Blending of four generations becoming common in workplace

Connie Fuller greets former student Cindy De Leo (far right) before giving the keynote address during the McHenry County College ABC Breakfast in Crystal Lake Wednesday morning. Fuller spoke about the different dynamics of having multiple generations in the workplace. Laurie Retzlaff is also pictured. (Sandy Bressner – sbressner@nwherald.com)

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CRYSTAL LAKE – A struggling economy has older people returning to work and retirement-age workers holding on to their jobs longer.

The result is the blending of four generations in the workplace, with the elderly and those fresh out of college sharing an office, said author Connie Fuller, the speaker at Wednesday’s McHenry County College Academics, Business and Community Breakfast.

“We’re likely to have that age spread for a while, and it’s going to continue to be a challenge for us,” Fuller told the audience.

Many of the traditionalist generation, ages 63 to 86, are returning to work because of the economy, and baby boomers who could have retired are choosing to stay in the work force.

This leaves younger employees working side by side with co-workers who are as old as their parents and grandparents.

Members of the baby boomer generation, ages 44 to 62, “don’t really recognize retirement age,” Fuller said.

“Partly [it’s] because of economics, but partly because they don’t want to retire.”

Each generation of workers brings their own set of values and ideals to the office, Fuller said.

The oldest workers have strong self-discipline, are hard-working, and tend to stay at a job their entire careers.

They also are very detail-oriented and believe in personal communication instead of technology, she said.

The baby boomers are optimistic, competitive, prefer personal communication, like to have meetings at work and live for their work – many are termed workaholics. Because of
these traits, they are dedicated, experienced, have a team perspective, and are service-oriented, she said.

Generation X employees, ages 28-43, are independent workers and are adaptable and creative, Fuller said, adding, “These are the folks who are going to keep things getting better.”

The generation termed the Millennials, ages 8-27, are optimistic, good at multi-tasking, socially responsible, and do not know a life without technology as a way to communicate.

To help these four groups function together in the workplace takes working collaboratively, Fuller said.

“Don’t leave anyone out,” she said.

The workplace also should provide opportunities for all employees to develop skills, and should provide compensation and rewards based on effort, not years of service.

Flextime and job sharing also help blend the generations, she said.

And all co-workers should respect differences and be open to learning from each other, Fuller said, adding, “build on what we have in common.”