Today’s workplace can be interesting and sometimes difficult due to many factors. In some instances we are struggling to blend cultures and ages to make a harmonious workplace. In this article we will focus on the blending of ages. The average shop owner today is a Baby Boomer (born 1946 – 1964) and this age group represents 43% of today’s workforce. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 23% of Traditionalists (born 1925 – 1945) are still working and we have the Generation X (born 1965 – 1980) and the Millennial (born 1980-2002) also in the workforce. Talk about a generation gap! This represents a gap of more than 40 years between the oldest and youngest workers.
Since Baby Boomers currently make up the largest workforce and represent the average age of today’s shop owners, I will start with their characteristics.
- Live to Work
- Optimistic
- Idealistic
- Over-achievers
- Work long hours
- Question authority
- Competitive (likes titles and recognition)
- Wary but open to learning new skills
- Career oriented
- Value personal gratification
- Self absorbed
Baby Boomers struggle to understand the “non traditional” work styles of Generation X and Y, although they themselves oppose (d) the strict management style of the Traditionalist. They are concerned with technology replacing human interaction, such as automated telephone systems, emails and texting and social media, preferring face-to-face interaction. The balancing act of work and family is also a concern for the Boomer as sometimes they are sandwiched between caring for needs of their parents and the needs of their children.
The Traditionalists have seen a lot of change in their lifetime that the Baby Boomer, Generation X and Y might not think a great deal about. For the most part, gender and racial discrimination are no longer permitted to be an issue but drug testing is almost mandatory. Performance and contribution are the basis for compensation today instead of seniority. Here are their characteristics.
- Work First
- Loyal & dependable
- Has faith in institutions
- Want to build a legacy
- Values logic
- Values discipline
- Like to be shown respect for what they know
- Like to be shown respect for their experience
- Stable
- Detail oriented
The Traditionalists struggle with change and are cautious of untried initiatives. They are also concerned that an unexpected medical condition could conflict with their ability to keep their employment. They may have issues with diversity in the workplace as well.
Generation X has learned from observing the Boomers that being loyal and committed to an employer doesn’t mean that employer is loyal to you. Their grandfather and grandmother (if she worked outside the home) may have kept the same job his/her entire life but the Generation X’s Boomer parents most likely have not enjoyed that stability due to downsizing from mergers, technology, and other factors. This has created a generation that feels no need to be loyal to a job if something better comes along. They are more concerned with personal growth than growth within an organization. Here are their characteristics.
- Work to Live
- Skeptical and distrustful of institutions
- Prefer to build a portable career
- Independent
- Outspoken
- Adaptable
- Fearless
- Risk takers
- Highly adaptive to change
- Resourceful and self-reliant
The Gen X struggles with rigid organizational hierarchies and does not like to be micromanaged. Their non-traditional work attitude can create friction with their supervisors who perceive that they don’t care about their job, especially went it has to do with attendance and tardiness. They abhor office politics and are very concerned with balancing work and family. They work hard but work-life balance with emphasis on activities outside the workplace being more important to them than working long hours and devoting all their time to their career. They would relish a flex-schedule and although working from home would be difficult in the automotive repair business this is also a goal of most Gen X.
The Millennial or Y Generation live more for today or in the moment. They are highly creative and the best educated generation to date. Their education doesn’t necessarily show however when it comes to grammar and spelling because of their style of communication (texting, etc.). They want the big salary and benefit package but don’t always offer commitment in return. They can move an organization forward and they have global perspective. Here are their characteristics.
- Work to Live
- Want change and diversity
- Innovative
- Need immediate gratification
- Value teamwork
- Need frequent rewards
- Values recognition
- Socially responsible
- Globally concerned
- Have full command of tech tools
- Want a meaningful career
- Over-confident
- Self-absorbed
- Risk-taker
- Task oriented rather than time oriented
The Gen Y struggle with absenteeism and tardiness because they value more time to do what they want to do when they want to do it. They don’t come across as respectful to co-workers and those in authority although they do look to their leaders as role models and want to learn from them. In their communication, their functional literacy makes them seem less intelligent than they are, they often have credit problems from their spontaneous “live for the day” mindset and their risk taking can make them a health risk to themselves and others. They work hard, but want to do it on their schedule. They want challenges and opportunities for growth but also work-life balance. They need a set of rewards for each task or won’t feel like they are wanted or appreciated in the workforce. They will probably be the most entrepreneurial generation ever because they won’t accept the work world the way it is presently run.
I have found this research fascinating. Each generation has valuable skills to offer but they offer them in their own unique way. Here are some of the suggestions from the experts on how to blend these generational differences.
- Treat your employees as you do your customers. Do your best to accommodate each generation’s specific needs.
- Decrease bureaucracies by letting your team know what needs to be done, and then let them do it.
- Respect competence, initiative, creativity and work/life balance.
- Praise a job well done and offer rewards.
- When hiring, don’t just consider the candidates job skills. Consider how well they “fit” with your current employees.
- Mentoring is more important than ever. The Traditionalist and the Boomer generation can offer their job experience knowledge and productivity goals to the X and Y and the X and Y can offer the Traditionalist and the Boomer their tech tool skills.
- All want the chance to take on responsibility, network and exchange ideas — make that possible.
- To figure out how to be fair yet accommodating to all employees won’t be easy. Let a representative from each generation together help decide how to make it all work to meet their needs, the customers’ needs and your needs. You are of course the final say but if they have a hand in setting up a proposal they will be more motivated to adhere to it.
When speaking of rewards, the interesting part of this research is that the rewards aren’t necessarily a big dollar bonus. Time off, movie tickets, restaurant certificates and other such things are very welcomed and the recognition of a job well done is also appreciated.
Will this be easy? Not always. Management today is being asked or going to be asked to manage according to employees values and not always their own. Each generation comes with its own value system based on what was going on in their life during their “growing up” years. An example:
Boomer women for the most part thought they could “do it all” and “have it all” by raising a family and working. The Gen-X and the Gen-Y women don’t necessarily feel that they have to “do it all”, and “have it all” at the same time. Working with multi-generations can have its rewards, though. Let all of your staff know what each generation can bring to the table and embrace those characteristics.
I’ll end with a quote from Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS. He believes that his greatest corporate assets walk out the door each night and he wants to make sure they walk back in the next morning. His strategy is to offer schedule flexibility, a contribution-driven culture and generous amenities because it makes good business sense. “If employees are happy, they make customers happy. They make customers happy, they make me happy,” says Goodnight.
Of course keep in mind that these are generalizations and not every person fits the mold of their particular generation.
Rhonda Hiltbrand
Chief Operating Officer
NWZ WORX Multimedia
