When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work. - Hardcover

Lancaster, Lynne C; Stillman, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0066621062 ISBN 13: 9780066621067

Publisher: Harper Business, 2002

Synopsis

BICKERING. BACK BITING. CLASHING. COLLIDING.
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE...

If your workplace sometimes feels like a battlefield and your colleagues sometimes seem like aliens, you are not alone. Today there are four distinct generations of employees glaring at one another from across the conference table, and the potential for conflict and confusion has never been greater.

In this insightful, captivating book, generational experts Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman shed much-needed light on how to bridge generational gaps at work by understanding the differences that drive generations apart.

Traditionalist employees with their "heads down, onward and upward" attitude live out a work ethic that was shaped during the dark days of the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the eighty million Baby Boomers are at a crossroads, trying to balance their overwhelming need to succeed with their desire to slow down and enjoy the fruits of their labor. They alternate between admiration and abhorrence for the chutzpah demonstrated by Generation Xers, who, in addition to feeling as if they have to prove themselves constantly, are chafing under the image of being overly ambitious, disrespectful, and irreverent. Nipping at everyone's heels are the new kids on the block, the Millennials -- with their unique mix of savvy and social conscience, they promise to change yet again the landscape of the workplace.

Whether you're a manager, an employee, an entrepreneur, or a skilled professional, you'll derive hands-on, take-home business benefits from understanding this vital form of diversity affecting today's high-performance workplace.

Using a wry and practical approach to bottom-line business issues and drawing upon interviews, experiences, and the findings from their national survey, Lancaster and Stillman give you in-depth insights into each generation. With their help, you'll have the tools you need to recruit, retain, motivate, and manage each generation more effectively. And you'll recognize that while -collisions are inevitable, ultimately it's how we manage them that counts.

About this title

About the Author:

Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman are nationally recognized public speakers, generational experts, and cultural translators as well as coauthors of When Generations Collide. They are cofounders of BridgeWorks, a highly successful twelve-year-old research, speaking, and training company focused exclusively on the generations at work. Their clients include high-profile companies such as 3M, American Express, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Disney, Ford Motor Company, General Mills, and Procter & Gamble, as well as stellar organizations such as AARP, the American Bankers Association, the Conference Board, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Security Agency, and the United Way. Lancaster lives in Sonoma, California, and Stillman lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

David Stillman is the co-author of best-selling books When Generations Collide and The M-Factor: How the Millennials are Rocking the Workplace. He has contributed to Time, The Washington Post, the New York Times, and USA Today and has been featured as a generational expert on CNN, CNBC, and the “Today Show”. Stillman has been named one of the “Forty Under 40” movers and shakers and one of 200 to Watch by The Business Journal.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Chapter One

Generational Turbulence

The Widening Generation Gap at Work

"You two do that for a living?" asked David's seatmate with a disapproving raise of the eyebrow.

Lynne observed David's reaction from across the aisle and hoped he wouldn't say something flippant. However, recognizing that this was a 3 1/2-hour flight and we had just leveled off, David settled down and took a deep, cleansing breath.

The man's name was Paul. He was a craggy, sixty-five-year-old Traditionalist and the CEO of a national warehousing and distribution company. He liked the aisle seat, a vodka and tonic with no ice, and an extra pillow. He was probably wondering what two upstarts like us were doing in first class, but he was too polite to let on. Instead, he kept probing.

"So tell me, what exactly does a 'generational expert' do?" he asked with a patronizing but unmistakably curious tone.

Lynne jumped in: "We help employers and employees understand the differences among the generations, and we coach them in how to recruit, motivate, manage, and retain the generations more effectively."

As Paul pondered this information, we wondered if he, like so many successful leaders, had ever thought about "generational differences" as one of the fundamental reasons American companies are experiencing hiring challenges, skyrocketing turnover rates, increasing communication conundrums, and plummeting morale. Had he ever recognized that clashes among Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials at work could take a direct toll on his bottom line?

Paul fixed David with a thoughtful gaze. "When I was young, I didn't see eye to eye with my dad. Now my son's in the business and we butt heads all the time. Haven't there always been generational conflicts in the workplace?"

"Sure," David responded. "The generations have always clashed. But the generation gaps in the workplace today are wider than ever and of greater strategic importance. Think about it. Americans are living and working longer. The average life expectancy at birth in the year 1900 was forty-seven. Today it's closing in on eighty. Suddenly, four generations are facing off across the conference table instead of just one or two."

"Okay," Paul replied, "but what's the problem? As I see it, more generations mean more available workers."

"That's a good point," David responded. "But what most people overlook is that each generation brings its own set of values, beliefs, life experiences, and attitudes to the workplace, and that can be the problem. Take your generation, the Traditionalists. You grew up under the shadow of the Great Depression and felt lucky to have jobs. If we have learned one thing in our research, it is just how strong Traditionalists' beliefs are when it comes to patriotism, hard work, and respect for leaders, among other values they bring to the workplace."

Paul nodded.

"Now, compare that to my generation," David continued.

Paul eyed David's T-shirt and parachute pants "travel ensemble." "Hmm, and exactly what generation would that be?" he queried with a raised eyebrow.

"Generation X," David responded proudly. "We grew up seeing too many businesses downsize or merge, and we learned that the last thing we could trust was the permanence of the workplace. Let's face it, by the time we hit the job market, the employer-employee contract was already out the window and Social Security was headed down the toilet. And it sure didn't help that we've always been told we would never do as well as our parents had. As a result, we need to be recruited, rewarded, and managed differently from your generation if you hope to make us a contributing, loyal part of your workforce."

Paul turned back to Lynne. "I assume you're an Xer, too?"

"I must admit to actually being a Baby Boomer," she responded, blushing. David rolled his eyes and wanted to grab an airsickness bag.

"So, Boomer, what's your story?" Paul demanded.

"Well," answered Lynne, "My generation is different from yours and David's. When you've had to vie with eighty million peers every step of your career, you're bound to be competitive. We were raised by parents who convinced us we could make the world a better place; as a result, we tend to be idealists. We came to the workplace with a strong desire to put our own stamp on things.

"Yeah, I've definitely locked horns with a few of you in my workplace," Paul confirmed with a nod of his head.

Lynne continued: "You have to put the generations in an economic context. The long economic expansion of the 1990s created a situation of almost full employment in the United States. David's generation was promoted rapidly and was offered more financial and job growth opportunities than ever in history. Rather than paying their dues for a number of years, they've been able to demand that companies adapt to their ways of doing things. This has created both a culture clash and a resentment backlash as the generations collided around issues of fairness and opportunity.

"At the same time, low unemployment levels created major staffing problems. For example, one of our clients who owns a box factory in Catawba City, North Carolina, complained to us in 2000 that his town's unemployment rate had dropped to .8 percent! Imagine trying to recruit a workforce to operate a noisy plant that smells like diesel fumes and rotten eggs when the same workers can find jobs at an air-conditioned mall for the same money -- and enjoy the scent of Mrs. Fields cookies!"

"Now hold on there," Paul interrupted. "Let's face it, as soon as our economy takes a nosedive, the younger generations are going to have to come begging for jobs."

"But that's only part of the picture," David countered....

There's a talent war out there. Because Generation X is just a little over half the size of . . .

Copyright (c) 2002 Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Business
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0066621062
• ISBN 13: 9780066621067
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384