Beyond age, generation in the workplace
If you feel like being a “baby boomer” doesn’t define you at work, you’re not alone.
Employees want to be viewed beyond their age and generational stereotypes — for good reason.
“Because of when you were born, your manager or co-workers may talk to you differently, react to you in specific ways or have preconceived notions about what you like and dislike,” writes Anita Bruzzese, author of 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy … and How to Avoid Them, in a Green Bay Press-Gazette column.
To best engage workers, managers must “look beyond an employee’s age and the generational stereotypes that go with it,” according to Kathy Lynch, director of employer engagement at the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College.
Rather, Lynch suggests, employees should be viewed more in terms of life stage and career status.
“For example, while baby boomers may be thought of as nearing retirement, the truth is that many in their 50s these days have begun new careers in new industries and may be more than 20 or more years from retiring — if they retire at all,” according to Lynch.
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