Were you shaped by 9/11, the .com boom, or the Civil Rights movement?

What do you know about people younger than you? How about those who are older than you?

Working effectively across generations has never been more important than it is today. Trends in people working later into their life are keeping older generations in the workplace longer than before, just as we’ve seen an influx of Gen Z employees entering the workforce – bringing us to the historic experience of having five generations working together.

2020 data identified Millenials make up 35% of the workforce, with Gen X at 33% and Baby Boomers at 25%, and Gen Z at 5% and growing, and 2% from the Silent Generation/Traditionalists. Research demonstrates there are differences between generational attitudes and mindsets – and it’s easy to focus on these differences in a way to identify problems and challenges. After all, ‘if they knew what we had to go through just to get to where we are today…”

In my first career in higher education, I loved reading the annual Beloit College Mindset List, providing 40 bits of history that impact the way the incoming first-year students saw and experienced the world. I found it particularly helpful when working with parents of those college students, and helping them understand and remember the differences between their experiences and those of their college-age children. Recently I read the Class of 2027 – Born in 2005 list – which just so happens to be the list for those who were born the year I graduated college! Talk about a different world!

When considering generational differences, data (like from this infographic by PurdueGlobal) can help inform our understanding of common things we may experience, but it’s important to note these are generalizations and not stereotypes. Generalizations allow us the freedom to see trends that may come through, while honoring that each person is unique and may show up differently than what those generalizations assume. Stereotypes, on the other hand, push us away from respecting others, and into often incorrect assumptions of others, pigeon-holing them into a mold that may not fit.

Take, for instance, the fact that Gen-Z self-reports valuing purposeful work as being key to their employee satisfaction. This is not to say that other generations don’t care about purpose, and there are ways for us to find agreement and connection on our shared concern for purposeful, values-driven work. This simply means that in making decisions on where to work, Gen-Z often prioritizes purpose as a significant factor. Compare that to the data around Baby Boomers prioritizing workplaces with strong health insurance benefits. Again, this isn’t to say that younger generations don’t share this interest.

While the differences can sometimes challenge our ability to find common ground and work effectively together, they can also be looked at as strengths when we learn to find the value in what each person can bring! This approach requires compassionate leadership – a move toward seeing and honoring the humanity in each person, and treating people as individuals and not simply cookie-cutter representations of their age group.

Leveraging strengths in generational differences can look like:

• Leading team-building opportunities that encourage employees to get to know each other’s differences, and to collaborate with people across age groups
• Offering cross-generational mentoring, where the mentorship and learning are seen as two-ways, with the powerful outcomes of shared knowledge and
• strengthening respect.
• Providing flexible work opportunities to help meet the needs of employees across generations (for example, helping parents meet the needs of their children, caregivers meet the needs of their family, students reach their goals of completing advanced degrees, etc.).

While generational differences exist and are important for us to learn about, a key to success is to focus less on the broad generational differences, and more on the individual needs of employees. Learn what each person’s individual values and communication preferences are, and tailor your approaches effectively. This, too, will encourage your employees to ask questions, and get to know others who are different from them!

Getting Started

Looking for a place to start? Set aside time for your team to have a shared discussion on generational differences at an upcoming meeting. Send them a resource to read prior (this one from Culture Amp is a helpful start!), and discuss how they landed for you. What resonated? What didn’t? And how does this connect with, or challenge, your current work culture?

– Justin Brady-Joyner, JBJ Consulting (Essential 43-2022)