Baby Boomers to Gen Xers by Linda Harris, Owner Harris & Associates
Dear Business Advisor Weekly Column
Baby Boomers to Gen X
September 20, 1999
The Statesman Journal
Salem, OR
Q: Over the past couple of years I have doubled the number of employees in my business. While that's a good thing, so many different people has caused some real problems. With a wide range of age groups and I can't seem to please one group without displeasing the others. Any suggestions?
A: You are not alone. Many employers are dealing with the same frustrations trying to blend the age groups in the workplace. A typical workforce today is made up of 4, sometimes 5, separate generations.
While the various age groups share many common traits, in some critical areas they are vastly different. What will work for the Boomers may not work for the Gen?Xers, the Y?Generation or the Traditionalists. The main thing I would encourage you to do is focus on discovering what the commonalties are within the groups and work from there.
Here is an example that may be helpful to you. Carefully structure your teams, work groups and task forces with members from all the generations. This, in itself, won't get the members to automatically communicate, it will ensure firm infrastructure that can provide a wide?range of experience, technology and background for the strength of the group. This structure becomes a good playing field for the Team.
Next, ask the group members, as a way to meld strengths, to take part in various exercises that highlight personal and professional achievements. One such exercise could be a Time Line or Story Board. This activity encourages individuals to jot down important events in the past that brought them to where they are today. Here is an outcome example I recall from a training session I facilitated several years ago. A Gen?Xer engineer developed a genuine rapport with a Baby Boomer machinist during a Story Board exercise when they both made reference to their first car. The Boomer had made his way through college in a 1957 VW Beetle and the Gen?Xer had done the same in a 1959 VW Beetle. Both men found a commonality in their love of old Volkswagens. This small step led the way towards the two men cooperating on an important project for a major client. They became the combined strength of two separate generations that just needed a way to bridge the gap. Remember, how the generations work together, learn from each other and teach each other is the strength in the foundation of any organization.
Finally, the core principle for you as a leader in your organization would be to recognize the differences as a strength rather than as a weakness. If you honor the diversity of the generations as you would other pieces of diversity as a means toward inclusion, the groups will have the freedom to build as they begin to learn from each other and teach each other. The long-term success will depend on how you, as a leader, continue to plan, strategize, train and educate your work force on a route toward inclusion. The end result is most rewarding.
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