Generations

Four different generations are now working together and this is causing problems. The older generations are so accustomed to younger workers doing what the elder workers did, no questions asked. The general attitudes between generations are significantly different and this can cause tension and arguments. The article has a nice little chart that explains each of the generations. I found it interesting that for a veteran if someone says that something needs to be done, they interpret the sentence as a command while a person of the Generation X will only hear it as an observation.

I have seen sticky situations among the different generations first hand. At my job, I am the assistant manager. I am also one of the youngest workers. Often I can tell that the older crew members think that they know better than me and that they should be treated differently from the younger crew members. We base our scheduling on performance and overall attitudes, not on age, and in the past I've had the older crew members complain to me that the youngsters “do not need/deserve” the hours that they were getting. I hope that where ever I may end up getting a teaching position that I can find ways to compromise with the older generations when there is an argument or conflict of opinion. I think the generations can actually learn quite a bit from one another and they are all willing to at least get along and be respectable.