Is Today's IT compatible with Tomorrow's
Social Media Consumer?
George Spalding
Executive Vice President
Pink Elephant
1Ex
Social Media & IT
© 2013 Pink Elephant. All Rights Reserved.
Defining The Workforce Generations
BABY BOOMER
ages 49-67
1946-1964
80M
GENERATION X ages 36-48
(Digital Immigrants)
1965-1977
38M
GENERATION Y
(Digital Natives)
1978-1996
78M
1997-2010
35M
ages 17-35
“0 GENERATION” (Kids) ages 1-16
U.S. population of 307 million
US Decennial Census 2010
2Ex
Social Media & IT
 The new total represented an addition of
22 million Americans since the 2000 Census
 The 2000 Census recorded a population gain
in every state during the 1990s – the only
decade in the 20th century with such growth
© 2013 Pink Elephant. All Rights Reserved.
Generational Metrics

Todays workplace has 3 Generations working together:
 Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y (Millenials)

In 2006: GEN Y was 21% of the workforce: 32 million workers!
 … this growth will continue through 2015

Global Aging: labor force reduction globally due to retirement & mortality
 Global battle for talent will be fierce
 European Union: currently experiencing a 25% decline in population
 Baby Boomer Exodus will resume once the Great Recession subsides

50% of the US Executives will be retirement-eligible in the next 2 years
 Workers in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th positions next to the executives are also Boomers
and so also will be retiring
Source: Managing Millenials – Espinoza, Ukleja, Rusch
3Ex
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Highlights from our Present - continued

Integrated workforce Demographics; all 3 generations working together



Baby Boomers
Gen X
Gen Y

As of 01/01/11: every single day (1 every 10 seconds) more than 10,000
Baby Boomers reach the age of 65! That is going to keep happening every
single day for the next 19 years.

In 2000, 35 million Americans were 65+

By 2030, 70 million Americans will be 65+ and will comprise 20-25% of
the US population

US Total Labor Force Population as of 2010 US Census:

Baby Boomers: 38% - Digital Immigrants (new language)

Gen X
32% - Digital Immigrants (native language but…)

Gen Y
25% - Digital Natives
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Household Data, Not Seasonally Adjusted: Table A-13: Employment Status of
the Civilian Noninstitutional Population by Age, Sex, and Race" (2012).
4Ex
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© 2013 Pink Elephant. All Rights Reserved.
Gen Y Statistics

GEN Y - Millennials are the future of our companies …

They are:
 The most socially & diversely tolerant generation yet
 The most educated & technologically savvy generation
 The most sheltered/structured generation in US history
 1 in 3 is NOT Caucasian
 1 in 4 comes from a single-parent home
 The fastest growing segment of the workforce
 Digital Natives
Source: Managing Millenials – Espinoza, Ukleja, Rusch
5Ex
Social Media & IT
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A little GEN Y humor …

Why do we call the last group Generation Y ?
I always thought it was because they say....
Y should I get a job ?
Y should I leave home and find my own place ?
Y should I get a car when I can borrow yours ?
Y should I clean my room ?
Y should I wash and iron my own clothes ?
Y should I buy any food ?
6Ex
Social Media & IT
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A little GEN Y humor …
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7Ex
A cartoonist explained it very eloquently below....
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Generational Traits – snapshot
BABY BOOMERS – Traits
Gen X - Traits
• Vietnam, Civil Rights, Cold War, Women’s Lib
• Persian Gulf War, AIDS, Corporate RIFs
• JFK & MLK assassinations; equality for all
• Divorce rate tripled; latchkey kids
• Credit cards, TV, Fitness …the 60s & 70s
• PCs, Internet, Video games, MTV
• career, healthy, wealthy, forever young
• Work life balance is key driver; autonomy
• Technology: used to do MORE work
• Technology: used to have life balance
Gen Y - Traits
• 9/11, Afghan/IRAQ, Columbine, Personal Terrorism
• Smart Phones, Texting, Social Networks
• Laptops, IPODs, Personal mobility w/technology
• Nurtured, protected; grown up working on teams
• Technology: fully integrated into their life
8Ex
Social Media & IT
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Workplace Characteristics – Comparison
Boomers
Gen X
Gen Y
Job Strength:
Service Oriented /
Team Players
Adaptable and
Tech-Literate
Multi-Taskers and
Tech-Savvy
Outlook:
Optimistic
Skeptical
Hopeful
Work Ethic:
Driven
Balanced
Determined
View of
Authority:
Love/Hate
Unimpressed not
intimidated
Polite
Leadership:
by Consensus
by Competence
by Pulling
Together in Teams
Relationships:
Personal
Gratification
Reluctant to
Commit
Inclusive / Teams
Turnoffs:
Political
Incorrectness
Cliché/Hype
Promiscuity
Diversity:
Integration Began
Fully Integrated
No Majority Race
Feedback:
Once a year with
documentation
Interrupts; asks
how they’re doing
Wants feedback at
push of a button
Work/Life
Balance:
Work has been a
key driver
Wants work - life
balance now
Need flexibility to
balance activities
Source: Bank of America
9Ex
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Soooo…that’s nice…but…
• It’s all about communication styles and fastballs.
• Boomers:
•
Telephone
Face-to-Face
Fax Confirmations
E-mail (and a lot of it!)
Group/Team meetings (and a lot of them!)
Cell phones for talking (not necessarily for texting)
• Gen X:
•
Let “me” choose my communication and how often I do it
E-mail
Cell phone
Text
Blogging
Instant message
Online forums
• Gen Y (Millenials):
•
10Ex
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Text/Instant Message
Online social networks
E-mail (but only for work or school)
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Multiple Channels
• Boomers want a live conversation with
an actual human being
• Gen X will talk to people or go through
official online channels or FAQs
• Gen Y will ask for help from anyone in the
easiest way. Online, text, etc.
11Ex
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So who is going to use self-service?
• Not the Boomers, that’s for sure! They will call
someone. (Probably a Gen Y)
• Gen X may use an official self-service portal
with FAQs and knowledge articles, etc.
• Gen Y will ask Google and anyone else in the
cyberworld. And they may accept nearly any
solution offered…without testing, etc.
12Ex
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© 2013 Pink Elephant. All Rights Reserved.
Conclusions
• As we are in IT design our ITSM solutions,
communication strategies and self-service
capabilities we must understand that there are
3 distinct constituencies that we serve.
Each with their own unique requirements and
biases.
• This simple fact will prove pervasive in
management systems and IT as we
move through the next few years.
13Ex
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Thank You
g.spalding@pinkelephant.com
www.pinkelephant.com
@theitilexperts
@gspalding11
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