Look around your workplace and you are likely to see people from across the age span, particularly as more Americans are working past age 55. In fact, the Society for Human Resource Management argues that there are a full five generations on the job today, from the Silent Generation to Gen Z.
Generational Differences at Work Are Small. Thinking They’re Big Affects Our Behavior
Millennials only want to communicate with coworkers via text — and Baby Boomers don’t text, right? And you need to attract those techy Millennials with promises of flexible work schedules, but their older counterparts all want a traditional workday, correct? Actually, wrong. There’s very little evidence that people of different generations behave markedly differently at work, or want markedly different things. And yet because we have stereotypes about people of different ages — and because we have stereotypes about what we think people of different ages believe about us — our ability to collaborate and learn is negatively affected. To address this, managers need to talk openly about stereotypes; emphasize the commonalities and shared goals all employees have; and recognize that employees’ needs change over time, and in lots of different ways.