Chapter 27

Leading Across Generations

Joanne G. Sujansky

In This Chapter

• Recognize and address the distinctive needs of each generation.
• Foster effective communication across generations.
• Employ strategies for leading, developing, and coaching multiple generations.
• Resolve conflict and build cross-generational teams.

 

For the first time in history, there are four generations sharing the workplace. These age groups—the matures (sometimes called traditionalists), baby boomers, Generation Xers, and millennials—each bring different experiences, talents, and viewpoints to the job. As a result, the task of leading a multigenerational workforce is rapidly becoming a challenge for leaders around the world. However, armed with an understanding of these differences and equipped with strategies for dealing with the unique needs of each generation, a savvy leader can forge an effective and dynamic team of employees.

A Team in Turmoil

A critical deadline was looming at Claremore Laboratories, and Cal Woodson was becoming worried. As vice president and director of business development, he was responsible for overall account management, and one of the company’s most important clients was expecting the delivery of a new product line within two weeks. But after making the rounds of various departments, it was becoming clear to Cal that they were in danger of missing that delivery date.

Claremore Laboratories produces and packages private label nutritional supplements. Its typical clients are medical professionals (such as chiropractors), clinics, natural pharmacies, nutritionists, and other practitioners that provide customers with vitamins and nutritionals. Claremore was one of the leaders in its field because it provided a complete range of client services, from research and development through packaging and marketing.

The management of the privately held firm also took pride in outstanding customer service, which had garnered the 20-year-old company numerous industry awards. Cal knew that his bosses wouldn’t be happy if his team missed this particular deadline. He even feared that his job could be in jeopardy.

Fortunately, there was still time enough to make the deadline, provided every department pulled together. Cal started making the rounds and speaking with the heads of each department. But everywhere he went, it seemed the story was the same. Each department supervisor complained that it was another department, which simply didn’t understand his or her problems, that was causing the holdup.

Nicole, who was in her mid-20s, was the supervisor of the graphics department. Her staff designed the custom labels and packages for the new product line, but she complained to Cal that they couldn’t very well execute a set of designs without specifications for containers and labels, which came from the purchasing department. Like her staff, she could be counted on to punch out promptly at the end of the eight-hour shift Monday through Friday.

The director of the purchasing department was a 37-year-old veteran employee who worked his way up through the ranks. He explained to Cal that they were still shopping for the best prices on blank containers, boxes, and other packaging components. Recent increases in raw materials costs had cut into company profits, and his number one goal for the year was to find ways to lower the cost of materials. In fact, his performance review depended upon it.

The 64-year-old head of the legal department, Monica, along with her experienced staff of two, were responsible for legally verifying all product claims, disclaimers, and warnings on labels and packaging. She complained to Cal that she and her staff were overwhelmed with new product lines for numerous clients and were proceeding as fast as humanly possible. After all, a careless mistake or oversight could prove to be disaster for Claremore Laboratories.

Thom was a 48-year-old dynamo who ran the sales department. His problem, which he patiently explained to Cal, was that he had to coordinate all proofs for product packaging, labeling, and marketing through the client for final approval. He was frustrated that proofs and comps were slow to come in from the graphics and legal departments, making it difficult to get feedback from the client. He was particularly upset with the graphics department, which he perceived as a bunch of kids with little to no work ethic. The customer was “king” in his book, and his staff did whatever it took to keep customers happy.

When Cal got back to his office and reflected on the problems that were plaguing his project, he began to feel as though he was in the middle of a nightmare. Not only was there little coordination among these departments, it was almost as if they were speaking different languages. If nothing else, Cal realized that the department heads were operating with seemingly different perceptions and priorities. How could he break the bottleneck and get the project moving smoothly to completion on time?

Cal’s problems aren’t unique. As mentioned above, for the first time ever in history, there are four generations crowding the workplace. Their differing experiences, unique talents, and distinctive viewpoints make managing a multigenerational workforce the challenge of our era.

A multigenerational workforce is composed, by definition, of individuals who are at varying career stages. With one generation preparing to exit the world of work and another generation just entering it, the middle generations are juggling issues with job stability, career growth, and work/life balance.

For leaders, it may seem like a potential quagmire filled with traps and dilemmas. But in reality, it’s an opportunity to build a dynamic team of workers that brings an unparalleled breadth of experience and talents to the workplace.

To use a sports analogy, it’s much like coaching a team that’s a blend of talented rookies, reliable superstars, and wise veterans. The coaches who can coax the best performances from these teammates stand the best chances of coaching a winner. But first we need to understand some of the differences and strengths of the team.

Crossing the Generational Divide

The totality of our experiences as human beings is what shapes us as individuals. Factors such as our gender, socioeconomic level, ethnicity, and education all play a part in how we see and relate to the world around us. But one of the most distinguishing factors that shape our perceptions (and behaviors) is connected to when we were born and grew up.

These experiences that we shared with our peers while growing up in a particular era— historical, cultural, and social—have shaped our viewpoints and perceptions in ways both subtle and profound. The author of the seminal work in this area, Morris Massey, wrote, “What you are is where you were when.” He contrasted the differences between generations by focusing on the significant emotional events that influenced them during their “coming of age years” (Massey 1979).

It’s important to at least touch on the broader distinguishing characteristics of the cultural differences among the four generations now in the workplace. This will give us a better handle on how to manage the four generations. And these generations—matures, boomers, Generation Xers, and millennials (also called Generation Y)—can each pose different challenges for those charged with leading and managing them.

The mature, or silent, generation, born between 1925 and 1945, displays a loyalty to the company that places duty before pleasure. These are the folks who survived the Great Depression and fought World War II. They are often seen as traditionalists for whom nothing is impossible. They would prefer to retire after 35 years of service with the same organization.

Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, have been described as workaholics who have a love/hate relationship with authority. They have been known for being both idealistic and optimistic, particularly with their goal of changing the world of work. They exhibited endurance for long hours at work. Many expected to retire from the organization that first hired them.

Gen Xers, the MTV generation, came into the world between 1965 and 1979. They often demonstrate independence and a strong orientation toward results but are also sometimes known for their skepticism. They are above all pragmatic workers who like to get things done.

The millennials (or Generation Y) were born between 1980 and 1999. They grew up in a time of economic expansion and unprecedented prosperity and, until recently, they have not experienced a downturn. This generation has perhaps seen more “where were you” events at an earlier age than most members of previous generations, such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine shootings, and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Exposure to these events through 24-hour media has brought the world to them instantaneously. This is a techno-savvy generation for whom multitasking is second nature. They are supremely confident and possess high expectations for their own success.

Without overgeneralizing, it’s easy to see why individuals from different generations might approach a task or a problem with contrasting perceptions and expectations. The savvy leader must take these differences into consideration when developing strategies to lead and manage a workforce composed of four different generations.

The Leadership Juggling Act

As leaders, we can’t afford to forget that we are invariably leading individuals, not archetypes. Our employees, no matter what their generation, still possess unique talents, individual needs, and varying weaknesses.

Though it’s important to consider how their generation may be influencing their thoughts and actions, we need to remember that they’re not all cut from the same generational cloth. We also need to take into consideration their individual career aspirations, intelligence, training, skills, and desires.

To lead a multigenerational workforce, traditional and widely accepted theories of motivation and performance management have as much relevance as our understanding of an individual’s history. Besides, good management is simply good management, whether your employees are matures, boomers, Gen Xers, or millennials. If anything, our reflecting on generational differences underscores just how important sound management techniques are to our organizational success. And the payoff for building a diverse team is always the same: shared success along with personal satisfaction, whether that satisfaction belongs to the leader, the employee or, ideally, both.

Generations in the Workplace

What does each of the generations expect from a job? How do they characteristically adapt themselves to the organization? What motivates them? What frustrates them? These are just a few of the questions that can tell us a lot about how to lead across different generations.

With the growing presence of millennials in the worldwide workplace—by 2014, there will be more than 58 million millennials employed in various U.S. organizations alone—many of the differences and contrasts between them and previous generations are becoming more apparent.

The World War II generation, the matures, grew up in an era when authority was respected. The boss was “the boss,” and he (for it was usually a he) was seldom questioned. As employees, the matures are thought of as hard working, dependable, and loyal. For them the workplace should be well structured, with clear rules for all.

The generation that followed, the baby boomers, came of age in an era of social unrest and are often thought of as challenging authority, although most weren’t involved in marches or protests. But upon entering the workplace, the boomers did indeed challenge many of the rules and looked for new ways to get things done. This generation saw employment as an opportunity for self-fulfillment and accomplishment. They expected to play a meaningful role in the workplace, and they worked long and hard to attain this role.

The first group of boomer offspring was the Gen Xers. They came along at a time when the economy was expanding and grew up in an era that saw the beginnings of the technology boom. But they arrived in the workplace during an economic downturn and saw many of their parents lose jobs and careers to downsizing and restructuring. Instead of following the all-or-nothing approach to career management, they sought to achieve a greater work/ life balance. Some have seen in this generation a tendency toward cynicism, but they are in reality just pragmatic.

The second group of boomer offspring—the millennials—has its own workplace expectations. (Remember, boomers spanned a lot of childbearing years.) Millennials, too, saw many of their parents lose jobs and, like the Gen Xers before them, had to deal with an escalating divorce rate. But they received lots of positive feedback from their parents and teachers. They’re goal-focused, anxious to learn, and skilled at collaboration. As they enter the workforce, they’ll be seeking opportunities commensurate with their image of themselves (economic opportunities notwithstanding).

Leaders need to begin adapting their techniques and approaches to managing each generation somewhat differently when it comes to learning, development and coaching, communication, and feedback and team building.

Learning, Development, and Coaching Across the Generations

One of the most critical tasks for every manager is to make sure that his or her employees are appropriately trained and developed for their current and future roles. Effective learning and development also requires that managers coach employees to keep improving their performance, which is really the principle means by which most organizations achieve their goals. But over the years, the methods and strategies managers have used to train and coach their people have been evolving.

The concept of training and coaching employees for improved performance became popular around the World War II era. The need for systematic skills training became obvious as thousands of new employees (including women) began joining the workforce for the first time. That’s when the role of supervisor began to evolve from the concept of “boss” to teacher. But, over the years, it also became apparent that to be effective, supervisors had to tailor their training to the unique needs of each individual. Thus the supervisor’s role has evolved to that of coach.

Today, with multiple generations working side by side, it’s more critical than ever for leaders to tailor their approach to the unique needs of each individual:

• Matures: Members of this generation are obviously experienced and may only require training in new procedures or technologies. Traditionally, this group tends to see the value of learning and development in terms of how it benefits the organization, so supervisors should explain to matures how learning new skills contributes to the success of the company.
• Boomers: By the time they began joining the workforce in the late 1960s, formalized training had become commonplace. Boomers tend to see training and development as good for organizational goals but also critical to their career advancement.
• Gen Xers: Technology was becoming widespread when Gen Xers began entering the workforce, so their familiarity with computers and cell phones gave them a bit of a head start. Gen Xers tend to see training first as a means for enhancing their skills and marketability, in addition to the benefits it provides to the organization.
• Millennials: The members of the youngest generation are new to organizational life, so they may not know what they don’t know. But with their high confidence level and technological savvy, they should be able to learn quickly. Like the generation before them, they will most likely see training as a way to enhance their inevitable career advancement but may also need to be shown how their growth fits into the corporate mission. Their technological savvy presents great “reverse mentoring” opportunities for millennials to coach other generations on technological advances in addition to their being mentored by more tenured managers in leadership development.

The millennial generation may also challenge leaders in one other way. Corporate learning and development professionals have always been on the leading edge of educational technology, including multimedia, e-learning, avatars, wikis, and Internet-based conferencing. But millennial employees will no doubt push the technological envelope even further. They’re so quick to adapt to new technologies that they’ve been driving the fastest-growing technologies on the web—social networking. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other social networking innovations are already being integrated into business operations by today’s more leading-edge organizations, so leaders looking to expand their employees’ skills and knowledge need to leverage these tools.

However, training alone isn’t usually sufficient to help individuals and organizations achieve their goals. Leaders also need to give feedback that can help employees overcome deficiencies, minimize mistakes, and generally improve performance. Individuals may be motivated by many different needs, but the common denominator across the generations is success. Show your employees how they can become more successful and they will become highly motivated. The only differences between the generations may be in how each group tends to define success.

Despite some of the differences in how you may approach each generation to provide coaching and feedback, the fundamentals of giving feedback always remain the same:

• Set clear, measurable, achievable goals: To improve performance, you must make sure the employee understands exactly what needs to be done, and you need to set a target date for accomplishment. At the same time, be sure to set a concrete standard for how you both will agree that the goals have been achieved (measurement).
• Connect your goals to your organization’s mission: The members of each generation are exactly alike in one important way: They each need to see how their efforts contribute to the big picture. It’s surprising how easily people can lose sight of your common goals and the organization’s mission. When they understand their role in the organization’s success, it raises their accountability.
• Provide recognition and reinforcement on met goals: Never assume your employees understand when they’ve been successful. Even if they know they’ve succeeded, they still need to hear it from you.
• Provide corrective feedback on missed goals and problem behaviors: No one likes to be the bearer of bad news, but when your employees fall short on performance, it’s your job to let them know that. This is the secret to turning problems into good performance. It starts with well-thought-out feedback.
• Set expectations for continuing success: The best way for your employees to keep improving is to understand that you and the organization are expecting improvement. Set the standards for them and they will keep striving to improve. But allow them to believe that no one cares (or is even noticing) and they will slip.

Recognize that while the strategies are consistent across generations, your attention and personal touch are the lubrication that makes coaching roll smoothly.

Communicating Across the Generations

When guiding multiple generations, leaders must be prepared to raise communication to an art form. Good communication is an almost universal standard for all organizations and spans the generational divides. Employees at every level and from each generation need to understand the “big picture.” They want to know what the organizational mission is and how they are expected to contribute to it. This need is the same, no matter where they sit in the organization.

However, one thing that clearly distinguishes the experience of one generation from that of another is the type of communication they had available to them when they first entered the workforce.

In the case of matures, they came of age in an era where the tools of communication were pretty much relegated to the telephone and written communications, such as letters and memos. When you wanted something to be made official, you told someone to “put it in writing.”

But a revolution in organizational communication arose not long after the boomers started taking their places at work. The advent of email communication meant the inevitable demise of paper communications, both inside and outside the company. Written communication was now as instant as speaking on the phone. At the same time, the advent of voicemail meant that phone messages could be stored, replayed, and eventually time-shifted.

Generation X, possessing a higher comfort level with technology, took to email and voice-mail even more quickly than their parents. But the advent of cell phones and portable computers also meant they were no longer tied to the office. Their “desk” was wherever there was an electrical outlet or a car lighter.

But millennials, even more than their older siblings, have grown up with technology. They’ve come to prefer instantaneous communication technologies, such as text messaging and Twitter. They even use social networking sites such as Facebook as a means of real-time communication.

So, over the past half century or so, office communications have become both more immediate and less personal. This technological trade-off means that many members of later generations have less patience with traditional communications, preferring more immediate contact. At this juncture, it’s too soon to say how these technologies will change how managers communicate with employees. Organizations are already experimenting with using Twitter as a tool to communicate with customers and build brand loyalty. How long will it be before organizations regularly use these technologies for employee recruitment, onboarding, and many other tasks?

Clearly managers can take advantage of these technologies to keep everyone on the same page. However, there will still be an ongoing need for face-to-face communication, including meetings, to solve problems, share the organizational vision, and explain how it relates to each individual. However, we should mention briefly that your face-to-face communication may need to be framed somewhat differently for members of each generation:

• To communicate effectively with matures, you may need to frame feedback or inquiries with something like “Your experience is an important asset for the organization. To help your team succeed . . .”
• With boomers, the more effective approach may be to suggest “I value your work and I need your help to . . .”
• Xers may prefer to hear “We need your best thinking on this project . . .” n Millennials may respond well to something like “This is a chance for you to work with our best staff . . .”

Always remember that the big mistake is engaging in less rather than more communication. Failure to communicate costs corporations money because the mistakes, reworking, and time lost caused by miscommunication all lead to dollars lost.

Managing Intergenerational Conflict

No matter how carefully a leader tries to lead a multigenerational team, conflicts are inevitably bound to arise. Sometimes conflict arises out of simple personality differences. Sometimes it can stem from differences in expectations or perceptions.

Economic conditions can also cause cross-generational conflict. When jobs and careers are jeopardized, that uncertainty can lead employees to identify more with their generation and blame other generations for workplace problems and issues. When cutbacks do occur, if they must, few people want to be among the first to go, and the most recent employees may have a hard time seeing why their numbers should be the first called.

But it’s more common for conflicts to arise among the four generations because of differences in values, ambitions, views, mindsets, and demographics. For example, some sources of on-the-job conflict may include

• communication preferences
• definition of the workday
• flexible scheduling n promotional opportunities
• work/life balance.

To resolve intergenerational conflict, leaders should strive to do these things:

• Keep discussions focused on the facts: The source of the conflict should be dissected, not the nature of the personalities or generations involved.
• Find points of common agreement: Shared goals and problems are the best basis for getting conflicting parties to pull together.
• Be specific about the organization’s needs and goals: The big picture never gets old, primarily because people tend to lose sight of it so easily. Remind the parties how they fit into the big picture and how their efforts contribute to organizational goals.
• Acknowledge diverse viewpoints: Opinions may not always be shared, but they need to be respected. When you acknowledge the validity of each party’s viewpoint, you make it easier for them to shift position, or at least to agree to compromise.
• Solicit changes that all parties can agree to (no matter how small): Small concessions are often the building blocks of larger agreements.

Resolving conflicts across the generations may require more patience than average (and more flexibility), but it’s well worth the extra effort. Despite obvious differences in background and orientation, multiple generations can function together very effectively in the workplace.

Building a Generationally Diverse Team

There really isn’t a special secret to building a team comprising members from different generations. The same requirements for effective teamwork still apply, whether the team is homogeneous or heterogeneous. Teams must recognize common goals, develop a practical approach to solving common problems, and understand how to take advantage of differences.

Homogeneous teams may be faster to come up with solutions because of their tendency to think and work alike. But heterogeneous teams are better positioned to come up with complex and highly creative solutions because of the synergy that grows out of differences. In this sense, a team composed of matures, boomers, Xers, and millennials may have a harder time getting started but could really be impressive at the end of the day. To build effective cross-generational teams, leaders need to

• Clearly define all members’ roles and expectations.
• Take into account the background, experience, and skill sets of each member when assigning roles and tasks.
• Clarify productive styles of confrontation and ways to resolve conflict for team members.
• Promote shared leadership.
• Clarify the meaning of consensus.
• Guide the team toward a consensus on the team’s mission and goals.
• Establish benchmarks for success.
• Celebrate team victories.

A well-functioning team isn’t necessarily built on generational differences and similarities. You may well find more general agreement among team members that you expected. But don’t be afraid to challenge the members of your team to move out of their comfort zones and challenge new ways of thinking to help the team succeed.

Preparing for Leadership Transitions

More and more members of the mature generation will be heading into retirement within the next few years, even at the most senior levels of organizations. In addition, the leading edge of the baby boomer generation is rapidly reaching retirement age (though we’ll have to see whether they can afford to retire—or even want to).

These shifts will affect not merely the generations in question, but will also reach down into the lower levels of your organization to also affect Gen Xers and millennials. The time to begin succession planning and the transition of leadership from one generation to the next is now. The oldest members of Generation X are quickly reaching the usual age of ascendancy in business.

At the same time that the members of Generation X are preparing for promotion to higher management levels, the millennials are arriving with a very high set of expectations. Whether you think it’s appropriate or not, they won’t be waiting long to ask for job advancement and promotion opportunities. But this isn’t really surprising.

One of the biggest complaints about millennials is that they possess a sense of entitlement (if not actual arrogance). We have to remember that this generation, far more than that of their predecessors, grew up in an atmosphere of positive feedback, rewards, recognition, and praise. They were told all through their childhoods that they were talented and “special,” and likewise they’ve been taught to expect a lot of themselves.

In contrast, the members of each preceding generation grew up in a competitive atmosphere where they were expected to start on the bottom rung and work their way up the ladder. Training was somewhat rare, and more often than not the matures, boomers, and Xers were expected to sink or swim.

So when millennials show up in your organization asking when they can expect to be promoted, you shouldn’t be surprised. You also shouldn’t be discouraging.

Very real labor shortages are expected due to Boomer retirement and a smaller Gen X labor pool. Your job will be to make sure that your current Gen Xers and Millennials are ready to climb up to that next rung of the ladder.

Within your organization, you’re going to have to look at the managers and supervisors you presently have in key positions and determine whether you have the bench strength to fill those spots when vacancies occur. In the meantime, here are several strategies you can begin to employ to prepare your managerial staff for greater responsibilities:

• Take advantage of your matures and boomers before it’s too late: Schedule cross-training and job enrichment opportunities for younger employees that include matures and boomers. Create learning opportunities, such as mentorships, that can facilitate the transfer of practical knowledge.
• Assess your employees: Use objective assessment tools that identify top performers in your organization and base hiring, development, and promotional decisions on assessment results.
• Be creative about promotions: If actual management promotions are scarce for your senior employees, consider giving them team leadership opportunities.
• Begin to groom your Xers: Look for both in-company and outside classes on management skills. Assign special projects to provide development opportunities.
• Create career paths for your younger employees: Develop a formal career path for your Millennials. Show them the stepping-stones leading to introductory and higher management opportunities. Provide them with ongoing orientation to the organization and try to give them communication and entry-level training opportunities.
• Conduct regular developmental reviews for each individual: Set goals and benchmarks, and track progress together. Clarify how accomplishing their personal goals can contribute to the organization as a whole, creating a path for their future.

By taking these kinds of steps now, you can ensure that your organization will have the requisite management depth to provide staffing and meet future challenges.

A Final Word—or “Leading Across the Generalizations”

On the basis of the reactions to the book I recently coauthored—Keeping the Millennials: Why Companies Are Losing Billions in Turnover to This Generation and What to Do About It—not everyone typifies the same generational traits. Leaders need to remember that their employees are individuals first and members of a generation second. Not all generational characteristics apply to every employee of a certain age. Boomers and matures, to take another case, also share many common characteristics because they lived extensively through the same time period.

And now we find that in addition to showing many similarities to their boomer parents, many millennials also share a common affection for technology with Gen Xers.

Always recognize that understanding more about your employees will make you more effective as a leader. Use generational influences and tendencies as a means to gaining insight to employee needs, and take time to discover the unique strengths, talents, and contributions that each employee brings to your organization.

Further Reading

Warren Bennis, Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2002.

Marshall Goldsmith, Succession: Are You Ready? (Memo to the CEO). Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2009.

Neil Howe and William Strause, Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

Morris Massey, The People Puzzle: Understanding Yourself and Others. Reston, VA: Reston Press, 1979.

Joanne Sujansky and Jan Ferri-Reed, Keeping the Millennials: Why Companies Are Losing Billions in Turnover to This Generation and What to Do About It. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Reference

Massey, Morris. 1979. The People Puzzle: Understanding Yourself and Others. Reston, VA: Reston Press.

About the Author

Joanne G. Sujansky died shortly after completing this chapter at the end of 2009. She was a certified speaking professional, and the founder and CEO of KEYGroup. She worked with leaders to create exciting workplaces to attract, retain, and get the most from their talent. As a consultant and speaker with more than 25 years of experience, her many clients included American Express, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Mayo Clinic. She was called upon by such publications as Time, Forbes, and USA Today to provide leadership expertise. She was the author of 12 books and the coauthor of the best-selling book Keeping the Millennials: Why Companies Are Losing Billions in Turnover to This Generation and What to Do About It (John Wiley & Sons, 2009). She will be missed by her colleagues and clients.