Building Bridges Not Walls Between Generations at Work

The past several years have brought an endless cascade of social media movements that left many of us... well... scratching our heads. #OccupyWallstreet. #MarchForOurLives. #BlackLivesMatter. #MeToo. #ClimateChange. Regardless of how you might feel about these protests, each symbolizes a gap.

Despite the perspectives on all sides of these causes, a clear issue remains:

There is a huge gap in this country that few are taking seriously.

While diversity is usually seen as an ethnic, gender, or income issue—there is a new kind of diversity that only eight percent of U.S. companies even recognize: diverse generations on teams.

Long laughed off as a cliché and more recently mocked in memes #HowToConfuseMillennials and #OKBoomer hashtags, the generational gap has become an undeniable tension in the global workplace. Sadly, it has fostered:

• Loneliness in our workplaces.

• Poor communication on our teams.

• Reduction in revenue and team morale.

• Conflicting values and priorities in the office.

• Divisions that lead to “walls” instead of “bridges.”

For the first time in history, up to five generations find themselves working alongside each other in a typical company. The result? There can be division. Interactions between people from different generations can resemble a cross-cultural relationship. Both usually possess different values and customs. At times, each generation is literally speaking a different language!