All Ages Can Meet in the Middle

Some of your store’s staff may be thinking the other employees just don’t have a clue. The so-called clueless ones may be thinking the same thing of the other group. What’s dividing the two? Age, quite possibly.

A campus store’s staff could potentially span five different adult generations. That means employees bring very different generational experiences and expectations into the workplace, and each generation may disparage the others as out of touch or naïve.

“Here’s the thing about stereotypes,” warned Closing General Session speaker Matt Havens at CAMEX100, “you shouldn’t have them. Where it comes to age, we hold onto stereotypes tightly.”

In the workplace, those stereotypes can quickly get in the way. How can employees work effectively together when the older ones regard the younger staff as unmotivated and lazy, and the younger ones believe the older staff are incompetent and terrified of change?

“What matters is why people are the way they are. As leaders, we need to figure that out,” Havens said. Understanding what each generation has grown up with can help store leaders determine how to interact with those employees. The idea of community, for instance, has changed over time, he noted.

Older generations were raised solely in physical communities where they connected with other people and could observe what to do. “Sometimes you learn from your community what not to do,” he said.

But younger generations have spent part of their existence online. “Their world since birth has always been global,” Havens noted. But that expanded community can be overwhelming.

The solution is for leaders to help employees shed their stereotypes and meet in the middle. Havens offered suggestions for older and younger workers to reorient their thinking about the other generations.

With older employees (who are more likely to have decision-making and/or supervisory responsibilities), it’s important to be mindful “how intentional are you” in communicating with younger workers, he said. “Your people need to know you care about them.” He suggested:

• Listen intently to younger employees.
• Ask more questions and stop talking.
• Reflect and seek their feedback.

“Older people don’t need to agree with why change is happening,” Havens said. “What can you do to meet young people halfway? Recognize they are a product of their upbringing.”

Younger employees should realize “none of the older people you work with got where they are overnight,” Havens pointed out. “Advancement is a process, not a right. We don’t give promotions or raises automatically.” Younger people are “generally more wired for speed” but need to slow down and learn why certain practices are in place.

“One of the best things you can do is spend time talking to older people and find out how they got there,” he said. “Let them know you appreciate them.”

Havens stressed all generations need to understand that change is occurring at the same pace it always has—even though everyone tends to think it’s faster today.

“For young people, not every new idea you’re going to have is a great one. And that’s okay,” Havens said. “For old people, not all new ideas are bad ideas.”