Speaker 2: 0:06

Welcome to Real Talk on Talent, a human resources podcast where we talk about talent acquisition, recruiting and all things hiring. Welcome back, hey. Pleasure to be here. We have a couple changes I think that we need to address. Okay, let's hear about them.

Speaker 3: 0:26

Yep, oh casty cast. Technically I should still be wearing it, but I'm just over it and it doesn't fit under a lot of my clothes.

Speaker 2: 0:34

I do feel like we need to clarify. Your doctor told you you can take off the brace.

Speaker 3: 0:38

So yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2: 0:39

You're not just going rogue? No, I'm not going rogue.

Speaker 3: 0:41

Like I can take it off during certain times. Perhaps I lean on the takeoff a little bit more than I should, but five weeks in I'm healing like a champ. Of course you are.

Speaker 2: 0:51

You're being good as new in no time. Even better. Congratulations, I'm glad that you are feeling good and it's healing well. Yeah, yeah yeah, and our second exciting change is we're in a new office.

Speaker 3: 1:03

Oh yay, yes, we are New background, kind of maybe New chair, it's a similar setup, but we have a new human office.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Yeah, we do, and I love it. It is awesome.

Speaker 3: 1:14

Yeah, it's awesome. So human had been at the beaches in Jacksonville for gosh 20-something years and we kind of outgrew that space, so we wound up taking over just different buildings and so we had a very fragmented inconsistent Like a human campus of just different locations. Yeah, which we?

Speaker 2: 1:32

loved, we did love. Location was great, but now it's like I can walk down the hall to go talk to anyone.

Speaker 3: 1:38

Yeah, it's so nice. Yeah, so we've kind of we've grown up. Yeah, yeah, we're in our big boy. So come visit our office.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Yeah, it's really awesome.

Speaker 3: 1:44

Yeah, yeah, for sure, definitely Highly recommend Yay.

Speaker 2: 1:47

Cool, okay, any other exciting things going on? Uh, you know no. That'll probably come out Just podcasting. The most exciting thing we could do D generational differences.

Speaker 3: 2:01

We are talking about generation differences we are, but I think we have some opinions about generational differences in the workforce.

Speaker 2: 2:10

But that's what we're going to talk about. That's what we're going to talk about. So we have gone through all the five pillars, so we've come back around to people, correct, so this is our people topic and we wanted to talk about generational differences in the workforce. But, as you and I had conversations leading up to this, we literally looked at each other and said it's kind of BS, yeah, which is a bold statement.

Speaker 3: 2:33

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:33

This whole episode is going to be a hot take. A hot take, hot topic, let's go All right. Okay, so I'm going to set the stage a little bit. If you're good with that, let's do it. So. Stage a little bit. If you're good with that, let's do it. So, when people talk about generational differences in the workforce, it's a very valid topic and it's something that's been around for a long time. But I would like for you to please explain why you and I both looked at each other and said we don't want to talk about. Oh, what is Gen Z doing in the workforce today? Or, you know, this is what baby boomers are all about Like. Can you please give a just synopsis of what we're going to talk about today?

Speaker 3: 3:09

Yeah, so I think prior to this, prior to this particular podcast, we both did a fair amount of research. Obviously, these are conversations that we're having a lot, our partners are asking it about. You know how do we do it? So we've done a good amount of research and I think when we looked at the research and when we really thought about what it was saying, what we realized was is these generational differences are really kind of based on stereotypes that don't necessarily provide a lot of value and insight if you are trying to make decisions around how to attract and retain different generations and agreed, and I'm cut you off.

Speaker 2: 3:52

But I have to add in here is that the reason that I feel so strongly about this it's not just from the research, but I'm a millennial. I'm smack dab in millennial age range, depending on what years you put on that and early in my career I became a leader in the business and I cannot tell you how many times it was that of the era of millennial bashing.

Speaker 3: 4:16

Oh, yes, yes, yes, I remember.

Speaker 2: 4:17

And so I had so many times where I would sit across the table from another leader or a client contact and they would be just beating up millennials left right. You know they don't want to work, they just want to feel good, like that kind of thing. And I'd say, well, I'm a millennial.

Speaker 2: 4:32

And their response was oh, but you're not like all the yeah, of course I'm like yes I am, I'm, I'm a hundred percent a millennial and so my for my whole career I've been, I. I feel very strongly that this like hitting of generations against each other is silly, and I am just going to say I'm very pro-Gensy.

Speaker 3: 4:51

Yeah, so here's my thought on it. So it's not about generational differences, it's about differences in age, and where you are in your age doesn't dictate but it really influences what you're looking for in work, in life, and work is a huge part of life, and that's not to discount the impact of major social events on generations. That is definitely something that impacts generations as a whole. But when you think about what most people want in employment and in work life, it's kind of the same three things regardless of generation.

Speaker 2: 5:36

So I do want to get into that, but I want to you kind of separated age and generation and like experiences. I think the two are like completely intertwined. Okay, so Pew has an article and we'll link the article where they talked about when researchers are looking at generational differences, because our statement on saying the generational discussion is kind of silly is not to say that all the generations are the same. That's not what we're saying. Obviously, based on age and experiences, there are going to be stereotypes based on how old you are or like you know. But the Pew article talked about the researching elements that go into generational understanding and see if I can remember them. That's the life cycle effect, which is what you're talking about. So, how old are you? What are your needs? What are your perspectives? One of the examples is the younger you are, the less likely you are to vote, and that was true for boomers when they were young and that was true for millennials when they were young. Gen Z is like throwing a little bit for a loop. So again, pro Gen Z. So there's a life cycle effect To your point. How old are you? But, um, so there's a life cycle effect to your point. How old are you what's going on.

Speaker 2: 6:47

The second one is called a period effect, and when you have these events in life that impact society as a whole, so that could be the great depression, it could be wars, could be 9-11 it could be the great depression. Covid, covid, yes, it's one, yeah, and it has this impact that changes your perspectives, your needs, your expectations. And then the last one's called the cohort effect, and it's when you have these period events that have an increased impact on a certain generation. So that could be either like if you have the Vietnam or, better yet, you have 9-11. That happened 23 years ago. So anyone who's younger, let's say younger than 33, it doesn't have the same impact on them as older generations, and so there are.

Speaker 2: 7:40

Or the other side is, you have these big period impacts that, where you are in your life, have a bigger impact on you. Okay, makes sense. So, like 2008 recession, I was trying to find my first job. That's going to have a lot bigger impact on people my age than if you're older, established or retired, and didn't really have that big of an impact on you. Okay, so I love that. So what are those three things? Again, it was the life cycle effect. Okay, it's like what you're talking about Age, we'll say, we'll simplify it, Yep. Age, okay, yep. And then you have the period impact Okay, which is these big events that change a generational perspective, okay, or just society, mm-hmm. And the cohort impact, where these big events impact a certain generation more, for whatever reason Makes sense.

Speaker 3: 8:22

Got it.

Speaker 2: 8:23

Very interesting. So I actually and I went on a whole thing, but I think that's an interesting. I want to tie it back to work on that one specifically because this is a talent podcast yes, yes. So I want to ask you, as a manager of multiple generations, when you think about like age over generation, if that makes sense. Absolutely does, yes. How does that impact your approach to managing employees or connecting with employees? How does that influence you as a manager?

Speaker 3: 8:55

Yeah, yeah, great question. So first, I think there's so many articles out there that talk about you need to lead different generations differently. I'm not buying it. Different generations differently I'm not buying it, you're not.

Speaker 2: 9:06

I'm not buying, it Okay, why?

Speaker 3: 9:07

So I think you can lead everybody the same way by being an empathetic leader.

Speaker 2: 9:15

Okay, okay, I was ready to be like. No, dina, we're going to get into this.

Speaker 3: 9:20

But, yes, to me, the commonality between all of the generations is that there's no commonality. I can have two people who are the same age and they need to be led differently. So, to me, leading across multi-generations is no different than leading a diverse team. It'd be foolish and naive to think that leadership is a one size fits all approach. So, to me, it's about being empathetic and proactive with your team and asking them how do you like to be led, understanding what works for them, what doesn't work for them, really developing a good relationship so you know how to best grow and develop your employees.

Speaker 2: 10:01

Yeah, that's really interesting, I agree. I think there's more nuance, especially if I think about like a new leader, because I think you 100% you have to go in with empathy, you have to go in with one-to-one, custom leadership style. I 100% agree with that. I do think that the more you can understand potential influences you may not understand, the easier it is to be empathetic.

Speaker 2: 10:30

Okay, yes, I would agree with that, and that's true not just for generational but like cultural backgrounds or differences that way.

Speaker 2: 10:35

And so I do think it's important and I think this is one big disconnect between, let's just say, the boomer and the Gen Z generation is you could have someone who is a baby boomer, who is completely but the needs of a Gen Zer. They don't understand because they're forgetting the cohort effect of that generation or the life cycle that they're in, and so they have a hard time being empathetic because they can't put themselves in those shoes or say this is why you have this perspective, this view. That to me is not important, and so I do think that it probably roots down to empathy. But I think that there is a more active level of understanding and appreciation for how people show up differently, based on the things that impact them, because you can easily be like oh, I'm really caring, just tell me what you want. But sometimes you have to be a little more proactive in saying like I don't really get it but like I'm here for you, yeah, so I think, empathetic and authenticity and transparency.

Speaker 3: 11:43

So if I were to say those are three things that are universal across generations, across age, and so how can you be authentic in your leadership, how can you ask your team to be their authentic versions of themselves? And I think this gets you know that's a great way to lead people.

Speaker 2: 12:01

I completely agree. What would you tell to Gen Zers? Okay, because we constantly talk about like boomers looking down like the hierarchy of traditional businesses and being frustrated at Gen Zers. What would you tell Gen Z that we need from them as leaders?

Speaker 3: 12:21

Yeah, oh, great question, great question. So I think the answer is time Okay.

Speaker 1: 12:29

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 12:30

And I'm going to say it in two different ways. So, I think when you are younger, you tend to be perhaps less patient and you want things to come along quickly.

Speaker 2: 12:39

Especially if you're in an Amazon overnight delivery era. Oh yes, this is a great example.

Speaker 3: 12:44

You know what? There we go.

Speaker 2: 12:45

Like the expectation, it's like I clicked Right now.

Speaker 3: 12:47

Yeah, right now, exactly. So I think, when we tie this back to the workplace, where do we see this come up? Employee, so I think, when we tie this back to the workplace, where do we see this come up? You know employee, their desire for growth and development and promotions.

Speaker 3: 13:05

I think that I think if you looked at how quickly a Gen Zer expects to be promoted versus how quickly, let's say, a baby boomer, you know Gen X would expect to be promoted, you're going to see a truncated timeline there. Same thing with the amount of time somebody's willing to stay within a position, and so I think the answer is time and patience, and that is not an easy thing for people to accept, but I think that is the reality of the world, and what we saw in some of the research we were doing was one of the biggest dissatisfiers of younger generations is really this lack of accelerated growth and development, and you have to wonder will there be a point where do they recognize that this type of accelerated growth isn't the norm, or do we as employers need to figure out how do we accelerate growth for these people?

Speaker 2: 13:53

I think it's well. I think that as employers, we need to figure out ways to provide accelerated growth. But going back to, why might a younger individual have that perspective? I think there are probably two things that I find interesting about that. One is thinking about there are a lot more options for personal expansion, and what I mean is sorry. In today's digital world, you can be an entrepreneur more easily, you can have side gigs more easily, so you don't have to wait for things to happen. It's like go, just do it, and I think something like 40, more than 40% of Gen Zers have a side hustle. But the other thing is, um, the grass is not always greener, and we learn that. The older you get in your career, the more you learn that. And if you haven't had that experience of, oh well, I want that next step, so I'm going to leave this company. Um, that's an age thing too, where it's like you've experienced that, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 14:57

So I think experience is something that the younger generation doesn't have, and they will get it. And I'm going to be very cynical right now, which isn't a Dina thing. Normally I'm not a cynical person, and I would say this is true of every generation. When they are young, when you are in your formative years, so to speak.

Speaker 2: 15:19

That might be a bit of a no, it's true, it is, but I believe, I believe that I changed more between 19 and 25 than I did between 25 and 35. Yeah, yeah, like continue, I would agree with that.

Speaker 3: 15:30

Like continue, I would agree with that I think that when you are in these years, you haven't experienced life yet, and so what you want and what you're looking for is the biggest, boldest, best possible solution, best everything. But then life happens, and life isn't always what you think it's going to be, and that's when your expectations start to change.

Speaker 2: 15:57

Well, and I think this is a perfect example of how old you are yeah, it 100% does and it's not just.

Speaker 2: 16:07

I don't think it's a cynical thing to say, oh, your expectations change. Expectations change when you are 19 years old. You have a million paths in front of you. Where do you go to school has an impact. Do you go to school? What kind of trade do you want? Like? What relationships are you in? You could literally pick up and move anywhere in the world because you have no responsibilities, no connections.

Speaker 2: 16:31

You have all of this, and every time you make a decision, your path changes and you get fewer, fewer forks in the road, and so, the older you get, you still can make any of those decisions, but every step you've made has adjusted to a point where it's more difficult, and you've already made a ton of those critical decisions in your life, and so I think that's another great example of it's not that the older you get, the more you're like. You just need a little dose of reality. I think it's that we've made all these decisions and sometimes we forget that you have individuals who are at the beginning of their career. I just had someone on my team who's been in white collar work all the way up until 30s decide to go into the trades and go be in manual labor, and that is very unusual. Yeah, I mean which by?

Speaker 3: 17:23

the way she's going to crush it. I'm super pumped for her, yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:27

Good for her Yep. I do want to talk about similarities, though.

Speaker 3: 17:31

You and I had a great discussion around this.

Speaker 2: 17:33

Do you want to kick us off on this?

Speaker 3: 17:40

Yes, want to talk about similarities, though. You and I had a great discussion around this. Do you want to kick us off on this? Yes, okay, yeah, so what we found was there's really three similarities across generations different ages, life cycle.

Speaker 2: 17:45

What you mean is saying we often look and say Gen Z wants this from work, whereas, like, gen X wants that from work. Correct, but a recent survey by McKenzie, thank you, basically said that's not true.

Speaker 3: 17:57

That's not true? Okay so, and we're going to look at it from kind of the highest level. So what it said was here's what people want in work. People want fair compensation, people want career growth and development and people want meaningful work.

Speaker 2: 18:13

I think the difference is there were a couple others that kind of popped in and out Correct, but overarchingly that is what drew people to take a job, stay in a job or quit a job Correct, Regardless of age.

Speaker 3: 18:26

Yes, yes, the only call out there was Gen Z didn't value compensation as much as other people. My theory on that is they're in their mid-teens and early 20s. They probably don't have to worry about comp that much yet.

Speaker 2: 18:40

Well, and I also think that when you say, oh, these three items are what everyone cares about, the way that shows up is different, based off of those generational influences that we talked about earlier. So you still care about comp and, to your point, gen Z may have a different need for comp, or they're not in a place where they're, like millennials, are starting to think about their kids, like starting about college funds and stuff like that. It's a different kind of perspective on it, but everyone still cares about compensation and that's a critical component to their decision making process, correct?

Speaker 3: 19:18

Yeah, yeah. So when we think about those three things, we think about fair compensation, we think about career growth and development, and then we think about meaningful work. The way those show up and are defined to each generation is going to be different, and as an employer, it is our job to figure out how do we communicate these benefits most effectively with these different generations in different lifecycle phases, so to speak, and I think that's where organizations can step up. I think the communication is not a one size fits all approach, and I see this in internal communications and also from a TA perspective. It really is important that you look at creating different value propositions for different people. Thank you for making a the EVP Love that. Yes, yes, yes, you know there are people. The nuances of what people want are different, so you can't just go with this one size fits all approach, and so it's not only your message, it's how are you communicating, what's your cadence?

Speaker 2: 20:30

All those things, I agree. And I think one and that can feel super overwhelming to say like, oh, everyone needs their configured approach to that. And I don't think that, that I don't think that companies need to feel like they have to say, okay, employee A, what is it that you need? Let's build this for you, whatever. But I do think that choose your own adventure of saying like, okay, we offer healthcare benefits, this is what it looks like. You can decide how that's set up.

Speaker 2: 21:00

This is, and I'm going to help provide the insight you need to get the correct like healthcare and benefits, et cetera. If this doesn't work for you, we understand, like we're going to do everything we can to get that, but if you want something new or different, we're going to support you in whatever that. Whatever it is you need to do for yourself, and it's not just healthcare and benefits. But I agree with you completely I'm just adding the layer of. I think I'm not advocating and I won't speak for you, but I don't think you are either that companies have to custom fit everything to every individual employee.

Speaker 2: 21:34

That's an unfair expectation, I would agree, yes, but to the point of saying how do you communicate? These are your options, this is how you step into them, how you benefit from them and how this ties into the larger employment experience that goes into that.

Speaker 3: 21:47

Exactly. I think it is not customized solutions, it's customized communications, and it's not necessarily communications customized down to every individual, but it's making sure that your communication strategy is going to be effective for all audiences, and so I think that's the big takeaway.

Speaker 2: 22:07

I also think that it's really important to have two-way communication and we just went through this oh, 100%. We just went through a big, big project here at Human to really kind of dig into and have really specific two-way communication. So we literally said we want to hear everybody's perspective and then we're going to make sure our comms plan is appropriately responding and that we as Human have the right programs in place for our people. That was a really powerful exercise, and not just as a good business practice. But going into this actually hadn't made. This connection underscores my perspective that when people talk about Gen Zers like when we literally sat down and listened to everybody, regardless of age, job title, location, et cetera everyone needed the same thing. Kind of coming back to that conversation, everyone had the same thing. It may show up in different ways, and so it's a really powerful exercise to say, okay, what is the human variation of that within the business?

Speaker 3: 23:07

Yeah, Well, it's so funny.

Speaker 2: 23:08

We could really roll with this. We really could, we really could. So let's do this. Okay, what's the one takeaway? You think a TA leader?

Speaker 3: 23:16

because we talked about the business at large. What's the one?

Speaker 2: 23:19

thing a TA leader should take away from this.

Speaker 3: 23:21

So I would say, trying to bring in talent, really look at how you're positioning yourself as an employer and figure out if that resonates with across generations. You know, figure out first of all who's your ideal candidate, is your messaging appropriate for them? And then look at it holistically and figure out are you being inclusive in your messaging? Is this going to appeal to all generations, to everyone?

Speaker 2: 23:48

So yeah, that's my takeaway. I like that one yeah.

Speaker 3: 23:52

I like that one. Yeah, what about you?

Speaker 2: 23:53

yeah, that's, that's my takeaway. I like that one. Yeah, I like that one. Yeah, what about you? I asked the question. I don't even have an answer for it.

Speaker 2: 23:59

I think my one takeaway would be to pay attention to stereotypes, but to realize, because stereotypes exist for a reason, but to also not fall into generalizing stereotypes, because I think that when you look at a stereotype, um, you can learn truth from that, because, again, stereotypes pop out of consistencies and then they're characterized largely Um and and I say that specifically to a TA leader because it's so easy Like, oh yeah, you had the young person come in for an interview or like, listen to that, but also realize, like, hey, this is someone who's starting their career and people may not have understood you in the same way and they're just looking for that support.

Speaker 2: 24:47

Or vice versa, if you have an older like candidate, like, don't assume that they don't like know how to use technology, and that's a really unfair stereotype. But we do that all the time and, as a TA leader, I think it's important to say we're all just on these different like places in our journey and how can we look at the ways that we can really benefit together in a relationship, like an employment relationship. Yeah, that was a weak answer. I didn't love that one, but the feeling is there.

Speaker 3: 25:24

Listen, I'm into it, I'm going to give you 7.5 stars.

Speaker 3: 25:25

Thank you Out of 10? Out of five. Hillary, 150%, 150%. Thanks. Dina Makes me feel better. Yeah, you know what the other thing I will say before we close out this particular session is. I was thinking about kind of the business case for working with different generations and I really do think that we know that diversity leads to better results. So diversity of thought and when we think of younger generations, older generations, older generations tend to have a lot of institutional knowledge, which is incredibly impactful. Younger generations come to us with fresh ideas, fresh perspectives.

Speaker 2: 26:00

And energy. Older I get in my career, the more I'm like I don't really want to try anything new. And then there's that energy of like yeah, let's break the mold. I'm like you're right, let's go for it.

Speaker 3: 26:09

Exactly so. I think that businesses would be super short-sighted not to try to maximize on that positive collision between institutional knowledge and energy and fresh ideas.

Speaker 2: 26:22

I actually and this was years ago, I read this article so I could not tell you what company it was. I think it was in the like oh, millennials are the worst era where a CEO of a major corporation actually took some of his entry-level employees and they were like an advisor to the CEO, so he would meet with them regularly to better understand the differences that his younger employees like, their different perspectives, the needs, the insights, but also what it's like to be an entry-level employee in the organization. I thought that was really a really interesting approach to understanding how different people show up in the workforce and how you can take advantage of that excitement and insight. Yeah, love that.

Speaker 3: 27:02

Yeah, cool idea huh, yeah, great idea.

Speaker 2: 27:04

Yeah, uh-huh, very cool, cool. Do we have a correction section? I don't think we do?

Speaker 3: 27:08

I don't think we do.

Speaker 2: 27:09

Nope, we were flawless last show Flawless, flawless, dina, thanks to you, you keep us rolling, oh, rolling, listen, here we go, here we go.

Speaker 1: 27:17

Um, okay, whitney, hot takes on hot topics, hot takes, hot topics, hot dina well, hillary, I want to mention, uh, something you brought up earlier, which is that generations are kind of affected by events in which happened, during their lifetime, major events. That being said, we have Gen Alpha to look out for. They are kind of known as the COVID kids. They were born between 2010 and 2024. And my question to you both is what is your prediction on how Gen Alpha will be?

Speaker 2: 27:58

in the workplace. I also love that you asked the two people with no children to answer the Gen Alpha question. That's a great, great question.

Speaker 3: 28:07

So so, gen Alpha, I'm going to tell you this when you join the workforce for the first time, everybody's going to say that you are the downfall of the workforce. They're going to say that for every generation.

Speaker 2: 28:19

And that's been going on for as long as human beings have existed. It really has.

Speaker 3: 28:23

It really has. So don't take it personally. They're going to say that until the next generation comes along, Then they'll blame the next one. Then they'll blame the next one. Oh gosh, I need to think about this. Oh gosh, I need to. I need to think about this.

Speaker 2: 28:41

So it is going to be really interesting because I have a couple of nieces and nephews who are Gen Alpha and when I think about the influences that are going to impact them, we've gone from millennials, who were the first digital, like natives, and then you have Gen Z, who has just been saturated in this digital world to a point where there is kind of this whiplash back to analog. Do you know, a lot of Gen Zers are getting dumb phones and disposable cameras and stuff.

Speaker 3: 29:07

So, FYI, I want a dumb phone and I have said this for a while Get a Cricut, one of of those giant yeah listen, but again we're seeing the whiplash, but simultaneously we're seeing AI pop up into everywhere and you know.

Speaker 2: 29:22

So it'll be interesting to see with Generation Alpha, when they come in, if the digital conversation isn't even really something that gets discussed in the same way, because, if you it's so assumed, yeah, it in the same way, because if you it's so assumed because, yeah, it's like that idea of the influence of digital is aging out of the workforce.

Speaker 3: 29:42

Because at when? Yes, gen alpha baseline has changed correct.

Speaker 2: 29:43

Like gen x is going to be the old generation. When alpha is joining the workforce, millennials will be on their way out and for for us, we are digital natives like yeah, like we know what it was like before Google I am older than Google by FYI but like it's so ingrained in our world so I almost wonder if the generation alpha, when they come in, it'll almost be like there's a new thing to consider, whether it's going like the skill we talk about, skills based. Well, is that going to be what they're focusing on as they come in, or, like I feel like it's going to be a completely different dialogue. So Generation Alpha is not necessarily going to be coming in with this completely different skill set, but like the world will be different, so Gen Alpha will fit into it in a way that we're not really thinking about right now.

Speaker 3: 30:34

Yeah, so this is super interesting and I'm probably going to say a whole bunch of things that are just going to be really weird.

Speaker 1: 30:41

We're making stuff up as we go. Let's just go, we are. Why is it hot?

Speaker 3: 30:44

today. Okay, so super interesting. So first, I think everybody's work is going to change dramatically. I believe that AI is going to dramatically change the type of work that people do, and so what we hear about a lot of younger generations is that perhaps they're lacking in social skills. I feel like this generation, gen Alpha, is going to make a rebound and they are going to be so socially advanced. Can I say?

Speaker 2: 31:15

something, please. I think the idea of people being socially awkward is because they're social in a way that we were not as kids. Oh my God, you're right, so this goes back to like generational. Yes, generational difference, yes, yes, yes, the experiences, because if, growing up up, the only way to hang out with my friends, if I went and knocked on the door, yeah, and we went running around outside until, like, it got too dark to play, yeah, um, okay, so now, but like there's you know I get what you're saying.

Speaker 3: 31:48

You could still do that today?

Speaker 2: 31:49

yeah, but we have provided this digital world that is so much more complex and so much more like you engage in a completely different way. Yeah, it is very important to have face-to-face time. It is very important to not lose those structures that we reminisce about, but I think that this goes back to the more we age out, boomers. Yeah, yeah, you're right, we're gonna be like. Yeah, I used to bond with my siblings and I, to this day, play nintendo Mario.

Speaker 3: 32:17

Kart, the original one. Up down, up down, left right, a, b start. That's the code.

Speaker 2: 32:22

Not on a Nintendo 64. No.

Speaker 3: 32:24

Oh, that's old school.

Speaker 2: 32:25

Nintendo. Yeah, yeah, that's like that's like OG hey guys. Xy, gen X here. But my point is saying some of the greatest bonding experiences that we had as kids and as adults was through video games.

Speaker 3: 32:37

Yeah, so do you think that? Okay, that's interesting. So do you think that? What do you think the workplace is going to look like? Is there? I mean, what are your thoughts on?

Speaker 2: 32:48

this. I think it's too early in the AI conversation to see how much we let that dominate yeah.

Speaker 3: 32:55

It's kind of scary and kind of amazing at the same time. It's. I agree. This is a whole other.

Speaker 2: 33:01

We can't get down that one, because we're really rolling with this one. I think that when Gen Alpha comes in, we will have made some of those decisions and I just want to make a plug, like a nerdy plug. Every time the AI conversation comes in, I think about Dune, like the book, and if you've read Dune, like, you know that essentially they rejected all the technology and that's how. So I just want to make a plug for that, because I think about it all the time and if you know, you know. But my hope is that we use AI to take care of the busy work so that we can use our time to do the creative, fun things, like. I saw a quote that says I want so.

Speaker 2: 33:43

I was thinking that I saw a quote that said I want AI to do my laundry and my dishes so I can do art. I don't want AI to do art, so I have to do the laundry and dishes.

Speaker 3: 33:53

I was thinking it, I didn't want to say it, but I was like I wonder if Gen Alpha is really going to lean into the art, which would be amazing.

Speaker 2: 34:01

And the trades, because that's the other thing. There's a massive need for trade-skilled work. It's going to continue to be that, and if we get AI to a point where it can do all of the just baseline stuff, my hope is, then we get to do the things that bring about a new type of renaissance. Yeah, oh, I love this Hillary. Yeah, that is my hope. Gen alpha will be the rebirth of art and trades and books. Boom.

Speaker 1: 34:27

And I think we'll see that happen. They're predicted to be the largest generation to date, with over 2 billion of them by 2025. Wow, seriously.

Speaker 2: 34:37

Even with the decrease in like fertility rates. Wow, interesting. Yeah, you know what I'm pro-gen alpha.

Speaker 3: 34:46

Let's do it Like I said pro-gen Z, pro-gen alpha I'm into it Awesome.

Speaker 2: 34:50

Yeah, this is great Great. Thank you, dina. Thank you Whitney. Oh, thank you, whitney, thank you, hillary.

Speaker 3: 34:55

Yeah, this was great. This was really great. I enjoyed this conversation.

Speaker 2: 34:58

So next time, next time, wait, people process Process Back to process. All right, yeah, join us next time Till we meet again. Thanks Dina, thanks Hillary, bye.