
Diversity in the workforce includes generations, Miami professor says
Megan Gerhardt encourages businesses to embrace generational differences in the workplace.
By Nina Franco, university news and communications intern
Megan Gerhardt coined the term “
The professor of management began her work as
Gerhardt is a co-director of the William Isaac and Michael Oxley Center for Business Leadership in Miami’s Farmer School of Business. She studies student perspectives on the workplace.
Gerhardt views generational differences as a form of diversity, a view not widely held in most organizations and most likely why there are misunderstandings between generations
Q: What are some of the main differences among generations?
A: We do see some identity differences. For example, baby boomers worked their careers to create opportunities their parents didn’t have growing up in the Great Depression. They worked a lot, they worked hard and they tried to attain levels of success that their parents weren’t able to have. But, that meant a lot of them weren’t around very much. With women’s rights/civil rights, that meant we had more two-parent working households. So, my generation, Generation X, was the first generation where maybe mom wasn’t home after school or both mom and dad were working. Gen X is known as the slacker generation. Because we thought, “Well, I’m not doing that, all they do is work. I want to be there for my kids, I want to have a life.” Boomers perceived this as lazy.
Q: Is this the beginning of the misunderstandings among generations?
A: Millennials were raised by the youngest of the boomer parents and Gen X parents. These groups wanted their kids to have even more opportunities. So, they put them in Spanish, soccer, harp
Q: Is this also where the word ‘entitlement’ popped up?
A: We put a lot into this generation of millennials. Then, when they got to our classrooms and boardrooms and wanted a voice, we said, ‘Who do they think they are?’ Instead of seeing an opportunity to leverage their confidence, we largely said, ‘You need to sit down and be quiet. That is very entitled
Q: What work ethics do you think boomers could learn from millennials? And, vice-versa?
A: A lot of it centers around the idea, ‘What does it mean to work?’ The idea for the traditional generation, which is the generation before boomers, was work meant you are at work from 7 till at minimum 5. But, if you really wanted to make something of yourself, you stayed till your boss left. And that has changed dramatically. Boomers need to learn that work doesn’t necessarily mean sitting at a desk. It is important to be mindful that someone else’s ideas and expectations
Q: How do you think the workplace environment is going to shift as more Gen Zs enter the workplace?
A: I think it is going to be really interesting. I think it is going to be how millennials react to Gen Z because Gen Z isn’t a very large generation. Boomers were the largest, but as they are retiring, they are not as strong in number as the millennials. The millennials are the greatest population in the workforce. My hope/push is that they greet the Gen Z in much more of a ‘gentelligent’ kind of way, where they think, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get a different perspective on this?’ My hope is that the millennials will be more open to the ideas and perspectives of Gen Z than we were with millennials.