For the first time, we currently have 4 distinct generations present in the American workplace. In years past, it was common to have 2 generations in short-career workplaces (such as a police or fire station), or three in an office or some manufacturing settings. With increasing lifespans, erosions of defined benefit retirement plans, and career changing decisions in mid-life, longer spans as a working individual are common. This sets up inevitable conflicts and areas of mutual disillusionment. In his book, “Sticking Points”, Haydn Shaw crisply outlines the different value systems, communication systems and places of typical conflict (and their resolution) when multiple generations have to work in the same place.
Generational Descriptors
The four generations described below are defined by large-scale events and substantial changes to the way ordinary life is conducted.
- Traditionals These workers were born before 1945, meaning they are at least 69 years old in 2014. Certainly these are now few and far between, but still exist and for the large part trained the subsequent boomer generation. They grew up in a time of Depression and world war, and were during the first and last demonstrations of weapons of mass destruction. There was no television, communication was either oral (face to face) or written. The only mass media available was radio programming and movies, available to most area even if large-scale electrification was not. The workers from this generation were overwhelmingly male.
- Baby Boomers: These workers were born between 1945 and 1964, meaning they are between 50 and 68 in 2014. This is by far the largest population group to come through the workplace in terms of sheer numbers, and drove the enormous expansion of American wealth, power and influence through the mid 20th century. These workers saw the advent of suburban sprawl, the development of a car culture, large scale rise of the standard of living across the board, and the advent of television. Older boomers were exposed to the Vietnam draft, which played a big part in ending the dominance and optimism of the previous decades. Oldest boomers reached “retirement” age of 65 in 2010, and their numbers are declining in the workplace.
- Generation X-ers: These workers were born between 1965-1980, meaning that these workers will be between 34 and 49 in 2014. This is a sharply smaller demographic than the boomer generation, by at least 20 million people. They were raised in a set of declining productivity, wealth and expectations for America. Contained in their youth was the escalation of Vietnam with its side wars, secrecy and atrocities, and ending with the beginning of the current Islamist revolution in Iran. They entered the workforce during a time of deregulation and subsequent shutting of markets to newer employees. The shift to global economies and communications became present during their youth and early working years, with the advent of cellular communications and the Internet. This is true, even counting “carphone”, and brick sized cell phones!
- Millennials: These workers were born after 1981, meaning that the oldest of this group is 33 in 2014. The size of this group is about the size of the boomer group, but some of this is due to the growth in population of the US, both from positive birth rates and immigration. The population of the US is estimated at 319 million in 2012 (about 4.5% of all people!) , as opposed to about 141 million in 1945. They grew up with cell and subsequent smartphone technology becoming more and more routine and assumed. Opportunities and work pathways are more tuned to networking, social media and electronic methods than personal, live relationships. Can you imagine the idea that you can never be lost as long as you have a cell and signal? This simple idea is alien to previous generations.
These dates are rough markers, with plenty of variation. Being an early or late birth in any of these generations can modify the experiences significantly. Other modifiers include region of birth and upbringing (rural and isolated areas tend to change more slowly), socio-economic status, educational status, sibling order, health status, etc. So, as with any generalization, anyone can point to exceptions. We should use the information with plenty of salt and take care not to over-generalize.
Common areas of conflict:
This list is not in order of importance, because each workplace will vary significantly. The typical office environment will have rules, cultures and traditions that were dictated by older generations and essentially inherited. A small start-up with only Millenials might be an exception, but the rule is that these areas are dictated by boomers (who were trained by traditionalists), and are gradually being modified by the X-ers and millenials.
- Communication: format, frequency, media
- Decision making: top-down, consensus, fiat, voting
- Dress code: level of formality, variations to code
- Feedback: communication being one way or two way, feedback without retribution
- Fun at work: expectations regarding fun and enjoyment, how to have it, boundaries
- Knowledge transfer: proprietary or open format, methods and end results
- Loyalty: expectations for both directions regarding employee and employer
- Meetings: format, frequency, behaviors and participation
- Policies: rules of being an employee, how specific, how much envelope pushing
- Respect: value systems regarding experience and tenure
- Training: responsibilities to become proficient and methods of obtaining
- Work ethic: probably the biggest sore spot in most environments. The standard concept held by older generations is that younger generations just do not value hard work and patience, and the younger generation’s view point being that older generations just do not want to give up control and pass the torch.
Subsequent blogs will address these areas individually. This almost always has a bearing in common situations like a senior boomer (or traditional) doctor and X-er junior doctor. A greater understanding of these points will help to generate a more harmonious workplace and a smoother eventual business transition.