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August 13 , 2007

Different Than Boomers — Understanding How to Manage Generations X and Y
By Beth W. Orenstein
Radiology Today
Vol. 8 No. 16 P. 12

Generation Y folks want to be surrounded by bright, creative people. They don’t care if they have veterans or baby boomers in the group; they just want creative coworkers. If you’re not creative, they’re not going to want to work with you.

For the first time in American history, four generations—veterans, baby boomers, Generation Xers, and Generation Yers—are working side-by-side.

This new workplace diversity can present challenges for healthcare employers, said Richard Lewis, CRA, principal consultant for Phoenix Imaging Consultants, a radiology management and human resources consulting firm in Orlando, Fla. In one recent study, 60% of employers said they found significant tension between employees of different generations.

“The older groups say the younger group is worth squat, and the younger workers are dismissive of their older coworkers’ abilities. Have you not noticed that to be the case?” Lewis asked his audience in a session last month at the American Healthcare Radiology Administrators 35th annual meeting.

During the session, Lewis outlined the different work habits and ethics of the four generations, suggesting ways healthcare administrators can tailor their management styles to address those differences to better accommodate and motivate everyone.

New Generation, New Mindset
Lewis also advised administrators to learn as much as they can about the younger Generation Xers and particularly Gen Yers because they are the future of the workplace, especially as the leading edge of the baby boomer generation begins to retire.

Some employers shy away from Gen Yers because they believe them to be slackers, Lewis said. However, he warned, “If you believe the stereotypes and media hype, you will miss out on the next great generation of hard workers, willing to sacrifice and make contributions.” By 2010, he said, Generation Yers will be 70 million strong. “Give the kids a chance to succeed with the appropriate tools needed to get the job done, and they will do it,” Lewis said.

The Veterans
The veterans, Lewis said, are the oldest group. Veterans are those born between roughly 1922 and 1943 and are now aged 64 to 85. Some seminal events in their lives include the Lindbergh Transatlantic flight in 1927; the stock market crash of 1929 and the resulting Great Depression; Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933; the establishment of Social Security in 1934; and World War II from 1939 to 1945.

As a result of the events that shaped their lives, veterans believe in dedication and sacrifice. “They get the work done and play afterward,” Lewis said, adding that the group tends to believe in obedience and conformity over individualism.

Because of their values and work ethic, they tend to respond well to directive leadership, or what is known as a scientific management style, Lewis said. They perform well when their boss says, “You do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it, and you do it until I tell you not to do it any longer.”

Lewis suggested administrators working with veterans take advantage of their experience and encourage them to share their expertise with their younger colleagues.

The Boomers
Baby boomers are the children of veterans. They were born between roughly 1944 and 1964 and are now aged 43 to 63. The events that shaped their lives include the McCarthy Hearings in 1954; the invention of the birth control pill in 1960; the assassinations of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Martin Luther King, Jr in 1968; the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s; the March on Washington in 1963; the Vietnam War; and the first moon landing in 1969.

As a result of these events, Lewis said, baby boomers are generally optimistic, seek personal growth and gratification, and are service oriented. They have always wanted to make their parents proud. They also are uncomfortable with conflict, can be overly sensitive to feedback, and can be judgmental of those who see things differently than they do.

Like veterans, boomers respond well to scientific and directive styles of leadership, Lewis said. However, “a desire to see a more referent model of leadership begins to emerge among boomers.” Referent means to refer back, Lewis explained. “People can refer back to that leader and then say, ‘This is how we’re going to do it.’ It’s an appropriate balance between boss and team member.”

Generation X
Generation Xers are those born between roughly 1964 and 1980 and are now aged 27 to 43. Life-shaping events that influenced them include the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1970s; Watergate and the energy crisis in 1973; the introduction of Tandy and Apple personal computers in 1976; Three Mile Island in 1979; the 66 American hostages in Iran in 1979; the shooting of John Lennon in 1980; Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration in 1981; MTV’s launch in 1981; the beginning of the AIDS epidemic; and the Challenger disaster in 1986.

These people are often former latchkey kids. “This is the first generation where both parents [routinely] went to work,” Lewis said. “No milk and cookies were waiting for little Johnny and Sally when they got home, for the most part.”

The latchkey concept helps in the workplace because it made this generation self-reliant and capable of multitasking, Lewis said. They were given lots to do when they got home from school: bring in the mail, walk the dog, take the hamburger out of the freezer for dinner, do their homework. They also experienced the freedom to do it their way. As a result, Lewis said, they don’t respond well to rigidity and corporate structure, “and they don’t need a lot of direction.” They crave flexible hours and just the right amount of supervision.

“You give Generation Xers a lot to do and the freedom to do it their way, and you will find out that they will get it done. They are good at multitasking because they are used to it from their latchkey days,” Lewis said.

Weakening Loyalty
The one thing that Generation Xers lack is the loyalty their parents had to their employer. That’s because, Lewis said, their generation watched their parents work for the same company for 30 years only to see it shut down a few years before their parents’ retirement. As a result, he said, “Generation Xers don’t have an orientation for corporate politics. It’s not their style. They don’t work well with it,” so try to steer them clear of it.

Lewis’ advice for dealing with Generation Xers includes the following:

• Recognize that they want to have a life outside work. During the interview and orientation, “say at least three times: ‘We want you to have a life,’ and schedule them so they can. Don’t call them at home when they are off unless it is a dire emergency.”

• Show you are interested in what they have accomplished. Encourage a learning inventory—before the end of their shift, ask how their day went just like their working parents did when they came home at the end of the day.

• Stress the importance of training. However, keep the training materials brief and easy to read. “Don’t give them a packet and say, ‘Hear read this. There will be a test on it on Friday.’ They’ll say, ‘Forget this.’” Give them learning materials but keep them brief and easy to know. “Generation Xers are very much the type that likes to know what is on the test.”

• Make your training Web-based. “If you have a department Intranet or a way to put your department on the hospital’s Intranet, your Generation X folks will applaud you for it,” Lewis said. Many Generation X folks hate paper and don’t want to see it wasted, he added.

• Make big changes and often. Generation Xers thrive on change and like the excitement of executing new techniques and procedures. “If you want to keep a Generation Xer on your staff, there had better be big, significant changes in the department every four years, or they are bored and looking for their next challenge,” Lewis said.

If you give Gen Xers lots to do, since they are generally good at multitasking, and the freedom to do it their way, you will be pleased with the results, Lewis said.

The Newest Generation
Generation Y is the youngest generation to enter the workforce. Generally, members of this group were born after 1980 and are street-smart well beyond their years. They are also the most technologically savvy, having grown up with computers, digital recorders, and MP3 players, Lewis said. They’re less likely to see color or ethnicity because they grew up in culturally diverse communities and interacted with various types of people.

The events that shaped their lives include the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995; the creation of the Internet; the Columbine High School shootings in 1999; the September 11, 2001, attacks; and the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Gen Yers are all about confidence, Lewis said. “They’re about confidence, confidence, confidence, and they’re about achievement, achievement, achievement.”

An acceptance of diversity usually comes built-in with Gen Yers, he added. “They don’t see color anymore because that is all they ever experienced. … Diversity doesn’t mean anything to them. You can’t talk diversity to them because they live it on a day-to-day basis.”

Like Generation Xers, Ys love technological advances and eagerly embrace such things as PACS, RIS, and electronic medical records. “These folks are loving it and wanting to be part of it. They can’t wait to jump on it,” Lewis said.

Generation Yers want to be surrounded by bright, creative people, Lewis added. “They don’t care if they have veterans or baby boomers in the group; they just want you to be creative, and if you’re not creative, they’re not going to work with you.”

Take advantage of this characteristic, Lewis said. Let Generation Yers sit in on interviews for new employees. “They will be more critical than you will ever be when it comes to interviewing people of their own generation,” he said. “They don’t want to be around slackers; they want the best and brightest people to work with them.”

Lewis’ advice for dealing successfully with Generation Yers includes the following:

• Give up on your scientific management style that works well with veterans and older baby boomers. “It may have worked well for some generations, but it is not going to work with the newer generation of employees,” he said.

• Let them work in teams. “Generation Y kids are used to being in groups and thrive in that environment.”

• Spell out your expectations and goals. “‘This is what I expect, and this is how you go about doing it.’ Generation Yers are cool with that approach. They love that.”

• Forget gender roles. “Gender roles of the previous generation do not apply. Forget that men don’t do this and women don’t do that. Members of this group [don’t] care.”

• Don’t sugarcoat the work environment. “If it’s not so hot, they don’t mind, but they want to know if you’re filling the department with people who are willing to make the necessary changes. One thing a Generation Yer can do is see through you if you tell them something that doesn’t quite wash. They will not buy it, so be honest.”

• Take the time to find out their goals and help them define a strategy for achieving them. “OK, so you have a Generation Y person who comes in and says, ‘I want your job, and I want it right now.’ Use that as a positive. Say, ‘All right, I’m glad you want my job because at some point, I’m not going to have this job. Let me mentor you in the appropriate way to get this job. These are the steps you will need to take. No. 1: Dry some water off behind your ears. No. 2: What college courses are you going to take to prepare yourself to do this job? Remember, it’s not just about being a good tech anymore. Also, what do you need to do to move up in the department? You need to be a standout, participate in some of the committees, and take initiatives so folks can get to know you and see what kind of working style you have.’”

• Don’t be picky about insignificant issues such as tattoos and body piercings that aren’t visible. “Don’t worry about the nonsense stuff because you’ll drive them away, and don’t disrespect their youth.”

Lewis said the best advice he can give is for each administrator to know his employees and what motivates them. “If you identify the motivating factors,” he concluded, “you will be able to blend each generation in the workplace” and have a productive working environment.

— Beth W. Orenstein is a baby boomer, freelance medical writer, and regular contributor to Radiology Today. She writes from her home in Northampton, Pa.