Mixing and Managing Multiple Generations in the Workplace

Now that members of Generation Y are in the workforce, managers have the difficult task of managing four different generations of workers. If you want to be successful at workforce management, you must understand the strengths of each generational group and take advantage of those strengths when giving assignments or creating project teams. You must also be able to handle conflict between younger and older members of the workforce, as different generations have different priorities when it comes to their careers.

If your company employs workers from several different age groups, it is possible that you are responsible for supervising employees from the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomer Generation, Generation X, and Generation Y. When developing workforce management plans, you must understand the characteristics of each group so that you can play to workers' strengths and minimize any weaknesses. You must also recognize that there is a lot of diversity within each of these groups, as race, education, religion, work background, and economic class play a role in shaping workers' values. These values have the potential to affect business operations, so it is important that you understand them in detail.

Members of the Silent Generation tend to be loyal to their employers. Their values include hard work and respect for authority. Baby Boomers value material wealth and personal gratification. They also tend to be optimistic, which is a good thing for those charged with workforce management activities. Members of Generation X value their free time and place a great deal of emphasis on work-life balance. Millennials, or members of Generation Y, have traits of the other three generations. They are as tech-savvy as members of Generation X, but their work ethic is similar to that of Baby Boomers. This mix of traits makes a positive impact on the workplace, as evidenced by the results of a 2013 survey of best places to work in Australia. The top 50 companies on the survey have a majority of workers who are members of Generation Y.

Those with operations management or workforce management responsibilities must be able to manage these differing values and expectations. You must also be able to adjust your communication style to match the preferences of different types of workers. Members of the Silent Generation, for example, are indirect communicators. They are less likely to voice their concerns in direct terms, so you may have to interpret their body language, facial expressions, and hand gestures to determine what they really mean. Baby Boomers are sensitive to feedback, so you must develop a workforce management strategy that takes this trait into account. Members of Generation X and Generation Y are skilled users of technology, and members of both groups also value flexibility, so keep this in mind when giving assignments or developing compensation and benefits programs.

Having a mix of generations in the workforce is often a good thing, as different perspectives can spur creativity and help workers come up with new ideas based on their attitudes and values. Unfortunately, generational gaps can also cause conflict, so they must be managed properly. Any time you develop a new workforce management strategy, you must think about ways to manage workers of different generations and reduce the amount of conflict in your workplace.

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