Succession Planning 101: Difference Between Generation X and Y

One of the key hiring mistakes insurers and other employers make is not to recognize the different expectations of Generation X and Y employees, according to Andrea Plotnick, the national expertise director of organizational effectiveness at the Hay Group.
Plotnick was speaking at a CIP Symposium 2007 seminar about succession planning.
She noted Generation X employees (born between 1961 and 1974) are more likely than Generation Y employees (born between 1975-1990) to work within a system, sacrifice their personal lives for the opportunity to advance, seek personal recognition and pursue job security.
Generation Y employees, on the other hand, tend to be entrepreneurial, stress independence and autonomy, distrust hierarchies and seek a comfortable work-life balance. They also are less likely than Generation Xers to develop loyalty to a particular company.
Plotnick said the biggest mistake companies can make in the succession-planning process is to treat all employees as though they have the same needs, thus not recognizing the inherent differences between the generations of employees.
Insurance companies, like HR recruiters in general, will need to figure out how to meet the needs of Generation Y employees as the Baby Boomers (born 1947-64) begin to retire, she noted. She showed a presentation slide suggesting the number of executive positions in all occupations is projected to increase by 10-12% by 2012, coinciding with a mass retirement of baby boomers.