Where's my emoji? Intergenerational communication

by Erin Saunders, ON Services

When I first entered the workforce, I

would not have been caught dead sending an email with an exclamation mark. Nor would I have considered adding an emoji to anything professionally related. Ever. Now I frequently sprinkle both in professional emails, and texts (texting—also a way I wouldn’t have communicated with coworkers). We now have five generations of workers in the workplace, all with different experiences and communication styles.

Language is a living thing. It changes and evolves over time, as do the rules for how we use it. This impacts how our messages are intended and how they are received.

Take this example from marketplace.org:

Stuart Hogan is a millennial at a tech startup in Boston. He said this about communicating with his older colleagues:

“They use periods a lot,” he said. “I didn’t even realize this, but they sound very stern, like very final.” Or even worse, he said, they’ll sign off their messages with an ellipsis, “which for a millennial is just like the height of passive aggression.”

He vividly remembers one instance on a

Friday afternoon when he sent off a bit presentation to a 56 -year-old-manager.

“And he just responds, ‘Thanks … enjoy the weekend …’” he said. “I definitely looked at the presentation for probably like six hours that weekend trying to figure out what was wrong with it. (McCarty Carino, 2019)

This example shows how messages sent and received by different generations can be interpreted in vastly different ways. To understand how to more effectively communicate, we must first understand a little more about each generation and their communication preferences. Keep in mind that while these are generalizations, they do point to trends that cross each generation.

The first generation is the traditionalists. These are workers born before 1945 and they comprise 9% of the US workforce. They are leaving the workforce later and later in life.

Traditionalists are most comfortable with formal, business-focused traditional means of communication. They come from the workplace of written memos and desk phones. As such, they generally prefer written communication and are believers in face-to-face meetings. They tend to be distrustful of remote working, and often need additional help as companies move to instant video and messaging services. They hardly ever communicate via text message.

Next are the baby boomers. Once the largest makeup of the US workforce, they have been surpassed by Generation Z.

Baby boomers are big believers in the importance of body language and tone and as such, face-to-face or telephone communications are preferred. They understand the need for email communication, but many believe valuable time is wasted via emails. If more than one or two go back and forth, they tend to pick up the phone and give a call. They are generally not trustful of texting as an appropriate communication method at work, and you won’t find them using exclamation marks or emojis in business correspondence.

Generation X tends to be the most fluid of the generations. They are comfortable with more formal written communications, but also understand that their younger counterparts are going to be more accessible via text and instant messaging. Generation Xers are most comfortable with email. They tend to be heavy

Facebook users and are comfortable with Instagram and other social media venues.

In general, they prefer to avoid face-to-face interactions when an email will suffice. They may resist initial movement to video calls, but are typically the faster of the three older generations to adapt to new technologies. They like communication to be short and to the point and have found IM to be a good venue for achieving that goal.

Millennials (or Generation Y), grew up with tablets and smartphones. They embrace email, but prefer to communicate via more immediate means, like chat or social media.

This is the group that first embraced the emoji, and will frequently sprinkle them in emails, texts, and instant messages. They want to make sure their tone is understood, and emojis are a quick and easy way to convey this. They also are fans of the exclamation mark and, much like Stuart in the example above, can find punctuation that may be common and neutral to the older generations overly stern or off-putting.

The newest workforce is Generation Z. This is anyone born from 1995 onwards. The oldest of Generation Z graduated from college last year and is joining the workforce as we speak.

Millennials and Generation Z now make up the biggest part of the workforce at 48%, and this percentage will continue to grow.

Whereas millennials are comfortable with technology and smartphones, Generation Z has never been without it. They have entire conversations with each other over text and direct messaging using only memes and emojis. They have very little use or tolerance for email or formal language at work. They want to be

Formative Great Depression, Vietnam, Cold War, Fall of Berlin Community services, Global warming, experiences WW2, move to the moon landings, Wall, early mobile 9/11 terrorist mobile devices, suburbs, vaccines youth culture, technology, latchkey attacks, social cloud computing, change lives Woodstock kids, divorce rate everything, invasion Wiki-leaks, rises, grunge and hip of Iraq, reality TV, Facebook is for "old hop Google Earth people," Instagram, Snapchat

% in US workforce 9% 24% 20% 22% 26%

Attitude toward Jobs for life Organizational: "Portfolio" careers: Digital Multitaskers: career careers are defined loyal to profession, entrepreneurs: work will seamlessly by employees not to employer "with" organizations move between organizations Signature product Automobile Television Personal computer Tablet/smartphone 3-D printing

Written, often on paper. Does not like texts and prefers written communication to be formal. Telephone. Does not like texts, overusage of punctuation, and may misunderstand emoji slang. Email, phone and text messages. Infrequent use of exclamation marks and emojis. Text or social media. Moving away from email, but still relies heavily on increased use of exclamation marks and emojis.

Text and instant message. Does not like email. Heavy use of exclamation marks and question marks. Loves emojis.

talked to the way they talk with each other and struggle to adapt to the more formal language found in traditional handbooks and job descriptions. They value individuality and connection, and want to be communicated with as people.

A quick text or instant message is going to be the best way to reach this group, and emojis and exclamation marks should abound. Their primary forms of virtually connecting are through Instagram and snapchat, and most of them view Facebook as the app their parents use (many of their parents are Generation Xers, so this is likely true).

Generation Z grew up with technology everywhere, and if there’s a fast way to share information, they probably know how to use it. This group had online shared documents and virtual assignments in school and will likely bring a level of change and efficiency that will take some learning and adjustment on the part of their older counterparts. The workforce is constantly changing, as is the language and technology around us. When it comes to generations, no one group is better than another; they each have their strengths and challenges. Instead of developing stereotypes, consider how you might use a co-worker’s generational knowledge or communication preference to improve the organization. Be mindful of how your communication preference may be perceived by someone of a different generation. Communication is tricky and something everyone works to improve. By understanding the value we each bring, and coming to the table with respect and empathy, we’ll all be better colleagues to one another.

About the author

Erin Saunders is Regional Human Resources Business Partner with Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon.

P: 770-326-9517 E: erin.saunders@leica-geosystems.com

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