By Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster

Most studies of different generations and how they behave at work focus on each generation’s values based on the cultural context of their upbringing.  We know that Gen Y employees are considered tech savvy, accustomed to positive reinforcement, and committed to work/life balance.  Gen X workers are presumably more independent, self-sufficient, and resourceful. Boomers equate work and position with self-worth, so they’re viewed as achievement-oriented, dedicated and career-focused. Finally, the over-65 Silent Generation is known to be hardworking, loyal, and technologically challenged.

While cultural context is extremely valuable, we think it’s important to approach the multi-generational workforce from a slightly different perspective.  We want to consider how one’s behavior at work is driven by more than cultural context and upbringing. In our view, each generation is also at a specific stage of psychological development.

This means that in addition to the economic, political and cultural influences of their upbringing, each generation is operating within a specific stage of their adult life.  And that psychological stage informs the employee’s needs, capabilities and limitations.  

Why is this important? Because, while you can see how a Boomer is frustrated with a Gen Y’s idealistic views of what technology can do, it may not be as clear that this Gen Y employee has the same idealism that her Boomer colleague once possessed when he or she was the same age.  Not true, you say? Think again. Research by Dr. Jean Twenge, professor of Psychology at San Diego State University proved that current claims that Gen Y adults are more idealistic than their Gen X or Boomer predecessors were at the same stage in life is false. 

This is because we all move through and experience the same stages of psychological development as adults.  Consider this example:

While leading a staff development retreat for a hospice organization, it became obvious that several Gen Y employees were feeling misunderstood and disrespected by their Gen X CFO.  These junior employees sat together in a group, with a look of fear on their faces, arms and legs crossed. The Boomers in the room could not understand what was happening. They did not take the CFO’s moody and dismissive behavior personally.  The Boomers (who included the CEO and VP of Patient Services) respected the CFO’s ability to repeatedly deliver excellent results.

From a developmental perspective, each group of employees at this retreat displayed age-appropriate behavior. The Gen Y’s were exhibiting responses typical of their stage in life: they were naturally self-conscious, peer-oriented, and unsure of themselves.  The Boomers were also reacting In a manner consistent with their stage in life: confident in their experience, able to take other people with a grain of salt, and appreciative of a job well done. Finally, the Gen X CFO, who’d been targeted as the problem, was simply doing what came naturally at her stage in life: Laying down the law, setting her standards, and expecting everyone around her to comply.

And therein lies the challenge:  A multi-generational workforce, where each player is operating from a specific stage in his or her adult development.

Awareness of these internal differences at each phase of adult life is the first step to managing all four generations (Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers and The Silent Generation) effectively.  There is no one-size-fits-all management strategy when dealing with such an age-diverse workforce.  Each generation needs to be managed based on their psychological needs and capabilities.  This can make the job of a manager quite complicated.

So here’s a sampling of what each developmental stage looks like:

Generation Y              Ages: late teens to late twenties

How they define themselves: “I am my relationships.”
Greatest focus: Peer relationships – being accepted and affiliated with friends and co-workers of a similar age.

New to the workforce, these individuals are idealistic and energetic. Although they may seem confident and entitled on the outside, inside they are unsure of themselves and very fearful of committing to the wrong career path.

Management needs: To try-out different jobs, and receive help with prioritizing.

Generation X            Ages: Early thirties to mid forties

How they define themselves: “I am my internal government.”

Greatest focus: Establishing a professional identity. Living by personal rules regarding career, family, community.

Having identified their chosen field or profession, they seek to make a mark and achieve results in the areas that matter to them.

Management needs: To be supported in achieving goals, obtaining credentials, and attaining work/life balance.

Baby Boomers                    Ages: Late forties to early sixties

How they define themselves:  “I am my experiences.” 

Greatest focus: Feeling a sense of mastery (and reward) in chosen field while incorporating a better quality of life.

Aware of the fact that they’re on the tail end of a career track, these individuals want to be recognized and rewarded for their hard-earned expertise.

Management needs: To be encouraged to showcase and share expertise; to continue learning new skills.

Silent Generation                   Ages: Mid-sixties to retirement

How they define themselves: “I am part of a larger whole.”

Greatest focus: Desire to establish legacy at work; interest in planning for retirement years.

Phasing out of formal work roles, these individuals focus on quality of life and doing the things they’ve always wanted to do.

Management needs: Allow flex-time and reduced schedule. Encourage documentation of institutional memory.

From this sampling of the generational orientations, we can point to some specific ways that management can help each generation work well with the others.

• If Boomers want to be appreciated for their expertise, is there a way that they can mentor Gen X and Gen Y employees – helping them figure out their career paths and establish their professional identities? 
• If Gen X’ers need to establish their credentials, can they use the idealism of Gen Y employees to accomplish their goals while being sensitive to this younger generation’s insecurity and need for reassurance? 
• If Gen Y employees have high ideals and technological savvy, can they appreciate the fact that their veteran colleagues need to be respected for their experience in order to follow their lead? 
• And what about the Silent Generation? Can their historical perspective and wealth of knowledge be documented so that it becomes part of the institutional memory of any organization?

The challenge of blending generations at work is not new. Our current workforce has one important difference: The youngest generation has the greatest facility with technology, and the older generations depend on that acuity for their organization’s growth. This dependence on the youngest generation to bring each company into the future has changed the balance of power in a way that is disconcerting for Gen X, Boomer and Silent Generation employees who’ve earned their experience the hard way.

With a greater understanding of each generation’s capabilities, needs and internal workings, you can lead the way in creating a workforce where the four generations grow more tolerant of each other’s differences while capitalizing on each other’s strengths.

About the Authors:  Kathi Elster and Katherine Crowley are authors of the books Working With You is Killing Me, and Working For You Isn’t Working For Me. Used with permission. Visit their website: http://www.ksquaredenterprises.com/

Recommended Training Resource:  While focused primarily on cultural influences, Please Respect My Generation! is a great program for sparking discussion on how people of varying ages can work best together.

The conventional wisdom about generational differences in the workplace is mostly wrong, according to a new book by Jennifer J. Deal, a research scientist with the Center for Creative Leadership.

The shorthand used to describe the four generations that now make up our nation’s workforce goes something like this:

    • The Silent Generation (born before 1946) values hard work
    • Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) value loyalty
    • Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1980) value work-life balance
    • Generation Y (the generation just entering the workforce, also known as Millennials) values innovation
       and change.

Or, in terms of negative stereotypes, the Silents are fossilized, the Boomers are narcissistic, the Gen Xers are slackers, and the Gen Yers/Millennials are even more narcissistic than the Boomers.

Not so, says Deal. She argues that the generations now of working age value essentially the same things. Her findings, based on seven years of research in which she surveyed more than 3,000 corporate leaders, are presented in her new book, Retiring the Generation Gap: How Employees Young & Old Can Find Common Ground (Jossey-Bass).

“Our research shows that when you hold the stereotypes up to the light, they don’t cast much of a shadow,” says Deal. “Everyone wants to be able to trust their supervisors, no one really likes change, we all like feedback, and the number of hours you put in at work depends more on your level in the organization than on your age.”

Clearly, people of different ages see the world in different ways. But Deal says that’s not the primary reason for generational conflict. The conflict has less to do with age or generational differences than it does with clout – who has it and who wants it. “The so-called generation gap is, in large part, the result of miscommunication and misunderstanding, fueled by common insecurities and the desire for clout,” says Deal.

Summary of Deal’s Findings

• All generations have similar values. For example, family tops the list for all of the generations. The most striking result of the research, Deal says, is how similar the generations are in the values that matter most.
• Everyone wants respect. Everyone wants respect, but the generations don’t define it in the same way. In the study, older individuals talked about respect in terms of “giving my opinions the weight I believe they deserve,” while younger respondents characterized respect as “listen to me, pay attention to what I have to say.”
• Leaders must be trustworthy. Different generations do not have notably different expectations of their leaders. Above all else, people of all generations want leaders they can trust.
• Nobody likes change. The stereotype is that older people resist change while younger people embrace it. These assumptions don’t stand up under the research, which found that people from all generations are uncomfortable with change. Resistance to change has nothing to do with age; it has to do with how much you stand to gain or lose as a result of the change.
• Loyalty depends on context. It is said that younger generations are not as loyal to their organizations as older workers. But the research shows, for example, that the amount of time a worker puts in each day has more to do with his or her level in the organization than with age. The higher the level, the more hours worked.
• Everyone wants to learn. Learning and development were among the issues brought up most frequently by people of all generations. Everyone wants to learn and to ensure they have the training to do their job well.
• Everyone likes feedback. According to the research, everyone wants to know how they are doing and to learn how they can do better.

For additional information, visit the Center for Creative Leadership Website at www.ccl.org

Article by: The Canadian Management Centre, a highly recommended provider of business development courses and marketing seminars. Canadian Management Centre is a leader in professional development with accounting courses in Ottawa.

Need more help in this area? Please Respect My Generation lets you examine the different world-views and life experiences of the 5 generations now in the workplace, while highlighting the strengths of each group.  Viewers see how to focus on finding common ground, respecting one another and striving for cross-generational collaboration.

The survey found that the youngest employees, those under 25, are the most optimistic about company leadership and career development, but are less engaged with their organizations. The Gen Xers (25-44 years old) are the least satisfied and most pessimistic about their corporate futures. The Baby Boomers (45-54) and Veterans (over 55) are least favorable on job authority and having information necessary to do their jobs, and they’re more concerned with “big picture” issues. “Past experience and changes in the social structure and the corporate environment may well have contributed to the disparity in attitudes between the generations,” says Kulesa.

Key Findings:
The most optimistic group is the Nexters, or Millenials. These under-25-year-old employees are positive about company leadership and opportunities, even though they feel they don’t have adequate authority to service customers from their positions as front-line service providers. And although they have a natural inclination to work in teams, they’re not feeling favorable toward workplace groups. Although a common assumption would be that older workers want more stability, Nexters were the most disgruntled about the constantly shifting objectives of their companies. “This is a case of positive energy meeting the stiff realities of corporate America,” says Patrick Kulesa, ISR Global Research Director. ” These young employees are not fully engaged. Research suggests they would like to feel more empowered to serve customers.”

The most pessimistic employees are the Generation Xers, employees between 25 and 44 years old. “They’re the wet blankets in the workplace,” says Kulesa. Gen Xers are least positive about their company’s competitiveness in the market. Late Gen Xers, in particular, (35-44 years old) are least satisfied with their companies overall, and the most worried about employment security. Unlike Nexters, who are more conformist, Gen Xers are more independent and creative, notes Kulesa. He adds that research suggests that Gen Xers may also be concerned about the control that the Baby Boomers have over their corporate futures. The Gen X pessimism and need for security may well have been shaped by the changing family structures of the 70s and the 80s and the dramatic increase in divorce.

The older workers, the Baby Boomers (employees 45-54) and Veterans (55 and older) make up what Kulesa terms an “empowerment cliff.” The Baby Boomers, as well as late Gen Xers, do not believe they have sufficient job authority. The Veterans, by virtue of their greater experience and credibility, should feel empowered to challenge traditional ways more than any other generation; yet they do not. “Interestingly, the factors that drive employee engagement vary across these generational groups in a very distinct way,” Kulesa says. ” Nexters and Gen Xers are more motivated by the reward systems (current and potential), while Baby Boomers and Veterans focus more on recognition distinct from pay and benefits.”

Copyright 2007. Reprinted with permission from hr.com

SOLUTIONS:

Mixing Four Generations in the Workplace
This video shows how to find common ground between all workers so everyone can be their best.

Generations: M.E.E.T. for Respect
This valuable program explains the potential for generational conflict, and how to nip problems in the bud.

Dialogue Among Generations
Learn the art of dialogue in this video that focuses on communication across generations.

What do you get when you call a meeting of a Silent, a Boomer, an Xer and a Nexter? The potential for plenty of intergenerational learning and the risk of a gaping disconnect that can harm productivity and perhaps even nudge from the workforce older professionals of rare talent and experience.

“For the first time in American history, we have four generations in the workplace,” says Chuck Underwood, a Cincinnati management consultant who specializes in multigenerational dynamics. For companies, this means recruiting and retaining workers ranging from those who are old enough to have fought in World War II, to those who are young enough to ask, “What was the Berlin Wall?”

In the 2000s, the youngest and oldest generations are burgeoning in the workplace. The Nexters, born since 1980, are beginning to graduate from high school and college and launch careers. Meanwhile, late Baby Boomers and members of the so-called Silent Generation are remaining in the workforce – by choice or economic necessity – in greater numbers. American workers age 55 and older stood at 22.7 million in May 2004, up from 20.7 million in 2002, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What are the chief challenges for organizations with four-generation workforces? To understand something about each generation; to educate managers and line workers about the meaning of these cultural differences; and to apply generational savvy to staffing strategies that will best serve customers and the bottom line.

Who’s Who: Each Generation Has a Distinct Profile.
Most discussion of the multigenerational workplace centers on the cultures in which four American generations came of age. Underwood’s characterizations of the generations are pithier than most:

Silent Generations (or Traditionalists or Matures). Born 1927 – 1945. They began their careers after World War II, when the premise was that the corporation rewards loyalty with loyalty back to you. Came of age when there were flush times for white men, scarce opportunities for others.

Baby Boomers. Born 1946 – 1964. They’re much less formal. Because there are so many, Boomers have faced fierce, lifelong competition. Entrepreneurial, yearn to distinguish themselves as individuals.

Generation X. Born 1965 – 1981. They’re entrepreneurial, prefer to work independently, and they’re looking for employers to help improve their skill sets. Don’t always play well with others.

Generation Y (or Millennials or Nexters or Echo Boomers). Born 1982-present. The most adult supervised generation has grown up trusting older people. Millennials love team play and are optimistic about their generation. We’ve just finished raising the oldest of them, but can only guess what kind of workers they’ll be.

Many Companies Botch Intergenerational Relations. Employers often make ham-handed efforts to leverage relationships between workers of different generations, according to Robert Thomas, executive director of the Accenture Institute for High Performance Business and co-author with Warren Bennis of Geeks & Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders.
“Most organizations say, ‘You’re old, be a mentor.’ And then, ‘You’re young, so you don’t know anything and you need a mentor,’ ” says Thomas. “Organizations need to carefully screen who they want to be mentors and proteges, train them, and instill that it’s a two-way street as a learning experience, Thomas adds.

And much of the literature of the multigenerational workplace can make workers of any generation feel pigeonholed. For example, the description of a conference session breezily stratifies millions of working people: “Through this workshop, you will develop a better understanding of the motivations and preferences of each generation . . .”

Training that Explains Differences Helps Bridge Generation Gaps.
“People are sensitive to being stereotyped,” says Glenda Harris, a counselor with Duke University’s employee assistance program in Durham, North Carolina. Who, after all, wants to be labeled Silent, Baby, X or Y? “We’ve addressed this by communicating how important it is to understand we’re all individuals.” “When we’ve presented this to groups, invariably there are a few people who are cautious,” adds Harris. But some professionals seem able to communicate information about the four generations without alienating all of them.

Some managers, sensing friction within a work group of wide-ranging ages, take it upon themselves to address multigenerational issues. Deborah Mohammed, regional call center manager at Mercy Health Partners in Cincinnati, took a seminar and brought the information back to her staff of 45 workers ages 17 to 72. “I helped them educate themselves about all generational groups and where they fit in,” says Mohammed. “I also made it clear that we all have behaviors that span all age groups.”
The training, conducted in 2003, was a success, Mohammed says. “The staff felt enlightened, and they were grateful to better understand each other.” Since the training, “the teaming has been much more fluid.” When older workers want technical advice, for example, they feel more comfortable now turning to tech-savvy Millennials on the team; the Millennials, in turn, feel appreciated.

Multigenerational Paradigms Must Hew to the Bottom Line.
Ultimately, employers won’t pay much attention to the multigenerational lens unless the effort can help align workforce management practices with business goals. In part to test this approach, Veritude is teaming up on a pilot project with RetiredBrains.com, an employment service for retirees or people about to retire. A goal of the project is to develop a new pool of candidates to staff Fidelity Investments call centers that serve retirement account customers.
“When you place a young person in a call center, their goal is to get out of the call center,” says Dan Chiacchia, manager of staffing and recruitment services at the Veritude site in Marlborough, Massachusetts. By offering older workers employment on their own terms – including part-time or flexible hours – Veritude hopes to place workers directly in the job that they really want.

In addition, because older workers often have faced retirement themselves, they’re likely to better understand the concerns of Fidelity’s retirement account holders. Fidelity wants to find out whether those improved customer relationships will translate to better customer retention.

“A generational strategy can help maximize employee productivity by maximizing fulfillment,” says management consultant Underwood. With the oldest and youngest working generations swelling by the millions, multigenerational staffing and training hold the promise of giving HR departments another way to contribute to the bottom line.

John Rossheim is a journalist in Providence, Rhode Island who writes for Workforce Insights on www.veritude.com. He writes
about workplace issues, employment trends and changing relationships between employers and workers.
Copyright 2007. Reprinted with permission from hr.com

SOLUTIONS:

Mixing Four Generations in the Workplace
This video shows how to find common ground between all workers so everyone can be their best.

Generations: M.E.E.T. for Respect
This valuable program explains the potential for generational conflict, and how to nip problems in the bud.

Dialogue Among Generations
Learn the art of dialogue in this video that focuses on communication across generations.