Optimizing Your Multi-Generational Interactions
Generational differences in the workplace are a major fact of corporate life. Changing demographics in the US workforce
and expanding globalization of US businesses has heightened interest in this
newest of the diversity challenges. It’s not that we haven’t always had older
and younger people working together. Think back to the huge generation gap in
the fifties with its rock ‘n roll and the free love and drug culture of the
sixties. The large numbers of baby boomer teenagers with their music, clothes,
and social justice choices created a phenomenon that rocked society back then.
The workplace however, remained basically
untouched as the boomer members joined the stereotypical organization man
climbing his traditional career ladder. Emphasis is on the “his” because it was
primarily men and, for that matter it was primarily white men. Things changed slowly in the work
environment - with emotionally charged beliefs and assumptions being challenged
throughout major institutions.
Today’s gap and clash are different than
they have ever been in American corporate history. It’s obvious that the US
workplace is more diverse
than it has ever been. Organizations employ individuals with differences in
color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, and sexual preference. More
women are active and in prominent places in corporate hierarchies. Minorities
and immigrants constitute a larger share of new entrants in the labor pool.
Ageism has entered the workplace as a
form of prejudice that is
sometimes subtle and many times blatantly obvious in the daily operations of
our companies. The most obvious reason for the chasm is the reality that there
are more people of different ages vying for many of the same jobs. Anyone in
the business of recruiting and hiring people know that there aren’t enough
qualified people to fill the jobs that are needed by companies competing in a
global market.
The average age of the US worker is on
the rise while at the same
time large numbers of energetic younger workers are entering the marketplace.
Older workers are increasingly remaining active beyond the traditional
retirement age because of economic, social, psychic identity needs and cultural
pressures. The Vets are around in many industries. The Boomers are still pretty much in the majority and
still have loads of authority. The star performing Gen Xers and some of the superstar Gen Y’s are taking over positions of authority.
This multi-generational stew along with the challenges
and opportunities it
presents is quickly becoming one of the major diversity issues modern
organizations are facing. Many of
the younger workers resent the old because they feel older workers are blocking
their advancement. Many of the older workers resent the younger ones because of
differences in attitudes and opposing values about how work should be done and
how people should be treated.
Jobs are lost, landed, and rendered
unavailable for young and old
because of intergenerational diversity prejudices. Is there a way to bridge
this convergence of differing values and preferences across the generations in
the workplace? How do organizations make the generational differences work for
them rather than against them?
Research has repeatedly demonstrated that
younger and older people do have different values, attitudes, and
perspectives on how they view the world of work. The diverse generations want to be managed
differently and they have different views on customer service. They many times
interact among themselves in ways that seem nontraditional and ineffective to
the other generations. It appears that stereotypes generally rule. The stereotypes say that the young are
perceived by many as better with technology. The old are considered to have
clocked more hours of experience on the job and therefore should be viewed as
wiser.
The reality is that each of these
generations have been shaped by the age cohort they identified with as they
became of age – a passage
from adolescence into adulthood that occurs somewhere around 18 to 24 years
old. Younger people have only known a digital world with computers, cell
phones, text messaging, and emails. Does this techno skill make all of them
better able to do their job than their older counterparts? On the other hand,
seasoned workers have had to learn how to use the new technology after years of
manual calculations and face-to-face interactions. Does that necessarily make
them all techno peasants incapable of navigating through a digital world? Do
the long years they’ve spent in the workforce necessarily make them experienced
sages and the younger members green and clueless? I don’t think so!
The answer to these questions is obviously a
resounding - NO! It is a fact of life, all older workers aren’t wise, and all
younger workers are not better at their jobs because of their ease with
technology. Do the younger workers have critical skills they can share with
older? Do older workers
have critical experience, skills, and talents that they can share with younger
workers? Definitely, YES!
The challenges organizations are facing in
our highly diverse world are even greater than differences among the old and
the young. Layer on these traditional cross-generational differences the
challenges being generated by a world market where divergent people and ideas
across continents and cultures are happening within the same organization.
Some organizations have already learned to capitalize
on the growing age diversity,
while others are experiencing generational rifts that are seriously threatening
company productivity and effectiveness. Understanding generational cohort
behavior makes good business sense. The politicians and advertisers study these
diverse generational behaviors in planning their messages. Marketers analyze
cohorts in order to understand the underlying mindset the consumer has toward
products, issues, and services. Most importantly for our purposes, organizations
apply what they learn about generational cohorts in order to understand more
about how to manage them, recruit, retain, grow and develop, blend cross
generational teams, and to alleviate the problems that occur when values
inevitably clash.
Increasingly more than ever before,
effective cross-generational working relationships need to be structured and
systems need to be in place so that ideas, skills and talents can be shared
across generations. Individuals can learn from the best they offer each other.
We call this sharing of resources the talent
toggle where
individuals engage in an ongoing mentoring and learning dynamic wherein the
master teacher and learner moves seamlessly from one person to the other – the
younger to the older, or, the older to the younger – as individual expertise
is shared when, where, and how it is needed. Age is no longer the basis for power or authority over
another. Ageism toward the young or the old eventually becomes a non-issue. The
relationship, based on the talent and the skills offered are valued as key to
optimizing the organization and the individual worker.
How do small and larger organizations get
to this point?
Where do you begin the talent toggle
process?
The most sensible starting point in learning about generational differences
is to become familiar with the characteristics and belief system of the
divergent groups.
Learn more about the Talent Toggle process contact us at
www.gaffney.com sylvia@gaffney.com
Check out the following charts to compare and contrast generational
differences.
Four distinct generations are actively
engaged in today’s workplace.
These diverse groups are called various names depending on the author. To keep
it simple, we are referring to them in as the Veteran generation (Vets), the
Baby Boomers (boomers), Generation X (Xers), and Generation Y (Y’s).
The
word generation
represents an age group.
The members of a generation are born within certain parameters of time. The time
parameters are artificially set by historical events that occur when members of the generation
are at an impressionable age. These events are imprinted forever in the
individual’s minds leaving emotional memories. The memories of the significant
events shape the individuals in the feelings and belief system these
individuals have about authority, institutions, family, fun and finances.
Layer on all the generational information
the tendency that people have in the U.S. culture to seek individuality while
simultaneously classifying themselves as a member of a group. This human
tendency to categorize self, others, things, and events provides insight into generational
attitudes and behavior.
Social and Personal identity help us understand more about what makes
members of one generation different from the other generations and different
from individuals in their own cohort. Review the charts below to compare
relevant aspects of social identity and/or personal identity to
cross-generational traits and characteristics. The traits and characteristics
as listed in these Tables do not by any means apply to each and every
generational member. As in anything, exceptions always exist. The collective
features below have been reported in generational research studies.
Category
|
Vets
|
Boomers
|
Xers
|
Y’s
|
Chronological Age
|
born between
1901 or 1909 &
1942 or 1945
Currently between
mid 60’s & 100 years
approximately 47 million alive & are
6.5% of workforce
|
born between
1946-1964
Currently between mid 40’s & early 60’s
approximately 78 million alive & are
41.5% of workforce
|
born between
1965 & 1977 or 1980
Currently between
over 30 & mid 40’s
approximately 35 million alive & are
29.5% of workforce
|
born between
1978 or 1980 &
2000
Currently between
8 & 30 years-
approximately 80 million alive & are
22.5% of workforce & growing
|
Life Stage
|
most are in or about to be in their elder
years
|
most are in their midlife and some in elder years
|
majority are in their midlife years
|
some in childhood, are coming of age, or
starting work
|
Race, Ethnicity, National Origin
|
many were immigrants and lived with
prejudice and the notion of separate, but equal for people of color
|
many were second generation and many
believed in and fought for Civil Rights
|
most accepted diversity as a way of life at
home, school and in workplace
|
many are recent immigrants and are most diverse of all generations, open
to and expect diversity
|
Religion
|
most had and still have respect for church
leaders and organized religion
|
most initially accepted and many rebelled
against church leaders experimenting with other ways to worship God
|
many are cynical and untrusting of
organized religion and church leaders
|
many returned to or they newly accepted
traditional or Fundamentalist
religions
|
Sex
|
most lived with notion that women had a
proper place in society
|
many fought for and experienced the changes
of Feminist movement, many were part of the sexual revolution
|
most view men and women as equals,
concerned about disease from unprotected sex
|
some are returning to traditional
male/female roles and abstinence from sex before marriage
|
Sexual Preference
|
sex and sexual preference were not
discussed,
many are still
uncomfortable
with the topic
|
many saw gays and lesbians as the brunt of
jokes, learning to be more tolerant as society changes
|
gay movement brought to forefront with
onset of AIDS, more tolerant than parents
|
more open and accepting of gays for most,
some returning to beliefs of Fundamentalists
|
Education
|
few went on to higher
education until after GI Bill provided this option
|
schools expanded to meet needs of this
large group and many went to college – some to avoid the draft
|
were well-educated,
comfortable with technology and dealing with large amounts of information
|
only know a world with the Internet, cell
phones, text messsaging & ipods, many have good educational opportunities
|
Work
|
loyal to company, team players,
conformists, respect for authority
|
many were & are “workaholics”,
individualistic, want personal growth, conscientious
|
many were free agents, cynical about
authority, require work/life balance
|
do not expect to pay traditional “dues”,
think of jobs as short term and transactional
|
Economic and
Social Status
|
conservative spenders, many lived through
Depression, many are financially stable
|
many are financially secure, others need to
work, most will do retirement
differently than their parents
|
their self-reliance, pragmatism, and
entrepreneurial spirit has afforded many of them a comfortable living
|
large gap between the “haves” and “have
nots” with “haves” able to access technology, parent dependent
|
Cross-Generational Comparison of Personal
Identity Categories:
Beliefs, Values, Attitudes, Traits,
Characteristics, and Life Experiences
Categories Defined
|
Veterans
|
Boomers
|
Xers
|
Y’s
|
Beliefs
opinions or positions a person holds as
true for them
........
Values
standards or criteria that guides a
person’s thoughts and actions
........
Attitudes
learned predisposition to respond a certain way
........
Traits and Characteristics
distinguishing features or qualities
.......
|
have respect for
authority, did what they were told to do & in return had job security, were loyal, dependable,
willing to mentor, team players, are committed, duty before pleasure, are patriotic, frugal have conservative
spending style, are conformist, willing to self-sacrifice for good of group
|
protested against
authority, optimistic, passionate about
social justice, have a
strong work ethic, self-expression, involved
in causes,
strong sense of
individuality & spirituality, responsive to personal
growth & development,
many enjoy continual
learning,
youthfulness,
health & wellness
|
cynical about authority,
Independent, self-reliant,
pragmatic, flexible,
entrepreneurial, capable of multi-tasking, have “attitude”, fun-loving,
require work/life balance
open to diversity,
personal relationships with friends
important,
environmentally concerned,
technologically literate,
although highly self-sufficient, like to
work in teams
|
most are respectful of institutions & civic duty,
patriotic,
some are respectful of older members at
work –others are dismissive of older coworkers, tend to be loyal,
many have been fawned on since birth &
regard themselves as special,
environmentally aware,
attitudes are more diverse than any other
generation,
cyber literate, heavily involved in social
networking,
sociable, prefer group rather than solo,
highly
collaborative, have positive self-esteem
|
|
Life Experiences and
Exposures | have expertise, wisdom and are willing to
mentor
|
understand workplace politics, many are in
positions of authority, have contacts & connections
|
taking over leadership positions,
depend on self, technologically savvy
|
want learning opportunities and to be
mentored, want ongoing feedback, most are extremely comfortable with
technology |
People are unique, and have their own
personal and social identities. Individuals from different generational cohorts
have common characteristics and values based on their coming of age
experiences. ALL aspects need to be factored into the mix.