From her very first day on the job six years ago, 27-year-old Tey Mertsching has been a boss, lording over older people. Some a decade or so older. A few old enough to be her mom or dad. One guy on her crew of 15 started working at General Motors’ Doraville, Ga., plant when she was just 2 years old.
She majored in physics at Georgia Tech, but she quickly learned that managing isn’t rocket science.
“It’s mostly just plain common sense,” Mertsching says. “I came in with the attitude that I am not better than they are, that I need them, that I’m a tool for them.”
But older workers increasingly think that the young turks do have attitudes, that they feel smarter and are more full of ideas than oldsters, according to a bevy of researchers like Chuck Underwood, 56. He’s the owner of the Generational Imperative, a Cincinnati firm that studies differences among age groups and how they affect our lives.
He travels around the country, listening to bosses and employees. And everywhere he goes, he hears the same thing: Older people don’t like being told what to do by the kids.
“Right now, you have an especially big separation between Baby Boomers who are subordinate to younger, Generation-X bosses,” Underwood says. “It’s difficult for Boomers who grew up aggressive, bold and visionary to now have to take subordinate positions.”
From annoying cell ringtones to inappropriate dress, many young bosses leave older workers shaking their heads in dismay.
Some research suggests that most “mature workers”–people older than the oldest Baby Boomers–feel younger managers are competent, supportive and responsive. But that’s not as true for the Boomers and Gen-Xers–73 percent of whom give younger bosses low to “middling” marks on whether they’re supportive of their success.
Michele Flaum, president of a consultant firm that researches trends, offers this tip to Gen-Xers, born between 1965 and 1979: Walk carefully. “In this group, the whole idea of respect for elders just isn’t getting through all the way. The ones who succeed will be those who understand the Boomers and people over 58.”
Older workers don’t want to feel talked down to and are not likely to be shy about filing ageism suits, says John Challenger, owner of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement firm.
“What you don’t want is an armed truce,” he says. “How do you not put [older] workers on the spot or embarrass them. This is a key, but delicate, issue.”
Part of the problem: The reality that younger folks are often cheaper. Every bright-eyed college grad who comes in the office door, Challenger says, makes people over 50 feel just a tad more paranoid.
“Gen-X, because it grew up so isolated from older people, generally lacks the interpersonal skills,” Underwood says. “Gen-X is much more comfortable doing the work themselves, relying only on themselves. Now they’re reaching management-level age. How will they do at managing?”
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For Gen-X bosses
– Don’t treat workers like children, but as colleagues.
– Gray hair doesn’t mean your charges are over the hill. Use their experience and profit from it.
– Clarify expectations and deadlines and how to measure success.
– Describe the skills and competencies you have that can help them, but without bragging.
– Find out how workers would like to get information from you.
-Don’t misuse your authority. Older workers understand the chain of command. Respect them.
— COX NEWS SERVICE
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Edited by Lara Weber ([email protected]) and Drew Sottardi ([email protected])