No matter which generation you are in, you probably think the generation that comes after you doesn’t have a great work ethic. This isn’t necessarily accurate. It’s important to realize that each generation has their own views and ethics in the workplace and to remember that there is no right and no wrong.
Let’s look now at what is of value and how each generation defines its work ethic.
Traditionalists: For our Traditionalists, their work ethic was driven by a commitment to a legacy. They believed that their children would most likely succeed them in their profession and continue the “family’s good name.” They worked the hours they were given and were grateful. Traditionalists’ expectations included, “I give you my time; you give me a paycheck.” It seemed like a fair exchange. However, they also believed in the implicit contract that the organization for which they worked would watch over them, and watch out for them.Traditionalists wanted to provide food and shelter for their family and education for their kids that went beyond their own. At the end of a twenty-five to thirty-seven-year career well done, they expected no more than a thank you and a gold watch.
Boomers: When Baby Boomers entered the workforce in the late 1960s and early ’70s, they were optimistic about life and viewed the future as their blank check. They were competitive, driven, and poised to change the world, except they couldn’t agree on exactly how. Boomers, like their Traditionalists parents, expected to sign on to a single company for life, perhaps two if a really great opportunity came up. They worked eighty-hour face-time centric work weeks and slowly climbed the corporate ladder, earned their stripes, and did their time in the trenches, confident that loyalty and longevity would be rewarded in the end.
The first generation to say, “Thank God it’s Monday,” Baby Boomers were driven to establish recognition for their superior performance. A Boomer knew to appear dedicated by getting to the office five minutes before the boss and to stay ten minutes after. They were status motivated by the goal of getting a corner office, and they were willing to put their personal lives second to achieve the prestigious markers of reserved parking spaces, company cars and five to thirteen-word titles (Senior Regional Vice-President of Global Affairs and Institutional Advancement of Human Capital—WHEW!)
Gen Xers: Gen Xers’ work ethic is based on quietly doing quality work in dedicated and focused periods of time that allow for the most freedom to spend time as they wish and establish security for their families. Gen Xers entered the workforce in the late 1980s with low expectations. They yearned to know that they could enter and stay with the security of one company; instead, they found the labor force already full of the 80M Baby Boomers. The economy was in a recession and openings in the corporate world for the talented Xers were scarce. Xers adapted by drawing on childhood survival lessons and sought to learn a new skill at each job to make a new bullet point on their portable career resumes. They remain ready for bad news and dramatic changes to happen at any time. They are prepared and feel “If this job or organization fails, or something cataclysmic happens, my resume is packed and ready to go.”
Gen Xers watched their Boomer parents play the game of “Corporate Twister.” (Right hand on late meeting; left foot on unpaid weekend preparing for the meeting.) Xers took notes as Boomers bitterly complained over the dinner table about how they had to put up with a terrible boss, and backstabbing politics, all sacrifices made in the name of future promotions and promises that went up in smoke, as their parents were laid-off without warning in the recession of the ’80s. Gen Xers’ trust of “leaders” and belief in “the rules” went with it.
Many leaders are in for an unpleasant surprise. While managers are silently doing succession planning that includes their current bench of Xers, Gen Xers are not planning to move up into management. In fact, most actively resist the pressure to take on any management role, a situation that puts many organizations in a collision course with the leadership gap without a seat belt or airbag to soften the blow. Lancaster and Stillman tell us in their book When Generations Collide that Xers tend to think about keeping their own careers portable, including leaving the corporate ladder as soon as possible to start their own businesses. One in four Xers dreams of leaving his or her face-time centric corporate gig for a boutique business or entrepreneurship ASAP.
Millennials: As Millennials engage in the workforce, they have high expectations of the welcome they will receive, the options they will have to continue growing, and the opportunities for new and exciting experiences. Millennials want to achieve amazing results quickly, be celebrated for them, and then move on to the next adventure. Millennials have been the participants and recipients of customized lifestyles from Baby Einstein Learning Programs to Select Soccer Leagues to College and Life Coaches. Their Boomer parents have plotted, policed, pressured, and politically maneuvered their children into schools, internships, and elite programs to create custom experiences for their whole lives.
When we can recognize these generational differences it will help us all understand each understand the various approaches to work ethic present in the workplace today.
