Generations Take 2

I wrote last time about some of the differences between generations, noting that these are mostly generalities that may or may not be true about your team members. What is true, though, is that there are some conflicts between generations that seem to crop up a lot. See if any of these sound familiar.

Young person: I want to make friends at work. Old guy: All this socializing wastes time.
Young person: Work should be more fun. Old gal: Stop screwing around!
Young person: I have an idea. Old guy: You haven’t been around long enough to have ideas.

These conflicts grow out of the different ways team members view work. The younger they are, the more likely they are to think the best work is done collaboratively, that work should be more than a drudge, and that everyone contributes equally.

Change has to happen with your older team members - the young ones will just leave if you ask them to sit down, be quiet and keep busy. Your Gen Xers and Baby Boomers need to be encouraged to get to know the new kids, ask their opinions, talk about the work, lighten up. It won’t be natural, but it’s necessary, because your younger team members have choices and the freedom to move.

Generations Take 1

I kind of want to call baloney on all the recent hype on the differences between generations, because your team members are people, not statistics. All the studies are data-crunching that yields some trends that may or may not be true of your people.

That said, there are some things that seem to be true more often than not. Younger employees are more social, more likely to use social media, and more concerned with knowing why. Older employees are more likely to be nose to the grindstone, and less happy about someone telling them what to do.

The lesson here: your employees all have different goals, and want different things from you and your organization. It’s your job to know each team member, know why they work, what they value, how to set them up for success, and what makes a good experience for them.

Yes, that means you have to spend time with them, you have to talk, you have to observe. But that’s what leaders do. We’re a long way past treating them all like identical cogs in the wheel. If you don’t want to put in the time, then you don’t really want to lead, you just want followers.