In the News...

Generations at work

By Dane M. Partridge
taken from Evansville Business Journal, November 2007

Dane M. Partridge is associate professor of management in the College of Business at the University of Southern Indiana. He also is director of the University Honors Program.

To what extent does the "Millennial Generation" differ from Generation X and baby boomers in terms of values and attitudes toward work? What implications do generational differences have for the way workers from differing generations should be managed?

These questions have attracted considerable interest in the business press, including a recent Fortune cover story (May 28, 2007, issue). There are slight differences between differing categorization schemes for the purpose of the present discussion Millennials (also referred to as Generation M or Generation Y) are those born between 1980 and 2000, now 27 years old and younger; Generation X are those born 1960-80, now 27 to 47 years old; boomers are those born 1943-60, now 47 to 64 years old.

The oldest Boomers are now reaching retirement age, which will open a number of opportunities for advancement for Generation X. However, we have seen a slight increase in the labor force participation rate of those aged 65 and older (16 percent in 1990, compared with 20 percent in 2005). If this trend persists it may be good news for the solvency of the Social Security system, but not so good for opportunities for Generation X.

Research focusing on Millennials indicates they want meaningful work, the opportunity to learn, but also work/life balance. "We want to make money but not by working 80 hours a week." Millennials are generally perceived to be skeptical of authority although this perception is evolving as more Millennials enter and advance in organizations. Millennials are thought to be pragmatic, adaptive and teamwork-oriented. They value creativity, competence and community (for added insight into Millennials, see the blog employeeevolution.com).

Organizations may question the extent to which Millennials place value on experience and "paying one's dues." Questions have also been raised as to whether Millennials possess an entrepreneurial mind-set and sufficiently appreciate the nature of competitive markets and adversity.

A darker view of Millennials has been offered by some researchers, who label this high-maintenance generation as "Generation Me" (a Wall Street Journal article in April 2007 referred to this group as the "Most-Praised Generation"). This research indicates that today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than previous generations of students, due to their boomer parents' focus on raising their self-esteem. Thus, Generation Me is suggested to be hostile to constructive criticism and not able to work well with others. The latter implication is clearly in tension with the view reported above of Millennials as teamwork-oriented.

Millennials have a different relationship with their parents than previous generations — these are the widely reported helicopter parents hovering over their children in school, at college, and even in some cases in the job-interview process. Fortune noted a survey of college graduates from 2000 to 2006 where 58 percent of those surveyed had moved back home after college and one-third stayed more than a year (and the average graduate's educational debt neared $20,000). Another study found that 73 percent of 18 to 25 year-olds had received financial assistance from their parents in the past year while 64 percent had even received help with errands. Seventy-three percent see their parents at least once a week — half see them daily.

One implication of the Generation Me view is that Millennials expect praise for even the slightest accomplishments — much is made of the fact that these persons experienced youth activities where every participant received a ribbon or trophy simply for participation. One might question whether too much is being made of this phenomenon, or is it in fact predictive of the attitudes that this generation will have toward organizational reward systems? A culture of praise can clearly lead to an unrealistic understanding of how one stacks up relative to one's peers, which can contribute to a lack of appreciation of the need for training and development, dissatisfaction with performance reviews and merit increases, etc.

Regardless of the age of the employee, it is generally well understood in management that recognition can be a useful element of an organization's reward system and a performance motivator (as long as we recognize cultural and individual factors impacting one's comfort with public as opposed to private praise). Experts advise that praise should be descriptive as opposed to general, in-person to individuals as opposed to e-mail sent to large groups, and (not surprisingly) genuine as opposed to manipulative. Boomers and older Gen-Xers may need some coaching, however, to better understand the need for praise that Millennials and younger Gen-Xers seem to have. Feedback has been recognized as an important element of performance management for a long time, but younger employees may have a much greater need for feedback (especially positive) than their predecessors.

Simple demographics dictate that organizations will need to effectively manage these newer entrants to the labor force, the Millennials. As the boomer generation retires, Generation X is simply not large enough to replace the boomers. The Millennials will be stepping forward, large enough in size to fill the vacancies created by retiring boomers and advancing Xers. Your organization must be ready to attract, retain, and motivate Generation Me.