Relationships - The Myth Of The Generation Gap In The Business World

In today’s work world many generations are employed at the same company. There are often biases and assumptions people have which can create overwhelming conflict that ultimately damages working relationships. “Most intergenerational conflict shares a common point of origin: the issue of clout "who has it- who wants it.” People need to work together and utilize everyone’s strengths in order to produce the best product or service.

There has been a great deal of discussion in the past several years particularly about Generation Y (born 1977-1986), in the workplace. They have the reputation of being impatient, demanding and possess a sense of entitlement. They are accused of having no loyalty to a company and change jobs frequently. Is this an accurate portrayal of them or do they in fact have many of the same qualities and attributes of Silents ( born before 1946), Boomers (born 1946-1963) and Gen Xs (born 1964-1976)?

In the book, Retiring the Generation Gap by Jennifer Deal, many of the myths and beliefs about various generations were researched and some interesting results were found. Five specific areas will be discussed in this article: Values, Respect, Change, Learning & Training and Having a Coach.

1. Values

It has often been heard that the younger generation has no values. People often confuse values and behaviors. You can have the same values but express them differently. It is interesting to note that all the generations chose “family” as the most important value, followed by “integrity.” Through research it was also discovered that there are actually more differences in values within a generation, than between generations. How does the values conflict show up? It generally has to do with the definitions people have. For example what defines competence? Some people might say it is coming to work on time, participating during meetings and completing all the work assigned to you. Others might say the competence is meeting deadlines, working collaboratively and never being side tracked. You can see how different definitions can create difficulties. It is important to clarify that you are talking about the same things.

2. Respect

Everyone wants to feel respected in the workplace (and in life). People generally have an idea of how they want others to treat them. When someone’s behaviour does not conform to these expectations, then a person may feel disrespected, even though that is not the intent. For example people in positions of authority want their decisions to be respected and older people want their wisdom and experience to be respected. Therefore if a Gen Y asks questions, makes a suggestion or doesn’t automatically agree, it might be perceived as disrespect.

3. Change

Most people don’t really want change. You become used to how things are done and it becomes routine, a habit. As we all know habits can be difficult to change. The assumption is that the Gen Y’s come in and that they want to change everything to suit themselves. This statement is actually true for all the generations. Everyone would like things to be the way they want. Reluctance to change has less to do with age and is more about how much you have to gain or lose.

To increase the possibility of change being successful, leaders need to explain why the change is necessary, what effect the change will have and implement systems which validate and support the change.

4. Learning and Training.

Gen Y’s think they know it all! Is this an accurate statement? It is true that they probably completed their education more recently, however they are generally eager to learn more. The desire for acquiring knowledge was present in all the generations and in fact there was a high degree of agreement on the areas of interest. These included leadership development, skills training in their particular field of expertise, problem solving & decision making, team building and communication skills. The greater challenge is the lack of time and resources in order to learn. Employees are ambivalent about cutting into time with their families and employers have limited resources. Ongoing discussion will need to occur in order to continue to come up with solutions to this issue. However, it is exciting that everyone wants to learn.

5. Almost everyone wants a coach/mentor.

One assumption in the research was that the younger generation wanted constant feedback, making them needy and that the older generation never wanted any feedback, finding it insulting. Findings show that everyone wants to know how they are doing and wants to learn how to do things better. They primarily want to do this with someone 1:1, who works at the same company. Coaching/mentoring is the way to facilitate learning with targeted individual goals with support and accountability. Many employees want their companies to provide coaching for them and many managers and executives feel they could provide this with some additional training.

So generations are actually more similar than they are different. People desire the same things in their work environment regardless of their age and Gen Ys want many of the same things that other generations wanted when they were younger. Economic and environmental factors are constantly changing which requires businesses to adjust. The sign of a successful company is one who acknowledges employees differences, listens closely to what they are saying and embraces the possibilities which come from being open-minded.

Book references from Retiring the Generation Gap - How Employees Young and Old Can Find Common Ground by Jennifer Deal, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, California

Copyright 2008, Gail Solish. All rights reserved.