Why Gen X may be the key to multigenerational workplace success

Sponsored by AICPA Member Insurance Programs

Melissa Furman, a leadership coach and consultant, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address Oct. 19 at the AICPA Governmental and Not-for-Profit Conference in Dallas. She joined the Journal of Accountancy podcast to preview her session, touching on the challenges organizations face in dealing with multiple generations in the workforce.

She explained how differences in communication and technology preferences and workplace expectations can lead to conflict but also can create learning opportunities for employers.

Furman singled out her own generation as both “the problem and the solution” and made a college football-related comparison to the generation’s communication style. She also advised professionals to learn more about colleagues and direct reports instead of relying on generational stereotypes.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Why five (or more) generations in the workforce create both challenges and opportunities.
• How communication preferences differ across generations and affect workplace relationships.
• Why Melissa Furman calls Generation X the “Heisman generation.”
• What millennial and Gen Z workers want from employers when it comes to flexibility, leadership access, and technology.
• A parting thought to leaders: “Get out there” and “learn your people.”

Play the episode below or read the edited transcript:

— To comment on this episode or to suggest an idea for another episode, contact Neil Amato at Neil.Amato@aicpa-cima.com.

Transcript

Neil Amato: Welcome to the Journal of Accountancy podcast. This is Neil Amato with the JofA. Today’s conversation should appeal to multiple generations as its focus is on thriving in a multigenerational organization. That talk with the keynote speaker at a fall AICPA conference is coming up after a word from our sponsor.

[Sponsor message]

Amato: I am happy to have Melissa Furman on the podcast. She is a leadership coach and consultant, among other things. And her session, Thriving in a Multigenerational Organization, kicks off the AICPA’s Governmental and Not-for-Profit Conference. It’s first thing on Monday morning, Oct. 19 in Dallas. Melissa, welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Melissa Furman: Good. Thank you, Neil, for having me. I’m excited to talk to you today about the generations.

Amato: We’re glad to have you on. Glad to have you speaking at the conference. Many organizations now have five generations in the workforce. What challenges does that present for those organizations and their leaders?

Furman: This is the first time in American history that we have five generations present. This has never happened in the history of America. And actually, we’re soon to have six generations because Gen Alpha is turning 15 this year. So in the states where 15-year-olds can work, they’re also going to be entering the workforce.

But listen, all six generations, they have different mindsets, communication styles, work preferences. And it’s creating some challenges, but it’s also creating some really cool opportunities. But I would say the biggest challenges we have seen have been between the communication preferences, the mindsets, and specifically the mindsets regarding how we use technology in the workplace.

And the last challenge I’m seeing a lot of is the perceived work ethic. There’s clearly a difference in how the different generations view work ethic and how much time people should be spending at work. But just to set the tone as we’re kicking off this podcast today, just so everyone knows, I believe that Gen X — which is my generation, folks between the ages of 45 and roughly 64 — we are the problem, but we’re also the solution. So just a little teaser there.

Amato: Wow. Yeah, that’s a tease. I may have to come back to that. I share that generation with you. We are a proud generation, I guess, but also apparently the problem and the solution. So I like that.

In those generations — and as you said, it’s not just five, it’s about to be six — what are some of the biggest communication gaps you see between those generations? And what role does the stereotyping that you’ve kind of touched on already, what role does that generational stereotyping play in those gaps?

Furman: Yeah, so most of the information we have about generations is mainly based on stereotypes. And when I do my talk, you’ll hear me talk about those different stereotypes because it’s important to understand what those stereotypes are.

But at the end of the day, what it comes down to, if we actually peel back the stereotypes and look at what as researchers we’re actually seeing, it comes down to maturity. We know for sure that the older generations matured at a younger age than what we’re seeing with the younger generation.

So how does this tie to communication? Well, we are seeing the biggest communication gaps are around formal versus informal communication, or you may even want to think about it as professional versus unprofessional communication. The older generations tend to communicate in a more formal, professional manner, and they’re perceiving that the younger generations are [communicating] in a less formal, unprofessional manner.

But also we’re seeing the challenges regarding the use of technology when communicating. For example, the older generations prefer face-to-face. And what I often hear as a concerns when it comes down to things like networking or business development, the older folks strongly believe that communication, that business development, can only be done face-to-face.

Now, the younger generation, specifically the millennials — now the millennials are roughly between the ages of like 30 and 44 — that generation prefers text messaging. And they have proven that relationships can be built virtually, that it doesn’t have to be done face-to-face.

However, what we’re finding as researchers, that communication, that relationship building happens often when they’re communicating with folks from the same generation as them. So millennial to millennial.

And now Gen Z, which is the youngest generation in our workforce right now, they’re roughly 15 to 28, 29 years old. Although they are very technology-savvy when it comes to communication, very text-savvy, they actually prefer face-to-face communication. And more importantly, they want adult face-to-face communication.

And so you have the formal versus informal, but you also have the impact that technology is playing in that communication. And that’s kind of where we’re seeing those challenges. And the stereotypes do hold true. But I always tell people don’t compartmentalize, don’t just believe the stereotypes, actually take the time to get to know people from the different generations and better understand what their individual preferences are.

Amato: Thank you also for defining the approximate ranges of those generations because with so many of them, it’s easy to lose track. Now I’m going to go back to your tease because you mentioned Generation X. You said Gen X, which again, correct me if I’m wrong, like 45 to 64. Is that right?

Furman: Yeah, ish. Yeah, plus or minus three years. Yeah.

Amato: So I’m squarely in that. You’re saying we, meaning me and you, we’re the problem, but also the solution. You want to tell me more about that?

Furman: The Gen X generation, we are the hardest generation in the workforce right now. We are workaholics. We work until the work gets done. We are having a hard time understanding why everybody else is not working as hard as we are.

We have a sense of urgency to us. We want stuff done now. We want stuff done our way because our way is the best way because we have figured out how to get the most work done in the shortest period of time.

And I often call this generation the Heisman generation. So if you think about the trophy, the Heisman Trophy, where someone’s giving the stiff-arm, this is Gen X. Because right now these younger generations are coming up to us with all these new innovative ideas and different ways of communicating and different ways of doing things. And Gen X is giving them the stiff-arm.

Now they’re giving them the stiff-arm because they have found very efficient ways of getting their jobs done. And that has worked very, very well for them. But at the end of the day, them giving them the stiff-arm is very off-putting to the younger generations, and they’re choosing to not want to work with the Gen X generation.

And to even slightly pivot here, I’ll even go as far as saying that Gen X women for sure are the worst. A lot of my research studies gender studies and leadership development across genders, and the Gen X women were the first generation of women that we were told as little girls that you can do anything you want, but yet our parents still had traditional gender roles, yet we were still expected to have traditional gender roles. We went to school, we got our education, and we’re like, get it done, get it done, get it done. And we were taught to be successful in a professional workplace, you basically need to behave like a man.

So now you have Gen X women who are women, but they have very male communication and work style tendencies. And this is really off-putting to the younger generations, especially the younger women. They come up and they see a woman and they’re like, hey, will you be my mentor, my role model? And we’re like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Nobody mentored me. I had to figure things out.

And we have a very male-dominant communication style, but here’s what I’m gonna tell you. Our research has found that when women communicate like men, we’re often perceived as a bad word. We’re often perceived as difficult. And so we are, generally speaking, men and women, Gen X, we are the hardest generation to work with and work for. At the end of the day, it’s gonna be up to us to lean into this younger generation and take their ideas and do something with it. And I can talk a little more about that in a little bit as we go through our other questions.

Amato: So definitely some adaptation that needs to take place. Love that answer. Thank you for the explanation. So, accounting firms, finance teams, whether they be not-for-profit organizations or for-profit businesses, they are continuing to emphasize recruiting and retention. What are those younger professionals — besides maybe a better communication style in their eyes — what are they looking for that employers may be missing?

Furman: I strongly stress that we don’t want a one-size-fits-all. So when we talk about younger, let’s define younger. So younger, again, maybe in Gen X, I’m going to think of millennials, ages roughly 30 to 44. And then I’m going to think Gen Z, roughly 15 or 16 up to 30.

OK, so when looking at the millennial generation, these folks definitely want flexibility. And when it comes to flexibility, it is defined by them because it’s very interesting how Gen X has defined flexibility. The Gen X leaders are saying, “Oh, we provide our employees flexibility. We just require them to work 1080s. Or if they come in early four days a week, they can go home early on a Friday afternoon.” And that’s Gen X thinking that they’re being flexible when that is not what the millennials are saying.

The millennials are saying, flexibility is allowing me to work when it’s convenient for me. And then the Gen X is looking at them, giving them the Heisman, giving them the stiff-arm, saying, “Uhh, no.” because the millennials are looking for what we call work-life integration.

As researchers, we have found that millennials get more work done in eight hours than any of the other generations combined. However, it’s not eight consecutive hours. So they’ll get up, they’ll do some work, they want to go walk the dog, and then they’ll go do some work, and then they want to go do some yoga, and then they’ll go do some work. It’s very compartmentalized throughout the day. Millennials for sure want that flexibility, especially now looking at their age. They have young children, they’re raising families, they want that flexibility.

But then we look at Gen Z. And Gen Z, it’s interesting. They’re not necessarily looking for work-life integration because they have seen their Gen X parents work crazy because you remember the Gen X were workaholics. For them, they care more about wanting a work schedule that makes sense. If they don’t see the value of working eight consecutive hours, if they’re just sitting there not doing anything. They want to be challenged. They want efficiency. They don’t want boredom. They also want a work environment that provides them access to upper-level leadership.

Because, remember what I said, Gen Z likes face-to-face contact, specifically with adults, specifically with leadership. So they want this environment where they have access to that upper-level leadership. They’re OK with face-to-face. But the biggest feedback I hear from them is they are so frustrated with work environments that don’t embrace technology. They said they’re like pounding their head against the wall, like why are we using these old, antiquated systems when we can use technology to work smarter, not harder?

So they have a strong work ethic. They want the flexibility, but for them it just has to make sense. Like let’s not do this just because this is the way we’ve always done it. Let’s figure out how to get the work done as efficiently as possible and reward me for that. So, millennials and Gen Z have a little bit of a different perspective for their environments.

Amato: That’s a great summation of some of the different perspectives. So what are the ways for organizations that they can merge those perspectives and get the experienced professionals and the newer employees learning from each other?

Furman: That’s one of my key takeaways when people say, what can we do to bridge the gap between the different generations? And I say to them, teach and be taught. Everybody has something to teach and everybody has something to be taught.

And if people go in with that mindset saying, hey, I can learn something from these younger folks and the younger folks are open-minded and say, hey, I can learn something from these older folks. Having those two together is what’s going to help organizations just accelerate their success, especially in this new landscape of AI.

Amato: Now, coming up in mid-October is the AICPA’s Governmental and Not-for-Profit Conference in Dallas. I mentioned it in the intro. What are you looking forward to from that event?

Furman: Right now, people are really struggling with the generational differences in the workplace. And I’m hoping that when I’m there, I can help them see a different perspective and really challenge their thinking.

Now, some of the things that I may say may be a little off-putting or a little extreme, and people are like, whoa. But then they go home and they think about it and then they come back and they say, “Oh my gosh, she’s right. She’s onto something.” And so I’m just looking forward to interacting with the attendees and having that impact to help them bring it back to their organizations and make their organizations better.

Amato: That’s great. We’ll include a link to the conference agenda and information in the show notes for this episode. If a firm’s managing partner or a CFO who’s listening today could do one thing next week to improve collaboration across generations, what would that be?

Furman: It would be do not make assumptions. We have been brainwashed to believe these stereotypes about the different generations. And although there is an ounce of truth to them, I encourage people, get out there, learn your people, learn about what they’re interested in, their preferences, their mindsets, and don’t make those assumptions.

Learn about them and then be open to teaching and also being taught, which is what we said earlier.

Amato: That’s a fantastic way to end. Melissa Furman, thank you very much for being on the Journal of Accountancy podcast.

Furman: You’re welcome. Thanks for having me.