Clash of the Generations

Managing the New Workplace Reality

Valerie M. Grubb

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781119212348
• eBook ISBN: 9781119212478
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

Case studies and strategies for more effective multi-generational management

Clash of the Generations explores this new and increasingly common workplace phenomenon, and provides strategies to help managers navigate this ever more complex maze. Traditionally, older workers would retire and make room for the next generation; instead, Baby Boomers are now prolonging their time in the workplace, yet the successive generations are still coming in. Senior leaders are now left to manage a blended workplace comprised of up to four generations—each with their own ideas of work ethic, work/life balance, long-term career goals, and much more. Management is challenging at the best of times, but the new prevalence of generation gaps—sometimes even layered—add an entirely new dimension to an already complex responsibility. This book presents case studies and interviews with representatives of companies with age-diverse workforces, detailing innovative strategies for smoothing out the bumps and helping everyone work together.

Managers have long wished that their positions came with an instruction manual, and this book delivers with a host of effective inter-generational management strategies illustrated by real-world companies.

• Manage the multi-generation workplace more effectively
• Navigate the generational culture clash
• Adopt proven strategies for helping everyone get along
• Promote a more positive culture amidst clashing expectations

Every generation in the workplace has value, each has their own strengths, their own weaknesses, and their own unique talents. Each is indispensable, and when they come together as a synergistic force, they can be unstoppable. Effective management means bringing out the best in your workforce, and the strategies presented in Clash of the Generations help you streamline your varied workforce into a team more valuable than the sum of its parts.

Chapter 1
THE NEW WORKPLACE REALITY

Clinging to the past is the problem. Embracing change is the solution.

—Gloria Steinem, Moving Beyond Words¹

Since the first major round of corporate downsizing in the 1980s, the longtime traditional employment trajectory has been in flux. Gone are the days when people entered the workforce as young adults, worked until their mid‐50s or so, and then sailed off into retirement while younger generations took their place. Instead, the average retirement age has steadily been creeping up in recent decades as older employees—in particular, the Baby Boomers—stay in the workforce either by choice or by necessity. Medical and technological advances mean we're living much longer than previous generations. But the financial instability caused by the 2008 recession has taken a massive toll on retirement plans, requiring many older employees to remain in the workforce longer. Boomers aren't continuing to work only because they have to, though: many of them continue to work because they want to, thanks in part to the growing availability of office jobs that people can continue to do regardless of age. In addition, many Boomers just enjoy the camaraderie and social connectivity of the workplace. And Boomers often have a lot of pride in their career—a sentiment that can make them inclined to stay in the workplace longer.²

In recent years, though, a new generation has become the largest group in the labor market: the Millennials. In early 2015, a Pew Research Center study found that for the first time the workplace included more Millennials (nearly 54 million) than Baby Boomers (nearly 53 million) or members of Generation X (just under 45 million).³ With so many younger employees joining the workforce, one might assume that the median age of US workers was decreasing. Surprisingly, that is not the case.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at the US Department of Labor, in 2004 the median working age was 40.3 years but in 2014 it had climbed to 41.9 years—and by 2024 it is expected to hit 42.4 years.⁴ Interestingly, although the Millennial numbers are far greater than the current figures of earlier generations, the BLS report states that “the average annual growth rate of the 55‐years‐and‐older group [is] projected to be 1.8 percent, more than three times the rate of growth of the overall labor force,” adding that “the group's share of the labor force is anticipated to increase from 21.7 percent in 2014 to nearly 25 percent in 2024.”⁵ These projections indicate that not only will Baby Boomers continue to work alongside their current Generation X and Millennial colleagues, but that they will still be around when Generation Z join the workforce.

That is potentially good news for companies experiencing a shortage of workers, particularly in skilled trades. But when three or even four generations are sharing the office, getting everyone to work together toward a common goal becomes even more challenging. Senior leaders, managers, and HR professionals need to be prepared to manage a workforce spanning multiple generations with wildly different ideas about work ethic, work‐life balance, and long‐term career goals, among many other issues. Each age cohort brings its own expectations, goals, motivations, and experiences into the office every day, and company leaders, managers, and human resources executives who want to succeed must understand those differences in order to minimize conflict and create a productive workplace.

THE CHANGING NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

As the Loretta Lynn song says, “We've come a long way, baby.” Over the past half century or so, workplace practices and expectations have changed dramatically—and for the better. When the first Baby Boomers entered the workforce, they were taught that leaders give orders, ensure that the orders are followed, and deal with employees who don't comply. The dictatorial leader is rapidly disappearing from today's workplace, though, having been replaced by leaders who are expected to build partnerships both inside and outside the organization—a shift in leadership styles that recognizes that coalition building can be more effective for companies than rigid control. Does this shift mean that a manager can't make decisions unless all of his or her direct reports agree with them? Of course not. It does mean, though, that employees of any age will expect to have input on decisions that affect them, and that the lack of such input will significantly diminish their commitment to accomplishing the company's goals.

The changing expectations for company leaders are also being shaped by the fact that employees of all ages lack trust in corporate America. During the 1980s, Baby Boomers and Generation X lost that trust during the heyday of building shareholder value through layoffs, when even healthy companies joined the downsizing movement in order to increase their market shares. Millennials, too, aren't exhibiting great faith in the business world today, and if these trends continue, this lack of trust is likely to still be around when Generation Z begins to enter the workforce. Regardless of the decade or the generation, though, this lack of trust—and the resulting lack of strong loyalty to a company—can affect everyone negatively, particularly when employees favor pursuing career advancement elsewhere over staying with their current organizations. In order to prevent that exodus, managers need to figure out how to adapt to changing expectations about employee loyalty.

The changing demographic within the United States (nay, the world) is another cultural shift that will require leaders to rethink not just their leadership styles but their entire business plans, because the employee base isn't the only population that's changing: customers and suppliers are changing as well. Over the next few decades, the United States will become an older and more ethnically diverse country. For example, according to the US Census Bureau, over the next few decades, nonwhite ethnic groups will increase in number dramatically, and by 2042 no single ethnic group will be the majority. The Hispanic population will be the leaders of this demographic shift, with its size “more than [doubling], from 53.3 million in 2012 to 128.8 million in 2060.”⁶ Also expected to double in size by 2060 is the population age 65 and older, which will grow from 43.1 million to 92.0 million.

Many would argue that corporate leadership has had to deal with managing change for at least the past decade or so. As Ad J. Scheepbouwer (then‐CEO of Royal KPN) pointed out in IBM's 2008 survey of 1,000 CEOs, “We have seen more change in the last 10 years than in the previous 90.”⁷ Technological advances drove most of that change and continue to do so, with Scheepbouwer's words still applicable nearly a decade after he uttered them. In spite of widespread awareness of such change, many companies' management practices have failed to respond to the new workplace reality.

Shocking but true: even though the first Millennials joined the workplace roughly 10 years ago, many companies still struggle to figure out how to cope with the Millennials in their midst. And with the first members of Generation Z poised to enter the workforce full time in just a few short years and other changing workplace demographics, the stage is set for disaster for those companies still lagging in their management practices. Even with these realities staring them in the face, though, many companies still resist change. Why? Because change is hard—even when (and sometimes especially if) it's absolutely necessary. But market‐leading organizations recognize the importance of change and achieve success in part because of their ability to adapt rapidly to the changing needs of their customers and clients. Those companies embrace change because doing so lets them create new opportunities ahead of their competitors.

Enacting change at your organization means updating your leadership tactics, which in turn means letting go of old habits and instead thinking about motivation and engagement in a new light—a task that isn't easy to accomplish in even the most relaxed and low‐stakes situations, let alone when engaging in something as difficult (and somewhat esoteric) as managing employees. Unfortunately, managing employees is even more complicated by the fact that according to Gallup only “one in 10 people possess the inherent talent to manage”—and companies fail to pick good managers a staggering 82 percent of the time.⁸ When this is combined with the added challenge of having four generations in the workplace, the odds increase that companies will experience high turnover or low employee engagement (both of which can hugely affect an organization's bottom line)—and managing becomes a lot more complicated.

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE MANAGER

Managing employees has always been tough for newbie and veteran managers alike. If you're like most managers, you didn't start your career in management but got promoted to a supervisory role based on your superior contributions as an employee. Consequently, you may find yourself with direct reports who may or may not be at your skill level (and may even be more skilled than you). As a manager, you're expected to motivate them to complete their tasks on time and to your quality specifications, but you have to be careful that this motivation doesn't cross the line into micromanagement. Easy, right? Not quite.

Getting work done through the efforts of others is incredibly different—and far more challenging—than doing it yourself, and few new managers are fully prepared for that shift when they're promoted. And help in dealing with that shift is in short supply: in a 2011 CareerBuilder survey, for example, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they “didn't receive any management training.”⁹ When that lack of training meets the various (and sometimes conflicting) expectations of employees in a multigenerational workplace, the result is a potent mix of management challenges! Baby Boomers want respect for their experience, Generation Xers want autonomy and money, and Millennials want a team environment coupled with more frequent recognition. Even when the generations agree on certain issues (such as a shared desire to increase work‐life balance through more flexible work schedules), addressing them can still present plenty of challenges for managers.¹⁰

Finding ways to accommodate employees' needs in order to motivate and engage them (and actually accomplish the work for which their managers are ultimately responsible!) has become a critical part of management in recent years—and one that not only differs greatly from management's role in the past but a task that can be tough to accomplish, particularly in companies without policies that support their employees' needs.

As you progress on your own management journey (whether you're just starting on this path or have been on it for a while and seek to expand your existing skills), keep in mind that being a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: The New Workplace Reality
• Chapter 2: Defining the Generations
• Chapter 3: Fostering a Culture of Inclusion
• Chapter 4: Setting the Stage for Great Performance
• Chapter 5: Being an Inclusive Manager
• Chapter 6: Promoting Growth Opportunities
• Chapter 7: Managing Differences in Work Ethic
• Chapter 8: Managing Different Work‐Life Balance Expectations
• Chapter 9: Managing Differences in Career Development Planning
• Chapter 10: Generational Give and Take
• Chapter 11: You as the Motivating Force
• Appendix A: Case Study ‐ Chegg
• Appendix B: Case Study ‐ Consultants: Leadership Development Services, LLC, and RGP
• Appendix C: Case Study ‐ Electronic Arts
• Appendix D: Case Study ‐ Hy‐Ko Products
• Appendix E: Case Study ‐ TECT Corporation
• Appendix F: Case Study ‐ The Andersons
• About the Author
• Index