Leadership

Communication Breakdown?

By Melissa Lourenco

Updated on: July 22, 2009 / 8:28 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

I was watching Talkin' 'Bout My Generation the other night and found myself playing along at home. It was interesting to see how distinct and unique some elements of pop culture are between the Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y.

The same can be said about the different generations in the workplace.

There are plenty of articles, essays and white papers on this very subject --- documents where they try and pigeonhole the workforce into these three generational categories.

Though the specific dates seem to be debatable, I've tried to combine a few identifying descriptions into a simple table:

Baby Boomer	Gen X	Gen Y
1946-1964	1965-1980	1981-1994
I Love Lucy	Happy Days	Friends
Beatles	Madonna	Eminem
Earn it	It's not everything	Give it to me
Take a job for life	Want work/life balance	Expect to change jobs regularly
Live to work	Work to live	Live then work
Process-focused	Desires autonomy	Values teamwork
Doesn't like change	Comfortable with change	Thrives on change
Loyal	---	Tech savvy

Please note that the above are gross generalisations because everyone is still an individual and is affected by their own unique set of work and life experiences.

All the literature I've come across stresses that a "one size fits all" approach to managing these different generations is not recommended. I have to say from personal experience, I agree with them.

But, without getting too much into the positives and negatives of each generation, are there things an employer can do that would be embraced by all? Here are a few ideas:

Now that the Baby Boomers are getting older, there is a need to address work/life balance issues for all generations --- helping Baby Boomers ease into retirement, creating family friendly policies for Gen X and giving Ys flexibility to suit their social lives.
It's often said that Ys prefer a positive and fun environment --- I believe the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers welcome this, too.
Ys are motivated by learning/gaining knowledge --- this is a great opportunity for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers to share their professional and personal skills and experiences, and to grow and develop in the process.
Try some crossover techniques that will get everyone involved --- if Ys prefer instant messaging-type communication and Baby Boomers would rather communicate in person, you might want to try "Face-to-Face Fridays" and "IM Mondays" to get both groups interacting better.

No matter how you feel about Gen Y stereotype, they will indeed be the workforce of the future. At this point in time, Baby Boomers are hitting retirement age so businesses are now faced with challenges dealing more with Gen Y. Businesses that are actively developing strategies to attract and retain Gen Y will arguably have a competitive advantage.

If you'd like to hear more about some of these strategies, Phil Dobbie from BTalk Australia goes into more detail in the following podcasts:

I believe it is important to treat Gen Ys as colleagues rather than beginners or kids, encouraging them and capitalising on their skills and knowledge. Personally, I have to thank the Gen Ys in our organisation for sharing their knowledge on the latest software and this includes, believe it or not, Twitter! (Follow me: Meli55a)