| Have you heard? Fire is hot; water is wet; and the gulf between the old guard and the new recruits is wide.
Several years ago, as hiring began to ramp up in the nation’s recovery from the recession, “how to work with Millennials” was a very hot topic. Though it has cooled slightly – probably because the generations in question have discovered that they are not as different as they thought – the exploration of generational differences in the workplace still arises from time to time.
Bankers in particular seem to struggle with the generational gap, both in terms of their customers and their employees, but all industries have a self-professed “expert” eager to offer advice on how to get along with (or market to) the kids these days.
Those in the residential real estate and lending industries worry that Millennials will never buy houses, while the commercial real estate industry eagerly caters to the younger generation’s thirst for amenities in an urban environment, and to their tendency to rent for a longer time than their predecessors.
While many strive professionally to capture the spending power of the lucrative 20- to 35-year-old age range, on a personal level they may struggle to work with them. The difference between Boomers and Millennials – in terms of communication styles, approach to the work/life balance and overall priorities, to name a few – can be vast. Moreover they tend to sneak up on you; one minute you’re working together on a rebrand, the next, your Millennial colleague is telling you they’ve never heard of the White Album.
Post-Boomers, the defining lines of a “generation” grow quite fluid. Most agree the Boomers were born in the 20 years between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s, but there is an enormous life experience gap between this year’s 62-year-old (born in 1954) and this year’s 32-year-old (born in 1984). The lines become even more blurry as the generations get younger: Gen X is defined as early 1960s to early 1980s; the Millennials from the early 1980s to the early 2000s; and Gen Z anywhere from the mid- to early 1990s through the early 2000s, or to 2010.
No matter where one draws the lines, a business in 2016 may have employees from all current generations, and the difference between someone now nearing retirement and a summer intern is a stark one.
But it was always thus. A 60-year age gap will bring enormous differences in life experiences; added to that is, of course, is the torrid pace of technology that has altered forever the way today’s youngest workers will do business. However, that’s part of the point of being in business. It’s not (all) about the money; it’s also about training the next generation of American businesspeople.
So for all the differences between us, there is one tie that binds: we’re all in this together. Across all ages and industries, the old and the new must be willing to both learn from and teach each other – and then this, too, shall pass.
This editorial first appeared in the April 26, 2016 issue of Banker & Tradesman.
