By Christine Gibbs-Springer, Ph.D.
Principal Red Tape Limited, L.L.C.

Generation X - the 45 million people born between 1965 and 1977 - provide new challenges and opportunities as they rapidly move into positions of authority in the workforce. Most donât believe that patience and corporate loyalty pay off but that entrpreneurship does. They are committed, connected and crave success and recognition. Here is what I have learned from designing and delivering training for them.

Train Them for Their Current and Their Next Job. Most Generation Xers donât believe they will stay in one job longer than two years. They are impatient to succeed and prone to want "hands-on" training that makes them more capable of competing in the workplace for a better job. They want to know where the training is leading them and they want to know that it is skill-based.

Use Independent and Self-Study. They are capable of self-study and will perform well if they understand how that self-study fits within the overall training program and leads to career advancement. One way of using self-study is in preparation for a training session. Another way of using self-study is to test them on what they have learned and to then use a general session to review and establish next steps in career progress.

Engage and Educate. Donât be fooled by their short attention spans. Generation Xers donât simply want to be entertained. They want to be engaged in relevant skill-building that makes them think.

Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate. Generation Xers want feedback on how they are doing at every step along way. End-of-session evaluations do not cut it. They need to have feedback after every module and work endeavor and that evaluation should preferably be tied to a roadmap regarding career advancement or job fulfillment.

Design New Training Opportunities That Suit Their Needs. Depending upon the skills needed for their advancement, Generation Xers may need training in social skills, etiquette and table manners. One trainer in Silicon Valley has made a lucrative business out of developing and delivering this kind of training.

Develop Their Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills. Critical thinking means being able to differentiate between reliable and unreliable information, carefully weighing the strengths and weaknesses of conflicting points of Similarly, knowing how to define and solve a problem by looking at it from several points of view is important to their success but often lacking from their education. The key to problem solving is how the problem is defined. Make sure that you ask: Why is this a problem for someone in particular and for something in specific. It helps to have them redefine the problem from several different angles until a solution is implied by one of the definitions.

Use Teleconferencing, Video-Conferencing and Internet Training on a Selective Basis. Generation Xers are most comfortable with technology but they require social interaction. Use technology to deliver some but not all of the training services. Donât allow them to communicate and inter-relate with co-workers only through an impersonal medium because they will only advance as a whole person when they achieve strong interpersonal skills.