In April 2016, millennials - who have been turning the workplace into uncharted territory ever since they started earning paychecks - officially surpassed baby boomers as America's largest generation (Pew Research).
Given that these two significantly different generations will need to co-exist in the workplace for some time to come, it is imperative for them to successfully work together to further company goals.
Here are six critical differences between the mindsets of these two (equally remarkable) generations that a certified HR team can help managers navigate:
1. Boomers want a job; millennials want a career.
The typical boomer resume looks considerably different from that of the millennial. According to a 2016 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research study, 40 percent of boomers had stayed with one company for over 20 years.
Not so much millennials, as Natasha Bowman, JD, SPHR, Founder & CEO of Performance ReNEW, points out. "Millennials are known to bounce around from organization to organization, especially if they don't see an opportunity for immediate growth."
This can have significant ramifications for the company, as boomers will be less inclined to share their institutional knowledge with their millennial colleagues (why bother sharing with someone who won't be around long enough to use it?)
HR can step up to make sure the organization has, and communicates clearly about, career growth opportunities.
"This will help you retain millennial employees longer, as well as help to bridge the knowledge gap between the two generations," says Bowman.
