Bridging the Generational Divide
Asif Durrani
Doctoral Student — Transforming Human Consciousness With One Deep & Original Thought Every Morning ??
Navigating Power Structures and Technology Adoption in the Modern Workplace
In the early 1990s, social theorists William Strauss and Neil Howe coined the concept of Generational Theory, the concept revolutionize the way people think about individuals born before or after them. Both, Strauss and Howe introduced the idea of a generational cycle, based on the theory that human personas are shaped by significant geopolitical events experienced during a person’s early life. This generational cycle spans roughly 21 years, during which individuals develop their views on social, political, and economic matters through observation and social interactions. Consequently, people who grow up during the same period often share common personality traits and beliefs about society, politics, and economics.
When one such cycle (approximately 21 years) ends, a new era begins—what Strauss and Howe defined as a Turning Point. During this Turning Point, the views and shared beliefs developed by the previous generation are challenged or refined. Strauss and Howe used 21 years as a benchmark to define a generation, based on the average human life span, typically around 85 years (referred to as a ‘saeculum’), which covers all life phases of a generation. Generational Theory became a significant tool for scholars, policymakers, and business leaders seeking to understand and address the cyclical patterns of generational behavior and their impact on societal trends and organizational dynamics.
However, Generational Theory does not delve deeply into the transition of each generation into the workforce, which typically occurs around the age of 21 (the approximate age of a postgraduate student who has pursued continuous study without breaks). As a new generation enters the workforce, they are exposed to the shared beliefs of older generations, laying the foundation for either friction or fusion as they navigate their corporate journeys. The former is particularly relevant in today’s workplace, where corporate culture is still largely based on seniority, experience, and hierarchical governance. The older generation enforces its own social values and attitudes towards work and expects the younger generation to embrace these views. Every generation entering the corporate workplace has experienced or witnessed such friction or a disconnect in thoughts toward solving problems in the workplace.
The Vertical Generational Gap?of Power Structure at workplace.
At the time of writing this article, it’s noteworthy that in 2024, we will be bidding farewell to the last baby boomers from the workforce, marking the end of their contributions to our current saeculum (Refer to Table 1, Appendix). However, this transition also marks the placement of Gen Z at the bottom of the pyramid of the power structure in the workplace (as illustrated in Figure 1). Unlike previous generations, Gen Z entered the workforce when the world was united and compassionate in the fight against the global pandemic, and working from home was a norm (Refer to Table 2, Appendix). Although Gen Z lacks work experience but they possess a deeper adoption of technology as compared to the previous generations. This makes them unique problem-solving and their ability of critical thinking.?
However, these intrinsic qualities of Gen Z, combined with their lack of experience in the workplace, create potential friction with older generations. Such a friction has always existed between generations, but for Gen Z, the gap is much wider compared to the friction between preceding generations, largely due to the horizontal generational gap at the workplace.
The Horizontal Generational Gap of Technology Adoption at Workplace
Unlike preceding generations, Gen Z is a truly digital-native generation, with the use of smart technology, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence ingrained in their behavior. Being ahead of the curve in digital adoption and its effective use in problem-solving has widened the gap with older generations. This gap is also evident in the primary technology used in the workplace by each generation as they entered the workforce. For Gen X, the personal computer was the pinnacle of processing power, whereas Gen Z entered the workplace with cloud computing and smart digital devices.
The Generational Direction:?
When explaining generational friction, it is important to examine when and how each generation entered the workforce and how their behaviour has been shaped by geopolitical events. Such global events have influenced each generation's thinking, attitudes, and social values. Gen X entered the workforce during the Cold War, an intense political period filled with fear and uncertainty about the future, which ingrained a sense of caution and pragmatism in their thoughts and attitudes. Gen Y entered the world with digital laptops and the internet, but they witnessed the 9/11 terror attacks, followed by the aftermath of the global War on Terror and the economic instability caused by the global financial crisis. These global incidents made Gen Y more adaptable, resilient, and desirous of security in the workplace. In contrast, when Gen Z entered the workforce, they did so under the shadow of a global pandemic, often submitting their joining reports while working from home. As a result, they are more likely to value organizations that emphasize social responsibility, diversity, and the use of technology in the workplace, such as remote work and the continuous access to technology for getting work done.
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Addressing Generational Friction?
It is crucial for today’s business leaders, to bridge the generational friction by embracing the social values, and expectations of Gen Z. Business leader in today’s corporate world must step down from their traditional hierarchical mindset and engage with Gen Z at their intellectual level. This requires establishing a work environment which values social, and attitude towards word as expected by Gen Z. Business leader, and the people with authority at workplace must also recognize that enforcing the values and work styles of previous generations on Gen Z is likely to backfire. Instead, they should seek to mediate with the collaborative approaches for the new generation and enhance their organization’s culture by understanding the social value of Gen Z towards work and society. Such a change in organizational behaviour will not only helps the business leaders to retain the young talent but also fosters a agile, and future ready corporate culture.?
Embracing Gen Z for Generational Fusion
The Vertical Generational Gap represents the chain of command and authority from the older generation to the new generation in corporate power structure pyramid (Figure-1) will need an overhaul, and the leader at the top needs to come down at the bottom of the pyramid to get familiar with the Gen Z, and embrace their technology adoption to reduce the Horizontal Generational Gap (Figure-2).?
The Horizontal Generational Gap is impossible to be halted because of the continuous advancement of technology, hence the only way for corporate leaders to bridge the gap with Gen Z is by adopting a learning mindset, bringing themselves to the level of Gen Z, and replacing their traditional problem-solving approaches with the Gen Z way of thinking .
Whether it is Gen Y or Gen X, to continue working effectively, they must let go of their old, time-tested methods, and hierarchical decision-making techniques to solve business problems. The only way to reduce generational friction and create generational fusion is to embrace Gen Z and not enforce the old workplace rule book on them.
Advice Business Leaders to Embrace Gen Z?
In today’s workplace, noticeable friction often arises between the established power structures of Generations X and Y and the technology-driven mindset of Generation Z. While Gen X and Y leaders tend to rely on time-tested methods and hierarchical decision-making, Gen Z employees push for the adoption of innovative technologies and more agile, collaborative approaches. This generational divide can create resistance as the rapid pace of digital transformation challenges traditional power dynamics. Business leader must find a way to develop a culture where all three generation in the power structure pyramid learn from each other and do not use their authority or experience to solve the problem. The business leaders also need to understand that the problem of future cannot be use from the past experiences, and old success stories. Bringing Gen Z in decision making process will foster a culture of organization empowerment where all three generations can coexist and drive the company forward.We need to build a work culture where the senior leaders embracing the intellectual creativity, , and social consciousness of Gen Z, and the younger generation leverage upon the experience and pragmatism of older generation to drive organization towards success. By doing this, the business leaders can turn the generational friction into a generational fusion and use Gen Z as a catalyst for innovation and growth.
Author: Asif Durrani
Dated: 12 Aug 2024
References?
Digital Payments professional with diversified experience of payment systems, opeartions, sales, fraud risk, business
7 个月Good point!