Every night, I turn on the news and hear how we are more divided than ever. But, when I enter my office each morning, I walk past five generations of colleagues — all working together with remarkable levels of collaboration and focus, each bringing the insights and expertise unique to their individual experiences while also representative of their generation.
As a trendspotter, I see this as a new reality, empowering brands and businesses smart enough to recognize and leverage it. With a wider breadth of talent in the workforce than ever, companies have access to an incredible array of skills and knowledge, which is great news. As the business landscape continues to accelerate, we will need them all.
But that doesn’t mean organizations have a handle on managing this diversity, much less leveraging it for competitive advantage. Suffice to say: This is no time for a set-it-and-forget-it management style. Understanding the attributes of each generation will help organizations harness their different styles and insights to engage brands’ ever-widening audiences.
Employees born in the 1940s came of age in the 1950s and early ’60s, at a time of organizational hierarchies and monolithic media. Many managers mistakenly assume they are frozen in that mindset. These are highly skilled employees, not mastodons! They have a tremendous ability to understand complex structures and objectives; an ear for sweeping, emotionally connecting narratives that unite rather than divide; and an admirable ability to not sweat the small stuff.
Employees born in the 1950s were shaped by intense innovation, from the postwar space race to Beatlemania to the civil rights, antiwar and women’s movements. They know the value not only of structure but also of rebelling against it. They have a knack for being able to question authority and, simultaneously, to be authoritative. This is a great gift in an age…