Generation Gap and its effects on Culture.

By Nathan Yip

Recently I attended my 20-year school reunion. My first thought when it came up was “How did that happen?” Where did 20 years go? In many ways it seems like yesterday, yet in others it feels like I have lived 20 different lives in that time. When I got there, mostly everyone looked the same, by some magic many had not changed or aged at all, some were a little rounder, balder or more grounded, but despite very little aesthetic changes, the conversations with old friends and classmates were different. We all fell straight back into the groove we had formed 20 years ago with less awkwardness, insecurity and far less segregation of social groups which was nice and great to share stories across the whole spectrum of personalities.

The one thing that stood out to me, in between the catching up and sharing details about marriages, divorces and how many kids we had, was an obvious nostalgia that we share of times past and shared, but strikingly I couldn’t help but get caught up in conversations about how things used to be and the “Youth of today”.

I got into one particular conversation with an old friend about this as I became more aware of this running theme, I said do you catch yourself saying “Old man shit?” He laughed loudly and agreed strongly. We continued and I said I keep catching myself saying “back in the day...” or “My kids have no idea of how good they had it” another is “Young people or apprentices these days .... The list goes on, I mentioned every time I utter these phrases, I feel convicted about what I’m saying but also, I throw up in my mouth a little because I used to hate hearing these phrases and would think to myself “Shut up old man, what would you know” now it is I who is saying Old Man Shit.

I share this story because these are the phrases I have been using and conversations I have been having a lot over the last few years with salon owners and managers and more recently myself since opening a salon and employing staff. I have led and managed teams in many different industries with different levels of success, but I have never directly employed anyone or been completely responsible for anyone.

Owning a salon, like becoming a parent, gives you a different perspective on your theories and ideals for business, culture and how you lead, It just hits differently. All the things I used to resent hearing employers say about their employees, now have more context to what I saw as whinging and blaming for the potential lack of their leadership and structures.

It’s so easy to build resentment of staff when you feel like all you are doing is slaving away tirelessly to pay their wages and watch them sit in the back room on their phones, I get it now, I also understand the awkwardness and frustration around team training and up-skilling. How do you broach the conversation about your employees needing more work on their skill and offering them opportunities for them to say, “nah I have something on that day” or “I’m not Interested”. It’s especially hard if you have been super passionate and diligent with your journey in education, it can be so frustrating!

This is where the conversation of “(Kids/ apprentices/staff) these days just don’t care, or are unmotivated or entitled or the worst - “lazy”. It’s easy to go down this road and blame them and don’t worry I have. I have to remind myself that they are NOT me, they may not have a passion for hair or work or MY business and maybe my expectations are a reflection of me not them. They also have their own set of values, interests and direction. Recent generations have grown up in an environment where boundaries have been encouraged and they aren’t scared to enforce them. I actually love that younger generations are creating and holding boundaries, but it is causing a lot of friction with business owners and structures.

When I get frustrated, I have to remind myself to stay curious about why they are acting like they are, and what is important to the particular team member, what they want and how to manage and lead them the way they need to be led not just to conform to how I lead.

The education conversation is a tough one, employers worry that if they invest time and money in a person they may leave and then it was all a waste or an investment for them to use elsewhere, my answer or question to that is “what if you don’t train them and they stay”? That can be so much worse for brand, and culture.

My thoughts are, that there is always going to be a generation gap, and each generation is going to clash with one another as society and technology move so fast, but to manage the friction we as leaders need to stay curious and try to understand what is important to the next Gen and how can we adapt to be able to lead, inspire and motivate them. It’s a lot of work and requires a lot of connection and communication skills but what is the other option, you have a shop full of people you resent and a team that reset you and will leave as soon as the opportunity arises.

Let’s try and understand each other and be a bit more patient with each other, that’s my current focus, on top of learning better leadership skills to suit my current needs. If you wanna share your opinion or chat about this with me, find me on insta: @ prettyvac_nt

Nathan Yip x