By Brittany Wilkey – Employco Human Resources
With the average age of retirement slowly increasing – whether due to financial needs, personal reasons, or simply because the average lifespan is also increasing – it isn’t uncommon to see organizations employing four to five generations at the same time. Managing and recruiting such an extensive range of age groups can be difficult, but understanding a little bit about the wants and needs of each group can help both employers and employees maintain a cohesive workplace.
The first step is to understand what defines each generation, and how those generations are formed. Generations are grouped not only because of their age and birth year, but also based on the social and cultural events occurring during their lifetime that ends up shaping their values, concepts, and beliefs.
For instance, a person in their 50’s who has been working for several decades is unlikely to have the same perspective as someone in their early 20’s who is just entering the workforce. Along those same lines, an individual who lived through the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, or the digital boom, will be influenced by those major cultural events, and those same cultural events will impact how they approach their jobs, co-workers, and the workplace in general.
Although some researchers disagree on the exact birth years, it is generally accepted that the following are the five generations currently living and eligible to be in the workforce:
- The Silent Generation (or Traditionalist Generation) was born between 1925 and 1945.
- Baby Boomers were born between 1945 and 1965.
- Those in Generation X were born between 1965 and 1980.
- Millennials (also referred to as Gen Y) were born between 1981 and 1995.
- Generation Z (currently without a widely-accepted colloquial name) are those born around and after 1995.
Recent estimates by Pew Research Center (2015) indicate that the Silent Generation makes up approximately 2% of today’s workforce. This generation was born at the start of the Great Depression, grew up with Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, and began coming of age at the height of World War II. As a result, the family-oriented Silent Generation typically place a high value on working hard and making sacrifices to earn a living, and have a great deal of respect for rules and authority. They want to go to work and get the job done, with minimal interference from co-workers or superiors.
Around 29% of the workforce are Baby Boomers, who are so named due to a rapid increase in births in the years following WWII. These individuals grew up and came of age during the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the assassinations of both John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. These events largely caused the Baby Boomer Generation to be mistrustful of authoritarian leadership – and the government in general, a sharp contrast to the preceding generation – but eager to organize and collaborate as a team. The Baby Boomers highly value success in the workplace, and have dedicated their lives to working long hours aimed at achieving that goal.
As of Pew Research Center’s 2015 results, Generation X and the Millennials each comprise about 34% of the workforce. Gen Xers were influenced by such major events as the Cold War and Three Mile Island, the Energy Crisis, and the increased access to and use of personal computers. The Gen Xers were also the first generation in which it became the norm for both parents to be working, and often divorced. These factors contributed to making them into a group of adaptable, independent, and skeptical adults, who place a great deal of importance on having a work/life balance – significantly more so than the recent generations preceding them. Pursuing that goal has made Generation X more efficient and productive at their jobs, and less concerned with climbing the career ladder.
Some of the Millennial Generation’s influencers include 9/11, the digital media boom, and the Great Recession. This group was kept sheltered and coddled by their Generation X parents, and were brought up to value self-expression and independence. The Pew Research Center has also shown this generation to be the most educated and global of the preceding generations. In the workplace, their upbringing is reflected in their career-minded focus as well as their desire for collaboration, diversity, and constant feedback.
The majority of Generation Z isn’t quite old enough to join today’s workforce; as such, they only make up about 1%. Their expectations and impact on the workplace are still being discovered, but it is known that Gen Zers have been surrounded since birth by technology in the form of smart phones, tablets, and Google. As this is the first generation to not remember a time without constant and immediate internet access, researchers expect this generation to be even more tech-savvy than the Millennials, and to be mistrustful of everything.
So, how can an organization possibly successfully satisfy and retain such a diverse group of employees? Educate employees – from the senior leaders to the entry-level employee – so they can better understand the differing perspectives and learn to effectively communicate across the generational gaps. It must be acknowledged: although a great deal of research backs up these generalizations, they are still generalizations. That’s why it is important to remember that what applies to the majority will not necessarily apply to every employee within a given generation. Be open and able to make adjustments to your perceptions based on what you learn about the individuals in your organization.
It also can help to focus on the similarities. Regardless of the generation, employees still largely want the same things: a secure job with both an organization and leadership team they can trust, mutual respect across all levels within the organization, an ability to contribute their knowledge and skills in a meaningful way, and recognition for their job performance from both their supervisor and management (SHRM Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report, 2015). Beyond being informational, this data can provide a base from which employers can start trying to find common ground to satisfy employees from potentially wide-ranging generations.
Today’s workforce is more mobile than ever – both technologically and physically – which simultaneously helps and hurts the recruitment process. While recruiters now have an abundance of options when it comes time to fill that new position in the company, current employees also have access to those same options when they decide their organization is no longer a good fit for them. By educating members of your organization and utilizing recruiters trained to seek out and connect with candidates across the generations, organizations can be better prepared to build and retain a generationally-diverse workforce.
This article is only a brief overview of the generational diversity present in today’s workplace. If you are interested in learning more about generational diversity training, or would like to discuss professional recruitment services, Employco is here is to help. Think of Employco as your own off-site Human Resources Department; one you can turn to for advice, guidance, and partnering for all your employment needs.
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The statistical data and research for this article was obtained through the Pew Research Center (pewresearch.org) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM.org), as noted. All opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
