Getting 3 generations to work well together
About 100 employers from across Long Island set up stands inside the Cradle of Aviation in Uniondale for a job fair in June this past year. A state report says unemployment has inched down since last year. (June 8, 2011) Credit: Steve Pfost
There's a loud chorus of gripes out there from business owners and chief executives. Many are complaining about the difficulties of dealing with three very different generations -- boomers, Gen Xs and Gen Ys -- at work.
Yet, it's just those differences that can be blended together for greater productivity and higher sales, experts say. Here are some things to consider that may make you thankful for your diverse generational workforce.
The Society for Human Resource Management reports that 70 percent of today's business owners are baby boomers, usually between their mid-40s and 65 years old. They have a boomer perspective on how things should be run and how their employees should work. That includes hard work (often being willing to work overtime and to take work home), being goal-oriented and being patient with the hierarchical structure of business. Boomers expect their employees to be loyal, to have respect for authority and to be willing to wait for recognition and promotion.
Yet, the fastest-growing group of employees is people between 18 and 30 (often called Generation Y), and they bring far different skills, attitudes and expectations into the workforce. They question, they like to work as part of a team and they expect their input and their broad technological skills to be respected and rewarded despite their youth and lack of experience. Many distrust a large corporation, and they expect to job-hop throughout their careers, always looking for work-life balance.
Then there is Generation X. It is much smaller in numbers than the boomers, and its members seem to have one foot in boomer traditions and another in Gen Y expectations. These people were born between 1965 and 1980. Many are now in middle-management jobs answering to a boomer and dealing with Gen Y employees. They are hardworking, individualistic, open to learning about technology but not as enthusiastic about its benefits as the generation after them. They can be pessimistic and cynical about their future, because many saw their parents downsized as they reached their 50s and 60s. And they are looking for work-life balance.
Savvy business owners and chief executives take advantage of the skills, attitudes and unique characteristics of each group.
For example, you can upgrade your internal IT and social media marketing with the help of your Gen Y employees. They like responsibility, and they ask questions. So put them in charge of a committee that finds new ways to make technological efficiencies at your business. Then ask them to help implement the results.
Your Gen X employees, often your middle managers or skilled employees, have an entrepreneurial spirit. Make them project managers, and put them in positions where they can help improve processes, find new markets for your products or services and implement efficiencies in general.
Your boomers are often in senior positions. They are the keepers of your intellectual property and the historians who remember how things used to be and why some things worked well and others didn't. Reward them by giving them a voice in new processes, marketing and product innovations, and let them take on an advisory role working with the two younger groups.
Lastly, create career paths for all of your three generations so that they see how they have a future with your firm.
