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Generational warring<\/a> isn\u2019t just showing itself in the housing market. A new report<\/a> says the bigger the age gap between managers and employees, the less productive they are.\u00a0<\/p>\n While having generational diversity may, on its face, appear to breed creativity and discourse, researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science<\/a> and business consulting firm Protiviti<\/a> found that younger generations working with older bosses can actually decrease productivity levels.<\/p>\n \u201cWorkers themselves believe that productivity is being lost because they are not working effectively together,\u201d with 25% of employees self-reporting low productivity levels, according to the report. \u201cProductivity is even lower for employees with larger age gaps with their managers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The report says employees with managers more than 12 years older than them are almost 1.5 times as likely to report low productivity levels compared to other employees. LSE and Protiviti<\/a> pulled data from more than 1,450 employees working in finance, tech, and professional services in the United States and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the clear potential for productivity gains through intergenerationally inclusive work practices, firms continue to miss out due to frictions between employees of different generations negatively impacting productivity,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n What\u2019s even more alarming about this report is that productivity levels had already slumped<\/a> in a big way during and after the pandemic as a result of evolving work environments. Although generation wars\u2014particularly between Gen Z, millennials and baby boomers\u2014have become a more widely recognized phenomenon, experts agree it\u2019s something that employers have long had to deal with.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFriction between generations in the workplace is not new,\u201d Carly Holm, founder and CEO of human-resources consulting firm Humani HR<\/a>, tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cIt has always been a challenge that leaders have been required to navigate, although the source of friction changes over time.\u201d<\/p>\n And the main source of friction, according to Holm? Communication strategies.<\/p>\n Millennials: You\u2019ll understand this one. You\u2019ve just sent a thorough and heartfelt Slack message to your boss about a project you\u2019re really proud of\u2014but then they hit you back with the dreaded \u201cok.\u201d The emotional side of your brain automatically kicks in, sending a shockwave of anxiety through your mind and body. Did I do a bad job? Do they hate me? Reality is, probably not. But different generations have varying communication methods, which can be a major culprit in the intergenerational tensions in the workplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is that different generations tend to communicate differently,\u201d Holm says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gen Zers and millennials tend to prefer Slack or text messages, while older generations like talking on the phone or in person. \u201cA lot of this has to do with the different technologies that have been prevalent throughout each employee\u2019s career and how they\u2019ve learned to communicate,\u201d Holm says.<\/p>\n And the only way to address that tension is to address the issue head-on, Thomas Roulet<\/a>, a chaired professor of organizational sociology and leadership at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School<\/a>, tells Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is key to get the prejudice out in the open [like] \u2018younger generations are lazy\u2019 and bust those myths,\u201d Roulet says. \u201cHelp people better understand other generations\u2019 approach to work, and get to uncover those invisible ways to think about how we interact and conduct tasks in an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n Jenny Woo, a researcher and lecturer at UC-Irvine<\/a> and CEO of emotional-intelligence consulting firm Mind Brain Emotion<\/a>, actually coaches Gen X<\/a> and baby boomer managers in helping them to connect with younger professionals to improve productivity and engagement. The chief complaint she hears from Gen X managers is \u201ctheir perplexity over what they perceive as Gen Z\u2019s disregard for professionalism and communication, such as refusing to take an 8 a.m. meeting and failing to submit assignments on time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n On the flip side, Gen Zers and millennials consistently ask Woo to explain how to set boundaries with their older managers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYounger generations experiencing higher stress and mental health challenges find it more difficult to engage effectively with managers from older generations, who may have different approaches to work and communication,\u201d Woo says. \u201cOlder managers struggle to adapt to younger employees\u2019 expectations and work habits, and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts agree, though, that this intergenerational conflict tends to be isolated to industries that have larger age gaps. This includes professional-services firms (like law, consulting, and audit), as well as tech, consulting, and financial services, which are the industries highlighted in the LSE and Protiviti report. There isn\u2019t as much evidence of this same tension within other industries, at least based on this report and expert commentary.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies traditionally with the \u2018up or out\u2019 culture will likely experience generational dissonance and productivity mismatch,\u201d Woo says, meaning firms that have a distinct promotion and advancement process feel the most tension. \u201cUp and out\u201d culture is typical at professional service, finance, and consulting firms.<\/p>\n While the report shows evidence that productivity levels can be affected by generational misunderstandings, Roulet says it can serve as a signal of the potential benefits of having different generations working together\u2014if they can learn to get past communication barriers.<\/p>\n \u201cLarge gaps can be more productive as they bring a diversity of opinion, if they can be capitalized in the workplace, and if the culture of the organization encourages perspective taking,\u201d Roulet says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nHow you\u2019re talking to your employees matters<\/h2>\n
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