(Part II; Generation X and Generation Y)
Boy, a week goes by fast at my age now! Sorry it has been a week plus three days before I could sit back down and finish my two part blog! Generation X employees range from 31 to 46 years old and are the ones who mark the decline in birth rates after the Boomer generation. In the workforce, they are the more educated and more ethnically diverse, with 60% of them being college graduates. They are more likely to be your technically savvy employees. They grew up at a time of corporate takeovers, downsizing, layoffs, etc. and as a result usually are loyal to self and rely on self to accomplish things. They are independent and were also brought up at a time of escalating divorce rates, so they have learned to look out for themselves. They work to live, not live to work and look for more balance in their lives. Try not to “box” in this age group within the workplace. Utilize their technical experience to help along those in the Traditionalist and Boomer groups. You will find that the Generation X crowd is eager to learn and does not do well at repetitive tasks. The easiest way to train them is through CD, webcasts and interactive computer training. They want work to be fun and would like the flexibility to set their own hours or at least have the flexibility to attend things during work hours and makeup the time afterward. They are usually managed best with a “hands-off” approach that gives them the information and allows them to learn it or fail at it instead of being dragged along the learning pathway. Communications to them are preferred electronically instead of face-to-face and meetings usually drive them nuts. Give them ways to have creative input into your organization and realize that although they may not be loyal solely to your place of employment, their loyalty to self and self advancement will serve your goals well if their strengths are utilized.
The Millennials or Generation Y are the 18 – 30 crowd. Whether it is correct or not, they have often been labeled as the toughest generation to manage. They, like the X-ers are technically adept and share some of the self-centered traits of the X-ers. They usually were coddled by their parents and schools coming up, with teachers and parents assuring them that they were the best at everything and were praised more for their best efforts than their results. They were treated “positively” at every turn and being number one or first place was not given the importance as with the older generations. A big obstacle to the Generation Y employees in fitting into a workplace is that they traditionally do not want to have to “pay their dues” to get recognition and to have a voice. They want to be heard with the same volume and be given the same consideration to their ideas as the 25 year workplace veteran. They are accustomed to working in teams and want to express their creativity and show their knowledge. They prefer open doors for many questions and do not see the benefit in a chain of command. Millennials need clearly defined instructions and job descriptions and you will need to clearly define your expectations to them. Out of all the age groups, they are the ones who will most likely cope well with change. They will also most likely be your employees who demand change and question any status quo. Their interests change frequently, so they may be job-hoppers. Just because you see their resume contains six jobs in five years, they should not be summarily ignored. They very well may have great reasons for changing from job to job. They can and will be loyal to your company if you meet their personal needs and if your company is socially responsible in their eyes. The Generation Y employees expect and need verbal and written acknowledgement and praise.
With all of this being said about the four generations in our places of work, remember that they all have positives and negatives and that generalizations about them sometimes will not hold true. They are still individual people with individual needs and goals and we need to know them individually to get the best out of them and for them to get the best out of us and our company. One of our biggest challenges when managing across these broad age spans is to realize that each person and age group brings things to the table that can be helpful or harmful. It is up to us to teach them to bring what is needed and leave behind what we don’t need. Regardless of an age group’s likes, behaviors and quirks, our company has to function as a complete unit and we cannot sacrifice our company’s success by catering to things that go against our progress. We are tasked with the job of guiding our company and bringing the employees along with it, not necessarily the other way around. You can still cater to the needs of the different groups within the vision and mission of your workplace. Stepping outside of what your practice values and needs to succeed will not bring about the workplace that can secure a consistent place of employment for all age groups.