Opinion |

Intergenerational workforce brings challenges, opportunities

Workplaces today are more diverse than ever. Mostly, we think of diversity in terms of gender or race or ethnicity, but for the first time in history, we have five generations on the job at the same time.

Pew Research Center has defined the generations this way: Generation Z, born between 2001 and 2020; millennials, born between 1981 and 2000; Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980; baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964; and the Silent Generation, born between 1925 and 1945.

This multigenerational reality makes sense. People are living longer — and for certain older Americans, work is an economic necessity. Some are staying in the workforce because they enjoy their jobs and want to continue contributing for as long as they can.

Think for a moment about the differences among our five generations. They’re significant: from different points of view and life experiences to different styles of working. It makes it easy to fall into the trap of stereotyping, which social scientists say we do because of a need to structure our social environment. Grouping people together, after all, is much more efficient than evaluating them separately. It gives us confidence in saying that boomers are technology averse, while millennials don’t like to work at all.

On Tuesday, the National Conflict Resolution Center hosted a conversation with an expert on leading intergenerational workforces, Dr. Megan Gerhardt, professor of management and leadership at the Farmer School of Business at Miami University and author of “Gentelligence: A Revolutionary Approach to Leading an Intergenerational Workforce.” The program was part of NCRC’s “Navigating the Uncharted” webinar series for workplace leaders.

Gerhardt noted that generation is just one layer of our multifaceted identities. Our gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, culture and where we grew up also matter, interacting to determine our individual perspectives and experiences.

In Gerhardt’s view, generational stereotyping is lazy. When we resort to it — painting generational differences through a negative lens and shaming or mocking others — we subvert performance. Employees become less engaged and teams become less cohesive. Intergenerational knowledge transfer suffers.

To Gerhardt, working across generations makes good business sense. Yet a 2020 Deloitte report found that just 6 percent of organizations “strongly agree” their leaders are equipped to lead an intergenerational workforce. It begins, she said, with recognizing that employees — regardless of age — have shared needs, including respect, connection, competence and autonomy.

But, Gerhardt pointed out, the way we fulfill our shared needs differs based on the experiences each of us had during our formative years. Gerhardt used respect as an example: Older workers keep their heads down, focusing on the task at hand (to gain respect), while younger workers are proactive in asking for what they want or need, which can look entitled to older generations. The problem, Gerhardt said, is when we judge a situation through our own lens.

At NCRC, we teach a course called “The ART of Inclusive Communication” that gives people the skills to successfully navigate their daily exchanges with diverse colleagues and customers.

Workplace leaders learn to leverage differences among their employees to achieve impact, rather than seeing them as barriers. When put into practice, the principles of ARTIC contribute to an environment where people feel supported. It makes them more likely to collaborate, not compete.

Gerhardt’s “Gentelligence” is built on similar principles. She suggested four practices to break down intergenerational tension and bias in the workplace.

1. Resist assumptions: Be cautious about relying on generational myths or stereotypes.

2. Adjust the lens: Work to identify the intent and interest behind the attitudes and actions of those from other generations.

3. Strengthen trust: Create a climate where employees of all ages believe their needs matter and their talents are well utilized.

4. Expand the pie: Replace perceptions of scarcity with ones of integration, growth and opportunity.

In an article called “What to Know When Five Generations Share an Office,” Charter columnist S. Mitra Kalita wrote about one assumption we tend to make: preferred communication styles.

She described the multiple ways to communicate as “chaotic,” adding, “We aren’t doing ourselves any favors by assigning entire generations a preferred mode of communication, versus understanding that, like all things, styles really vary individually. Without that nuance, misunderstandings can run rampant.”

But in a meeting with my team just after the webinar, there was no mistaking the generations.

In a sea of cellphones and laptops, I was the only person scrawling in a notebook, just as I’ve always done.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com