As chief operating officer at Brody Professional Development, a training and consulting firm in Jenkintown, PA, Pamela Holland has heard just about everything. So she wasn't surprised last year when a client called asking for guidance on whether to allow a frenzied twenty-something to take that day off to care for her sick sister's kids.
Nor, later, was she surprised by the polarized opinions in her own office about how the people there felt the situation should have been handled.
What did surprise Holland, however, was how cleanly opinions split between age groups. Those over forty, such as Holland, agreed they never would have taken a personal day for a reason like that. The 30-somethings in the crowd, including senior facilitator Amy Glass, and some of the younger employees said they would have taken the day but lied about why.
"Every generation had a unique take on the situation," remembers Glass. "At that moment, it became clear that every age group sees work a little differently."
Glass's epiphany was nothing new. Employees that comprise the workforce of today range in age from under 21 to over 65, bringing a variety of perspectives together. Overall, this diversity makes the workplace richer and more accessible to customers of every age. In many cases, however, bridging these generational differences can be quite a challenge.
Generations 101
The workplace certainly isn't what it used to be. In years past, employees started young, worked their butts off, and gradually moved their way up the corporate ladder. Under this paradigm, young folks held entry level jobs and old folks did the managing. Rarely, if ever, did workers cross these generational lines.
Gradually, however, as corporate mergers and downsizing redistributed workforces, hierarchies changed. Older folks, laid off from previous jobs, began seeking entry level positions after switching careers. Younger folks, considerably cheaper than their elders, rose to the top. The result: a generational melting pot.
Today, according to a recent study from the Society for Human Resource Management, workers break down into four age groups: Traditionalists, or those born before 1945; Baby Boomers, who were born between 1945 and 1964; Generation Xers, who were born between 1965 and 1980; and Millenials (or Nexters), who have birthdates after that.
Steve Miranda, the organization's chief human resources, strategic planning and diversity officer, says a workforce with so many various perspectives is brilliant in its multi-faceted nature but often struggles because of disconnects and miscommunications that arise from the differences among age groups.
"It's both a curse and a blessing," says Miranda, who works at SHRM headquarters in Alexandria, VA. "In order for it to function properly, an employer must identify differences between generations and make sure everyone understands how to overcome them."
The discrepancies
Perhaps the most obvious differences between generations pertain to workplace communication. Cam Marston, president of Marston Communications, a consulting firm in Charlotte, NC, notes that while older employees prefer face-to-face contact, younger generations embrace less personal options such as e-mail, text messages, and instant messenger.
"Why send an e-mail when you can just walk around the corner?" he says. "Technology has prompted a lot of older people to ask themselves questions like these when they interact with young people at work."
Divergent communication styles are only part of the problem. Chuck Underwood, president of The Generational Imperative, a consulting firm in Cincinnati, says that as technology and telecommuting have facilitated a more mobile workforce, different generations may be perceived to have different work ethics.
Traditionalists and Baby Boomers, for instance, are accustomed to a workday that revolves around the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gen Xers and Millenials, on the other hand, might take three or four hours of personal time in the middle of the day, but log on from home after dinner and put in the hours they missed.
"People from older generations are used to thinking that success is determined by how visible you are and how much time you spend working there in the office," says Underwood. "Today, younger generations are proving that success can be defined in different ways."
Finally, of course, generations relate differently to employers as a whole.
Kathy Sheehan, senior vice president at GfK Roper Consulting, a market research firm in New York, says that because most Baby Boomers and Traditionalists watched their parents spend entire careers with the same firms, they tend to be loyal to employers.
Gen Xers and Millenials, on the other hand, are more skeptical. Sheehan says that since younger employees bore the brunt of downsizing and layoffs that forced their folks to find new jobs, these employees view employment as much more of a temporary phenomenon, a simple means to an end.
"In many ways, each generation's attitude is a reaction to what they saw from the generations before them," says Sheehan. "Baby Boomers are likely to say a job is a career, while Gen Xers will tell you a job is just a job."
Other issues
There are subtle differences between generations, too--little things that fly under the radar of consultants but seem pretty major in offices across the country.
First on this list is attire.
While it was customary in years past to wear suits and skirts to work, the workplace in recent years has become far more casual.
In many industries, this change has sparked controversy. While older people feel that appropriate workplace attire is formal, young people are comfortable wearing khakis, flip-flops, and T-shirts. Kacy Douglas, marketing manager at Positive Networks, a technology company in Overland Park, KS, said this casual attire seems unprofessional.
"Anything you would wear on a weekend probably wouldn't be appropriate in the workplace," says Douglas, who is in her 30s. "It doesn't matter how old you are."
Language is another sticking point.
While older employees cut their corporate teeth in environments that embraced formalities, Gen Xers and Millenials applaud equality. Sarah Baker Andrus, director of academic programs at Vector Marketing in Olean, NY, says this difference leads to interactions that some older folks may interpret as disrespectful.
Case in point: Greetings. Older generations are more accustomed to referring to managers with traditional prefixes, while younger generations prefer first names only. What's more, younger generations tend to use slang more freely, replacing simple phrases like "good day" and "sincerely," with "yo" and "peace."
"We find that our current generations are used to an immediacy of communication and express themselves without a lot of filters," says Andrus. "In a creative environment, this is an advantage, but it always can be perceived the wrong way."
Overcoming differences
None of these differences is insurmountable. The first step to overcoming generational differences at work is to raise awareness about the things that make each age group unique. Many companies incorporate age sensitivity into more comprehensive diversity training efforts.
Dena Wilson, talent manager at AFLAC, a life insurance company in Columbus, GA, said her organization offers workshops about generational differences as part of its annual Diversity Day program, which also includes lectures and training about overcoming racism, sexism, and religious intolerance.
"Just as employees may struggle with accepting differences in race or religion, they can have trouble understanding differences that stem from age," she said. "We do this to broaden the perspective."
Another way to overcome the gap between generations is to embrace it. Miranda says that at companies such as General Motors, Best Buy, and Philip Morris this process revolves around reverse mentoring, a program through which younger employees coach older ones on technological innovations.
However a company seeks to transcend generational differences, open-mindedness is a key. Robin Bond, managing partner of Transition Strategies, an employment law firm in Wayne, PA, says if employees aren't sure how to treat colleagues of any age, they should ask the colleagues how they wish to be treated and act accordingly.
"It's important to put yourself in the other guy's shoes," she says. "When you're sensitive to whom you are dealing with, you'll be amazed how much farther you'll get."
