The weekly executive team meeting was winding down. Everyone was hoping to get out a bit early when Will asked, “Any new business?”

Maria started packing up her things when Dave Marx said, “Actually, I’ve got an issue I was hoping you guys could help with.”

Maria settled back into her seat, hoping it wouldn’t be a long conversation, but fearing that it probably would be.

Dave continued, “I was hoping you guys could offer some advice on how to manage workers from different generations.”

Maria poured herself a big cup of coffee. She now knew this was going to be a very long discussion.

Will asked, “What exactly do you mean, Dave?”

“I’ve been reading a lot about the generational differences in the workplace,” he said. I’ve got workers from across a broad spectrum of ages in my department and I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice on this new problem of how to manage people from the various generations.”

Everyone turned to look at Maria. She was glad that the executive team had started to view her as a good resource, but she really didn’t want to get involved in this particular minefield. But they were all looking at her, and she knew she would have to.

She thought a good place to start would be by asking a few questions.

“Dave, before we begin, can you tell me exactly what the problem is that we’re trying to solve here?”

Dave began, “I read somewhere…”

Uh-oh, Maria thought to herself. In her experience, very little good came from discussions that started with “I read somewhere.” She continued listening.

“I read somewhere that for the first time in history we have four different generations all working together in the workplace,” Dave said.

Maria nodded. “I’m aware of the problem,” she said. “First we’ve got the Silent Generation—people born between 1928 and 1945. Then there are the Baby Boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964. Next comes Gen X, people from 1965 to roughly the early 1980s. Now we’ve got Gen Y or Millennials entering the workforce, people born after the Gen X group.”

Karen looked puzzled. “So what exactly is the problem here?” she said.

Maria explained, “People in each of these groups tend to have different characteristics. For example, Baby Boomers tend to be reluctant to adopt new technologies, and Millennials tend to be less loyal to their employers. Also, there is the problem of communication styles and the ability for all of these generations to get along. I’ve read that this is becoming an increasingly larger problem in the workplace.”

Karen seemed agitated. “Maria, I would have thought you of all people would be immune to jumping on the bandwagon of the so-called generational problem.”

“You don’t think this is a real problem?” Maria asked.

“I think we’re creating problems where they don’t exist.”

Maria was interested in where Karen might be going with this. “Can you walk us through your reasoning?” she asked.

“Gladly.” Karen began, “First of all, I keep hearing that we have four generations side-by-side in the workplace for the first time in history. This is nonsense. Yes, the Silent Generation workers are about 65 or older and still in the workplace. The Boomers are roughly in their 50s and 60s. The Gen X people are in their 30s and 40s and the Millennials are under 30. But how is this new? It’s not like a generation ago when I joined the workforce everyone was 42 years old. We’ve always had people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s working side by side. The only thing new is that now, for the first time, we have attached labels to the various generations.”

Maria contemplated this. “I never thought of it that way.”

“Look at it this way,” Karen said. “The reason we created the category of Baby Boomers is because of the spike in the birth rate that began in 1946 and ended in 1964. Because we had suddenly attached a label to this group, we felt a need to name the next group. So we came up with the not-so-creative name of Generation X. We were even less creative in calling the one that came after that Generation Y. And we retroactively labeled the pre–Baby Boom generation the Silent Generation.”

“Anyone who had ever met my father certainly wouldn’t have affixed that label to him,” Bobby added with a chuckle.

“And that brings me to my next point.” Karen said, she was picking up steam now. “We have been guilty of stereotyping people based on what generation they fall into. Stereotyping in general is a dangerous practice, but in this case I think it leads down some very bad roads.”

“I really hadn’t realized we were doing that,” Maria confessed.

“You yourself just said that older workers tend to not embrace technology and that younger workers tend not be loyal.” Karen said. “That’s some pretty broad stereotyping. As the chief people officer, would you ever allow anyone in this company to stereotype based on other demographic characteristics? What if someone started to say, ‘Compared to white people, people of color tend to be…’”

“I would shut them down before they could complete the sentence,” Maria said quickly.

“Of course you would, and rightly so. And what if someone said, ‘Compared to men, women tend to be…’”

“I’ve got this,” Bobby jumped in. “Smarter, right?”

Everyone laughed, but Maria said, “Karen, you’re right. We don’t allow stereotyping based on all kinds of demographic characteristics. But apparently it’s become commonplace for everyone—including me—to stereotype based on age.”

Dave rejoined the conversation. “But aren’t some stereotypes based on truth?”

“Perhaps,” Karen responded, “but by lumping people in groups, we tend to lose focus on individual differences. There are two problems here. First, by drawing lines between the groups, we place people in categories that don’t always make sense. I was born in 1963, so that makes me a Baby Boomer. My sister was born in 1965, so she’s Generation X. This type of categorization would imply that I might share more characteristics with a fellow Baby Boomer who was born in 1946 than with my own sister who is only two years younger.”

Dave responded, “I can see that, but you said there are two problems.”

“Yes,” she said. “The other is that by assuming people possess certain traits and characteristics based on their group, we make assumptions about individuals that may be far from the truth. One of the most common of these so-called generational differences is that older workers tend to not embrace new technologies the way younger workers do. While there may be some truth to this if we look at the issue very broadly, when we as managers of individuals focus on the stereotype, we may draw some very wrong conclusions, right Dave?”

She had singled out Dave for this example because he was the oldest person in the room at 64 years old. Yet Dave had the reputation of being not only the most tech-savvy person at Capital View, but one of the technology leaders on Wall Street.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you, Karen,” Dave quipped. “I was busy writing an app for my new tablet.”

“The other stereotype I keep hearing is that Millennials are less loyal to their companies than workers from other generations.”

“Wait a minute, Karen.” Dave said. “I think there’s some truth to this one. When I look at the turnover statistics from my department, I definitely see more turnover from the younger workers than the older ones.”

“That might be true, but it’s not necessarily a defining trait of the generation. Workers of all generations tend to show their employers about the same amount of loyalty that the employer shows them. Our parents and grandparents had employers who told them to show up and work hard, and if they did that, they would have a job for life. Are we offering that deal to our younger workers?”

“Hardly,” Will answered. “We’ve become pretty cavalier about bringing people on and then letting them go.” He was becoming increasingly concerned that Capital View had started going on hiring binges when client work was plentiful, and then downsizing when things changed. After a few cycles of this, he was worried about how morale might be affected.

“Exactly. It wouldn’t be reasonable for us to expect our younger workers to be more loyal to us than we have been to them. We have been loyal to our older workers, but the Millennials see us hiring a lot of people and then letting them go, so why should they be loyal to us? But instead of looking at the underlying reason for their lack of loyalty, we tend to attribute it to a generational trait. In short, people tend to leave companies if their desires or needs are not being met.”

Bobby chimed in. “Hold on. What do you mean when you say, ‘Their desires or needs are not being met?’ We compensate them for their work and in some cases we pay them quite well.”

Karen answered, “People come to work for reasons in addition to the paycheck. Our parents and grandparents wanted stability, security, and possibly a chance to move up the corporate ladder. I’ve come to learn that modern workers sometimes value flexibility more than money, and they increasingly desire work that is meaningful or challenging. That’s why I think we need to look at our relationship with our younger workers and figure out what we can do to earn their loyalty instead of blindly expecting it or dismissing the lack of it as a generational characteristic.”

Will responded, “Karen, this has been very helpful, but can you help us address the problem of how to manage workers from different generations?”

“Yes—by not viewing it as a problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“When women started joining the workforce in numbers nearly equal to men, we viewed this as a positive development,” she said. “We actively recruit people of color because we feel that having a more diverse workforce will benefit us as a company as well as our clients. In every demographic category that I can think of, we view diversity as a benefit. But every time I hear someone discuss the generational diversity in our workforce, I hear it presented as a problem!”

“Wow,” Will said. “I never thought of it like that, but now that you’ve mentioned it, Karen, I think we’ve all been guilty of this, myself included.”

Karen continued, “I think we need to reframe the problem. The problem is not that we have workers from different generations; the problem is determining how we can best leverage this diversity in our workforce. In other words, how can we benefit from having workers from different age groups?”

Will was thoughtful. “I can see where you’re going with this,” he said. “There are certainly things our older workers can teach our younger workers and vice versa. I have just one concern about this conversation. Maria has been uncharacteristically quiet.”

Will was right. Maria had been silent for much of the dialogue. She was scribbling in her notebook when Will’s mention of her name got her attention.

“Sorry, everyone,” Maria said quietly. “I have been genuinely humbled by this conversation. This is a major people issue, and I really hadn’t thought it through very thoroughly. I really want to thank Karen for her insights and for bringing all of us—including me—up to speed on this issue.”

“Thanks, Maria.” Karen said, she really appreciated the compliment. “I’m surprised you didn’t have a Talent Management Principle about this issue.”

“I didn’t,” Maria confessed, “but I do now.” Maria revealed what she had been writing during the meeting. “Thanks to Karen, I am happy to present a new principle!”

Dave added, “Thanks for clarifying this issue for me. Would I be succumbing to an age stereotype if I said I’m tired of sitting here and would love for this meeting to be over?”

Bobby answered, “I think a desire to end meetings is something people of all age groups can agree on.”

Organizational Assessment

Questions for Personal Reflection

1.  Was there anything described in chapter 11 that seemed descriptive of your organization?

2.  Have you ever stereotyped or made a generalized conclusion about someone based on their age?

3.  Have you ever viewed the different generations of your organization’s workforce as a problem?

4.  What can you do to leverage the value from having a workforce that is diverse in age?

5.  As an employee, what (besides money) do you value and hope for from your employer?

6.  What do your colleagues and direct reports value and hope for from their employer?