Talking 'bout your generation

Avril Henry

It may be a hot topic in HR and management circles, but can people managers really succeed simply by tapping into the probable values of each generation? Australian human resources expert Avril Henry is a firm believer that organisations attract, manage and retain people more successfully with an eye to generational differences.

"Every generation has its own view of loyalty and expectations of the workforce and Kiwi managers need to be aware of the different views each generation hold on career, family, work/life balance and loyalty and espouse these according to group," says Henry.

With the western-world birth rate declining and Baby Boomers soon retiring, Henry's message struck a chord with more than 250 New Zealand HR and finance managers at a recent Robert Half Finance and Accounting breakfast. Vivacious and entertaining, Henry's presentation to this audience on the differences between the generations and their approach to work and life prompted managers of all ages to nod and mouth 'it's so true' to one another.

And they want to believe. "It's so hard to recruit," was an oft-repeated phrase throughout the breakfast by managers that know retaining a competitive edge into the future is about having a full workforce. If it's possible to attract and retain that workforce through an awareness of generational differences, then managers are interested.

"The war for talent is not just for graduates and younger generations but for all people able to work. The question on the lips of every CEO is 'how are we going to get enough people to do the work?"' says Henry.

She says organisations need to align people management, HR and diversity strategies and policies to suit the values and views of each generation, and to have people managers trained to lead collaboratively rather than hierarchically.

So where do the perceived generation differences lie? Henry says veterans (people age 60 to 76) love authority, are hierarchical and patriarchal, propagate boards and, although they have no formal training, are often promoted to people management positions because they've 'earned it'.

Baby Boomers (age 41 to 59) are the 'stressers' and perfectionists of the western working world, and while raised to believe any job is a good job and success equates to long hours and hard work are beginning to see work/life balance as important.

Meanwhile Generation X (age 28 to 40) wants to see their children grow up. They crave constant change, career development and learning, and to be better managers than Baby Boomers and Veterans.

Finally, Generation Y (age 11 to 27) is the 'be afraid, be very afraid' generation, says Henry. They're the most technologically savvy, consider work part of an overall lifestyle, loathe stress, value social connections and won't dish out respect unless they get it first. Generation Y value socially and environmentally responsible companies that employ a diverse workforce with boards and executive teams made up of people of different genders, races and religions.

These are fairly hefty stereotypes, but Henry says she has research to show 85 per cent of people fit their generational profile. But do they? While Henry is well qualified with a long HR, finance and management pedigree, her views regarding generational differences are common but controversial.

Peter Harbidge, general manager for HR consultants Hudson New Zealand, says a pilot study, The Generational Mirage, conducted by the University of Auckland Business School and commissioned by Hudson suggests generational differences in the workplace are overstated, and may be detrimental to people management and retention if relied upon.

"We wanted to know if there was any truth in generational differences and found there are actually more similarities. The study found the values of different generations tended to rub off on each other which means so-called generational attitudes aren't necessarily entrenched," says Harbidge.

Harbidge says while observing generational patterns is fun, entertaining and topical, it is also misleading.

"We should use an awareness of possible generational differences in attitude and values as counsel and self education rather than rely on generational stereotyping to set people management policies," he says.

Theoretically, treating people according to their generation could backfire, agrees the Leadership Institute's Dr Lester Levy in The Generational Mirage.

"If the values and attitude differences between generations are not significant, broad generational workplace strategies have the potential to disrupt generic workforce development, dissipate resources and erode generational harmony," quotes the study.

The study notes divergence between generational attitudes may be more related to life-cycle phases, such as early parenthood, than divergent generational values.

"Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are not dissimilar as employees; there are more similarities than differences," says Lester. The study recommended New Zealand organisations rethink leadership and development approaches and develop customised workplace strategies that take individual differences into close account before generational factors. Some New Zealand managers have already figured this out. One Baby Boomer director of a small IT company employing nine 'Generation Y-ers' noticed how they differed from him and decided to pay attention to their conversations. He discovered that autonomy in work projects and stress was out, but travel, teamwork and good times were in. The director assured each of his staff working trips overseas would be made available and Friday afternoons would be reserved for team computer games. To date, eight people remain employed at the same company with one about to enter a fifth year of consecutive employment. The ninth resigned, saying he needed more autonomy.

"I now know I should have listened to them all individually as well as creating an environment that suited their generation," says the director.

Laurie Bunting, director of executive recruitment firm Swann Group, says his organisation considers possible generational differences during candidate selection and recruitment process, but doesn't rely on it.

"At the end of the day you recruit individuals, but knowing the inter-generational mix in an organisation helps determine probable values. Because Baby Boomers tend to be in positions of power, if you have a candidate from another generation, it helps to work out what their relationship is likely to be like," says Bunting.

He says he has seen ideal candidates fail to impress a client because of generational differences, and as recruiters Swann Group sometimes raise the issue of generational prejudices and perceptions with clients.

Bunting says older generations may expect younger candidates to want to work for an organisation because it is well known; something most Generation X and Y-ers couldn't care less about.

Bunting says the true difference between generations is that mutual loyalty between employer and employee no longer exists. Instead, employers need to develop and train and increase the personal brands of younger generation employees to retain them.

"One of the best things we've ever heard an employer tell a candidate was 'we can't guarantee you a job for life, but we guarantee that if you work for us you'll enjoy yourself and be more employable when you leave than when you arrived'.

That was inspired; it's what most of the generations now believe in and are really interested in," says Bunting.