Generational Comms in IABC Mag
The August 2007 edition IABC’s member newsletter CW Bulletin has a series of articles on communicating across generations
CW Bulletin is the e-newsletter supplement to Communication World, IABC’s glossy award-winning member-only magazine. Sent each month to all members, every issue of CW Bulletin presents articles, case studies and additional resources on timely topics in communication. The two publications keeps members up to date with current best practices, and delivering insights from today’s brightest thought leaders.
CW Editor Natasha Nicholson says the workforce is poised to undergo drastic changes in the next few years.
“As the Baby Boomer generation prepares to retire, new generations brought up on the Internet emerge to take their place. How can communicators ensure that their messages reach every generation? The articles in this issue examine the different communication needs of each generation and provide tips on how to construct marketing messages and employee benefit campaigns that will appeal to everyone — from Traditionals to Baby Boomers to Millennials
The main articles in brief:
- Choose your message wisely, says by Cam Marston, who helps management better understand how to connect with employees by learning how a generational perspective can color the world and affect business relationships
- Diane Gallagher, ABC, urges organisations to help employees plan for the future. As the Baby Boomer generation prepares for retirement, communicating about superannuation has come to the forefront of internal stakeholder management: “Communicators can play a pivotal role in helping their organizations offer the most effective retirement benefit program to help employees from every generation achieve their financial goals”
- Dealing with four working generations may appear to pull communicators in different directions, but maybe not if you keep your mind on the bigger picture. “People of all ages essentially want the same things — even if they look or behave differently. A recent study conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership discovered that many of the assumptions made about each generation were exaggerated or untrue. Instead, the so-called generation gap is, in large part, the result of miscommunication and misunderstanding,” says Jennifer J. Deal.