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According to experts, Matures and Baby Boomers live to work. Their self-identity comes in large measure from their employment. They expect loyalty from their employer and expect to be long-term employees. The Matures expect an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. They expect strong leadership from their managers and prefer the status quo to change. Boomers, once they got through the sex, drugs and rock and roll phase,(on that part of my past I plead the 5th) are very hardworking, dedicated company men and women who also created the first generation of latch-key children. Boomers are big into team building, quality circles and participatory management. Generation X and Millennials work to live rather than live to work. They view employment as a contract rather than a long term mutual commitment. Generation Xers came home from school to empty houses. Their fathers and mothers were most probably either dual-career parents or divorced. Generation X is independent, and entrepreneurial. They prefer efficiency to group participation and resent it when organizational indecision negatively impacts their work. In contrast to their parents,Generation X places a high value on the work/personal life relationship, with work often in second place. They will sacrifice pay for more time off and are the first generation to come of age in a computer centric world. Millennials represent an even larger cohort than Boomers. They are the future workforce. They grew up in a high-tech world where the decision making process involved clicking through various “windows.” Gratification was instantaneous and multitasking was the norm. A job needs to be stimulating and fun and is something you do between weekends. Long range planning does not extend beyond tomorrow. Punctuality at work, can also be a big interference with their personal life. Millennials need to understand company rules on day one. On the positive side, this group is motivated and wants to make a difference in the world. They also willingly embrace diversity. Assume you are the superintendent at XYZ Country Club. You are a Boomer, very loyal to the club and a long time employee. Your assistant is an Xer with a consistently updated resume. He feels most meetings are a waste of time, is willing to share his opinions but wants decisions made on a timely bases. He also resents your “helpful” tendency to provide detailed instructions on how to do his job. Your equipment manager is a Mature and considers himself “old school.” He can’t figure out this younger generation and feels they have no loyalty. And finally, you have a couple of twenty-somethings who seem to spend half their time at work on their BlackBerry. They appear smart but don’t seem to have much common sense and their commitment to the job does not extend beyond today’s work assignment. Sound familiar??? How then do we deal with different generations and still get the job done? My advice:
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