Workforce Management: Four Ways to Make Four Generations Work
Posted on Fri, Jul 29, 2011
By Koleen Singerline
Summer is a great time to take a vacation and reconnect with the family. If your family is like mine, every time we get together we review all the new additions to the family and express our thankfulness for making it through another year. Everyone lines up, arranging themselves by age, and we mark the occasion with a photo that shows all the generations together. We adjust the heat up for grandma and put the young people off in a separate room where they can play their video games. We’re used to having all those generations together at a family reunion, but having all the generations together in the workplace is something some of us have never experienced.
The workforce is changing and people are working longer. Improvements in general health have made it more feasible to continue working past the age of 65 and the recession has served as the incentive for older workers to put off retirement, with some working well into their 70’s. This translates into a social phenomenon not yet witnessed: four generations are working side by side. They include:
- Traditionalists, born prior to 1946
- Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964
- Gen X, born between 1965 and 1976
- Millennials, born between 1977 and 1997
According to Catalyst, in 2009, “there were 154,142,000 people in the United States labor force.” The total labor force participation by generation is as follows:
• Traditionalists/WWII Generation: 6,534,000
• Baby Boomers: 58,710,000
• Generation X: 50,399,000
• Generation Y/Millennials: 38,499,000
This picture will change as the traditionalists stop working and younger workers enter the picture. Baby boomers have long been a dominant part of the workforce, however the chart below shows that Baby Boomers will cede the majority of the workforce by 2015 to the Millennials. (Due to their smaller size, Gen X will never have the majority spot in the workplace). At that time we will have five generations in the workplace.
Understanding the issues of a mixed workforce and helping them work together will lead to a more productive work environment. Here are four ways to make four generations work together effectively:
FOCUS: on the similarities of the four generations.
We all want to be successful in our careers and we all want our company to grow. We all have hopes and dreams.
OPTIMIZE: the strengths of each group:
- Traditionalists are loyal employees.
- Boomers are highly optimistic.
- X-ers value independence and flexibility.
- Millennials value teamwork and personal connection.
UNDERSTAND: the differences between the way the generations approach work.
REALIZE: the possible weaknesses of each generation.
Younger workers may not see the potential hazards and pitfalls of business. They don’t have the knowledge of what has worked in the past and what has been a total failure.
Older workers may be too focused on the way things have “always been done” and thus be resistant to accepting new procedures and new technologies.
Our staff here at The Wyckoff Group has employees from 4 different generations. Talk about an interesting workforce!
