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Communicating Across Generations in the Workplace

Lolita Schumacher

Introduction Objectives

• Feel comfortable within the workshop setting.

• Meet other workshop participants.

• Share their background and experience and learn about the other participants’ background and experience.

• Have a better understanding of why generational communication is important.

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Overview

• Understanding values and expectations.

• The four generations.

• Communication involves “active listening”

• Managing millennials

Why should we care about Generations?

• Are values generally fluid or flexible? No. They tend to be relatively stable and enduring.

• Values generally influence attitudes and behavior.

• Individuals enter organizations with preconceived expectations.

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Organizational Behavior (OB)

• OB - the field of study that investigates the impact of individuals, groups, and organizational structure have on organizational effectiveness.

• OB’s goal is to understand and predict human behavior in an organization.

Contemporary Work CohortsGenerational Values

• Work cohorts - work values have been grouped into four categories.

• Why? to capture the unique values of different generations

• Some limitations:1) may not be universal across cultures; 2) generations are imprecise categories

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Communicating Across Generations in the Workplace

Clarifying Communication

Module 2

Objectives

• Share participant communication challenges.

• Explain the four generations, influencers and a communication strategy for each.

• Practice effective multi-generational communication strategies.

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Four Generations in the Workplace

• Traditionalists (Born 1900 – 1945)

• Baby Boomers (Born 1946 – 1964)

• Generation Xer’s (Born 1965 – 1980)

• Millennials (Born 1981 – 1999)

Activity

• Interactive discussion

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Clarifying Communication

• Bridging the gap between generations by helping people look beyond their own perspectives to understand the generational:

– Environmental differences on formative years

– Management preferences

– Motivators

– Beliefs

– Personal Characteristics

Cuspers

• Born on the edge – You decide!

• Traditionalists (Born 1900 – 1945)

• Baby Boomers (Born 1946 – 1964)

• Generation Xer’s (Born 1965 – 1980)

• Millennials (Born 1981 – 1999)

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Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.

Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.

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Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.

Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.

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Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.

Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.

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Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.

Communication Strategies

Clash Point

Traditionalist Boomers Gen X Gen Y 

Training The hard way Too much and I’m out ofhere

Required to keep me

Continuousand expected

Feedback No news is good news

Once per year Weekly &/or daily

On demand

Technology Uncomfortable Unsure Unable to work without it

Unfathomable if not provided

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Activity

• Role play case study.

• “Solving the generational puzzle at work”

Participant To Do

• Identify and discuss one communication strategy you will take back to your workplace using a specific example.

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Communicating Across Generations in the Workplace

Managing Listening

Module 3

Objectives

• Offer some workplace listening challenges and identify what kind of listener you are.

• Explain the four types of active listening, listening strategies and why listening is important.

• Practice active listening across generations and list steps to become an active listener.

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Active Listening Involves

• Checking for accuracy to help understand what the speaker means while giving the speaker a chance to clarify or confirm.

• Accepting the speaker’s feelings while expressing empathy.

• Encouraging the speaker to share thoughts and feelings.

Activity

• Test Yourself Listening Assessment

• 10 questions

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Listening Assessment – Total Score• 45+ = Excellent listener

• 35 – 44 = Better-than-average listener

• 28 – 43 = Average listener with lots of room for improvement.

• 27 – lower = Lower-than-average listener

Four Listening Levels

• Level 1: Too-Busy-To-Learn

• Level 2: Barely-There Listener

• Level 3: Logical Listener

• Level 4: Active Listener

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Level 1: Too-Busy-To-Learn

• Fake

• Makes little effort to listening

• Gazes past the speaker and thinks about something else

• Gestures nervously or not at all

• Interrupts constantly

• Sounds like a “know-it-all”

Level 2: Barely-There Listener

• Listens only superficially

• Concentrates most on what to say next

• Is distracted by others or occurrences

• Tries to avoid hearing about problems

• Misses the big picture

• Gives short verbal confirmations (yes, dear)

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Level 3: Logical Listener

• Tries to concentrate and pay attention• Parrots back what the speaker says, but

ignores nonverbal cues• Remembers facts and statistics, but shows

little empathy• Forms opinions quickly with little concern for

listener’s ideas• Focus on the speakers words, not feelings• Misses the intent of the speaker

Level 4: Active Listener

• Stops activities to focus on listening

• Works hard to empathize with the speaker

• Gives both verbal and nonverbal feedback

• Ask questions, paraphrases speaker’s words

• Responds to words and speaker’s point of view

• Suspends judgment until speaker’s message is heard

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Three Active Listening Techniques

• Paraphrase

• Express empathy

• Ask questions

Communicating Across Generations in the Workplace

Communication and Managing Millennials

Module 4

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Objectives

• Share an individual quality about themselves that would be beneficial when managing or supervising a millennial employee.

• Explain one millennial workplace expectation, communication, and team relationship preference.

• Practice effective workplace strategies to secure Millennials’ organizational commitment.

Communication and Managing Millennial’s

• Millennials expect close relationships and frequent feedback from supervisors (Society of Human Resource management, 2009).

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Communication and Managing Millennial’s

• Millennials expect open communication from their supervisors and managers, even about matters normally reserved for more senior employees (Gursoy 2008 and Martin 2005).

Communication and Managing Millennial’s

• Millennials prefer to work in teams, in part because they perceive group-based work to be more fun, but also because they like to avoid risk (Alsop 2008 and Gursoy et al. 2008).

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Activity

• So What?

Participant To Do

• Identify and discuss one communication strategy you will take back to your workplace using a specific example.