Abstract
The Baby Boomers were a pivotal generation (1946 – 1964) for the Third Industrial Revolution (1945 – 2010), but with ages raging from 55 to 76, many are retirees and/or have entered the last stages of their productive lives. The last official census conducted in 2018 by Colombia's National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) concluded that there are 48,258,494 human beings living within Colombian soil, and out of the grand total, the Boomers accounted for 16,38%, which sums 7,904,742 (4,275,703 female and 3,629,039 male) raging between 55 to 75 years of age. The underlying question, and the one that the authors intend to answer, is Are Colombian Boomers like those in Europe and the US? In trying to answer this conundrum as best they can, an adaptation of the Rokeach's Personal Values Survey is employed, which is combined with another set of questions designed by the authors that identifies personal and familiar characteristics of the respondents by means of a non-probabilistic sample technique.
TopIntroduction
It must not surprise anyone or anybody from any part of the world that throughout all economies, organizations are composed by human talent belonging to different generations. Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Centennials (Generation Z), they all come together within the boundaries of all types of organizations. Public, private, non-profit, SMEs, conglomerates, regardless of size, nature, and/or core activity, chances are that within one same organization a turmoil of sorts is being cooked in a cauldron of generation diversity.
This poses an enormous challenge for the Human Resources units and their experts. Long gone are the 70s and 80s, times when Baby Boomers reigned supreme amongst the entrepreneurial worlds! Now human resource management must strive to please different palates which are antagonistic in nature, and they better deliver if the organizations’ goals are to be attained!
The authors (two Boomers and one Gen X, no less!) are on the same page when it comes to understand the paramount importance of not only highlighting the fact that companies’ workforces are composed of different generations, but also in comprehending those generations’ traits, characteristics, behaviours, and demeanours, for there is not a consensus in the confines of the academic world of these, and it would surely be an enormous handicap if there was (Díaz-Sarmiento, et al., 2017).
Therefore, it is this chapter’s aim to thoroughly describe the various generations that lie behind this notorious fact with the Baby Boomers being the epicentre of this characterization. Field research with 120 Colombian Boomers was conducted and the results were contrasted with what is generally depicted as Boomer behaviour around the world.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Gender: Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls, and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl, or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time. Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and economic inequalities. Gender-based discrimination intersects with other factors of discrimination, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location, gender identity and sexual orientation, among others.
Rokeach Value Survey (RVS): an instrument that assesses participants’ values to help them determine what is most important in their lives and make good personal choices. Two kinds of values are distinguished in the survey: instrumental, that is, modes of conduct and behavioural characteristics that are seen as socially desirable; and terminal, that is, end states of existence or ultimate modes of living that have been idealized.
Baby Boomer Generation: “Baby boomer” is a term used to describe a person who was born between 1946 and 1964. The baby boomer generation makes up a substantial portion of the world's population, especially in developed nations. It represents 21.19% of the population of the United States of America. As the largest generational group in U.S. history (until the millennial generation slightly surpassed them), baby boomers have had—and continue to have—a significant impact on the economy. As a result, they are often the focus of marketing campaigns and business plans.