And if so, what can you do about it?
We are in the midst of a major generational shift in the American workforce. According to an article from Johns Hopkins University, 19% of today’s workforce is made up of Baby Boomers. Gen X accounts for 35.5% and Millennials occupy 39.4%. The same article notes that some 10,000 Baby Boomers will reach the traditional retirement age in 2030. By the time this happens, Generation Z (or Zoomers, as they are sometimes known) will make up 30% of the active labor pool.
There is a perception that this demographic transition is also transforming the attitudes and priorities of the workforce. Indeed, younger workers do seem to have a more innate relationship with emergent technology, a stronger affinity toward sustainability, and more pronounced demands in terms of work-life balance.
Are these perceived characteristics truly generational in nature? And if so, what impact may this be having on your multi-generational workplace? These are the questions driving both academic and practical conversations on the idea of “generational drift”.
In the discussion below, we’ll examine the concept of generational drift, take a closer look at what the research suggests, and offer some actionable tips to help improve cross-generational collaboration for your business.
What is generational drift?
Let’s start with a closer look at the idea of generational drift. What exactly does this mean?
Generational drift refers to the idea that there is a gradual shift in attitudes, behaviors, values, and expectations between different generations. This shift can be driven by any number of broad sociological factors like technological advancement, shared generational experiences, and broader changes in cultural mores.
Whatever the causes, these perceived shifts can have a significant impact on your business–both internally and externally.
Externally, generational drift can suggest a gradual change in consumer tastes, priorities, and buying preferences. Internally, it can implicate a changing relationship between your personnel and things like technology, corporate social responsibility, and employment practices.
So as we undergo the Boomer-to-Zoomer transformation referenced in the section above, the concept of generational drift says the prevailing attitudes and values reflected in the workplace are gradually transforming to reflect younger demographics.
According to the article from Johns Hopkins University, 77% percent of Gen Z respondents said it was critically important to work for companies that share their personal values. Accordingly, says the article, “Gen Z wants firms to demonstrate their principles by taking action on topics such as climate change and sustainability.”
The implication is that businesses who wish to court talented young workers in a competitive labor market should adapt to meet these expectations. Certainly, we can see the ethical and economic benefits of taking action on climate change and sustainability. But would this type of adaptation support the idea that generational drift is taking place in the American workforce?
Generational drift–is that really what’s happening?
Do different generations really have cohort-wide differences in workplace values, attitudes, and expectations? And if not, what’s really going on here?
After all, the generation gap that Baby Boomers and Zoomers may feel between them on an anecdotal basis is not an illusion. A 30-year gap in both work- and life-experience is bound to reveal some pretty stark differences. But it may be a misunderstanding of these differences to presume that each generation holds its own monopoly on a certain set of beliefs and attitudes.
In fact, there is little compelling scientific evidence that such stark generational differences exist. During our reading, we came across an interesting article on LinkedIn. The author conducted a review of 137 separate studies on the so-called “generational drift”. He found that “while many studies explored generational contrasts across numerous variables, only a small fraction found statistically significant differences. Even fewer supported any specific hypotheses about generational traits – most findings were mixed or contradictory.”
So this leads us to a very interesting takeaway. Namely, that it may not really be accurate or useful to generalize workplace habits or behaviors based on generational cohorts. That’s not to say that certain groups don’t exhibit certain traits, behaviors, or tendencies.
Instead, this finding suggests that these tendencies aren’t necessarily specific to one generation over another. The article from LinkedIn suggests that many of the workplace behaviors we tend to attribute to generational differences are more accurately attributed to “life stage, economic conditions, or individual personality traits. For example, prioritisation of work-life balance can exist within any cohort, depending on personal and family situations, and individual proprieties and aspirations.”
So how to explain the apparent change in values for Gen Z workers? It may not be out-of-bounds to suggest that Gen Z is more concerned about climate change than prior generations because the issue is simply more real and tangible now than it was even a decade ago. To wit, the instinct of self-preservation is probably not unique to any one generation–even if the challenges that threaten this instinct are.
Climate change is just one instance, of course. But the thrust of the research is that most qualities we attribute to Gen Z (or any other generation for that matter) are either anecdotal, situational, or a combination of the two.
So those generation gaps that we all feel in a very real way in the workplace are more likely a product of our differences in experience and life stage, as opposed to broader traits shared within each of our generations.
Real or not, what are the potential consequences of generational drift?
Ironically, though the actuality of generational drift may not be supported by the science, we’ve all more or less helped to manifest it into reality by believing it to be true.
The biggest consequence of the supposed generation gap may not be a cohort-wide tendency toward certain traits. Instead, it is our shared belief in the myth of generational drift. An article from Forbes suggests that “What matters at work is not differences between differently aged employees, but the attachment to the belief that differences exist. This fallacy gets in the way of team collaboration and how employees of different ages are managed and trained.”
When we initially set out to write this article, we expected to write about how generational drift is changing the face of the workforce and that it is incumbent upon businesses to adapt. But the more we’ve read on the subject, the less convinced we are. Certainly, businesses must always be adaptable to shifts across the labor landscape. But it may be wrongheaded to adapt around the presumption that every generation has somehow fundamentally different values and expectations from work.
Some workplace expectations are universal–the desire for fairness, equal treatment, and proper compensation, for instance. But most measurable workplace traits are highly individualized. And the research suggests that your generational cohort is not likely the root determinant of those traits. Any belief to the contrary may be an impediment to cross-generational collaboration in the workplace.
How can you manage a multi-generational workforce?
So what does this mean when it comes to managing a harmonious multi-generational workplace? It actually means dispensing with the idea that generation should determine how you treat and task individuals. Rather than building a workplace that is consciously inclusive of all generations, your goal should be to build a workplace that is consciously inclusive of all individuals.
The article from LinkedIn suggests “Instead of perpetuating stereotypes, organisations need to focus on fostering inclusive environments that address individual needs and preferences. Leadership needs to emphasise universal values like transparency, trust, and adaptability, which transcend generational classifications and help to make for better, more inclusive business.”
This is a major imperative behind our Success Portraits Personality Test (SPPT). One of the core functions of this assessment is to draw clear and measurable connections between individual personality traits–such as Team Orientation, Perseverance, and Self-Regulation–and how a given individual might perform as part of a team.
We believe that workplace values and attitudes are based on a complex array of individual factors rather than generation-wide classifications. The measurements here are designed to transcend perceived generational patterns, to instead hone in on individualized personality traits.
We have often stressed the importance of using the SPPT alongside other assessment tools and traditional hiring methods, and we’ll reiterate the point here. But we also believe that this kind of objective and individualized assessment can be a bulwark against age-related bias in the hiring process. And it can help you build a harmonious multi-generational organization based on compatible personality traits.