Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers in the Workplace

by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines, Bob Filipczak

Annoyed with your workmates and flustered with your staff? Don't understand how they think, act, and communicate-especially the twentysomethings who ask questions all the time and want confirmation that they're doing great? All these difficult people may be nothing more than diverse demographics. Friction among Traditionalists, Boomers, Xers, and Millennials has spiked, as four distinct generations are tossed side by side, cubicle by cubicle-and nobody speaks the same language. Generations at Work offers a refreshing way to root out the causes of workplace clashes and bridge the generational gaps. Now updated to include the Millennial newcomers to the workplace, the book serves as both a sweeping overview of generational differences and a solutions-based managerial guide to molding each group into loyal employees who work effectively with everyone, from tech-savvy, high-needs young people to conformist, hardworking seniors. Packed with original research and eye-opening insights, you'll find explanations of what makes each generation tick, key phrases and tactics for motivating each, best practices from companies with generations-friendly cultures, in-depth interviews highlighting problems and solutions, a field guide for mentoring Millennials-and many more valuable tools for turning today's multigenerational workforce into an organizational asset.

Genres: Nonfiction

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 4, 2013

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Millennial, I am disgusted by the recent, numerous articles decrying us as lazy and self-centered... probably written by Boomers. This book takes a more balanced and realistic viewpoint. They present (I think fairly) the strengths and weaknesses of each generational group, and how to make them feel engaged in the workplace. I found it interesting, and incredible useful.

[Nahed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic to read about 🧐

"We made friends and enemies online, we prepared cribs for tests online, we planned parties and studying sessions online, we fell in love and broke up online. The Web to us is not a technology which we had to learn and which we managed to get a grip of. The Web is a process, happening continuously and continuously transforming before our eyes; with us and through us. we, communicating with one another in a way that comes naturally to us, more intense and more efficient than ever before in the history of mankind."
- “We can change our definition of what it means to be social. We can broaden our definition to include online digital communication in real time. In that case, you take the team-orientation of Millennials and the online technology they use to enhance their social reach, and you get a workforce with skills that aren’t limited to their own brains, computers in front of them, or even the boundaries of your department.”

[Tress · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done and really nailed the fine details of how I understand myself and some of my colleagues. Worth the time.

[Brandon Laws · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts out slow and, at times, a little boring as they define and describe each of the generations. However, I found it to be useful with the way they structured the book. It serves the reader well leading into the other parts of the book where the definitions are applied to interviews, case studies and the articles.

[Austin J Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this book a lot! I mostly liked how the authors set up the book and how they give advice on how to help bridge the gaps between the generations and what motivates them in the workplace and how to manage them as employees.

[Hannah]

This was part of a voluntold book club at work. Now that I've escaped, I think I can safely abandon this. I am stubborn about finishing books, but not stubborn enough to waste time on poorly-researched anecdotes and tone-deaf ministries that are pretending they're not complaining about millennials.