Opinion:  Personalization is antidote to generational stereotypes

It’s basically in my job description to be skeptical. And that’s exactly what I was last month while listening to a presentation on engaging young journalists.

The speaker was sharing tips on coaching millennials and describing their behavior in the workplace. They’re team oriented and optimistic, he said. They like short and efficient meetings. These younger workers desire constructive and timely feedback and want a friendly relationship with their boss. Praise is a great motivator, and flexibility in work and the work environment is critical.

I kept thinking: Aren’t these just traits of an engaged worker?

The speaker framed millennials as new and entry-level members of the team. But the oldest millennials turned 40 last year and a quick glance around the room of attendees showed several of us were within that generational age range, and we’re leading our newsrooms.

The presentation punctuated a feeling I’ve long held, that these generational descriptors are giving us a false sense of understanding employees and co-workers.

I’m skeptical when research firms have attempted to pinpoint the generations. A recent article from Harvard Business Review provides these workplace characteristics: Baby boomers are loyal with a high work ethic; Generation Xers are educated and self-reliant; millennials are flexible and ambitious; and Gen Zs are entrepreneurial and independent. The descriptions are organized and easy to understand, but that’s not how people work.

As my co-worker recently described it, these generalizations are kind of like horoscopes. I can recognize myself in more than one description because they are inherently broad. Describing a group of people with what boils down to stereotypes is a recipe for misunderstanding, yet a Google search provides countless sites and articles with tips for employers on managing the many generations in the workplace.

I’m certainly not the only one who’s over these descriptions. I read a study recently titled “Generations and Generational Differences: Debunking Myths in Organizational Science and Practice and Paving New Paths Forward” by Cort W. Rudolph, Rachel S. Rauvola, David P. Costanza and Hannes Zacher. This is a line from their abstract: “Recognizing and exploring the ubiquity of generations is important, especially because evidence for their existence is, at best, scant.”

Notable differences among generations aren’t really there, the research finds. The research that attempts to provide parameters for each generation cannot account for whether the differences are truly because of year born or myriad other factors. They offer the lifespan perspective as an alternative view. The concept is one that conceptualizes human behavior as influenced by biological, historical, sociocultural and psychological factors across a person’s life. But even that perspective changes from one person to the next.

Generalizations are not only potentially inaccurate, but they also can be damaging. According to the Society for Human Resource Management professional association, generational stereotypes don’t meaningfully inform workforce management policies and can lead to discrimination.

Comparing it with other stereotypes brings this issue into focus. We don’t stand for stereotypes on gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status to rule in workplaces, so why would we allow the year someone was born to define them?

As I was listening to the presentation on young journalists, a word kept coming to mind: personalization. The antidote to generational stereotyping is getting to know employees as individuals. How do they measure success? What’s their communication style? What needs do they have outside of the office that their manager should be aware of? What motivates them? What are their roadblocks? The list goes on.

Employers in many industries are sharing the burden of finding quality talent. The hiring signs across town and the national 2:1 ratio of jobs to jobseeker numbers back that up. Cultivating meaningful and supportive workplaces has never been more critical in the talent wars. During these times, personalization and communication with workers will serve us better than a data set on behavior ever could.

Springfield Business Journal Executive Editor Christine Temple can be reached at ctemple@sbj.net.