Building capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system

8th Annual NW Diversity Learning Series (2006)

Session Four: July 13, 2006:
Becoming an Experienced Commuter: Bridging the Generation Gap in Moving up and Around the Organization

By Monica Ercolano

Report of Discussion Questions from the Boomers Generation

The fourth session of the Series focused on the impact of generational differences on career development and access to opportunities. Steve Hanamura, speaker for the session, asked participants belonging to the Boomers generation to fill the following survey. We had four different groups of participants belonging to the Boomer generation, and for the purpose of this document we combined their answers.

1. What are the value-added contributions your age group brings to your organization's success?

Participants belonging to this group answered the question as follows:

• Stability
• Knowledge
• Predictability
• Bridge to Veterans and Gen X
• Optimism
• Loyalty
• Conformism - still value structure
• Work ethic/hard workers
• Ability to train on non-technical skills
• Commitment to organization's goals
• Flexibility - adaptability to the organization
• Comfort in the "safety" of the organization
• Visualization of the future
• Respect for ourselves and others
• Diversity/women in the workforce
• Openness to new ideas
• Strategic focus
• Education and continued learning
• Change agents
• Patience
• Team work
• Maturity
• Networking
2. Does age interact with:
• Ethnicity/race
• Gender
• Class

...to limit your access to organizational opportunities and career development? If so, how does it interact?

Participants belonging to this group answered the question as follows:

• Age with ethnicity/race and gender - minorities and women were put more into staff positions rather than in management
• Age with ethnicity/race - less exposed to people of different races, Civil Rights movement may have affected our perception of opportunity
• Age with gender - if you are older and male you will be fine; if you are an older woman you can be in a disadvantage over a younger woman; child bearing years impact opportunities; females are not taken seriously by management; younger African American women speak up more and are more open than older African American women; gender and age have a huge impact on promotions
• Age with class/education - class is becoming a much bigger issue, there are less people in the middle class; class has an impact on education
3. What does your age group, along with your other dimensions of diversity need from other groups?

Participants belonging to this group answered the question as follows:

• Respect
• Technical skills
• Patience
• Acknowledgment of our values and knowledge
• Keep pushing on policy, work-life benefits, and procedures
• Support
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Other groups' experience and ideas
• Don't assume we are past our prime
• Forgiveness around lack of family stability
• Accept that we are different and that we see the world differently due to our life experiences
• Meet us half-way
• Reverse mentoring
• Energy, optimism, and creativity
• Demonstration of adaptability and willingness to look at different solutions

The 2006 NW Diversity Learning Series (now in its 9th year) focused on the theme, Building Capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system.

Using the metaphor of a subway system, each of the six-bi-monthly morning seminars explored some of the ways that access to organizational opportunities and career development are hidden and therefore more difficult for women and people of color, as well as people who speak English as a second language, to utilize. The purpose of this Series was for everyone to become more aware of organizational culture and how it impacts building people's capacity, and for everyone, managers and employees, to become better at navigating these cultural obstacles along career paths.

For more information about the NW Diversity Learning Series, please visit the Series section of our website.

2006 Series Sponsors:

Gold Sponsors:

Silver Sponsor:

Bronze Sponsor:

Supporting Sponsors: