a venue in which people from different generations gather together and try to work on some of the same problems. That means that the different generations have to try to understand one another if there is any hope of getting some work done.
The Goal-Driven Boomer
Have you ever known that man or woman in the office who just seems unstoppable. He or she is wildly driven to reach goals, crush milestones, and just continue to chug along through their day? Those people you are thinking of are most likely baby boomers.
Boomers tend to be goal-oriented in ways that other generations may not be. Set a target in front of them and they are going to work to meet or exceed it. This is why boomers are often favored when it comes to jobs that may have a sales aspect tied into them. They can get on the phone and sell the best hearing aids or the best toothbrush with the same gusto as any other product on the market. You can rely on them to work to meet your expectations every time you lay them out.
The Boomer Who Just Wants Some Independence
Another hallmark trait of baby boomers is that they tend to be independent-minded and to desire that independence. This could mean a couple of things when it comes to working with them. A baby boomer in the office may be at that job because they are seeking to earn enough that they can have their independence in retirement.
Some other baby boomers are in the office because they just want to get out of the house and have some independence and a purpose to their day. They may not even need the money to live on. These boomers can be a lot of fun to work with because they can encourage you to work harder to have the same kind of outcomes that they have had in their lives.
The Boomer Who Adds To Your Reputation
For some reason there is a message in popular culture that baby boomers are somehow a drag on the common culture of any office or workspace. A lot of people like to try to poke fun at them for not having a full understanding of all of the latest technologies on the market or something of that nature. There may be some truth to that in certain circumstances, but there are also factors that are rarely spoken about.
Baby boomers also add a sense of credibility to a lot of organizations. Some people just don’t want to listen to a twenty-something pitch them on a product. They would prefer to hear about it from someone who is a bit older and who they deem to have more life experience as a result. In those circumstances it makes a lot of sense that having at least some baby-boomers on staff is a great investment in the overall culture and growth of your business in general.
These kinds of boomers are the type that are likely to dress very nicely when they come to interview. They will have had a resume that has a lot of experience on it and will be kind to everyone that they meet. You can expect to learn a lot from their experiences, and you may just be able to help grow out your business a little.
Boomers are given an unfair description in a lot of the media that we consume. You have to be able to look past that bias and misinformation and find out what boomers can really do for your organization. If others want to ignore those benefits that is their problem. You have the ability to say that you are going to go the opposite direction of the common wisdom and hire some baby boomers to keep things moving in the right direction where you work.
