President's Letter

By Cat Campbell

A big crew change is underway in the oil and gas industry.

–NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, "EMERGING TRENDS IN THE US ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES"

The big crew change. That seemed to be the slogan for those of us entering the industry over the past decade and a half. We were told that the boomers are retiring faster than roles can be filled and the bimodal distribution of ages (Figure 1) in the workforce, with boomers at one end and the Xennials at the other, challenges will appear from issues with experience to conflict among the generations. The last challenge, the potential conflict between the generations really sparked a curiosity for me. I know that I see things differently than my parents, which seems to be inherent in that type of relationship (love you Mom and Dad Campbell!), but why do I look at the world through a different lens than my boss whose kiddos are my age?

FIGURE 1: Bimodal age distribution of an oil and gas company staff.

Source: https://www.americangeosciences.org/geoscience-currents/ geoscience-workforce-age-distribution

Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.

—HENRY DAVID THOREAU

For starters, what are the generations? Talk about opening a can of worms with a question. For the purposes of this column, I am using Figure 2 to define the generations. The reason I’m opting for this diagram is because it captures the essence of the generations; the defining moments, personal drivers, and some key aspects of workplace life. I consider myself a cusp generationalist, bordering between X and Y, where cell phones came into popular use later, specifically in college, but I am still driven by freedom and flexibility, yet I really don’t like communicating through social media outlets, which I am sure many of you have noticed (sorry about that). Technological availability is a major factor in the experiences of different generations, but it is so much more complex than that. Having a cell phone in college rather than middle school doesn’t make me value freedom and flexibility, just as my parents being committed to an employer isn’t because they experienced huge leaps in television and early computer technology. So why are we so different?

Focus on why generations see things differently, not what those differences are.

—HADYN SHAW

I love this quote. It redirects the focus from Matt Silverman (a Boomer, my former boss during my years at Bayless and now my mentor and friend) berating me to pick up the phone and call someone rather than email (just kidding, but really, he did ask me to use the phone more), to considering how Matt grew up versus how I grew up and why he prefers the phone and I prefer email. Examining the core values of his generation and the cultural shifts that he and everyone else born during that time experienced versus what I saw as a child of the 1980s can bridge that communication gap. We found a balance in communication styles with honoring the personal interaction of phone calls when necessary, but also using email or text when communicating quickly and effectively was the priority.

Figure 2. The working generations and key attributes.

From: https:// kpcompanies. com/how-tomanage-a-multigenerationalworkforce/

Another example that is frequently brought to light in the multi-generational workplace is adapting to changes in technology, not just from rotary phone to cell phone, but advances in software and computing options. I think of my kids using their iPads and coding their robots to follow a path and pretend to be a dinosaur, things that I wouldn’t have fathomed in my youth. They will grow up with a level of comfort around technology from its availability, but also its integration into every aspect of their lives. Using Matt as an example again, we found a great balance as a team with technology. I found Petra, although frustrating, to be somewhat malleable to make it do what I wanted, and if not, I had Canvas and PowerPoint to make more stunning visual displays. That was my job, while Matt took on the role of project management rather than spending months fighting with software he actually didn’t need to be successful in his job.

COVID is something we all experienced together, a year-and-a-half that united the generations. As we return to real life, I hope we will respect what that means for each generation. While some may be ready to jump back in with both feet, others are dealing with the anxiety of transmitting the virus from a workplace exposure to their unvaccinated kids. Can we maintain the treasured sense of trust placed in us by our employers as well as our productivity? Can we design the new normal to offer the optimization of scheduling that working from home provided? These are challenges across the generations on our path to the future. Let’s take it easy on each other and communicate openly, however we choose to do so.

We need to remember across generations that there is as much to learn as there is to teach.

—GLORIA STEINEM