Given current demographic trends, most notably the fact that workers enter the professional workforce at an increasingly young age, plus retirement age and life span have increased, there are ever-larger gaps between the most senior and most junior members of the workforce.

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Age gaps need not be a recipe for poor productivity.  In fact, the various books and articles that have been published on the topic of negotiation are rife with examples of how value-creation is rooted in differences.  Different forecasts – you think it’s going to rain, I don’t – my umbrella is worth more to you than to me.  Different preferences – you like fruit and I like veggies – let’s trade my apple for your squash.  Different skills and abilities – let’s assign tasks according to who is better suited for the job.

As a 25-year veteran of the classroom (I was a tenured law professor who taught dispute resolution), I saw a great many wonderful collaborations between students and faculty, between interns and government employees, between judges and their clerks.  Crossing age boundaries gracefully allows more experienced employees to mentor younger ones and for younger employees to bring new information and skills to bear so that more senior employees can stay fresh. 

Unfortunately, there have also been many documented instances of senior leaders mismatching management styles with junior colleagues.  It’s natural for some of the most experienced employees to have moved up in the org chart over their tenure with an organization while less experienced ones come in closer to the bottom of that chart.  Thus, we often see Boomers managing Gen Z employees (and lots of other similar gaps).  In a bad match, the Boomer likes formal emails, enjoys reading reports on paper, likes extended in-person meetings – and maybe even wears an analog watch.  In this bad match, the Gen Z employee prefers texts, digital summaries, short meetings (preferably virtual) and probably uses their phone as their watch.

Style is irrelevant until the mission at work suffers.  Then, the formal/informal dichotomy may bleed over into a lack of trust.  The supervisor mistakes an informal communication preference with a lack of work ethic or a lack of precision regarding final work product, and then gives the junior uncomplicated, unchallenging tasks and a commensurately slow path to advancement.  The junior feels devalued and may “quiet quit” or mentally check out.  “Task conflict” transforms into “relationship conflict” and that negatively impacts the workplace and its inhabitants.

Where might age gaps be the most challenging?  In high stress professions that have moved to virtual platforms to do much of their business, the opportunity to form mentorship relationships has decreased.  We see this primarily in the practice of law, medicine, financial services and highly technical service industries.  However, we’ve also observed generational friction in more hands-on situations like the construction trades.  

Where are age gaps more seamless?  While not insulated from cross-gen problems, academia, the judiciary (via clerkships), and other professions that enjoy a robust entry of newbies every year seem to have learned some important lessons about how to adapt to the constantly changing needs of successive generations. 

There are three helpful tips for any manager facing generational challenges in the workplace:

1. Start learning

There are a great many books, videos and courses devoted to understanding the role of multi-generational workforces.  But the learning shouldn’t be confined to multi-generational work.  It’s also very useful to learn about difficult conversations, cross-cultural communications, interest-based negotiation and other skills related to problem solving.  Many managers are promoted from a “line-level” position to management without having an adequate opportunity to amend and enlarge their skill set.  Managing people is a distinct set of skills and excellence “on the line” is not a recipe for unmitigated success as a supervisor.

2. Communicate

Convene meetings of the team in which you discuss how to communicate most effectively with each other.  Learn about your own preferences and make sure that form doesn’t overshadow substance.  Set an example of how to communicate about your own preferences that doesn’t require others to abandon the style of communication that is most effective for them.  Focus on psychological safety so that people with different approaches feel comfortable sharing with peers, supervisors and subordinates even when the supervisor isn’t present.

 3. Leverage outside resources to workshop the issue

When faced with hard workplace problems, consider hiring experienced professionals who do nothing but facilitate communications around hard workplace issues.  If you think “we should be able to do this ourselves,” ask yourself if a professional painter might do the work quicker or better (or both).  I’m guessing most leaders hire pros for taxes, medical care and internet security.  Why not hire conflict resolution specialists too?

The opportunities and challenges associated with a workforce that is increasingly age-diverse are many.  And no matter when you find yourself on the age/experience spectrum, you can play a role in finding and highlighting the value-creating opportunities and minimizing or eliminating unproductive friction.

Author Bio

Richard Birke is the chief architect of JAMS Pathways and is experienced at resolving complex, multiparty disputes. With over 35 years of hands-on dispute resolution, he draws on experience in a wide range of disciplines, including mediation, psychology, economics, law, communications, negotiation theory, strategic behavior, and diversity, equity and inclusion, to apply the right tools to every client situation.

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