The generational culture clash

By Cynthia Lee

Talk about workplace conflict.

Julie, a baby boomer, has just completed her 14th year in the same UCLA department where Justin, a generation-Xer, is working under her supervision. While she likes the formality and structure meetings provide, Justin, who likes to work independently, can't understand why she requires him to attend so many meetings when, in his view, an e-mail exchange could accomplish the same thing.

Meanwhile, Parker, a new employee and a millennial, likes to go to Julie's meetings because it makes him feel part of the team. Constantly looking for direction and feedback, he thinks it's likely to help him get that promotion he hopes will come in six months.

Unrealistic expectations collide with contrasting work styles?

It's a situation that's cropping up in many an American workplace where employees are looking at a yawning generational gap among traditionalists (born 1925-1943), baby boomers (1944-1962), generation-Xers (1963-1981) and millennials (1982-2000).

To help coworkers understand why such differences in values and attitudes exist in the multi-generational workplace, Annika Hylmő, a consultant with a Ph.D. in organizational communications, is guiding organizations through the generational shifts that are occurring. The UCLA Staff and Faculty Counseling Center invited her to speak to employees at NPI Auditorium last spring.

While everyone will not fit into one category, especially people who are born on the cusp, problems of generational conflict are pretty common, said Hylmő, who offers training and workplace assessments to bridge the gaps that exist when people of different generations work side by side.

"Everybody's looking around and asking, 'Why can't they just be more like me?'" she observed. In part, it's because of the historical and societal influences that have shaped each succeeding generation, she said. To help, she gives a cross-cultural guide to those "other" generations:

The traditionalists (born 1925-1943)

Traditionalists, for example, lived through the Great Depression and the New Deal, World War II, the Korean War, the GI Bill, the golden age of radio and the silver screen, and the rise of labor unions.

At 55 million strong, this cohort has a huge knowledge base, she said. "A lot of them are still working, not necessarily full time." As employees, they are very loyal, work hard and expect delayed rewards after putting in years at a company. "They're the gold-watch generation," she explained.

The boomers (1944-1962)

Financially conservative and authoritative, traditionalists are followed by the largest cohort in U.S. history, the baby boomers, at 80 million strong. Influenced by the Vietnam War, the Kennedy and King assassinations, women's and civil rights, the dawn of television, credit cards and rock 'n' roll, boomers grew up competing against each other for what they wanted. They are motivated by money and prestige.

"They're very politically savvy. They're strong in building projects and creating things," she said. "They value their professional identity," a trait that explains why many boomers will continue working part time even after they retire. "They're a very optimistic generation. To them, death is optional. There's a pill – or a little bit of Botox -- for everything. They're the biggest purchasers of Harley Davidson motorcycles."

To them, holding regular meetings – and professional attire -- is important. They feel, "I am playing an important role that I've worked hard for, and I deserve it."

The gen-Xers (1963-1981)

In 1962, the birth control pill became available, she said, ushering in family planning and the next generation of only 46 million people, the gen-Xers.

"Baby boomers went to the moon and back; gen-Xers had the Challenger explosion. Baby boomers had free love; gen-Xers got AIDS."

While boomers benefited careerwise from corporate expansion and a wealth of opportunity, gen-Xers came of age sandwiched between two major recessions and saw corporate downsizing. They watched their parents lose their jobs and learned that a college degree didn't necessarily come with a job guarantee.

Gen-Xers also grew up at a time when divorce rates tripled. "This was the generation, with microwaves, that had to take care of themselves. … They were latchkey kids who had to figure things out for themselves," she said.

That explains why they are resourceful and independent-minded. It also explains why they feel frustrated "if you put too many boundaries around them," Hylmő said.

"While boomers added an entire month's worth of work to the work year, gen-Xers are adding one hour a day to the time they spend with their families," she explained.

"They see a whole cohort of boomers ahead of them and realize, 'I'm not going to advance very quickly. I also know that I'm not going to be able to have the same kind of lifestyle my parents have because the economy is so different. So why should I spend all my time working?'"

Meetings are not important to them, "if there's no point to my being there," she said.

The millennials (1982-2000)

While the gen-Xers are adept technology users, millennials, at 75 million strong, see technology as totally integrated into their lives, as an extension of who they are: multitaskers capable of fluidly switching from instant messaging to online social networking to working at the computer.

Theirs was a world influenced by Desert Storm, IT and school violence, among other troubling trends.

Very optimistic and confident, they grew up being told they were great, getting grade-inflated A's and bringing home sports trophies and gold stars, regardless of their actual performance.

"The challenge we have now is that in the workplace, they're still expecting to hear this," in contrast to gen-Xers who can take negative feedback, she said. "We need to figure out how to provide feedback appropriate to the millennials, so that they can become what they really want to be – valued professionals in the workplace."

The millennials also want to get promoted fairly quickly. "They come in, and they want to know when they can get that corner office. They want it tomorrow. If they can't get it fast enough, they pack up and leave. There is a lot of turnover in that generation," Hylmő said.

Part of the problem, she said, is that "they don't necessarily know how to grow into what they need to become. They want to become professionals, but they can't see a clear path to get there. So they check out, move on and we lose them."

Bridging the generational gap

Hylmő offered some advice on how to deal with generational conflict:

• Ongoing mentoring is important to millennials. Pairing them with an older colleague, such as a traditionalist, is good strategy because millennials appreciate it and feel they have something positive to give back – their technological knowhow. Feedback several times a day and pats on the back let them know you value their contribution.

• Millennials, with their need for feedback, can easily frustrate gen-Xers. Giving gen-Xers more leadership training and allowing them to develop transferable skills will motivate them to stick around. That's important because as traditionalists and boomers move on, gen-Xers will need to take their place. Don't bring them to a meeting if they're really not needed there, she advised. "They enjoy autonomy and independence. They're good at working on a project and figuring things out. So let them do it. Their reward is results, not face time."

• At UCLA and other institutions rooted in a traditionalist culture, based on the many employees who have been worked there for decades, it's important that the younger generation of workers coming in understand the nature of the institution and how they can work with it, she said.

• Transparency is increasingly becoming key in an organization, especially for the younger generations. And that's a challenge for an organization that's used to privacy, secrecy and politics, she said. "We need to open up some of that. If we can't, then we need to explain why we can't to gen-Xers and millennials."