GENERATIONS@WORK
By Jeanne Farley
Do you remember using a Commodore 64 or the original Macintosh? Perhaps you grew up with an Atari and had a clunky Texas Instruments calculator for school. Did you use floppy disks, hard disks, readable/writable CDs or USBs? Or maybe you only know the “cloud”?
Did you grow up listening to albums, shuffling CDs, downloading music (Napster anyone?) or did you only ever stream your music? Write letters or connect on “social”? Shopping malls vs. online shopping? Cable TV or streaming services? Library vs. the almighty Google? Physical book, online book or audible book?
This list could go on and on. Depending on what you answered, you are likely associated with one of several generations that now coexist in the workplace.
Each generation grows up with different experiences. It’s not a competition of who did what better; it’s an opportunity to understand how these experiences form our perception. That, in turn, shapes how we regard, understand and interpret what we encounter.
As professionals in the learning & development (L&D) space, it is critical that we consider the generational differences to create powerful and impactful learning that addresses everyone. So what are the generations? According to Pew Research, they break down like this:
So we are employing those who fall into Generation Z and they’re coming in greater numbers soon. Likewise, a small percentage of employees stay beyond the traditional retirement age into their 70s.
In the L&D space, we have been considering and working with Generation X and the baby boomers for some time now. Because we have mastered these generations (insert snarky Generation X chuckle here – and yes, I am Generation X for those playing along at home), we must now forge beyond our familiar stomping ground.
If you haven’t done so already, it’s an interesting exercise to ask your business partners in human resources to pull generational data. In terms of the audience you serve, what is the generational split among the four generations in the workforce? Which generations have you been hiring lately? What do we know about millennials and Generation Z, and how should that impact our approach?
Beginning with the obvious, there’s the technology consideration. Baby boomers and Generation X were born BC – Before Computers. Millennials and Generation Z do not know what life was like BC. Computers hit the mainstream in the early ’80s. Cell phones became popular in the ’90s. Our best friend, Google, became popular early in the 2000s, as did online chatting, texting, FaceTime and social media. These learners are quite literally hard-wired to technology with smartphone in hand most all the time.
A significant technological difference to note regarding these two generations is that millennials experienced the massive upgrades that took place in digital technology from late 20th century through the early 21st century. Generation Z was born into a sophisticated digital landscape, hence the term “digital native”. Millennials experienced bumps and potholes in technology that Generation Z isn’t even aware of as their digital road is nicely paved with many upgrades.
In our corporate world, Generation Z will expect more technologically right out of the gate than perhaps a millennial. Introducing a new tool to the field? Considering what upgrades to make to onboarding? For Generation Z, not only does a tool need to be useful and improve something, but it must also work seamlessly.
There will be no tolerance for technology that doesn’t work. They tend to be fast decision-makers. If your company has too many tools that aren’t working or generally lags in technology, you will not retain Generation Z. They will move on to a company that offers more sophisticated tools.
Millennials will allow you a bit of leeway as they experienced a decade-or-more-long on-ramp to where technology is today. Millennials may be more vocal in identifying where the gaps are, suggesting improvements, but they will expect the “next version” to be better. If version 2.0, 3.0 and so on aren’t better, you risk not retaining the millennial or at the very least not engaging them with future tools.
Technology is just one piece, albeit a large piece, so let’s consider other aspects of each of these two generations as they relate to the workplace, learning and development.
The millennial generation has often received a bad rep. Some negative biases portray the millennial as lazy, selfish and unmotivated. Without labeling one generation better than another, it is important to understand the experiences millennials encountered growing up.
During their youth, several noteworthy events took place including the rise of terrorism (9/11), school shootings, increased awareness of child abductions and economic recession to name a few. Feeling the pressure of this turmoil, many parents became “helicopter parents” – increasingly protective and forming close and open relationships with their children, often reinforcing how special they are to bolster their sense of self-worth.
Parents often over-scheduled their children from playdates to enrolling them in as many extracurricular activities as possible, because it was taboo to leave your child home alone. Growing up in this environment, millennials have quite a different vision of employment than generations before them.
Because millennials value connectedness, perhaps it is time to visit, revisit or enhance the idea of a mentor or field trainer program for your organization. Forming an immediate bond with another peer or mentor can assist a millennial in feeling more comfortable.
A robust (mentor) relationship allows for feedback, encourages self-reflection and development of independent decision-making. This open and safe communication is a fantastic foundation for developing a new hire.
If we are being honest with ourselves, Generation Z knows more about technology than previous generations. Need to figure out why you can’t cast from your cell phone to a TV, call a Generation Zer to help.
They have a novel way of managing tasks and can sometimes feel frustrated by outdated ways. Some studies even suggest that Generation Z brains have evolved in such a way that they focus more on sophisticated and complex imagery (think about how realistic video gaming has become).
This generation also experienced “helicopter parents” and as such are seen by some as “soft” and too coddled. Perhaps a positive that emerges from this is that Generation Z cares deeply about others. They seek and embrace diversity, value authenticity and take a practical approach to solving issues.
While many of the issues they face are “inherited” (global warming, racism, inflation, etc.), they attempt to be innovative yet pragmatic. They are innovative in terms of their own income. Instead of taking part-time, afterschool jobs, like many did in generations before, they learned ways to create passive income via the internet such as becoming influencers, selling products online and placing product ads on social media.
They don’t feel the need to do things the way they were done before and appreciate creating a unique path.
Generation Z is incredibly involved with social media. What level of consideration has your organization given to use of social media to communicate internally? Have you explored using TikTok, Instagram or chatting sites like WhatsApp to generate communication and activity with your training cohorts?
As social media continues to increase as a mechanism for social interaction and networking, how can we integrate this technology into our learning strategy?
Understanding is what promotes our ability to create impactful learning for our stakeholders. While each generation has both negative and positive biases, our role is not to argue which is better. We need to understand each generation and how we can create a learning experience that complements, challenges and engages them.
As generations evolve, to stay relevant, we must too.
Jeanne Farley is senior manager, global sales skills and methodology training, for QuidelOrtho and a member of the LTEN Editorial Advisory Board. Email her at Jeanne.Farley@QuidelOrtho.com or connect via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/aboutjeannefarley.
