Leadership Session Episode 1: Managing a Multigenerational Team

By Princess Maam T. Lumanglas | December 12, 2022

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. To learn how to better manage and leverage the unique skills and talents of each generation
 Explore the complexity of leading a workgroup with four or five separate generations of employees
who all have different backgrounds, ages and worldviews
 Discover the differences in each generational perspective to better identify employee needs and
expectations
 Get tips on managing an employee young enough to be your child as well as one old enough to be
your parent
2. To be ready to deliver effective feedback to everyone on your team -- by leveraging each generation's unique
insights and strengths.

INTRODUCTION:
For the first time in history, there are five different generations in
the global workforce.
• As managers and leaders, we are all are tasked with
balancing the generational gap.

Can you guess the population of each generation at AMRC?

 Traditionalists: 2%
 Generation X: 26%
 Millennials: 50%
 Generation Z: 22%

We will look at the definitions of each generation and the distinctions among them. We will also look at how you as a
leader can communicate effectively and inclusively with employees of all ages.

Generational names
and date ranges may
vary around the world
But note that the
Millennial Generation
or Generation Y in
many countries is
considered the first
global generation
because of the shared
experience of growing
up with social media.
 For consistency, we will adopt
what is used in the US where
there is a lot of research and
resources on the topic.

NOTE: Some don’t fall neatly into

a generational group – hence the
micro generations:
• The Gen Jones fall between
the end of the Baby Boomer and
the beginning of Gen X
• The Xennials – between Gen X
and Millennials
• Gen Alphas are still being born

In the third column: the period when majority of members of each generation first joined the workforce
 This actually has more impact on their potential workplace expectations, behavior and preferences
compared to the actual year they were born.

For example, when they started their first job:

• How many women were in the workplace?
• What technology was and wasn’t available?
• Did people work from home?
A Gen X worker may have started working when emails became dominant, but this was also the time when
employees had a lot of face to face conversations in open offices.
On the other hand, a Millennial or a Gen Z possibly has so many sources of information, but does not have so much
opportunity to interact and learn from their co-workers

The Impact of Technological

Change
In this chart you will see when
various technologies launched.

 Where were you in your

career for each one?
 How about the people you
manage?
 How did each technology
change their experiences
and expectations?
What does this mean for you as a leader?
• Older generations might need more training when using technology as a collaboration tool
• Some younger generations might need more guidance during in-person conferences

 Let’s not look at technology or good or bad, or better or worse.

 Let’s simply consider them as different and then look at the employee’s comfort level in using them.

NOW, LET’S LOOK AT EACH OF THE 5 GENERATIONS

The Silent Generation

(born before 1946)
SILENT - because back in the day children
were expected to be seen rather than heard
(in other words, to do as they were told and
be good).

Hardworking
 This is the generation that grew up
during the Great Depression and World
War II.
 They think of work as a privilege and are
known for their strong work ethic.
Strong willpower
 A logical consequence from growing up – and having to survive – in particularly hard times.

Loyal & respectful towards authority

 Traditionalists have often stayed with the same employer throughout their entire careers.
 And they expect the same loyalty from their employers.
 As the name ‘Silent Generation’ implies, they to respect authority and value conformity.

Baby Boomers
(born between 1946 and 1964)

Goal-oriented
 Boomers had more opportunities than
previous generations in terms of
education and finances which makes
them more achievement-oriented and
career focused.

Competitive
 Baby Boomers tend to be very
hardworking and often define themselves by their professional accomplishments.
 As such, they are rather competitive in the workplace and believe in a hierarchal structure.
Value relationships
 This generation greatly values human relationships.
 While growing up, Boomers used to make phone calls and write letters, hence strengthening their interpersonal
skills.
 While they use cell phones and tablets, they mostly use them as productivity tools (instead of connectivity
tools).

Generation X
(born between 1965 and 1980)

Flexible
 Just like Gen Z saw their parents
struggle following the financial crisis of
2008, Gen X saw their parents suffer
during the economically tough times in
the 80s;
 this is one of the reasons they are less
committed to a single employer and
adapt well to change.

Work hard, play hard

 Generation X was the first cohort to put a bigger emphasis on the much-talked-about work/life balance.
 Work is important, certainly, but they prefer working to live rather than the opposite.

Individualistic
 Gen X grew up in a time when two-income families were on the rise.
 Women increasingly started to join the workforce creating a generation of so-called latchkey kids.
 As a result, Gen X is pretty independent, self-sufficient and resourceful.

Gen Y or Millennials
(born between the early 80’s and mid 90’s)

Value collaboration & teamwork

 While their predecessors can be rather
individualistic and competitive, Gen Y
values collaboration and teamwork.

They change jobs (often)

 Where previous generations thought of
proving their worth and ‘putting in the
hours’ as a way of moving up the
corporate ladder, Millennials think of applying to new jobs as the most efficient way to advance.
 But finding a company that fits their personal values and offers them the ‘right’ job are also reasons Millennials
change jobs more often.
Salary isn’t everything
 As a logical consequence from the above, not all Millennials think of salary as their number one priority. The
total package including various types of employee benefits, perks, personal development opportunities and,
of course, the right job, matters more than the money alone.

Generation Z
(born between 1996 and 2012)

The youngest among our five generations in

the workplace is Generation Z, also known
as the iGeneration or Digital Natives.

Tech-savvy
 More than any other generation in the
workplace, Gen Z has no difficulty what
so ever using the latest apps,
technology, or platforms; it’s what they
do.
They value (job) security
 As we mentioned before, this is another generation that saw their parents suffer the consequences from a
major financial crisis.
 As such, they want a job that provides them with a secure (personal) life and they appreciate financial
wellness benefits.

They are autonomous

 Whenever a Digital Native encounters a real-life issue, they search for a solution online.
 With the help of a YouTube or other guide they tend to solve a lot of issues themselves.

SOME TIPS IN HANDLING A MULTI-GENERATIONAL TEAM

Communicate Inclusively and Effectively

Being inclusive means we make an effort to
involve everyone and not exclude anyone

One way that generations differ is their

communication style
*A Gen Z for example might enjoy sending
lots of emojis
*But then if you look at it, all of us really have
various communication tools and styles –
email, Viber, text, Messenger, Zoom, phone
calls, in-person
1. Initiate the work-style conversation
• If you communicate to a multi-generational team, you have to decide not only what to say but also which
method of communication you’ll use to say it
• Do not make any generalizations about how employees want to communicate. Also, do not find ONE single
communication style that works for everyone. One size will never fit all.
• Communicate about how you communicate.

What we can do to have a work-style conversation:

• Clarify your communication preferences and expectations with the people you manage.
• Learn your own manager’s style and adapt to it, but also make it easy for those YOU manage.
• Clearly tell your employees how to communicate with you.

Questions to consider answering for your employees:

• What’s the best way to receive an answer from you quickly – phone call, Viber message, post-it note
• What are your email preferences? Do you prefer shorter or thorough emails, paragraphs or bullet points
• How do you like your documents/reports formatted? Is there an Excel template you prefer to use? What font
size?
• What’s your general schedule? Are you a morning person? Do you need coffee before any conversation? Do
you work various hours on certain days, do you send emails on Sunday nights but don’t expect a response
until Monday, etc.?

TELL your employees instead of making them guess

• In a multi-generational team, communicating ABOUT communication minimizes unnecessary conflict,
misunderstandings, negativity and waste of time and energy

2. Give explicit directions and assignments

*For example a millennial records a meeting
and posts it online.
• The manager might say “That meeting
was confidential!”
• The employee says, “You never told me
that!”
• The manager says, “I didn’t think I HAD
to!”

 Many boomers and Gen X who built their careers before the existence of social media consider information
as private unless they’re told otherwise.
 For millennials and Gen Zs, the opposite is usually the assumption – anything can be shared
 Therefore, no one here is right or wrong.

Here’s what we can do:

• Don’t give vague directions or rely on unwritten rules
 • Be explicit in your directions and assignments so that your employees know the exact results they need to
achieve and the boundaries around how to achieve them
• For example, you want ideas for the collaboration between 2 departments. Your employee might
send two ideas, but you were expecting 10 or more! They might give specific ideas when you’re only
looking for basic or general ideas, or maybe too Head Office focused instead of including all
btranches
• You may say, “think outside the box” but the employee doesn’t even know what the box is.
• I might say to Melody, for example to recruit better, recruit more – but that doesn’t really help her.

3 ways to be more explicit to a multi-generational team

1. Provide examples
 Find ways to show your employees what you expect by giving them examples or inviting them to watch
you handle a task

2. Make assignments, policies and boundaries measurable -- by using numbers

 For example, if you tell your staff to call you anytime, they might call you late in the evening when you
already want to rest. So maybe change that to: Call me anytime between 8AM to 8PM.

3. Tell them when you’re being deliberately vague

 When you want your staff to be creative or figure things out on your own – be clear about it.
 Say something like: “Gusto kong matuto kayo na mag-handle ng ganitong problema on your own.” OR
“Alam ko hindi ito madaling solusyonan pero kailangan nyong hanapan ng paraan.”

Deliver Actionable Feedback

1. Employ the one-minute manager

technique

From the book The One Minute Manager by

Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (1982);
revised in 2015: The New One Minute
Manager

The book says that the best way to manage people of any generation is to provide regular specific feedback in one-
minute moments
• STRATEGY: On a regular basis, for each person you manage, catch them doing something well and
acknowledge it. Then, catch them doing something not as well, and then offer constructive feedback.
• HOW: You can do this in person, by text, by email.
• What’s important is the CONSISTENCY of the feedback and the BALANCE between positive and constructive
 A lot of employees feel they don’t receive enough feedback from their managers
• Millenials and Gen Z’s – they want the most feedback – could be because they grew up in a world of social
media likes
• But even the older generations also want to receive feedback from their bosses – they sometimes feel
ignored because they have been in the company longer
• If your team is too big for one-on-one feedback, then ask employees to come to you: consider offering a
specific and consistent time when anyone can schedule an appointment or just reach out to talk. – Then use
the opportunity to give that specific balanced feedback between positive and negative.
• Remember that everyone wants to feel valued and getting the time and attention of your manager is a sign
of being valued, even if it’s just for one minute

2. Deepen employee's sense of value and

meaning
According to research, when employees feel
that their work is meaningful, they are less
likely to plan on resigning.

But what does it take for an employee to find

their work meaningful?
It comes down to three words: THANK YOU,
BECAUSE and WHY

HOW TO DO THIS:
1. Acknowledge good work
• Say thank you
• When you are a younger manager of older employees, saying thank you shows that their expertise and
longer term perspective are valued
• But remember that each person likes to be acknowledged differently. You can ask them what kind of
praise or rewards they most value – a public praise, a private pat on the back, pa-merienda - mas
maganda if you can find out what type they like

2. Explain your meaning and reasoning

• When giving assignments, use the words BECAUSE or WHY
• This will help people understand the greater meaning of their individual job and the reason behind
decisions – especially those they may not agree with
• A lot of entry level staff are ok with being given menial tasks BUT they want to know why they are being
asked to do it
• Not a good answer: “Because it’s always been done that way” OR “Because I said so.”
• Maybe sometimes we don’t know the why, and it’s ok to tell them that you will give them the
explanation once you have the complete information

3. Use the uncertain moments

• When you don’t know the BECAUSE or WHY, maybe evaluate if you need to make some changes
FINAL WORDS

Now that we have discussed generational

differences and some tips to handle a multi-
generational team, I’d like us to also
consider the concept of
INTERSECTIONALITY.

Not every member of a particular

generation is going to behave the same
way – we can’t just generalize how people
will think or behave just because they were
born on the same year or the same decade
– we’re all unique individuals

Intersectionality – the interconnected nature of social categories

 We can’t separate our age from other aspects of our identity
 We also can’t just make assumptions about our employees based on their age

Example 1: Someone might be Gen X but instead of feeling aligned with the behaviors of that generation, his identity
is more aligned with being in an athlete.

Example 2: We might think that a millennial is automatically a gamer or a selfie addict, but some might actually not
like gaming or social media

Bottom line: Let’s not stereotype based on age. Remember that a person’s generation is only one factor of their
identity.

Thank you!

REFERENCES:

1. LinkedIn Learning Course: Managing a Multigenerational Team

By Lindsay Pollak | Released: 9/20/2022

2. Why We Should Embrace Generational Differences in the Workplace

By AIHR | posted by Neelie Verlinden