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Working Well With Others: When Boomers Face off with Millenials
Boomers facing off with the Gen Y set: possibly the most challenging relationship dynamic in today’s workplace
By: Diane Cobbold
Q: I often have trouble communicating with my manager. I am 26 and have been with the company for almost a year. My manager has been with the company for 25 years. There seems to be something of a disconnect preventing us from communicating effectively. What is your advice for making the relationship better?
A: The brick wall you’re banging your head against is one faced by many in the “Gen Y” generation.
Do some reading. There’s no shortage of research on generational divides in the workforce. Almost every company is dealing with how to effectively manage employees from the four commonly accepted generational divides: Veterans/traditionalists, baby boomers, Generation Xers and Generation Yers (a.k.a “Millennials).
When someone’s generational persona doesn’t align with your own, you may feel you’re talking to someone from a different planet. The way they see things may be completely alien, their values intrinsically different.
Your manager’s 25 years of service means you are likely dealing with a baby boomer. This is the largest bloc in the workforce (for now), and majority rule gives often them the luxury of defining the status quo of office life.
It’s therefore not unexpected that you may be encountering difficulty communicating with your boss; the boomer perspective and life experience simply doesn’t compute.
Many studies have concluded the boomer-Generation Y workplace relationship can be among the most challenging gulf among all the four groups listed above.
Regardless, it’s important to respect each other’s viewpoint. Instead of getting frustrated, try to meet co-workers halfway. Understanding these differences can help you to leverage the qualities that each workforce generation brings to the table.
It won’t be easy. Many attitudes are based on hard-wired values that can’t easily be reprogrammed. Remember, in terms of rebuilding the relationship with your manager, it’s never as simple as one approach being right and the other one wrong.
Take time to understand your manager. Review what your manager identified as the key strategies, needs, or expectations for the department.
As you’re a Gen-Yer, you need to understand where your boomer manager is coming from. While differences will always exist among the generations, studies have identified common traits for each group that can help you to relate.
It’s not hard to see that some of the basic characteristics between these groups are in conflict. If your manager has you working on a project there may be no hesitation in your ability to do the job, so maybe it’s something else.
Remember, while it may be in your nature to quickly produce results, provide innovative options and introduce new tools, take a minute and reflect. Your manager will likely want and need your careful analysis. Outline how your decisions were made and show them the effort and hard work that went into your findings.
To a Gen Y peer, this may be too much detail, but it may be exactly what your boomer manager needs. If you’re ever unsure – ask. Find out if your manager expects weekly updates on the work you’re doing. And don’t assume an update means a quick email. Ask and get clarification. If you’re assigned a project, at the outset determine what your manager will need to see through the course of the project and what detail, or supporting documentation, is expected.
Trying to understand your manager is an important step. With workforce generational issues are rampant in many organizations, it will be an ongoing struggle. Above all, be aware of how you’re perceived and use your strengths to complement your manager and team.
You may not identify with all of them, but these are some of the common characteristics from the two groups:
BOOMERS TEND TO:
• Believe in hard work and long hours.
• Make personal sacrifices to get ahead.
• Strive for success, even to the detriment of family/personal life.
• Have grown up with a workforce hierarchy.
• Follow the rules, respect authority.
• Wait for opportunities to be created, or to be identified for new roles/projects.
• Seek monetary rewards – title, authority, money, recognition.
• Expect dedication and loyalty from their team.
GEN-YERS TEND TO:
• Want a balanced work/play lifestyle.
• Technologically adept.
• Confident, ambitious and achievement oriented.
• Team-focused.
• Socially plugged-in/networked.
• Wants to make an immediate personal impact. Then, “What next?”
• Expects continual praise and recognition.
• Highly educated, craves knowledge, challenges status quo, asks lots of questions.
• Needs to feel valued and have purpose in company and society. Global-consciousness.
Diane Cobbold is a senior career coach with Careego.com, a division of Knightsbridge Human Capital Management.
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