How to Maximize the Impact of Each Generation In Your Organization

By Tom Hutchison, HOH Water Technology, and Chris Yee, Zenith Search Partners

Introduction

It seems that navigating the complexities of a workforce has never been more challenging than in 2022. In particular, we see the different generations in our companies (perhaps because so much attention is given to defining “boomer,” “millennial,” “Gen X,” etc.), we sense that each generation has different priorities and concerns, and we wonder how to communicate with each of our employees in all generations to accomplish organizational goals.

And in the water treatment industry we see important changes in the job description of a water treatment professional. Consider:

• The sales/service process: For veterans in the industry, sales and service were both the responsibility of one person. But today, in many companies, there is a separation of responsibility, whereby one person owns the service of an account, another owns the account management of the same account, and perhaps a third person is solely responsible for new business development.

• The impact of technology: Smart controllers; electronic service reports; innovations in testing procedures—it is crucial that the water treatment professional not only adapts to these changes, but also incorporates them into their natural rhythm of service and sales.

• Communication with decision makers: The sales and management process are more complicated than ever—corporate accounts; buying groups; centralized decision making. It is not the same “as it used to be.”

How do we maximize the impact of each generation represented in our organization, understanding that to do so is to treat them with the most respect and achieve our company objectives in the process?

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question. Our goal is to help you visualize what you want your team to look like in the future (say, five years); a picture of the impact each team member can have in their time frame, regardless of generation; and how they can get there –what conversations and strategies need to be developed and executed.

Recognizing the Differences in Generations

In a paper presented at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference in September of 2021, five different generations of employees in the workforce were identified. The next month, CareerBuilder published an article with results of a study to see how long each generation stays in their jobs and what each generation values. Results are summarized below:

• Traditionalist (76 years and older)

• Baby Boomer (57 to 75 years old)

• Generation X (41 to 56 years old)

• Millennial (26 to 40 years old)

• Generation Z (25 years old and younger)

While the need to understand each employee individually is the priority, it is still useful to note general characteristics of each category. In fact, paying attention to these general characteristics can help in better understanding each person’s unique needs.

Overarching Values

• Baby boomers value position, prestige, and stability.

• Generation X members value self-sufficiency, resourcefulness, and freedom.

• Millennials value self-confidence and work-life balance.

• Members of Generation Z value individual expression, societal change, and pragmatism.

Relationships With Organizations

On a macro level:

• Traditionalists tend to be loyal to the organization. They often have long-term commitment and tenures and see a career as equaling opportunity.

• Baby Boomers tend to be loyal to the team, adding value by going the extra mile, and see career as translating into self-worth.

• Members of Generation X often are loyal to their manager and may exceed expectations and deliver results but perceive career as just one part of who they are.

• Millennials tend to be loyal to colleagues. Millennials expect equitable treatment and see their careers as an opportunity to add value and contribute.

• Members of Generation Z tend to be loyal to the experience and are invested in their careers, which they see as a way to grow.

Relationships with Authority

• Traditionalists tend to have respect for authority and the hierarchical system, where seniority and job titles are valued. They have the attitude of “tell me what I should do for you.”

• Baby Boomers challenge authority and desire flat organizations that are democratic. They tend to have the mindset of “let me show you what I can do for you,” according to the paper.

• Members of Generation X may be unimpressed by authority and expect their competence and skills to be respected. Their approach may be “tell me what you can do for me.”

• Millennials respect authority figures who demonstrate competence. Their attitude tends to be “show me what you can do for me right now.”

• Members of Generation Z respect the process and follow direction but want to be engaged. Management should avoid one-way conversations with them, which can be difficult for some leaders. Compared to other generations, Gen Z members tend to be less trusting of authority and authority figures.

Work Styles

• Traditionalists tend to follow the rules, thinking that change is necessary mainly when something is broken.

• Baby Boomers like a structured organization, challenge the rules and yet are cautious about change.

• Members of Generation X tend to be flexible, want to change the rules and see change as opportunity.

• Millennials have more fluid work styles and expect to create the rules with change equaling improvement.

• Members of Generation Z are agile and seek balanced rules, seeing change as simply reality.

Typical Time Spent in a Job (according to CareerBuilder’s analysis of their resume database)

• Baby Boomers: 8 years 3 months

• Generation X: 5 years 2 months

• Millennials: 2 years 9 months

• Generation Z: 2 years 3 months

Finally, the paper noted that almost half of the Millennials and Generation Z’s feel stressed most of the time, while 36% of Millennials and 53% of Generation Z think they will leave their current employer within two years. This is confirmation of the importance of this topic—the stakes are high.

Consider your own organization—at HOH, we have significant representation in all these generations, excepting the Traditionalist category. We have a stated vision of what we want to look like in five years. But each individual’s five-year vision looks very different. The characteristics listed above can help you as a leader to tailor your conversations in a way that speak to individual needs while at the same time reinforcing the company mission.

Remembering What Every Employee Needs

While it can seem daunting to understand all the differences in the generations represented in our companies, there is also the comforting reality that every employee, regardless of age, thinks about the same things and needs the same things.

What Every Employee—Regardless of Age—Probably Thinks About

• Do the leaders of my company have a clear vision for the future? Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be part of a successful, growing company; they want to buy into the vision. They also want to be part of a stable organization, to feel as secure as possible. Knowing that leadership has a clear vision helps everyone feel secure and part of something they can get excited about.

• Does my company prepare me for success? This is about individual empowerment. We all want to feel that we have the ability and opportunity to succeed in our career. When the company provides training, regular feedback and support, the employee, regardless of age, knows the company

Is

with them to help achieve their individual success.

• Does my manager keep me informed of what’s going on? (And is he or she kept informed?)

Gallup research says that employees who receive daily feedback from their manager are three times more likely to be engaged than those who receive feedback once a year or less. It is not enough to hear the leader communicate a clear vision, like a general encouraging the troops on what victory looks like. It is also necessary to for the manager (i.e., captain of team) to regularly provide the data on how the battle is going. It will make us soldiers try that much harder.

What Every Employee—Regardless of Age—Needs

• Trust: Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, identifies an absence of trust as the underlying dysfunction which prevents organizations from achieving results. Every employee needs to trust their manager and their company’s leadership. The subject of trust is obviously too much to deal with in detail in this paper, but organizational trust certainly includes:

» Clear, honest communication—clarity builds trust. It is said that “reality is your friend; even negative reality.” This is true because we all feel more trusting when we know where we stand. Clear, honest communication will involve direct feedback, and it also works both ways—the employee builds trust by being direct and honest about their performance and being willing to accept feedback that will ultimately make them more effective.

» Predictable behavior—trust is built when you “say what you will do, and then do what you say.”

• Compassion: Gallup has done research that shows managers who demonstrate compassion with their employees improve their performance. In their Gallup Q12 engagement survey, they ask for a response to this question: “My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me.” Employees who agree with this are more likely to:

» Experiment with new ideas,

» Be advocates for their employer,

» Support coworkers personally and professionally, and

» Feel equipped to strike a balance between their work and personal lives.

Compassion includes learning what matters most to each employee. And as we have shown, this will, at a minimum, vary with the different generations in your organization. Pay attention to what each person needs and then show compassion by responding to those needs. Another old saying applies here: “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

• Stability: Stability is about the present moment. Can we be stable during uncertainty? No matter the generation, employees feel stable when they can depend on you to answer their questions, hear their ideas, and address their concerns. How you communicate affects the stability of your team.

• Hope: Back to the Gallup survey, the most powerful question Gallup asked followers was about hope—69% who strongly agreed that their leaders made them “feel enthusiastic about the future” were engaged. Only 1% of those who disagreed with the statement were engaged.

Steps to Maximize the Impact of Each Generation

One word dominates the steps to take to maximize the impact of each generation in your company: communicate Communication includes both listening and speaking:

• Listen to what each person needs. As we have demonstrated, this will vary depending on the generation, and at the same time, there are needs that need to be met for each employee, no matter the generation. So, listening will take time—you will need to spend time with each employee, better understanding what they are feeling and what they need to succeed in their role. This kind of “empathic listening” will model compassion and will improve their level of engagement.

• Communicate—vision: It has been said that “vision is a picture of the future that inspires passion.” When the leaders of a company communicate a vision of the future that inspires passion, hope is created, and when hope is created, employee engagement is strong. The future will be different for each generation in your company, but each person needs a vision of their future to feel hope. Communicate vision, consistently, clearly, and often.

• Communicate—connection: It is also important that each person understands their connection with the company’s vision. It is one thing to see the company goal. It is another thing to feel connected, or to feel that you are a part of, achieving that goal. We all long to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Again, the connection will be different for each person, which reinforces the need to understand where they are at (listen) and to communicate how they fit into the big picture, both now and at some future point in time.

• Communicate—values. The vision of the organization is accomplished when the “right” people are engaged in the work. The “right” people are the ones who know and live out your core values. There may be multiple generations in your company, but the right people are represented in each generation. Be sure that your values are communicated clearly, consistently, and often, and that your written communication (policies and procedures) is in line with these values.

• Communicate—creatively: Be creative and flexible in how you communicate. We know that different generations have different priorities. How we speak to baby boomers, for example, will probably be different from how we speak to millennials. We also live in a time with remote workers who may be harder to engage. It will take creativity to keep the remote person engaged; to make them feel as engaged as someone who is in the office every day.

We see the multi-generational nature of our companies as an opportunity. Recognizing the differences and remembering the similarities helps us grow as leaders in our ability to lead well. We achieve our objectives when we have an engaged workforce—how is it a bad thing to recognize differences and similarities if it helps us maximize the impact that each person can have in their company?

We encourage you to seize the opportunity to grow in understanding and communicating with each person with an eye on their needs, regardless of generation differences. It is not a problem to be solved; it is the time to grow.