A generational perfect storm is approaching as boomers begin to lose their grip on power and the workplace becomes increasingly age-diverse, according to an expert.
“For the first time, there are two very large, very powerful groups occupying the same workplace at the same time,” said Nora Spinks, president of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises at an EAPAT seminar in Toronto on Thursday.
She explained that the looming clash between boomers and the slightly younger trailing boomers has begun as boomers linger in the workforce and continue to occupy many of the top-level positions.
“Trailing boomers are the most overworked, overlooked, overwhelmed, and overloaded generation in the paid labour force,” explained Spinks. “They’re also the most unhappy because they’re approaching mid-life and haven’t enjoyed the opportunities that boomers have.”
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Spinks said that trailing boomers have been at the tail end of every advance their older cohorts have made, especially upward mobility. “Boomers have redefined many things we now take for granted,” she explained. From the explosion of schools offering kindergarten to college and university scholarships and bursaries, boomers have been a prime mover for societal advances, but trailing boomers have often been unable to participate due to the sheer size of the boomer generation.
With the introduction of phased retirement and flexible work schemes for boomers, trailing boomers, Spinks suggested, are being neglected by employers and need to be engaged and retained.
Additionally, while the workplace of previous generations has traditionally been stratified between young, middle-aged, and senior employees, today’s workplace now exhibits six or seven distinct sets of generational characteristics based on childhood upbringing, experience with technology, and how they interface with the world of work.
Unless fully understood, this can lead to trouble, as workers view each other through a generational lens, she said.
“Every generation that has been studied has been under the assumption that the previous generation isn’t as smart as they are,” said Spinks. “Since 200 BC that’s not been the case, but every generation believes it nonetheless.”
On generation Y, Spinks said it is misunderstood by its elders just as generation X and boomers were before them, and that employers need to understand that young people see work and life as one in the same.
“They will give you 150% of themselves, but they will not give up their health, their wellbeing, or their relationships in order to get or keep the job the way that older generations have,” she explained.
Addressing sentiments she’s heard of late that generational differences will be neutralized by the current economic crisis, Spinks feels the idea that this is going to go away is ridiculous. “The reality is, it doesn’t matter what’s happening with the economy or the world of work,” she said. “You cannot undo people’s previous experiences.”
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