By Rose Miller
Many managers are finding it difficult to manage today’s multigenerational workforce. It is becoming clear that younger employees express themselves differently from older employees. As a person in the Boomer category, I struggle too. I’ve had to learn to adapt management strategies to fit the various generations, who work, think, train, and communicate differently.
The workplace is more multigenerational than ever before. It’s not unusual to find employees over 60 working alongside 20-year-olds, and it’s possible to find recent college graduates supervising employees old enough to be their parents.
The primary generations in workplaces today are Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964), Generation Xers (born between 1965-1980), and Millennials (born between 1981-2000), with members of Generation Z (born from 1997-on) quickly filling a larger share of job vacancies.
The competitiveness of Boomers and the ego-centric approach of Gen Xers are causing friction with the younger generations. Layer on a company’s need to preserve institutional knowledge, and it’s critical that older managers begin to transfer knowledge to the younger generations.
Although we should be mindful to avoid stereotypes or try to paint with too broad a brush, there are certain tendencies that a group will commonly identify with. As a group, each generation has different values, attitudes, expectations, needs and motivators. Managers are dealing with employees with shifting views towards job satisfaction, which is tethered to employee retention.
Boomers tend to be characteristically hard-working, loyal to company and career, respectful of hierarchy, and enjoy face-to- face meetings. They value security, stability, and structure. Problem: They have trouble letting go of power.
Generation X are characteristically independent, fast learners who are impulsive yet practical, flexible, creative, self-reliant, and cynical. They value work/life balance, a casual and friendly workplace, flexibility and freedom, feedback, diversity, and independence. Problem: They don’t like being told what to do.
Millennials are generationally known as digital natives, who are confident, enjoy variety, crave instant gratification, and are often team-oriented multi-taskers. They value separation of work and life, structured and supportive workplaces, flexibility, challenging and meaningful work, diversity, and constant communication. Problem: They challenge work structures that don’t align with their values.
Gen Z’s are characterized as digital or technical natives with higher global awareness who use everything with a device, enjoy highly engaged managers, crave continuous feedback, and prefer text for instant communication. They value separation of work and life, workplace flexibility, environmental concerns challenging and meaningful work, diversity, and constant communication. Problem: They are impatient when things don’t move quickly enough.
The best practice is to learn to understand the different generational characteristics, motivators, and values and overcome communication barriers. A manager recently told me he was having a particular problem with communication. He was trying to talk to an employee who was failing in the performance of tasks outlined in the job description. The Millennial employee responded with, “You are not talking to me in a way that I can process.” Fortunately, the Boomer manager didn’t act on his first impulse, which was to say, “Process this- you’re fired.”
Managers are struggling the most with managing Millennials and Gen Z. Some insights are:
• Millennials need a mentoring system. Pairing Millennials with older generations can strengthen cohesiveness and collaboration. They need to know their career paths and how to advance. Impose structure and stability, cultivate teams, and help them develop problem-solving skills. Teach effective communication skills using conventions other than just text.
• Provide Gen Z with interesting experiences that allow for professional growth. Provide plenty of online learning. Provide clear feedback often, demonstrating how work aligns with their personal values.
• With both Millennials and Gen Z, back up work-life balance policies with reality. A Millennial director just told me a story of when she asked her boss to add staff. The senior manager told her that the expectation is to work 50–60-hour weeks. The director had to remind the senior manager that one of the reasons she took the job was the company’s commitment to work-life balance.
The workforce will continue to be multigenerational as older workers postpone retirement and more Generation Zers enter the workplace. It is unwise to ignore generational differences. Good management of generations can preserve critical institutional knowledge by ensuring knowledge is transferred to younger generations. To bridge generational gaps, managers need to learn how they all work, think, train, and communicate. Here’s your tip sheet: Generally speaking, Baby Boomers prefer face-to-face meetings; Gen Xers dislike meetings and prefer email; and Millennials and Generation Zers like texting and some face time with the boss.
Clarity is critical. Managers can’t assume younger workers understand how to navigate the corporate world. They may lack basic knowledge about work hours, work locations, dress code, technology usage, and ways to communicate.
No single management style is perfect for any generation because there are also individual personality types. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, some best practices can help managers adapt and learn strategies that leverage everyone’s strengths.