Intergenerational Relations in the Workplace

Last reviewed: February 2017

Abstract

The modern workplace is different from that of previous generations, but one striking change is the transition from a monogenerational to a multigenerational workforce. That is, while in the past an office might have contained employees from two generations—the younger staff occupying most of the positions and more senior employees in supervisory roles—today there are likely to be more generations represented, from the “greatest generation” and baby boomers to millennials, Gen Xers, Gen Yers, and Gen Zers. Each of these age groups sees the world differently, and helping them work well together and avoid miscommunications can be challenging.

Overview

The contemporary workforce is more diverse in terms of age groups than at any period in history. A number of factors have driven this change. For one, advances in health care and nutrition are helping more people to live longer and healthier lives and to remain in robust enough condition to continue working well past the usual age of retirement. Technological advances have also done much to transform the character of many occupations, with the trend being a reduction in physically demanding labor and an increase in knowledge-based or service work, which is less taxing and therefore doable by older workers.

Finally, many people are choosing to continue working rather than to retire, due either to their strong connection to their coworkers and their projects or to economic necessity, as people nearing retirement age continue to discover that inflation and the cost of living have far outpaced their retirement savings. All of these factors have interacted to bring together workers from vastly different generations, rather than having the older generation gradually be replaced by younger workers. The younger generations have complained that part of the reason it has been more difficult to start their careers after completing their education is that there are fewer jobs available, as older workers are staying in their positions instead of retiring (Sánchez, Díaz, Sáez & Pinazo, 2014).

New workplace dynamics have also made it challenging to navigate office environments. In the past, it was common for a person to stay with one employer for their entire career, and to gradually move upward in the company hierarchy to attain positions with greater responsibility and requiring more advanced knowledge. Workers today face a much different environment, where on average a person can expect to change jobs more than a dozen times in the course of a career, often moving from one firm to another, up and down the hierarchy.

Fields such as information technology have such rapid change that older workers can find their skills quickly go out of date, while much younger staff have greater familiarity with new hardware and software. This can lead to situations in which a person who is quite young has a role supervising much older staff. Situations like this tend to result in a feeling of disequilibrium for all parties involved, as the supervisor feels nervous about providing direction to those with more life experience, and the older employees sometimes resent being in a subordinate position to a younger person. Even in situations not involving a younger supervisor and an older subordinate, having so many different generations represented in the same office can be challenging for a variety of reasons (Rajput & Kochhar, 2015).

One potential source of friction between employees from different generations concerns work ethic, meaning the degree of importance one attributes to one’s work. While no generalization about a group is accurate when applied to every member of that group, there are some broadly identifiable trends that break down consistently by generation, and attitude toward work is one of these. Some generations feel that work is an extremely important activity, and that the quality of one’s output at work is a direct reflection upon one’s character and ability. Baby boomers are the best example of this view.

Other generations place less emphasis on work than they do on the need to maintain a balance between work and home life. This is not to say that they have a cavalier attitude toward their careers, but that they take the long view regarding productivity; they know that if they put work ahead of everything else for too long a time, then other aspects of their lives, such as their health and relationships, will suffer, and sooner or later this will interfere with their performance at work (Brink, Zondag & Crenshaw, 2015). Millennials are the group that most often comes to mind when this type of attitude toward work is discussed. Millennials often state that they have watched other groups, such as baby boomers, devote the best years of their lives to getting ahead professionally, while their personal lives are full of broken relationships, addiction, and other ills that millennials wish to avoid.

While these different viewpoints seem perfectly sensible in the abstract, they can frequently come into conflict in the workplace, when millennials leave work at the end of the day and baby boomers keep working, trying to get everything finished before they leave. It is easy for baby boomers to feel “put-upon” in this scenario, and to become upset with millennials’ lackadaisical (in the eyes of the baby boomers) attitude toward deadlines. Millennials will likely shrug off these accusations as mere pointless martyrdom by their elders, yet their resentment may remain (Stark & Farner, 2015).

Differences in communication style is an undercurrent that runs through many of the conflicts between generations in the modern workplace. Older generations tend to be more deliberate, thoughtful, and even elaborate in their communications, particularly when the message is in writing or sent via email. Younger groups, in contrast, are more likely to use short, succinct messages—it is no accident that the length of messages on Twitter, a messaging application that millennials have embraced, is set at a maximum of one hundred and forty characters. For those who are not accustomed to such brevity in a professional setting, receiving a message or reply this short can seem rude or even insulting, as if the person sending it does not want to take the time to draft a proper missive, or did not think that doing so would be a productive use of time (Riggs, 2013).

Younger generations, for their part, do not wish to insult anyone—their approach to office communication is to have briefer but more frequent interactions. They feel that drafting long messages that cover every facet of an issue, even those that may not be relevant, is a waste of their own time and would be a waste of the recipient’s time. Younger workers are used to having some form of instant messaging available everywhere they go, so it is easy for them to have an ongoing stream of brief exchanges. Older workers think of communication as something that should be comprehensive, informed, and infrequent; they will often check and respond to their email only once a day, leaving coworkers who are constantly connected to wonder about the reason for the delayed response (Dixon, Mercado & Knowles, 2013).

Further Insights. As is often the case with diverse work groups, one of the best approaches for coaxing workers from different generations into cooperating with one another is to try to find ways to draw upon the strengths of each person while improving the flow of communication between members. One way of doing this is to try to make the unspoken, spoken—to bring to everyone’s attention the differences between groups so that they can be a source of expanded awareness rather than the basis for mistaken assumptions about others’ thoughts and intentions.

Some organizations do this by bringing in outside speakers or trainers to discuss generational differences. During these activities it is important that particular groups are not singled out and made to feel different or defective; this can happen intentionally or through oversight, as in the case of an office in which everyone is Gen X except for one baby boomer. Showing a video to this group about how to get along with older coworkers could make the lone baby-boomer uncomfortable (Yi, Ribbens, Fu & Cheng, 2015).

In addition to raising group awareness, it is important for managers in generationally diverse departments to be willing to bear the burden of adapting, and helping others to adapt, to the different communication styles and expectations in the office. What does not work is to expect everyone to follow the same model of interaction, all of the time. Doing this would be akin to an office with staff from many different age groups deciding to eliminate email and paper-based communication, and instead to rely solely on instant-messaging software and text messages. This approach would work well for some people and some projects, but would be inappropriate for others.

Sooner or later people would begin to find workarounds for the policy by adopting alternative, less predictable forms of communication. Instead, the best way to proceed is to get to know each employee and determine their preferences regarding communication and other aspects of personal style. Then, the manager can adapt his or her style to the needs of employees as needed. Staff that require closer supervision, more feedback, and frequent praise—as millennials are often portrayed—can be given this extra attention, while those who prefer to work independently and remain self-sufficient (parts of the baby boomer personality) can be given extra latitude. This allows each employee to spend more of their time operating within their comfort zone, which usually increases the likelihood of them having the patience and internal resources needed to handle everyday stress and the effort required to accommodate demands from members of different age groups.

Issues

Much of what has been written in the professional literature about generational differences and how to overcome them is limited in its depth of insight and in the number of situations in which it can potentially be applied. This is because it is easy for research in this area to fall into the trap of repeating old stereotypes rather than testing the assumptions upon which they are based. Such studies will usually recite a list of generations and elaborate upon the faults and virtues of each one: Baby boomers are hardworking but self-centered, Gen Xers are cynical but insightful, millennials are technologically adept but require constant support and reinforcement, and so on. As is the case with many other stereotypes, these contain a grain of truth that applies to some, or even many, members of the group in question, but perhaps not in the way or to the degree one might expect.

It is important to consider this information but remain skeptical. This is because the classic profiles of each generation encapsulate a variety of behaviors, assumptions, and experiences that individual members of that group may or may not possess. There are, for example, many baby boomers who are selfless, millennials who are full of confidence and independence, and even Gen Xers who are idealistic. Instead of relying on generational stereotypes in the hope that they have some predictive value and can help one understand what to expect from different kinds of employees, it is better to think of these age-based profiles as possible insights into behavior, or even default approaches to situations that people from a particular generation may adopt when caught off guard or otherwise preoccupied (Ma, Hu & Goclowska, 2016).

Moving forward, the trend toward greater age diversity in the workplace is expected to continue or to expand in scope. One factor that is likely to complicate this progress is globalization, with its integration of technology into a workforce that increasingly is working remotely rather than in the same office. When coworkers can interact with one another face to face at least part of the time, their chances of misunderstanding one another usually decrease, because the in-person interaction allows each of them to gauge the other’s mood and disposition. Globalization, however, has helped to create a workplace that is distributed across the world—collaborators on a long-term project may never have met each other except in online meetings, and may be in different time zones and forced to communicate via email and other forms of asynchronous communication that create more opportunities for confusion, resentment, and misunderstandings (Singh, 2014).

Instead of understanding that a new coworker in a distant country is from an older generation and tends to avoid email, an employee may assume that the coworker is disengaged and apathetic toward a project since he or she communicates about it only infrequently. Globalization opens up many new opportunities and makes it possible for diverse groups to pool their talents without regard to geographical distance. But this can be a double-edged sword if care is not taken to familiarize staff with one another and to train every member of the organization in how to constructively interact with diverse colleagues. For all of the attention that has been given to diversity training in recent decades, it remains all too easy to forget that age is also a variable in the diversity equation. Just as there is an expectation that employees from different races, genders, sexual orientations, and other categories will be treated in a nondiscriminatory fashion, it should also be understood that age is not a one-size-fits-all characteristic in the modern workforce (Mencl & Lester, 2014).

Terms & Concepts

Baby Boomers: Baby boomers make up the generation born immediately after the conclusion of World War II, when soldiers came home from fighting and settled down to start families, and through the year 1964. This generation is known for being larger than previous or subsequent cohorts, and for being exceptionally dedicated to work and career interests, sometimes to the exclusion of other important aspects of life.

Gen X: Gen X is the name given to the generation that followed the baby boomers, because its character was deemed difficult to predict or understand.

Gen Y: Gen Y is another term used to describe millennials. They are called Gen “Y” because they came after Gen X (and the letter Y follows the letter X in the alphabet).

Gen Z: Gen Z is the name used to refer to people born after the year 2000. Because this group is still quite young, little is known about their character, preferences, and so forth.

Greatest Generation: The greatest generation, also termed the GI generation, was born in the early part of the twentieth century and therefore lived through the Great Depression and World War II. They are praised for their selflessness and their historic accomplishments.

Millennials: Millennials are those born between 1980 and 2000. They have acquired a mixed reputation, and are stereotyped as both idealistic and somewhat entitled or self-centered.

Bibliography

Brink, K. E., Zondag, M. M., & Crenshaw, J. L. (2015). Generation is a culture construct. Industrial & Organizational Psychology, 8(3), 335–340.

Dixon, G., Mercado, A., & Knowles, B. (2013). Followers and generations in the workplace. Engineering Management Journal, 25(4), 62–72.

Ma, J., Hu, Z., & Goclowska, M. A. (2016). Cultural orientation in China: Differences across five generations of employees. Social Behavior and Personality, (4), 529. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=115452448&site=ehost-live

Mencl, J., & Lester, S. W. (2014). More alike than different: What generations value and how the values affect employee workplace perceptions. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 21(3), 257–272.

Rajput, N., & Kochhar, R. (2015). Company values across generations: an empirical study of academic institutions. Abhigyan, (4), 51.

Riggs, C. J. (2013). Multiple generations in the nursing workplace: Part I. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 44(3), 105–106.

Sánchez, M., Díaz, P., Sáez, J., & Pinazo, S. (2014). The professional profile of intergenerational program managers: General and specific characteristics. Educational Gerontology, 40(6), 427.

Singh, V. (2014). “We are not phobic but selective”: The older generation’s attitude towards using technology in workplace communications. Development & Learning in Organizations, 28(4), 18.

Stark, E., & Farner, S. (2015). Intergenerational Warfare in the U.S. Workplace, or Nothing More Than Growing Pains? SAM Advanced Management Journal, 80(1), 4–11.

Starks, A. D. (2013). The forthcoming generational workforce transition and rethinking organizational knowledge transfer. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 11(3), 223–237. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=90134762&site=ehost-live

Yi, X., Ribbens, B., Fu, L., & Cheng, W. (2015). Variation in career and workplace attitudes by generation, gender, and culture differences in career perceptions in the United States and China. Employee Relations, 37(1), 66–82. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=100316167&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Bjursell, C. (2015). Organizing for intergenerational learning and knowledge sharing. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 13(4), 285–301. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=111902608&site=ehost-live

Greenwood, H. H. (2013). Generating intergenerational workplace discussions among human service professionals. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 11(3), 320–323. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=90134754&site=ehost-live

Holian, R. (2015). Work, career, age and life-stage: Assumptions and preferences of a multigenerational workforce. Labour & Industry, 25(4), 278–292. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=112174240&site=ehost-live

Lyons, S. T., Schweitzer, L., & Ng, E. S. (2015). How have careers changed? An investigation of changing career patterns across four generations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30(1), 8.

Nováčková, E. E. (2016). Effects of intergenerational learning in a small manufacturing company. Studia Paedagogica, 21(2), 117–130.

Ropes, D. (2013). Intergenerational learning in organizations. European Journal of Training & Development, 37(8), 713.

Wiedmer, T. (2015). Generations do differ: Best practices in leading traditionalists, boomers, and generations X, Y, and Z. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 82(1), 51–58.