Generations at Work

Generations at Work, Managing the Clash of Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers in the Workplace, 2d Edition, by Ron Zemki, Claire Raines, and Bob Filipczak, Amacom 2013 It’s happened, we’re now a multi-generational workplace, and we know there are places where each generation and its history don’t blend.  Wouldn’t it be good, since the Boomers continue to occupy so many good jobs, to understand what to expect when everyone shows up for work?

Where to start?  The authors offer an Assessment in the Appendix, a great starting place.  You’ll want to understand what Gen X’ers expect from a job, for instance, and what the Millenials believe is essential for balance.  If Retention is an issue for your organization,  the Assessment should help pin down what causes the different generations to move on, and what allows them to settle down.    A score of under 70 (out of 100) is a danger signal signifying high costs of losing, recruiting, and training employees that will damage the bottom line.  This may be a human issue first, but it’s a strong driver of financials.

The next generation up after the Boomers are the  Gen Xers, whom the authors call “Survivalists in the Workplace,” born 1960 – 1980.  The GenXers bring their own history and their own ambitions to the workplace.  Dennis Miller described them this way:

                “It’s no wonder Xers are angst-ridden and rudderless.  They feel America’s greatness has passed.  They got to the cocktail party twenty minutes too late and all that’s left are those little wieners and a half-empty bottle of Zima.” 

They’ve been waiting for the Boomers to get the hell out of the way, but it’s not happening fast enough.  Despite the Boomers’ reputation for being workaholics, they have only recently softened somewhat, and according to research quoted by the authors, they recently lost the title “most stressed generation” to the Millenials!  Now that’s progress!

But what does this tell us about GenX values?  They are first of all survivors, having watched and lived through women’s liberation, Watergate, Three Mile Island, The Iran Hostage Crisis, John Lennon’s shooting, AIDS, the Challenger disaster, Chernobyl, the Lockerbie disaster and more.  These TV images have become part, unlike the Boomer’s “Life with Father” and “You Asked For It." Of GenX’s collected media histories, and when all these tumultuous events are lined up, it gets pretty scary. 

Their values differ from the Boomers’, who hold to:

·          Optimism

·         Team orientation

·         Personal gratification

·         Health and wellness

·         Personal growth

·         Youth

·         Work involvement

GenX Values:

·         Diversity

·         Thinking globally

·         Balance

·         Technoliteracy

·         Fun

·         Informality

·         Self-reliance

·         Pragmatism

Naturally, recruiting to these very different generations has to be customized to fit the campaign.  Once a hiring manager understands values and cultural icons, the authors demonstrate how the message can be tailored for better translation.  And once the differences become clearer, the authors illustrate through detailed examples how differences can be turned into assets. 

The charts and research throughout this book are serious fun.  But the most colorful and telling examples are the stories the authors cull from generation representatives, in their own words.  Suddenly certain workplace responses make sense, and once they make sense, it becomes clear where the alignments and differences lie.  Each time a newer generation is added to the mix, teamwork and management roles get a little more challenging.

Fun read, takes you outside of yourself!

***