Greetings health promotion coordinators!
Hennepin County is pleased to provide you with our Health@Work Monthly E-Tips to
help you promote health at your worksite.
How’s Your Generational IQ?
July E-Tips
How many generations are represented in your workplace? Which generation’s cultural
values, expectations, habits and work styles generally set the norms? How is your
worksite culture changing as employee demographics change? Across generational
groups, what brings people together and what causes friction, inefficiency, or negativity?
This month’s e-tips offer some tools to increase awareness of generational filters and to
encourage intergenerational dialogue and cooperation. Being smarter about the current
multigenerational workforce can help you tailor your wellness initiatives so they speak to
everyone’s points of reference, values, and preferred styles of working, communicating,
and learning.
Not sure which generation is which?
 From recent media buzz, you may be have heard about the influence of the 80
million U.S. millenials/generation Y members who were born from 1981–2000
(aged 14 to 33).
 There are only 60 million U.S. generation Xers, who were born from 1965–1980
(aged 34 – 49).
 There are 80 million U.S. baby boomers born from 1946-1964 (aged 50–68).
 There are 75 million U.S. traditionalists/silent generation born from 1928–1945
(aged 69–86).
 “Cuspers” are people born within 3–5 years of the generational divides. They
often act as translators or mediators between age cohorts.
Instead of sharing broad statements about these various age groups here,
Health@Work encourages you to use the tools below to start the cross-generational
conversation in your workforce and see what you discover.
Tips for Coordinators
 Encourage cross-generational communication. Three video options to start the
discussion are a TED Talk by Scott Hess called “Millenials: Who They Are and
Why We Hate Them”—a shorter and silly option from Ameritrade, and an
insightful TED talk by Meg Jay about how our 20s influence our entire lives. You
could also just brainstorm a list of conversation starters like,” Do you remember
life before the Internet?” or have employees share their generation’s best music.

Make sure everyone is comfortable with new technology. Different levels of
comfort and reliance on technology can lead to conflict in a multigenerational
workplace. Digital mentors may help people build up a basic comfort level and
encourage others to be more flexible with a range of skill levels. For basic tips on
mentoring at work, start with these guidelines.

To keep this topic on your radar, connect on social media with a local company,
Bridgworks, which focuses on generational issues. Bridgeworks has an excellent
blog. The founding partners, Lancaster and Stillman, also wrote a book called
When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the
Generational Puzzle at Work.

To communicate more effectively with millennials about health issues, as well as
employees with a millennial learning style, read this blog posting from Hope
Health.

Learn what millenials are bringing to the table in terms of strengths and how they
are distinct from other generations in this Pew Report, “Millenials: Confident.
Connected. Open to Change.”
Tips for Employees
Please see this month’s E-Tips titled “Boldly Celebrate Every Age” in the attached file.
Possible ways to distribute these tips include:
• Forwarding the attachment.
• Printing the document and posting it in common areas at your worksite.
• Copying and pasting the text into your company newsletter.
2014 Worksite Health Promotion Events:
September
 September 11: IAWHP meeting on trends in health promotion, e-mail for
more information
November
 November 6–7: Connecting to Transform Communities: Stakeholders in
Health & Wellness
 November 12: Midwest Health Promotion Conference
If you know of other local events for worksite health coordinators in and around
Hennepin County, send them to Linda Brandt at <linda.brandt@hennepin.us>. We will
include them in future E-Tips calendars as space and relevance allow.
We want to hear from you! We hope you find the Health@Work Monthly E-Tips to be a
meaningful addition to your health promotion efforts. Thank you for your feedback!