A Primer on Working Across Generation Gaps

Community Manager — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:04:00 GMT

Where do you hear the sounds of fountain pens scratching on paper while smartphones buzz with incoming text messages?

In the average workplace.

There are currently four generations at work today :

Traditional workers (born before 1946) value loyalty and discipline and respect hierarchy and authority
Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), being goal-driven, competitive and work-centric, now occupy positions of power in the corporate world
Generation X (born 1965-1980) is 55 million strong in North America and is a skeptical, pragmatic and self-reliant cohort that values independence, respects diversity and desires work-life balance
Generation Y (born 1981-1999) numbers 80 million in North America and is filled with digitally-fluent optimists who embrace social responsibility, celebrate individuality and difference, rework the rules and thrive on collaboration and kinship

I have found that engaging workers and facilitating productivity with this vibrant generational mix can be a challenge. Here is a primer of links to articles and posts on working across the generation gaps that I have found helpful.

Bridging the Workplace Generation Gap: It Starts With a Text (New York Times)
Failure to communicate: Survey reveals big generation gap in the workplace (Financial Week)
Why are you not like me? The Generational Gap In The Workplace (Psychology Today)
The Technology Generation Gap at Work is Oh So Wide (Read Write Web)
What Generation Z will be like at work (Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist)
'Great Recession' hits Millennials hardest (The Christian Science Monitor)

We will revisit this important topic in future posts. In the meantime, as always, feel free to point us to any resources that you find relevant and helpful.

by Candie Harris

Beyond Folders : workplace conflict, generation gap

A Primer on Working Across Generation Gaps