Dealing With Intergenerational Conflict In The Workplace

Many modern companies nowadays have a workforce that entails several generations, from baby boomers to Millenials and Gen Z. Where the new generation helps to bring new ideas to the business, old employees ensure that the company does not stray from its course of action.

However, along with the benefits of having a multi-generational workforce, companies nowadays also have to deal with intergenerational workplace conflict. With the new generation entering the workforce, on average, a company is now employing as many as five generations.

The differences between the generations and the way they like to work can cause rifts within the company culture if not properly managed. There is a need to overcome this divide and create a cohesive and well-immersed team that does not become affected by generational boundaries.

The duty of this lies on the head of the leader or the manager of the workplace. However, it is not an easy task to overcome and there is a need to employ professional help to ensure that the delicacy of the matter is taken into consideration.

Mediation Services Winnipeg offers several courses conducted by renowned mediators. One of these courses caters to intergenerational workplace conflict.

Objectives Of The Course

The workshop titled ‘Generations at Work’ has been designed for managers and leaders so that they can understand and tackle the conflict. Most of us are not receptive to conflict, which is why we may not understand what lies at the core of these issues. Keeping this in mind, we have designed a module that will help you reach the following objectives:

• Learn the five generational work cultures in the workplace.
• Identify their generational work culture and the challenges of working with other generations.
• Examine the ways in which the five generations clash at work.
• Understand ways to effectively manage employees from all five generations.
• Understand what motivates you and other employees.
• Learn how to adapt your leadership style to motivate others.
• Differentiating between the “supportive coach” role and the “performance management accountability role”.

The Five Generations

The course mainly focuses on the five generations that are usually present at a workplace. These include:

• Veterans 1922 – 1943
• Baby Boomers 1943 – 1960
• Generation X 1960 – 1980
• Millennials 1980 – 2000
• Gen Z 2000 – 2020

Based on this information, the course includes different activities and exercises that allow you to figure out the type of organization you are working at and what the required practices are to help all the employees work cohesively.

Difference In Core Values

What most people fail to understand is that the main reason for intergenerational conflict is the difference in the core values. Where veterans work with dedication, hard work and sacrifice, millennials and Gen Z focus more on smart work.

Veterans are a very practical generation, whereas newer generations such as Xers, Millenials and Gen Z are typically more skeptical, hopeful and cynical. Hence, this can cause conflict in the workplace.

Based on this, each generation has certain assumptions about other generations. According to baby boomers, veterans are dictatorial and rigid, while veterans believe that baby boomers are self-absorbed and don’t entertain the concept of privacy as one should.

Even though each generation has different values, none of them are wrong. Their thoughts, concepts and core values have been developed based on the era they lived in. Hence, it is important that we are all made aware of the generational differences to work efficiently in a multigenerational workplace.

One of the best ways to do this is via M.E.E.T communication. To learn more about how to effectively work with individuals from other generations, enrol in our course today.

About Us

Mediation Services in Winnipeg offers training programs to help you learn mediation and leadership skills. We conduct online zoom and asynchronous webinars for different issues. Such modules will help you to improve your communication and solve family, workplace, and personal conflicts. To check out our training courses, visit this link here or contact us for further assistance.