BABY BOOMERS VS. GEN X

The number one concern of participants in my workshops is the battle between baby boomers and gen xer's.  There are a multitude of reasons for this conflict with the main one being these generations are more like people from different cultures than people from the identical culture.  They did not learn the same skill set, they do not have the same attitudes and they do not respond to the same leadership style.  I'm launching a series to address this conflict with the hope of building better health care organizations through reducing conflict and increasing collaboration between these two groups. 

I'll begin by offering baby boomers advice for working well with their younger colleagues.  Stop lowering your standards in order to accommodate the younger workforce.  I'm paraphrasing what I hear from baby boomers, but the content of their conversation goes something like this:  "We let standards slide because we need the help and we cannot get the younger folks to perform."  To which I reply:  "If you think you've got troubles now, wait until you see the conflict you're cultivating by sowing the seeds of ignoring inappropriate behaviors."  SOLUTION:  Stop expecting the younger workforce to come to the table with the same skill set more experienced workers brought to the table.  That's an unrealistic expectation because the world changed significantly during the growth and development years of these two generations.  Instead, define performance standards.  Design rewards for accomplishing those standards.  Design educational programming that describes and explains those standards.  Design coaching protocol for use when those standards aren't met.  Apply all of the above to new and current employees.