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Does Your Company Suffer from Cross-Generational Crankiness?

Written by: Terri Benincasa

Article Overview: Boomers vs. Millennials: No it isn't a promo for Wrestlemania - it's a real and growing problem in the halls of commerce, large and small. Millennials, those children of the youngest (what I call "junior") Boomers, were given the moniker because they entered the workforce around the beginning of the millennium, and brought with them a whole new world of career demands and workplace expectations that, to put it kindly, is met unenthusiastically by the middle and senior Boomers still running the show. And if you're thinking "Who cares?" you aren't seeing the huge productivity-busting implications of a "generation battle" that saps morale, impedes the kind of seamless communication on which great customer service is built, and dissipates company loyalty. So, how do you prevent this melt-down, or undo the damage if it's already happening?

Does Your Company Suffer from Cross-Generational Crankiness?

We Boomers certainly understand the concept of a "generation gap" - we were the inspiration for the phrase's coinage. Experts say the greatest corporate headaches come from young workers who demand rewards for the smallest of accomplishments (like, say, showing up each day...), question EVERYTHING, and jump from job to job like Tarzan amidst the trees, and the disdain for them within the Baby Boomer Boss circles.
So, why are we having such difficulty as bosses now that we're on the other end of it? Primarily, because of just that: we are the rebels, the ones who demand and lead change; who are these upstarts doing the same back at us?!
They're our kids, that's who, and they learned from the best! But, are their "demands" really so outrageous, and is their work ethic really so far afield from Boomers' that the differences are irreconcilable? In my experience, it is in fact not the differences, but the similarities, that are the sticking-point. And that’s actually great news, because the best of negotiators will tell you that it is from the common-ground that peace is found.
The similarities keeping the two generation's in conflict are akin to a parent/child relationship when it is the fact of their being so alike that keeps them at odds. Both generations value immediate gratification (we Boomers are the progenitors of it), believe in questioning authority (which Boomers introduced in our youth and now for Millennials manifests in rebelling against everything from policies to corporate hierarchies), both understand the challenges of having a two-income family, and both thrive on recognition and compensation for their accomplishments, a fast-paced environment, and open lines of communication. In reality, these two generations have the capacity to work extremely well together.
And interestingly, the Millennials’ expectations are the fundamentals of a better workplace, that “healthy organizational culture” we Boomers demanded & purport to believe in. An organization that provides leadership skills development for all of its employees, sets clear goals/expectations & rewards great performance, and provides regular feedback to that makes each assignment/project both a productivity enhancer and a learning experience, is the proven model for success.
So, is providing a flexible work environment, infusing regular recognition programs for performance excellence, establishing team decision-making/problem-solving as the normal mode of operation, or having open communication and lots of it going to damage the bottom-line? Research has shown quite the opposite, that it is a magnet for the best and the brightest professionals, the formula for great customer service, and the closest to a guarantee for increasing profits that the business world has to offer.
OK, then…if everything is so mutual, what is keeping these two generations from getting along?! What keeps them apart is not what they do & want; it’s how they do it & ask for what they want. And, with some expert intervention and business Coaching for staff at all levels of the organizational chart, your Boomers & Millennials can quickly come to understand what’s getting in their way of appreciating each others’ strengths/recognizing their tremendous similarities, and can come together to become the powerful team for which they have such exceptional potential.
Now that’s progress!

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Article Tags: baby boomer, boomers, coinage, common ground, corporate hierarchies, disdain, fast paced environment, generation gap, great news, healthy organizational culture, immediate gratification, manifests, negotiators, parent child relationship, progenitors, questioning authority, sticking point, two generations, upstarts, work ethic



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