I believe that Gen X and Gen Y employees challenge us to raise our game. They have higher standards for management and expect their supervisors and the organization to earn their loyalty through professionalism and human-scale flexibility. If we can do this, we receive enthusiasm, intense attention, innovative contribution, and yes, loyalty. Think what we might have gotten out of their predecessors if our organizations had been more inviting.
The fondly-held image of us boomers as the paragons of commitment, concentration, and contribution have their exemplars, but that story doesn’t begin to encompass the millions of cynical, bruised, angry and resistant boomers who’ve been treated like expendable resources by U.S. business and industry. They are proof, to me, that expecting employees to “be good soldiers” like the Traditionals and Boomers of old is a self-defeating strategy.
Of course, the best alternative is a well-integrated, multigenerational workforce that continuously learns from its wealth of different experiences and perspectives. Lacking that, I personally would rather have the opportunity to meet the challenges of working with younger employees who demand some stretch in my style — this old dog might still learn some new tricks.
