For the first time in history, we have four generations employed simultaneously!

By Nancy L. Clark

Pose a simple question—how did Kennedy die? And you will hear a variety of answers in today’s workplace. “He was assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald.”  “He died in a private plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard.”  “Who’s Kennedy?”  These varied responses may indicate that you are working in a 3G (three generation) or 4G (four generation) environment. 

With so many generations working together, the benefits can be great, but so too can the challenges.  Within one generation the experience and approach to work can be very different; spread among four generations, we may not even seem like the same species. 

“This new generation thinks differently.”  “They don’t have the same work ethic.”  These comments may seem like complaints, yet research is supporting that there are differences.  And, I suspect those or similar comments are made about every new generation.  We are all different and we should be.  Our experiences, life events, etc. are all different.  The challenge for organizations is how to leverage those differences and optimize the benefits.

What is your workplace doing to leverage the generational differences?  The first step is to understand the differences.  To read more and to see a quick “generational cheat sheet”/table, go to Welcome to the 4G Workplace

I invite you to share your comments and thoughts.