Generation-X has somehow been overshadowed by the so-called Generation-M - the Millenials, the Mobile, the "content generators" - but heck, we are still alive and well. (Yes, I will admit that I am one of those Gen-X people - though I wouldn't admit that I was that rebellious. I am, after all, one who grew up in Catholic schools - from prep to Unviersity... [Hmmm. Is that right?])
This is from an article dated 1997:
A big hurdle, according to Hamilton, is that the age-old motivational carrots - loftier job tides and more pay - won't work magic with this group. "What gets these folks up in the morning is very different from why baby boomers woke up. They are not interested in climbing the conventional job ladder. Offer them an extra $10,000 per year, and they won't necessarily hop jobs," says Hamilton. "What's critical to Gen Xers is feeling they have an impact on what the business is doing. Titles don't matter to them, but job responsibilities do. They really want to feel as though they are contributing."
Sure, pay increases and wonderful titles are great - and they do matter. But they are mere symbols of how a Gen-X'er has contributed to something bigger. Gen-X'ers have always had this feeling to do something - to create something - of significance and of relevance to the bigger community. In their search for this - not necessarily the meaning of life - Gen-X'ers are seen to be aloof, self-centric, individualistic, holier-than-thou, vindictive, and cannot-be-bothered. They sometimes think the world owes them something - and the truth is, yes, the world does: "The earlier generations screwed up big time - with Nixongate, Marcoses, Magsaysay, the World War II, the Cold War, Chernobyl, Martial Law. And we're here to change the world."
The truth is, they are involved - and want to be involved - but they want to be involved in something bigger, something more meaningful than a 9-5 job that pays the luxuries of life. When you deny them the chance to be a part of something big, you deny them a big part of their expectations. Your denial of including a Gen-X into a major project is a denial of her importance. And no, she doesn't want it for glory: she wants it because she believes in it - you've made her believe it to be something big.
The Gen-X'ers find it hard to ask for help - rightly or wrongly, they believe that they are sufficient and that they can make it on their own. When they do ask for help, respond. They don't need you to respond positively - they can take no for an answer. Seriously. They just need you to respond. Asking for help is not entirely asking for help - it is merely a question that demands an answer and your inability to answer will be seen as an unwillingness to acknowledge their importnce to something bigger than they are.
When you think a Gen-X'er didn't deliver and have marked him a 6 out of 10 in your mind (with 10 being the perfect score), he would have marked himself significantly lower: A Gen-X'er will mark himself a 0 for failure and a 10 for success. There are little gray areas in between - perhaps a 5, but 5 is mediocrity and it is as good as a 0. The point is, if you think a Gen-X'er has failed you, well, multiply that feeling of disappointment ten-fold: that is how your Gen-X'er feels about himself.
What about the legendary short attention span of Gen Xers? The label isn't false, says Haddock - "this is the MTV Generation" - but is it all bad? Maybe in a slow-moving corporate behemoth it's a negative, but in a thinly staffed entrepreneurial business where workers wear many hats, this trait may be a plus. "Generation Xers thrive with multitasking and are happy doing three things at once," says Haddock. "A job with plenty of variety keeps them challenged."
Gen-X'ers are multi-taskers. They talk on the phone, whilst doing calculations on a worksheet and finishing up a crucial presentation document with graphics and insights. At the same time - somewhere at the back of their minds - is that apartment that needs to be cleaned, the flowers that need to be sent to the partner, the gift to mom and dad, the car that needs to be fixed, the mortgage, the credit card bills for that last getaway to the beach.
And they survive. They don't succumb. They derive from all these excitement and the feeling of being busy and "overworked - by choice".
Another knock against Xers is that they flit from job to job. "If they feel challenged and valued, they are satisfied employees," counters Fagan. "If they don't, they're out the door. This is a high-energy generation that bores easily. It's a challenge to keep them engaged." But keep heaping challenges on Gen Xers, and, more often than not, they'll rise to meet them. This is a very talented, highly capable group.
Stimulation - not necessarily. Challenges - yes. Create for them a role and an environnment where they can live their lives and challenge.
They hate imposed overtime work - but they wouldn't mind staying till midnight at work to ensure that they deliver something important. Because they will deliver if they know it is important.
How do I know all these?
I am Generation-X.
I may not be as rebellious, self-centric, egoistic, proud, and strong as my western counterparts. But I am an Asian Generation-X:
born in the Martial Law period in the Philippines
raised at the time when the Philippines faltered under a dictator
transitioned towards adolescence as a president tried to grapple with power and somehow, missed the mark
transitioned towards adulthood surrounded by hypocrisy of the old and nouveau riche classmates
became a tool for capitalism in an industry that made people want things that they don't really need
and rose through the ranks through sheer determination, patience, and technical capabilities
And got bored.
