How to resolve generational tension at work

Currently, with the Baby Boomer generation beginning to reach retirement age and the Millennial generation transitioning from college to work (or work to college), relationship dynamics in the workplace are in a bit of flux. While it's true that there is always an older generation retiring and always an upcoming generation entering, so many changes have occurred over the past fifty years - roughly the time since the Boomers were the entry generation - that there is more potential for conflict in terms of work ethics, social habits, and technological capability, as well as the ever dangerous politics, religion, and values. Let's break down these big three.

Work ethics - As a generation, Baby Boomers have the greatest loyalty to corporations, which from a management standpoint makes them more ideal workers and less likely to leave. They also believe that hard work and ambition leads to success and have been willing to put in the hours to achieve that. In direct contrast, Generation Xers are far more cynical about corporations and authority and are much more likely to invest time in things they see as directly benefiting themselves. Millennials, raised in a rapidly changing environment with an emphasis on praise, have shorter attention spans and will leave a job that they do not find rewarding or doesn't give them enough positive feedback or rewards - or at least that is how older generations criticize them, as less loyal and more demanding. Gen Xers see Boomers as workaholics and company men who got better breaks in the college and employment markets and don't want to retire and vacate the best positions to younger employees. Boomers tend to see Generation Xers as unmotivated and lazy, wanting promotions but unwilling to sacrifice personal or family life to get them.

Social habits - Of the three generations, the Boomers are least comfortable with change. Generations X and Y were raised within a rapidly diversifying society and don't mind working with people of differing races, ethnicities, religions, or sexual identifications. Younger workers are also more familiar with a rapidly changing employment landscape and are more likely to be open to alternative work arrangements, whether that be part-time work, shared time, online commuting, or consulting. Baby Boomers often prefer face-to-face interaction and training opportunities, while Gen Xers and Millennials are comfortable with online training options, email, and texting. Older workers sometimes find an over-reliance on gadgetry to be annoying and may wish to limit it within the office setting.

Technological capability - The younger the worker, the more likely that they've been exposed to rapidly changing technology and are comfortable both with what exists now and what may exist in the future. While plenty of flexible and tech savvy older people exist, Generations X and Y are better with computers and technology, and they more seamlessly apply old tech skills to new tech applications.

Obviously, the best combination of people for any organization is one that contains many complementary strengths and skill sets and people who can easily get along with each other. A multi-generational group can be a great asset for any organization. Unfortunately, since the economy collapsed in 2009 and work became both scarce and not as well paid, people of all generations have been duking it out for what is there - and blaming each other for what isn't.

Anyone in charge of managing a combination of Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials should remember that people are individuals before they are members of their generations. Not all Millennials are plugged in 24 hours a day, and not all Boomers are putting in the last days until they can get their 30-year company pins. Patterns are a useful jumping off point, but they are not everything.

If your company workplace is experiencing generational tension, try to arrange some opportunities for communication. This may be outings or social events, it could be a part of regularly scheduled meetings too. Sometimes getting to know each other outside of work expectations is the best way to break down boundaries and get people to know and empathize with each other. This could be accomplished as simply as forming a baseball team or a bowling league or by creating a company vegetable or herb garden.

Remember, the more your employees see and like each other as people, the less likely they will be to mentally assign each other to generational groups and stereotype. This holds true for any other type of group tension as well which is why fostering both communication and a sense of community is critical for building a cooperative workforce in your company or organization.

Millenials and Entrepreneurship

Here is Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, being interviewed about Millennials, opportunities for start ups, and the sudden burgeoning of entrepreneurship among young people.  This blog has covered before the situation young people are in coping with the present bad economy. Ohanian point, that the lack of economic opportunities means that there's no opportunity cost for entrepreneurship, and that this is the silver lining in our economic cloud is an interesting one. He also points out that the barriers for entry into business have never been lower because of increased access to consumers and open source software.

Michigan Future, Inc. put out a report several years ago with the purpose of attracting knowledge workers to Detroit and thereby encouraging the revitalization of downtown Detroit. Their "knowledge workers" are Ohanian's audience as well - young, very bright, creative, willing to work hard and take risks. In the past they've gone where the jobs are and taken their energy and drive with them, reducing the fortunes of smaller cities already on a downward spiral and enriching larger cities with, arguably, enough knowledge capital. Now, however, with good jobs hard to find nationally, they have incentive to stay where they are and build their own opportunities.

The less fortunate part of this is that knowledge workers - people who can create with "a laptop and an internet connection" are only a small subset of the general population. Most would be small business entrepreneurs still need some capital to get started. Even if you have the knowledge to build a parts washer to spotlessly clean engine liners, you can't do it without investment capital. While some small businesses can be run from home, manufacturing plants, auto garages, medical care centers, and organic farms, to name but a few, cannot, and those are the businesses who will hire workers who are not knowledge workers but still need employment. The economy won't get better until there are jobs available to the average worker, not just the specialty one.

It is, however, a blessing for very bright people who don't want to move away from their communities to find their livelihoods. And, eventually, many knowledge workers do generate jobs from their risk taking. Reddit only has 28 employees, but Ohanian has other projects that fund average people looking for a break.  It's not an overall solution to the nation's economic problems, but for those people he's helped get exposure and funds it's been life changing. We need to see more of this virtuous cycle of economic activity.

The American Dream, Revisited

Unemployment is one of those dreadful words that has peppered our news religiously for the last decade.  It has ebbed and flowed with each year that passes.  To the average American, unemployment simply refers to whether one has a job; but to a Generation Y American the underlying meaning is much more complex.  

Generation Y, generally referring to those born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s, is the most educated group to ever face mass unemployment.  Millennials, as they are also referred to, were raised in a world that taught them to attend college after high school, graduate, and get a well-paying job in a company that provides benefits and a 401K.  The Great Recession, which began in 2007 and ended in 2009 severely hindered this reality.  

Laziness is a common misconception associated with Generation Y.  Graduates are scattered among society making coffee at the local Starbucks, checking out guests at Meijer, and cleaning houses weekly.  “Get a real job,” is tossed around lightly by older generations.  The sad truth is that 27-year old Amy does not want to be brewing your Pumpkin Spice Latte, but the cost of paying off her college education leaves her no choice.  Amy has to accept any job she is offered, even a minimum wage job with little to no room to be fastidious.  53.6 percent of college graduates 25 and under are either unemployed or underemployed, according to the Associated Press.  

Millennials unable to find jobs in their desired fields are turning to jobs that are severely beneath their skill sets.  Many 20-somethings graduated from college, only to find the pool of competing applicants had more than tripled while they were in school.  The dream of each generation doing better than the last seems as far away as that ideal job.  Born from Baby Boomer parents, the expectation of financial success still seems reasonable for Generation Y, but the economy simply cannot supply the jobs.  Since the recession began in December 2007, average incomes for 25 to 34- year-olds have fallen 8 percent.   

A report released in August 2013 by PayScale and Millennial Branding, claimed that Generation Y is specifically underemployed and overqualified for the jobs they are working.  During the Great Recession many Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers lost their higher-paying jobs and instead settled for lower-paying, entry-level positions that would have normally gone to Millennials.  Generation Y seems to have been left out of the equation, and pushed into un- or underemployment.  College grad Ys are routinely cleaning Boomers' designer homes, if they can find the work.

The outlook for Generation Y is definitely not as bad as it could be, but it is not the ‘American dream’ that has been molded by older generations.  This dream needs to shift into the reality of what the economy can offer this group of young people.  Different expectations need to be laid out and different aspirations set.  It may not be as bountiful as past generations, but it will not lack in creativity, innovation, and growth.