: Fire 2020 :: Monthly E-Newsletter Issue No.2 :

July 2008

Focus on Leadership
Courageous Conversations

Bob Oliver is the Deputy Chief of the Redmond Fire Department in Washington. He came to the Northwest after retiring from the Phoenix Fire Department as Deputy Chief and 33 years of service.

Bob is a well respected public speaker/trainer on various human relations topics, on the local and national circuit. We asked him to share his wisdom on ‘courageous conversations’.

Candle fires are on the increase, especially in Latino communities because of the growing number of home altars. A Latino focus group in Austin, Texas suggested that people put their candles in a bowl of water. That way, if they are tipped over by a pet or child, they’ll simply go out in the bowl of water. They also suggested that because many immigrant populations don’t trust people in uniform that fire departments work with the faith community to get prevention messages out to the community.

This Month's Articles

Generation Y: The Future Workforce

Generation Y is our next generation. Born between 1980 and 2000 (there’s no uniform agreement on those years), Generation Y numbers around 100 million or a third of our total population and it’s considered to be the largest and most diverse generation in our history. How has Generation Y been shaped by their times? What characteristics present challenges and opportunities to Fire/EMS?

	Four Generations in the Workplace: Do You Get Their Differences? by Barbara Frankel

Age diversity—the concept that the four generations now co-existing in the workplace are in serious need of cultural competence to work successfully with each other—has been getting increased attention from our readers. In focus groups over the last few months, this topic persistently has come up as an increasing diversity challenge. As more boomers near retirement, will there be a brain drain? Are they communicating with and mentoring those in Generations X and Y? Do members of the different generations understand each other, especially in terms of what individuals need at work to thrive? And are we in danger of stereotyping people based on their age?

In-kind sponsor, DiversityInc, publishes a monthly magazine and has an online site that “provides news, resources and commentary on the role of diversity in strengthening the corporate bottom line.” While we’re from the non-profit, public service world, we have found new learning and pearls of wisdom and had ah-hah moments! So for those reasons, we’ll be reprinting some of their articles. This month, we’ve obtained permission to reprint the article, Four Generations in the Workplace: Do You Get Their Differences?

[Take advantage of a FIRE 20/20 sponsored electronic subscription to DiversityInc magazine at www.diversityinc/fire2020.]

Visit us online, anytime at http://www.fire2020.org

Partner Perspective
Quality Media Resources

Robert and Patricia Rosell founded QMR in 1992. Their company is dedicated to producing training videos, CDs, DVDs and e-learning programs that assist organizations in developing respectful and productive workplace relationships.

There are many reasons to be enthusiastic about the new generation now entering the workplace. Generation Y (also known as Gen Y, Millennials, Gen Why, Net Generation, Echo Boomers) are smart, adaptable, energetic, skilled and eager to make their mark. At the same time, these young people do things differently and enter the world of employment with great expectations and a culture that may be unfamiliar to many of us.