Age Differences in the Workplace Can Create Problems
By Stephanie Grace

Perinatal nurse Mary Lou (Hurn, '73) Converse assesses a young pregnant woman and listens as she tells about cravings, sharp pains, and financial problems.  Converse takes her time – nodding her head and scribbling handwritten notes on sheets of paper.  But in order for her to communicate her evaluation with other nurses, she must enter it into a computer database, a task she would never have been able to do in high school. 

"I didn't take a typing class until my senior year of high school, and that was for a typewriter – computers were a whole new world.  I never had anyone tell me how to work them," Converse said.

In contrast, Converse says younger nurses have been using computers their whole lives and frequently grow impatient with the veteran nurses who, they believe, just work too slowly.  Older nurses see the younger nurses as amateurs, but at the same time, they grow fearful for their own jobs.

The situation is nothing new in today's workplaces.  Managers around the country are experiencing problems as generations begin to work side by side.  Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millenials combine to create workforces that are diverse – but are also filled with stereotypes and misunderstandings. 

The fact is, the nation's workplaces are seeing more and more gray hair despite the young people entering the workforce each year.  The number of employees who will be 50-68 years old in 2014 is expected to grow significantly, at rates four times that of the overall work force in the next decade, estimates the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employees 25 to 54 years old will grow at a measly 0.3 percent, and employees 16-24 years old will essentially have a flat growth rate. The result is a big gap between old and young, and even bigger problems. 

"In nursing, we 'eat our young,'" Converse said.  As veteran nurses work long hours and become stressed, they sometimes verbally abuse or deliberately intimidate younger nurses.  In the end, both young and older nurses end up leaving – a direct result of the generation gap and a lack of relationship, Converse said.  "The biggest hurt for people in my generation is when they see the new generation as a threat, and not an ally."      

Problems like 'eating the young' in the workplace have deep roots.  Generations have been raised in different social and political climates – and this affects how each views the world of work, the Association of Operating Room Nurses Journal reported in June 2005. Older workers are generally viewed as more hard-working, dependable and attached to their careers.  Called the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers, older generations are seen as more resistant to change and technology – and less productive than younger workers. 

Britt (Blom, '94) Green is a teacher who has seen veterans become planted in one school or become disenchanted with education as a whole. "The older we get as humans, the harder it is to accept change.  It's a natural progression through life," she said.  Older teachers might lose their sense of optimism and excitement and can sometimes become harder to work with, Green said.

Younger employees have grown up with today's technology, and some have had access to phones, pagers and laptops their whole lives.  The GenXers and Millenials are seen as resourceful and team-oriented but can also be considered by older generations as lacking crucial communication skills and a strong work ethic.  The younger generations also tend to place personal priorities above their work, a trend that bothers the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers, the American Journal of Medicine reported in April 2005.

However, these perceptions are just that: perceptions.  Forcing people into stereotypes is dangerous, and doing so limits an employee's ability to function competently in a workplace. One generation isn't right, wrong, or better than any other.  What's important is to establish common ground with co-workers and build upward from there, Converse said.

"We are often looking for someone who has had a parallel situation or experience – that's how we relate. This is the solution to the generation gap: people just need others to relate to them," she said.

But where to start?  Generational differences are difficult to address, especially because they're rarely discussed around the water cooler or in employee training. 

The goal is not to change people – organizations should be working toward an appreciation of diversity in their employees and should draw on individual strengths in employees, Nursing Management reported in August 2000.

Success demands a workforce that is educated about diversity and has learned useful skills for bridging the gaps and tapping into the best of everyone.

Many workplaces have recruited speakers and done workshops to make employees see similarities among generations and the benefits of working on a multi-generational team.

Green says mentoring teams that span generations would be a good start. "We need to draw on a sense of collaboration," she said.  In building relationships between younger and older employees, feedback and encouragement can be exchanged. 

Converse has bridged the gap between old and young in her own way: She offers life advice to younger nurses.  She stays in contact with her younger patients, and she recently attended the first birthday party of a baby she helped deliver.  She thinks offering wisdom instead of withholding it is the place to start.

"If I see something good in my coworkers, I need to tell them and teach them – and then, I allow them to teach me."