Living in a world that is ever changing and evolving throughout the years, humans change and adapt to their surroundings. This is a fact unavoidable and sometimes cruel to say but there is a saying which goes by the saying “Survival of the Fittest”.
When you walk into your office, your eyes would have been scanning unintentionally over your colleagues that are seated at the office area and you could have easily seen the age ranges of office workers.
According to the research, there are say five groups of generations working in offices nowadays:
1) Silent Generation (1928 – 1945)
2) Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)
3) Generation Xers (1965 – 1980)
4) Millennials (1981 – 1996)
5) Generation Z (1997 – 2012)
Managing five groups of different generations is no easy feat but getting down to what they have been exposed to throughout their lives, what they want, what they strive for, what are their lifelong priorities would make managing these layers of different generations at the same workplace easier.
Currently, the Baby Boomers, Gen-X and Gen Ys dominate the workplace. With that in mind, there will be day-to-day conflicts that arise at the workplace. Imagine having a 3-layered tea and mixing the tea into just one color which shows how a mix of workforce is as today.
Age differences in the workplace may project different perceptions during work. Let’s dive down to what differences and also similarities that may occur.
Time
Starting off work during the day, there are preferences that sit with different individuals. You can see that for the Baby Boomers and Gen-Xs, they have and always had a stable routine like working hours say from an 8am to 9am start and finish off at a 5pm to 6pm type of day.
In terms of starting early, this timing would sit well with the Baby Boomers but may not be as such for the Gen-Ys and Millennials. Most of the younger generations prefer a flexible working hour whereby they would be given the freedom to choose if they can start early or later in the day if they fulfill the mandated basic eight hours in a day.
Office Environment
With the different generations living through their life and experiences, expectations on how the office working environment very much differs. Those of the Baby Boomers and Gen-Xs would not have put many expectations as offices were just standard offices where you arrive, you work, and you go back home during the majority of their work life during those days. There were no such offices like Google at their prime working time.
However, with the newer generations i.e., the Gen-Ys and Millennials onwards they have a different outlook on how their office workplace would like. Quoting Google office as an example, where you can work in a vibrant, fun place equipped with game rooms, spacious pantries loaded with great snacks and drinks, they do have such an expectation in mind. Their mind would unintentionally be more attracted to office places which are being furnished looking more fun and vibrant rather than the mundane standard office look.
Work Experience
When it comes to work experience, the Baby Boomers will get an upper hand. No doubt, at work there is always a need to have experienced staff or workers as they have known the nature of business better with years of working in the same company or industry, also knowing the company’s competitors, customers, and vendors at the back of their palm.
Sometimes when issues arise, they would be quicker to think of a solution with their hands-on experience of many years. From that, we can also conclude that they would also be the Go-to person at times when issues arise making them the advisors of the company.
Flexibility
Living in the Post Covid World, we humans are being forced to adapt and be flexible in life. With that, whether you are a Baby Boomer, Gen X or Gen Y all of us are embracing the fact that you can work in the office or at home too. But then, it comes with a price where trust issues come into place. In general, as the Baby Boomers generation, they have never had the option nor the idea that this would be possible throughout their working life. However, changes are inevitable and with the advancement in technology, working from home is made possible.
The Baby Boomers and a portion of the Gen X skeptical and do encounter some trust issues on all their employees when it comes to the working from home arrangements.
When it comes to flexible arrangements, this idea is something the Gen Ys and the younger generations would prefer. They have lived their life embracing technology as it advances and enjoying the perks of what technology has to offer. For most of them, if they can deliver and provide what their bosses or management wants on a timely basis, it is not important as to where they do it.
Work, Life Balance Perception
Family is a priority to most people. With that, any generation would have a mindset to ensure their working hours preferably do not cross over to the time they can solely focus and spend with their loved ones. It’s not easy in this competitive world nowadays but people will always strive to achieve the needed balance.
Emotional Quotient
Emotions are not easy to manage nor control. For those who are of the older, more matured generations they are able to control and manage their emotions at their workplace compared to the younger, vibrant generations.
Sometimes as you mature, you have already experienced all types of work issues at work whether it is the people, the nature of work itself etc. With years of working experience dealing concurrently with juggling with work and personal matters, most Baby Boomers and Gen-Xs can endure the work pressure by being able to control their emotions and not project all emotions into their working environment and colleagues too.
A common thing that can be seen from the younger generations is that they respond very much to their own emotions. There are times their emotions may overtake their rationality leading them to project their own personal emotions into their work environment and this indirectly results in workplace stress.
Creativity at Work
With many years of working experience ingrained in oneself, this may unintentionally stifle one’s creativity at work when it comes to thinking of alternative ways to solve a solution or an alternative way to carry out the routine work with a shorter span of time. For the Baby Boomers and Gen-Xs, they may find it unnecessary and due to many years being in their comfort zone, they may not be so flexible and open to creativity or alternative ways.
The younger generations i.e., from the Gen-Ys onwards, due to more exposure in their life with ever changing technologies, they are the people who embrace changes better and are able to absorb different ways of approaching their daily routine work. Their mindset is more inclined to getting the same results but using a way which requires them to spend less time. If the results are achieved, there is no reason not to try.
Nevertheless, having a good mix of different generations in a workplace has more advantages than disadvantages. The age differences in the workplace are just age. They are different in many ways but when the leadership of the management is strong and can uphold strong values to lead them together to achieve synergies delivering results, no doubt the company will be made up of a strong workforce with good team work altogether.
