What to do? What to do?
A mixed-generation workforce can be a real conundrum. Remember back when you were a kid helping out in the kitchen mixing up batches of cookies or playing in the backyard making mud pies with different soils and stones, grasses and leaves? In a way, these tender experiences were setting us up for life further down the road. Granted, mixing and blending different ingredients is significantly more complicated when it comes to the work world. In a MindTools article How to Thrive in a Multi-Generational Workplace: Avoiding Conflict and Creating Opportunity, the author writes “In days gone by, it was common for just two age groups to be represented in the workplace. There were long-serving, "dyed-in-the-wool" old-timers and ambitious newcomers.”For the first time in history, five generations are working from the front lines to the C-suites
There’s the traditionalist or silent generation, people born before 1945 who are now in their seventies and up. Next, are the baby boomers, those people born between 1946 and 1964, followed by Gen X’ers born between 1965 and 1976. Millennials, born between 1976 and 1995, and Gen Zs born in or after 1996, are stirring up the pot in a big way. Or so the media and social scientists would have us believe. But are incoming generations really all that different from their predecessors? Could it be that what’s new is really just the same old? The ladder that people aspired to climb in the “good old days” is now more like climbing a tree. Younger generations want to branch out into more fields of experience to gain a broader view of the work world they inhabit. They want to equip themselves with more skills, to make themselves a higher valued commodity. But they’re still climbing. Nowadays younger employees are leading olders. Olders are sharing their knowledge and experience, contacts and resources. Millennials and Gen Zs are mentoring business colleagues in the ways of digital technology and social media marketing. Multi-generation workforces are a potpourri of interests and attitudes, expectations and aspirations.What influences your mixed-generation workforce?
Historical events, family structure and stage of life define different generations. For instance, the following four descriptions appear on the University of Southern California’s Master of Science in Applied Psychology website:
The Silent Generation
Born just before or just after the upheaval of World War II, the Silent Generation in the U.S. lived in an era defined by conformity and prosperity. Their hallmark as employees was lifelong loyalty to their workplaces. Discipline, self-sacrifice, and caution are all common traits feeding into their feelings of teamwork.
Baby Boomers
As they grew, baby boomers evinced two broad, largely incompatible values sets that have come to be understood as the “hippies” versus the “yuppies.” Boomers think big but have a tendency to be self-centered. Their drive and optimism served them well in the peak of their careers but may have led to poor planning of some long-term decisions.
Gen X
The entrepreneurial and individualistic group of Gen X grew up as two-income households became more common. Their independence and individualism made a major mark on the emerging world of the Internet and information technology. They like to learn, explore, and grow, and have brought these values to work; when work clashes with those values, they tend to go their own way.
Millennials
Millennials represent a departure from individualism and return to conformity in part thanks to nurturing, highly-involved parents who maintain authority long into their lives. They feel great pressure to succeed, managing their time via meticulous scheduling. They are drawn to teams and appreciate a relaxed, respectful work environment where their contributions are recognized.
