Generational Peace on the homefront, Clashes in the workplace

August 29th, 2009 |

A Pew Research Center study earlier this summer found that two-thirds of Americans 16 and older saw an age divide but they didn’t believe it caused a lot of problems in their families or society. The generational squabble, the report…states, “is a much more subdued affair than the one that raged in the 1960s.”

That may be true at home and in the community but it seems to be a different story in the workplace.

Resentment seems to be growing between Generation X and their predecessors, the Baby Boomers, and their successors, the Millennials. In fact, getting squeezed between the Boomers who won’t get out of their way and ambitious, impatient, and tech savvy Millennials is a growing problem. Delayed retirements due to the Great Recession and a need to retain experienced workers longer has created a an impenetrable Gray Ceiling for Gen Xers waiting and wanting to move up into more senior positions and leadership roles. And eager to assume more responsbility and advance quickly, the Millennials en masse are beginning to leapfrog the Gen Xers who have been biding their time for over a decade.

In my experience with clients and speaking to audiences across the country, the parent-child bond may be gentler and kinder than it was in 1969 but the workplace chasm is widening and growing deeper as resentment between Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y increases.

What is your experience? Is the resentment real? Are generational conflicts affecting productivity and morale in your workplace?