Such different attitudes and values create areas of potential generational conflict in the workplace. These include differences over work ethics, views of organizational hierarchy, dealing with change, and managing technology. If managers are going to deal with areas of potential conflict—and take advantage of differing views and values to use them as a source of new opportunities and creative vigor rather than dispute and stress—they need to be aware of the specific differences in point of view among their employees, and appreciate just how wide the gap can often be.
The next page shows the most commonly observed differences among the generations in the ways they approach work, their careers, and their fellow workers, as observed by Anick Tolbize, Research and Training Center on Community Living, University of Minnesota, in his paper “Generational Differences in the Workplace,” and by Michael D. Young’s presentation, “Managing Generations in the 21st Century Workplace.” Differences in attitudes and expectations create opportunities for frequent misunderstandings and difficulties in communication and coordination, but they also create chances for new visions and problem-solving approaches in the workplace. In addition, they create new opportunities for maximizing what a workforce can achieve together through seeking what is different rather than attempting to avoid what each person has uniquely to offer. Which way our generational diversity will go depends greatly on how managers deal with the differences they find and how willing they are to learn the best practices for handling those characteristics. u Sources: Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation by Neil Howe and William Strauss Serving the Millennial Generation/New Directions for Student Services edited by Michael D. Coomes and Robert DeBard Generational Differences/Survey Report: A Study for Human Resources Management by Society for Human Resource Management, SHRM Research Generations at Work/Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines, Bob Filipczak
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The very different times in which each generation grew up and underwent its formative experiences have created extremely different “personae” that each generation shares among many of its members. The Veterans matured during World War II, many of them lived through the Great Depression, and they learned to value and depend on discipline, authority, and tradition. The Baby Boomers, the largest generation, of roughly 78 million, grew up during the social upheavals of the sixties and acquired a lasting sense of optimism and self-worth. The Gen Xers came of age in a time of financial insecurity and as a result have become more self-reliant and more questioning of authority. And Millennials have grown up in a time of neo-optimism and accelerating technological advances, making them adaptable to change and accepting of diversity.
G E N E R AT I O N S
G EN ERAT IONAL TRAITS IN THE WO R KPLACE