Solve Generational Conflict In The Workplace

On average, salon employees are young—ranging in age from the late teens to 20-somethings, also know as Generation Y. Where do you, the owner, fall in the generational category? If you are part of the baby-boomer generation—or have other employees or managers who are—you may have noticed a generational gap in workplace ethics between these two segments.

In fact, baby boomers increasingly are expressing frustration that signals growing generational conflict in the workplace. The complaints have an early-1960s ring to them—think Paul Lynde, the beleaguered father in “Bye Bye Birdie.” His song, “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” became a generational anthem, and ironically, Paul Lynde was bemoaning the generation that is now leading America’s businesses and running the government.

So is anything really the matter with kids today? Or does the problem lie with their parents’ generation? Young people now entering the workforce have been tagged with a multiplicity of nicknames: Generation Y, Echo Boomers and Millennials, to name a few. Born between 1978 and the early 1990s, this age group is the most diverse generation in U.S. history and the largest since the infamous baby boomer explosion. Generation Y overshadows its immediate predecessor, Gen X, because there are nearly three times as many members of the millennial generation. They also, in general, are born of working parents and have more disposable income than previous generations.

Unlike their rebellious boomer parents, Gen Y members tend to have stronger parent-teen relationships. They also are used to regular praise and rewards for their efforts at school and in their personal life. They have been called the “Everybody Gets A Trophy” generation because of their parents’ insistence that their early sports experiences be collaborative and positive opportunities. From these early days of shared rewards, constant media stimulation and technological savvy, they became a generation accustomed to quick answers, a constant flow of information and new ideas, as well as immediate gratification.

These are the characteristics that Gen Yers bring into a workplace dominated by the baby boomer generation, whose own youthful experiences were markedly different. Teenage boomers demanded change through rebellion and revolutionary tactics. Their early years were permeated by street protests, and standing up against an unpopular war and a military draft which threatened all income levels. Their friends were killed, their heroes were assassinated, the political establishment seemed immune to the changing world and generational conflict was rampant.