When those "crazy young people" become your colleaguesor your bossit is imperative that you learn to develop effective relationships. But creating a good rapport can be tricky, as Lynne Lancaster (Baby Boomer) discovered firsthand. Lancaster had a bumpy working relationship with David Stillman (Generation Xer), but the two worked through their issues, and their success eventually led Lancaster to speak on generational differences, both alone and with Stillman.
"We butted heads all the time," says Lancaster of their initial relationship. "After a while we realized we really liked each other, we just didn't see things the same way all the time and [our differences were] generational."
The two soon discovered that they were not the only ones having difficulty resolving such workplace issues. "This was the 1990s, and we realized that companies were already feeling generational gaps. Gen Xers were coming in and demanding things like flex time and casual days," says Lancaster, who finds organizations ready and willing to embrace change. "Companies want to do what's best for business, so they want to change, but they struggle with 'how do we do this?' and 'how do we do it in a way that's fair?' "
What began with Gen Xers has snowballed into a four-generation workplace, with each generation bringing needs, expectations, and hopes to the table. "As this huge Millennial generation moves into the workforce, there are 80 million Baby Boomers looking at retirement, and companies don't know what Boomers are going to dosome plan to work for a really long time, and others are looking forward to retirement," she says.
"We try to raise awareness about the demographics and numbers driving the change," explains Lancaster, whose appeal runs the gamut from Fortune 500 firms competing for the best and brightest, to nonprofits looking to retain volunteers, to associations concerned about attracting new members. She advises organizations to "look really hard at your recruiting campaigns to see what generations you're skewed towards. Are you putting out a message that's geared toward Baby Boomers when you're really interested in attracting Millennials?
"It's not all touchy-feely, which is what people think [about generational presentations]. The numbers are really interesting; there are already huge worker shortages in pockets all over the U.S.," Lancaster explains, adding that strategies and solutions are balanced by a lighthearted tone.
"We show clips from movies like Meet the Fockers so [attendees] have a good time while they think about being better at work," she says. "I think one of the fun things about this topic is that you find out a lot about your own generation too." And she has found that guests learn a little something about their relatives: "You think, 'That's why I don't understand my boss!' and you're secretly also thinking, 'That's why I don't understand my dad!' "