Five Generations Working Together
As almost all businesses are integrating ground-breaking technology every year, many are seeing a widening generation gap in the workplace. A generation gap is the difference in a set of beliefs from one generation to the next. These gaps are complex to navigate because each generation brings unique expectations regarding work-place norms. These differences include varying work styles, forms of communication, feedback, work/life balance, and comfort with conflict. The first step to solving and bridging the generation gap in your company is understanding the differences. To bridge five generations and create a collaborative work environment, this collision of differing expectations needs to be proactively managed. This month’s article seeks to pinpoint some of the generational differences and strategies for creating positive and meaningful dialogue on how we’ll all work together.
Understanding Classifications
According to GenHQ, there are five current distinct generations in the workplace: traditionalists (pre-1946), baby boomers (1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1976), millennials (1977-1995), and Gen Z (1995-present). All these generations have experienced hardships of different kinds but may not impact some as much. For example, millennials experienced 9/11 while traditionalists experienced the Great Depression and World War II. These experiences led to the contrasting behaviors and actions we see today’s workplace.
IDENTIFYING THE GENERATIONAL GAPS
Work Ethic
Traditionalists often work best in a hierarchical environment. Typically, they value loyalty to a company and are extremely disciplined to achieve results and create a legacy. Traditionalists value loyalty, they believe that hard work will lead to career success. They are likely to have near two jobs during their careers unlike following generations. Baby boomers and Gen Xers value work/life balance. Many are entrepreneurs who embrace change as an opportunity in their career. Millennials value a portable career and independence at work. They value freedom and flexibility in the workplace and tend to switch employers to fuel career growth. They exhibit confidence and value diversity in the workplace. Lastly, Gen Zers expect constant change in the workplace and tend to have many jobs. They have high expectations of themselves as well as their employers and tend to look at business situations optimistically.
Communication
Traditionalists enjoy face-to-face communication over forms of technology. It is much harder to adapt to the continuously changing technology when they did not grow up with these modern devices that younger generations are accustomed to. Baby boomers, however, grew up using telephones and are comfortable with talking over the phone and in person. Both traditionalists and baby boomers believe relationships are foundational to workplace success and total reliance on technology inhibits relationship building. Gen Xers grew up with email and experienced personal computers. They are typically adept with technology but are behind of the following generations. Millennials grew up with mobile phones and texting and are adept at using today’s technology. They experienced the rise of social medias and tech giants like Facebook and Google. They enjoy collaboration and communicating online with co-workers as they learned these practices in their educational years. Gen Zers are the most tech-savvy generation and grew up with tablets, texting, Facetime, self-driving cars, etc. They value face-to-face interaction and quickly adapt to technology
Feedback
Traditionalists used to work in times where no news was good news. They were forced to learn through trial and error rather than mentoring. In today’s environment, you need feedback to accelerate your career. Baby boomers changed the landscape and implemented annual performance reviews. This improved job performance and career development; however, ongoing feedback is most beneficial. Gen Xers recognized this need and began to ask for feedback more frequently to improve their own performance. Millennials expect to hear frequent and timely feedback in order to feel valuable to the company; without ongoing feedback, a millennial’s passion will wane, and engagement will suffer. Lastly, Gen Zers expect immediate feedback. They feel as if they need to be in the loop and have a sense of purpose to the company. Failure to fulfill these needs will likely lead to the employee considering switching companies where they can see their impact.
Work/Life Balance
Traditionalists treat work as life and without it, they feel they don’t have a purpose. Baby boomers have strong work ethics and are often referred to as "Workaholics." They began shifting the policies to allow more flexible work such as job sharing; work from home; and part-time. Gen Xers further advanced this culture shift towards more freedom. Millennials and Gen Zers align work with their passion so they won’t get bored of their job. They want to work and enjoy something as much as their social life. Many in this generation form close bonds with co-workers.
Conflict
Traditionalists and baby boomers place an emphasis on the consensus of the team. They value teamwork and growing the business. Gen Xers want to address the problem directly and look how to solve the issue. Many believe that problems need to be embraced and learned from. Many millennials and Gen Zers do not know how to deal with conflict and need coaching. Some grow very frustrated with no business plan in place and expect a structured process for arising problems. The question is how we join everyone together in the most difficult times.
Bridging the Generation Gap
Solving Conflict Before It Arises
The potential for conflict is enormous so leaders must facilitate honor and open dialogue with their teams and associates so that team norms can be established and adhered to. In addition, a savvy team leader will engage the group in establishing team norms on frequency of communication, clarity of roles, decision making, and conflict management.
1. Demonstrate Mutual Respect
An essential first step in bridging the generation gap is creating a workplace where everyone feels appreciated. Each generation wants to feel welcomed and know their contributions are valued. Many millennials and Gen Zers want their voices to be heard. To fulfill each generation’s wants and create mutual respect, we recommend creating a program where younger generations can shadow and give feedback to senior executives. At this stage, each party will feel appreciated because traditionalists and baby boomers are passing on valuable knowledge and younger generations will feel their opinions matter to the executives.
2. Open Lines of Communication
Creating open communication for all employees is essential for bridging the generation gap. Everyone should feel free to voice their point of view as well as concerns, especially before a major project. One way to solve problems before they arise is through hosting a pre-planning meeting and inviting representatives from each generation to voice any points of view or concerns. This will help address any potential problems during the project and management can work to fix these issues before the staff experiences any roadblocks.
3. Invest in Training
Training employees on the generational gaps will help associates understand the differences. It is crucial to practice patience with co-workers who are not the same generation as you because the workplace needs diversity of thought and experience. Most businesses target market their goods and services to a wide clientele- older or younger. Companies who focus on capitalizing on strengths for each generation and dividing tasks based on which generation show great success through diversity of perspectives. For example, millennials and Gen Z are typically very tech savvy and enjoy working with advanced function in Excel and PowerPoint whereas senior staff enjoy expressing ideas in front of a team and writing on paper before heading to the computer.
4. Engage Mentors
Mentorship programs are becoming widely popular around the globe for businesses with a multi-generational workforce. For example, PwC has created its own program, pairing less experienced staff with senior employees. The less experienced and younger staff are eager to give input on large projects and learn through experience while the senior staff hears creative insights from future leaders.
5. Adapt Your Leadership Style
Leaders will need to step up to the challenge of managing the most diverse workforce in history. It will be essential to understand the generational differences and values of individuals to adapt your leadership to the individuals. An example is:
When engaging a millennial or Gen Zer- increase the amount of coaching and real time feedback. Try to adjust your response time and reply quicker via technology platforms when communicating with younger generations.
When engaging a senior staff (traditionalist or baby boomer), take more time to build a relationship. Try to place an emphasis on face to face communication as well as demonstrating a strong work ethic.
6. Establish Team Norms
Leaders need to be deliberate in having the team members discuss their mutual expectations.
a.) Communication: How often will we meet? Will we have one on ones?
b.) Conflict: How is conflict viewed? Healthy debate or damaging to the relationship? How will we work through it?
c.) Decision making: How will we make decisions? Consensus? Voting? Other?
For more information, visit
http://www.theexecutiveedge.net
Future Newsletters
September 2019
How to Identify High Potentials
October 2019
Building Trust on Teams
November 2019
TBD
SUMMARY
- Millennials are now the largest generation in the labor force.
- Each generation has different values and workstyles, it is importance to understand these before making any judgments.
- Bridging five generations at the workplace may be hard but when leveraged can build trust and cohesion through mutual respect, open communication, employee training, and mentoring.
REFERENCES
- 1. Butchko, Donna. "How the Generation Gap Is Getting in the Way of Your Business." DVIRC, 24 Feb. 2015, www.dvirc.org/how-the-generation-gap-is-getting-in-the-way-of-your-business/.
- 2. Carter, Drew. "Bridging The Workplace Generation Gap Through Tech, Design And Leadership." Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Dec. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2018/12/18/bridging-the-workplace-generation-gap-through-tech-design-and-leadership/#424299f339ab.
- 3. "Generational Breakdown: Info About All of the Generations." GEN HQ, 2016, genhq.com/faq-info-about-generations/.
- 4. Serafino, Jay. "New Guidelines Redefine Birth Years for Millennials, Gen-X, and 'Post-Millennials'." Mental Floss, 2 Mar. 2018, mentalfloss.com/article/533632/new-guidelines-redefine-birth-years-millennials-gen-x-and-post-millennials.
- 5. "Tips for Bridging Generational Gaps in Workplace Training." CourseArc, 6 Dec. 2016, www.coursearc.com/tips-for-bridging-generational-gaps-in-workplace-training/.
- 6. Whitman, Mary. "How to Bridge the Generation Gap in the Workplace: Deputy®." Deputy, 5 Apr. 2019, www.deputy.com/us/blog/the-generation-gap-how-to-bridge-the-gap-in-the-workplace.