According to HR professionals, who say they’ve never seen anything like it before, companies are now seeing FOUR (count-‘em) generations of employees working together.
They say something interesting -- that HR departments better learn to do two things well: convince Baby Boomers to postpone retirement and adapt to working with the Gen Y’ers with their very different expectations. And that’s not even talking about the older “traditionalists” and the in-between Gen X’ers.
So how will this wash? A lot of BBs that I know are anxious to retire (yup, they’re the ones who bought into the idea of 60-80 hour workweeks for white-collar workers, thought it was a good idea for career advancement).
A lot of GYs I know are anxious to get ahead quickly. Traditionally, that was done by starting with a small (but diversified) job at a small company, moving up after several years to a larger company, and so on. Not so much anymore.
GXs and GYs say they look through the red tape, see the price their parents (and grandparents) paid for playing the corporate game, and are trying to short-circuit the process.
I know I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of an HR person, trying to avoid saying “no way, but please stay” to everybody in sight.
OK, so here’s a radical solution – let the BBs go. In fact, incentivize them. Yes, they’re often the mentors and the managers – so what!
Find ways to fast-track the GX and GY stars – the managers of tomorrow. Give them the career paths that they want, knowing that they’ll be ready to challenge and be challenged.
Do we have any votes for bringing the workplace all the way down to two generations – anyone? Or is a diverse workplace -- where colleagues learn from each other -- actually still worth something?
9 comments:
Yes, it's actually worth something to leave the BB's in there. Todays obscene music, social behavior, and other values have gone down the drain. With that, there goes the foundations to intrapreneurship. We (I guess us GY's or GX's) would be total hypocrits if we were to boot them. We are supposed to be all diverse and open minded generation. If we can't adapt to the BB's now, what do you think will happen when the next wave of generations hit with even more expectations and impatience.
I totally agree!!! I work in HR and my department is extactly the way you describe it. The baby boomers need to move on, travel, and enjoy the rest of their lives and give the younger generation a chance to move up in the ranks!!
Wow. How narrow-minded and obtuse an article. Some appreciate baby-boomer's. Boomer's add tremendous value in today's work environment. The problem is, which you've hit spot-on is: GX and GYer's believe they /deserve/ management and C-Level positions; rather than say, *earning* their positions and pay, paying their dues, etc. Take a good, hard look around you and see who the idiot's are on Facebook, MySpace and other social media networks making complete ARSE'S of themselves. It's not the Baby-boomer's who look like idiots. Show respect, dignity and be thankful for those who have come before us. Jackass.
I am a BB , but you wouldn't know it unless I told you. Hey I will be working longer out of necessity . Not everyone can go off into the sunset and have this fantasy retirement, especially in todays economy. How rude and arrogant to tell us to get lost after WE laid the foundations in these companies. A lot of these KIDS want the title and cash without the sweat. I work in a three generation enviaronment.... irritating!!!!
I don't think anyone needs to move on -- but everyone should be given the opportunity to work as a team. Baby boomers must realize how valuable the younger generation can be to them especially in terms of technology and creative talent, and the younger generation has obvious benefits of learning from tenured baby boomers. Each has their limits, but I think the baby boomers probably, are the ones that need to learn how to adapt to change a lot more rapidly because of the fast-pace of technology -- and the fact that there are now more generations in the workplace. Textbooks have changed a great deal over the last fifty years alone. We all need eachother. Finding talent should be a collaborative process and like fitting the pieces of the puzzle together once you have determined your organizational needs.
It would have been nice to share with us your definition for a baby boomer. Formally, everyone older than 45 is a BB, and I think it's brutal to say "these people must go so we, Y's, can climb the corporate ladder faster. Such mindset is the nursery of the ageism. “. . no man, no problem” said Stalin, now you are saying “no generation no problem”. You better think again.
"Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it." G. Orwell
BBs' are smarter, harder working, and more loyal than the new younger generation, but they lack the technological skills to compete with this new global market.
The new younger generation is quicker, and very computer savy, but lack loyalty to the company, and don't work as hard to advance. NYG's will stop at nothing to get to the top by any means necessary.
So, I believe a company would be foolish to get rid of either generation for the stability of the company.
Younger people always think they are smarter, but I believe they are quicker, but not smarter. BB are smarter and more intelligent. All BB's need to do it get re-educated and re-skilled. BB's is not very difficult.
So, the company should keep all the generation groups, but for the right reason.
I think that the attitude presented in this article is disgusting. Older generations have earned their jobs, and deserve to keep them! They can't all go move on to some kind of blissful retirement either - you have to be very wealthy for that sort of thing. Life expectations are increasing, and people are staying healthier for longer. People need to learn to adjust the working ages to fit the new model. People still able to work should be allowed to still work.
Not only that, but people NEED the experience and wisdom of the older generations. People tend to ignore them like they are past their time, and undervalue how much experience is worth. Younger generations are too quick to want to slap together results, without having the necessary experience to really understand what they are doing and the effects of what they are doing.
I just finished my Economics Capstone Paper for my undergraduate degree at Northern Illinois University on the economic effects of a diverse population, and sure enough, a more diverse workforce acutually creates higher economic returns. In regards to this article, the differences in social-status preference, or drive to move up in a company, within a work enviroment is proven by economic models to increase overall efficiency and productivity. In other words, if a workforce mix has both, (1) people who are comfortable with thier social status and (2) other who are constantly trying to improve thier social status, those individuals in group 2 motivate those in group 1 to work harder. Therefore, this creates greater economic performances within a workplace.
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