Intergenerational conflict in the workplace among employees

Workforces are becoming more age diverse. In fact, by 2020, it is estimated that there will be five generations of employees working together. Moreover, this trend is making its way into the upper echelons of businesses around the world; with more and more Millennials rising through the ranks and earning their seat at the leadership table, sat beside the Baby Boomers and the Generation Xers.

Effectively nurturing and leading an age diverse team can be a tough balancing act. I personally am a Generation X leader who manages a range of ages, and I know from my own experience that if lead well, such a diverse team of perspectives and thoughts can be hugely conducive to an open and innovative dialogue and thus positive business outcomes. However, if managed poorly, multi-generational conflict can occur, having the opposite effect.

The key is to identify the disparities causing intergenerational tension within your leadership team. Every team of leaders will be different. However, the vast research on the subject of multigenerational management, plus the lessons I’ve learnt during my own career, point to common and recurring differences; from communication styles, to technological fluency. My advice would be to look out for these differences, and respond accordingly:

1. Identify the sources of miscommunication

Whilst everybody will differ on an individual basis, it is widely believed that of the three generations, Baby Boomers are the most inclined to communicate face-to-face. There’s no denying that Millennial leaders, on the other hand, grew up with the advent of social media, and are fluent in the quickest, most efficient ways to talk to one another digitally. In fact, in a survey conducted by PWC, over 40 percent of Millennials said they would prefer to electronically communicate at work, as opposed to communicating in-person or even via a phone call.

On the other hand, Generation X are largely thought to be the most independent, “silent” workers. As Bruce Tulgan, author of “Managing Generation X: How to Bring out the Best in Young Talent explains, Generation X are “the great under-supervised generation. They came into the workplace at a time when everybody was telling employees ‘You’ll have to take responsibility for your own successes’.” So, this generation of leader may have a tendency to be quite minimalist in their communications, sticking to email, speaking on the phone or arranging a face-to-face meeting as and when necessary.

Taking all of this this into consideration, there could be clashes when a multi-generational team of leaders need to collaborate. For instance, some leaders may expect to have biweekly meetings followed up by minutes and clear action points, other may expect to correspond solely via email, and the rest may want to work in silo.

My advice here is that you need to set the standard right from the beginning. Of course, the “right” way of communicating will differ on a task-by-task basis, therefore each time your team of leaders need to work together, be crystal clear on how you envisage them communicating. This will ensure that every time leaders need to collaborate, communications are streamlined and differences are put aside.

2. Embrace every perspective

Naturally, each generation of leader will have a different view of how best to meet the needs of the business. For example, and as I mention in a previous blog; one merit of young leaders (especially if recently promoted) is that they will naturally have a stronger affinity to their junior former peers – it wasn’t so long ago, that they were part of the team. They may therefore have a better understanding of both employees on the frontline, as well as the changing demands and expectations of your customers. This will impact upon the ideas and solutions they bring to the table. On the other hand, it may have been quite some time since the Baby Boomer and Generation X leaders worked so close to the coal face of the business, making it sometimes more difficult for them to understand a Millennial leader’s standpoint or perspective.

Look out for these differing points of view when your team of leaders have discussions. Encourage an open debate between them, but ensure every leader is able to say their piece. A huge source of intergenerational conflict, can stem from one generation feeling like they aren’t being heard.

I have found that Millennial leaders can sometimes be less forthcoming in their ideas due to their relative lack of leadership experience. So, it’s important to try to champion them, giving them their platform as voices of tomorrow.

3. Establish a mutual respect

Cultivating and demonstrating mutual respect between colleagues is a common issue within a multi-generational leadership team, particularly between the Baby Boomers and the younger members of Generation X/Millennials.

Management professor Nicholas Pearce, outlines how Baby Boomers tend to respect hierarchy and tenure of position within that hierarchy. By default, younger Generation X and Millennial leaders are often new to their positions, thus won’t be granted this respect as readily. Conversely “Generation Xers and Millennials are more likely to give respect to those who are seen as deserving—regardless of where they fit in the organisation’s hierarchy”.

Observe the dynamic between your leaders during your next leadership meeting, particularly if one generation is overly dismissive toward the other; ignoring their opinions or interrupting them.

Make sure you leverage and commend the skills of every leader, emphasising how these skills contribute to the wider goals of the organisation. This should help to unify your leadership team, and value one another’s expertise.

4. Encourage work-life balance

Lastly, it is widely believed that boomers make for competitive, industrious, results driven leaders. A report written by the AMA claims that Baby Boomers will place career above their personal life, continuing part time work even after retirement. On the other hand, the common consensus is that Generation Xers and Millennials see work-life balance as an important prerequisite for job satisfaction. In fact, according to a number of our What Workers Want reports from around the world, these generations place this of far higher importance than Baby Boomers.

Therefore, it’s not unusual for a multi-generational team of leaders to judge one another’s working hours, holiday usage or how much time they spend working during downtime. The way to overcome these tensions, once again, is by having a clear stance on work-life balance, and encouraging the workaholics to switch off outside of office hours.

As I say in the beginning, I am aware of the fact that there will be outliers within and crossovers between each generation. The above are not intended to be sweeping statements about every member of each generation, but observations derived from my own personal experience, complimented by  credible research based on multigenerational conflict in the workplace.

As the leader of a multi-generational team of leaders, it is your job to understand everybody’s differences and orchestrate between them, in order to reach an inclusive and harmonious leadership discourse. Like I said in the beginning, soon there will be five generations of employee within the workplace and with this growth in age diversity, comes a greater need for collaborative leaders who can put their differences to one side for the good of the business. Therefore I would advise that you get a head start.

Want to further hone your leadership skills? Our leadership tips and advice will help you become the leader you want to be

Author

After completing his degree as a qualified industrial engineer, Christoph Niewerth joined Ascena (former Hays) as an account manager in 1999. After progressing to department manager, he later became a divisional and branch manager. In 2008 he was appointed Director of Contracting.

In January 2012, Mr. Niewerth joined the Board of Directors and was appointed Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for the Sales specialisms IT, Finance, Legal, Retail and Sales & Marketing in Germany as well as the company’s affiliates in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Russia. He is also responsible for Talent Solutions, public affairs and strategic customer development.