Most everyone involved with today’s workforce recognizes that various generations of workers are represented. As explained in my previous HRTools.com Insight, historically every generation is equally important and they make lasting contributions. Based on my experience, businesses that embrace generational diversity stand to gain a competitive advantage.
Lessons Learned
History also teaches us that generational differences can challenge and frustrate even the best of relationships. Since business success depends on people and relationships, you may be interested in learning from the following real-life situations and related mistaken perceptions that can potentially hurt a business:
Suppose you are faced with this situation: A business is led by an executive or C-level team, all of whom are from the same generation. This C-level team joined a start-up company at the same time, and they’re all roughly the same age. They are members of Generation X. Or we could have the opposite scenario where all the C-level executives are members of the baby boomer or traditionalist generations. The point is—if everyone on that leadership team falls into one generational classification, they run the risk of seeing things through one lens and making decisions based on only one perspective.
Suppose you are faced with another situation: In today’s business environment, it is possible that managers and their staffs may not recognize or appreciate generational differences in the workplace. For instance, think about the baby boomers who, up until about 10 years ago, were serving in managerial roles. At that time, Generation X employees may have been considered the more difficult ones to manage. Now we’re seeing Generation X employees as more promotionally driven and managing the boomers who are stepping down. Today’s boomers may not be interested in that career path because they’re at different points in their lives—their careers have reached a plateau.
Today we should not assume that the older generation is managing the younger generation. In many cases, the younger generation is managing the older one. In either case, a lack of understanding or appreciation for the differences can lead to serious conflicts.
When performance specialists work with various employee groups, we oftentimes initially hear about a conflict or a communication problem. When we dig deeper into the issues, however, we often find that generational differences are at the root of the misunderstandings. To prevent this from happening, it’s in a business owner’s best interest to find ways to educate and encourage generational understanding among their employees.
Suppose you are confronted with this situation: A traditionally conservative industry, such as banking, may have employees with tattoos and other varying expressions of dress. Bewildered banking executives may ask performance specialists such as me, “We’re in a traditional environment—how are we supposed to deal with employees who dress and look like that?”
This is how I respond: “Tell me about your client base. What do they look like?” After thinking about it, they say something such as, “Our client base is represented at all levels. We have traditionalists, boomers, Gen X and Gen Y." I then respond: “OK, great—which of these groups are you beginning to lose?” After thinking about it, they realize that they are losing more business from the traditionalists and boomers because those generations are generally saving their money and not spending it.
We then discuss how their primary sources of cash flow are coming from Gen X, with the potential of the Gen Y market coming soon. The Gen Y generation is beginning to earn money right now because they’re at the beginning of their careers. Again, it’s in any business owner’s best interest to acknowledge, understand and embrace generational diversity.
Avoid Taking an "It's My Way or the Highway" Approach
Hopefully, after reviewing these situational examples, business owners will avoid taking an “it’s my way or the highway” approach to managing generational diversity. Adopting that attitude can be risky in the long-term to a business. It is important to develop and maintain some perspective. Business owners who acknowledge and appreciate generational diversity often gain a competitive advantage, especially where it concerns marketing and selling services and products to the various generations.