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The workplace is in the midst of a large transformation: Gregory is undergoing metamorphosis; Dr. Jekyll is becoming Mr. Hyde; the bud is blooming into a flower; the rain shower is becoming the thunderstorm. Needless to say, the generations are shifting quickly and making ripples at work as you read this sentence. It’s not enough to look at Millennials in a vacuum, because while you are working to figure out how to best manage them, the other generations are moving around at the same time. Maybe you’ve felt the shifting sea tides of the oncoming silver tsunami as Boomers leave the workplace en masse, the swells foretelling a perfect storm of Gen Xers surging into leadership, or the tidal wave of Millennials building to overtake the workplace.

We know you are here to read a book about managing Millennials. The next section focuses more on the other generations and where they currently stand in the workplace as it relates to retirement and leadership. While this may seem irrelevant, it is imperative to not look at Millennials in a vacuum. Understanding what’s going on with Boomers and Xers right now is a key component to understanding how to manage Millennials. However, if you are one of the very few people who do not work with any generation other than Millennials, feel free to skip this part and pick up at “Getting Grounded in Millennials 101.”

Why does the generational study of the masses even matter if what actually matters most is the individual? Understanding the individual person will always be an integral factor in becoming a good manager, but an education in impactful generational trends will make you a great manager. Instead of thinking of the focus on trends as a generalization or stereotyping, think of it as a necessary foundation to build upon.

Anticipating the silver tsunami: Baby Boomer retirement

Baby Boomers have been lauded for their leadership prowess over the past few decades. A large generation hailed for their level of work ethic is now reaching a pivotal moment in their career paths. Anticipating this massive change – Boomer retirement – in the workforce is critical.

As a manager, avoid viewing this generation as a group who plans to slow down, settle down, and move on quietly. At work, they are the generation who is looking to develop and change, despite what their age may say about them. To Boomers, age is just a state of mind, and they’re looking to managers to understand that. Don’t underestimate them and don’t dismiss them.

A smattering of startling statistics

As Boomers have redefined every life stage they have entered, retirement will be no exception. Here are the facts:

❯❯ Ten thousand Boomers reach American retirement age every day (Pew Research, 2010).

❯❯ One in four boomers plans to have an encore career (MetLife, 2011).

❯❯ Sixty-six percent of all companies in the United States are owned by Baby Boomers (NextAvenue.org, 2015).

❯❯ Thirty-three percent of Boomers are delaying the age at which they retire (AARP 2015).

❯❯ Boomers report that age 62 is “middle-aged” (Forbes, 2014).

❯❯ The industries that hurt the most when Boomers leave are aerospace and defense, government, and healthcare (multiple sources).

Though some Boomers will be retiring in the next decade, all of them won’t be. Remember to align yourself in the right time period – consider that Gen Xers are already in their 50s but so are the youngest Boomers. They have many years ahead of them and aren’t looking to retire anytime soon.

Some may anxiously anticipate the looming exodus of Boomers over the next decade, because it has the potential to leave a path marked by devastation. As Boomers leave, companies struggle to ensure that they’ve taken the proper steps to prepare: Is succession planning in place? Do employees fear the departure of Boomers and the consequential brain drain? Are Boomers still engaged as they approach retirement?

The Millennial management challenge

The time is upon you. As Boomers leave, open positions are waiting for the next generation of leaders. While some Gen Xers will seize the available opportunities to succeed, there won’t be enough of them to fill the Boomer vacancies. Millennials need to be targeted now as another generation of leaders.

Forecasting the perfect storm of Gen X

When Gen Xers entered the workplace, they had no reason to confidently plan their future careers. After all, as eager adolescents, they were told, “You’ll be the first generation who is not going to do as well as your parents.” Talk about a way to inspire and uplift a 20-something ambitious worker! If that weren’t enough, as they grew up and excelled in their careers, they saw not one, not two, but three recessions. Naturally, they seek a stable career, a secure path to success, and a work environment that fosters growth of middle-management. However, many Gen Xers are finding themselves trapped underneath the “gray ceiling.” Boomers are working longer than planned, and Xers are stuck with nowhere to go but side to side when all they want to do is move up.

Very few research houses, organizations, and members of leadership focus on how to retain the best Gen X talent. Gen Xers have been given a list of nicknames, including “the forgotten generation,” “the neglected middle-child generation,” and “the lost generation.” As a manager, view them as anything but those monikers! They are the current and future leadership of organizations and must be understood to create a dynamic multigenerational workforce.

A smattering of startling statistics

Want to impress your friends and co-workers with some facts about everyone’s favorite forgotten generation? See the following for some hard-to-believe facts about Gen X:

❯❯ Fifty percent feel stalled in their careers (BBC, 2011).

❯❯ Sixty-eight percent of all INC 50 °CEOs are Gen Xers (Time, 2014).

❯❯ Forty-four percent of Xers believe it is “useless to plan for retirement when everything is so uncertain” – versus 31 percent of Boomers (Allianz, 2015).

❯❯ Sixty-eight percent of Gen Xers feel that they will “never have enough money to stop working” – versus 43 percent of Boomers (Allianz, 2015).

As you plot how to control the uncontrollable perfect storm of Gen Xers’ demographic shift, keep track of the two paths that Gen Xers can chart:

1. The path to senior level jobs.

Many Xers have been waiting patiently in the wings to fill the roles that Boomers will leave vacant. These Xers may likely view the large wave of Millennials eager for leadership as entitled and impatient. A Gen Xer may wonder, “Why should they – who have been working for less time – get a job similar to the level of the one that I’ve been working toward for 15 years?!”

2. The path more traveled.

Many Xers are perfectly happy in their careers and don’t feel the urge to move up the ladder. These Xers will likely be managed by a Millennial someday, if not already. It’s important to understand how to groom Millennials to manage a generation other than their own.

The Millennial management challenge

Generation Xers are eager for their next move, so when you look to the next generation of leaders, consider that Millennials aren’t the only population to take the reins. Gen Xers are ready. As Xers and Millennials simultaneously move up the ladder, they’ll have to master working together. In your current role, strategize how you can seamlessly manage and lead this transition. Additionally, note that most of the people managing Millennials are and will be Gen Xers, not Boomers. The tides are shifting.

Tracking the tidal wave of Millennials in the workforce

We hope that you’re ahead of the Millennial wave, or at least riding it, because Millennials already make up the highest percentage of the American workforce. There is a reason that so many articles have been written about this giant generation in the past decade, and one of the biggest reasons is its sheer size.

A smattering of startling statistics

If you’ve somehow been able to avoid Millennials to date, you won’t be able to for long. Millennials are making major waves in today’s workforce:

❯❯ Millennials will comprise 50 percent of the American workforce by 2020 (Forbes, 2012).

❯❯ Millennials will comprise 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau).

❯❯ Millennials outpace other generations working, comprising 35 percent of the workforce in 2015, according to Pew Research Center, with Gen Xers 1 percent behind (Pew Research, 2015).

❯❯ The majority of Millennials plan to stay in their next job for more than four years (BridgeWorks, 2017).

The Millennial management challenge

The aforementioned statistics don’t need a lot of explanation, because the management challenges they cause are likely the reason that you picked up this book. The youngest generation’s attitudes and behaviors at work often baffle and confuse leaders and managers into stereotyping them. In numerous chapters, we pick apart where those stereotypes come from and, in turn, why they are far from the truth.

Anticipating Gen Edgers on the horizon

As a sense of calm comes over you because you’re feeling a genuine connection managing Millennials, prepare yourself for another generation arriving on the workplace landscape. The oldest Generation Edger is almost done with college, so you’re likely working with them already if not preparing to recruit the best of their brightest. You can read much more about Generation Edge in Chapter 16.

A smattering of startling statistics

If you think Gen Edge will act and look just like mini-Millennials, these stats will tell you otherwise:

❯❯ Ninety percent of Gen Edgers want to see more female leaders in the workplace (BridgeWorks, 2017).

❯❯ Top concerns for Generation Edgers going into their careers are 1) financial instability, and 2) not enjoying their job (BridgeWorks, 2017).

❯❯ Gen Z (another name for Gen Edge) is the most ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history, composed of 47 percent ethnic minorities (Forbes, 2016).

❯❯ Their attention span is estimated at just 8 seconds, compared to 12 seconds for Millennials (Forbes, 2016).

The Millennial management challenge

If you are an Xer struggling to manage the Millennial generation, have hope. You’ll likely have an easier time managing Generation Edge because they’re going to be similar to your kids. Also keep in mind that Millennials will be managing a lot of this generation, and they’re going to be in for a bit of a rude awakening when they realize that they’re so unlike the younger generation. Managing across generations will continue to be a challenge for Millennials. So, you, as their manager, are going to be tasked with getting everyone properly trained to manage across the generations, even if the manager is a newbie.