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Mentoring, earning trust help bridge age gap
By Dana Knight
Charity Mears has great communication skills and a high-ranking position.
But Carol Cobb noticed something else when she met boss Mears -- a major age gap.
"She's my son's age," said Cobb, 51, who works for 31-year-old Mears at ESCO Communications Inc., a telephone and voicemail company in Indianapolis. "Of course I notice her age because she could be my daughter, but what overrides that immediately is her knowledge, how well she communicates with people. You're in awe of that."
More and more older workers -- particularly baby boomers -- are finding themselves reporting to fresh-faced bosses 20-plus years their junior. And often those bosses have differing values, management styles and attitudes about workplace dynamics.
The trend is fueled by an increasingly older average retirement age and younger, aggressive Gen Xers racing up the corporate ladder.
A report on older employees in the work force by the Families and Work Institute and American Business Collaboration found 56 percent of today's workers are 40 or older compared with 38 percent in 1977.
Of that growing pool of aging employees, many are supervised by bosses who are "significantly younger," mostly in the Gen X category (ages 25 to 39).
Of boomers (ages 40 to 59) surveyed, 23 percent said they have significantly younger managers. Of those categorized as mature (ages 60 and older), 71 percent said they report to significantly younger bosses.
"You have this cadre of young professionals who over time are overtaking some of the older people, and there is some angst," said Robert Wendover, managing director of the Center for Generational Studies in Aurora, Colo. "There's a resistance sometimes."
Wendover attributes that angst to a sometimes unspoken struggle pitting wisdom against skills.
"The young people think, 'Well, now I'm qualified, and I can do your job,' " he said. "The 50- or 60-year-old says, 'Well, I may not have the education, but I've got experience.' "
Approaching older staff
That age-related challenge is one reason more companies are implementing management training tailored for younger bosses.
At Roche Diagnostics Corp., a medical device company on the Northeastside, any young supervisor overseeing older employees receives training that addresses age-related issues, said Doyia Turner, a spokeswoman for Roche.
Among the suggestions for managing an older work force, according to About.com's management guru F. John Reh, is for young bosses to throw out the stereotypes they might have about senior employees. Value their life experience, and communicate that to them. Train them the same as any employee, and use them as mentors.
"Let them coach and encourage the younger workers," said Reh. "Most older workers have a wealth of experience that they would love to pass on."
Mears, a commercial sales manager at ESCO, said she is grateful for the experience her seven-member team offers. Five of her subordinates are older than she.
"I admit, I think at times it can be intimidating," said Mears. "I don't think it's so much the age that becomes the issue. It has more to do with expertise and experience."
Older employees and their experience bring with them generational differences in the workplace that younger bosses must be aware of, said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute in New York.
For example, the institute's study revealed that boomers are more likely to be work-centric, putting work first, while younger generations are dual-centric and strive to find a balance between work and family.
Boomers also tend to be more process-oriented in their supervision style, while Gen Xers are outcome-oriented, said the Center for Generational Studies' Wendover.
Technology can create strife among generations as Gen Xers see it as an end-all solution while older workers resist the high-tech workplace, he said.
"The way we're raised and the values we grew up with and the experiences that have shaped our lives do make a difference (in the workplace)," said Galinsky. "I have always thought they made less of a difference than what this (study) said."
Despite the differences revealed in the study, most older workers said they were pleased with their younger bosses when it came to competency. They also said they feel highly supported on the job. And more than a third of older workers said they believe their young bosses are highly responsive to personal and family needs.
"For most people, it's working out," said Galinsky.
Such is the case for Dan Forst, a 52-year-old group account director of public relations at MARC USA/Indianapolis, who is managed by 30-year-old Chris Watts.
"He may like 50 Cent and I may like the Allman Brothers (Band), but we still get along," said Forst. "His age is really pretty transparent to me. Chris came in having the skills and experience that kind of belie his age."
Watts said he never really thinks of himself as the big boss.
"We complement one another," said Watts, the vice president and director of public relations. "One advantage that comes from this relationship is Dan's experience, and it would be a missed opportunity for me if I didn't take advantage of that and learn from that."
Many older workers say they also welcome differences and appreciate the fresh views a younger boss can offer.
Shane Frye wasn't so lucky. At 21, Frye was running the interior doors division at Hall & House, a lumber company in Westfield. His 13-member crew consisted of workers twice his age.
"There was some tension about my age," said Frye, now 27 and no longer a boss, by choice. "Especially the ones that had been with the company 20-some years and hadn't moved up. I don't know if it was resentment or what."
Backstopping hire process
At its worst, age gaps among employees and their managers can pose legal complications. Companies must take care to avoid age-discrimination lawsuits when promoting a younger person to supervise an older, more experienced employee, said Michael Blickman, partner and chair of labor and employment at law firm Ice Miller in Indianapolis.
Blickman suggests employers have clear policies in employee handbooks regarding promotions that provide the flexibility to select the best-qualified candidate without regard to seniority.
Performance evaluations are a key tool to back up promotions with legitimate business reasons, Blickman said, and employers should communicate the rationale for the promotion decision not only to the person selected but to the unsuccessful candidates.
Blickman also urges employers to enforce anti-harassment policies.
"All managers should know that jokes or comments about another employee's age, whether in jest or not, are completely wrong and may be unlawful," Blickman said.
Princeton Search Group, an executive recruiting firm in Columbus, Ohio, doesn't hear many complaints from older workers.
"We don't typically deal with candidates calling saying, 'Hey, I'm 50 years old and I got passed over for a promotion. I don't like it here,' " said Jeff Hawn, a managing partner.
The firm is noticing an increase in younger supervisors, however.
"Oftentimes, with these overachievers coming out with MBAs and very much on the corporate fast track, it's not odd to see senior executives in their 30s," said Hawn. "Whether or not that causes a problem for the subordinate is a derivative of management, personality skills and their approach to business rather than an issue of age."
Hank Rassel, 37, oversees 14 employees as executive vice president and director of commercial services at Don R. Scheit & Co. Inc., a real estate valuation and consulting firm in Indianapolis.
Three of those employees are older than him by at least 15 years.
"I can't say I've ever had a situation where an employee has said to me, 'How could you say that? How do you know? You're too young to understand that,' " he said. "Age hasn't really been an issue for me."
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More older workers face prospect of younger
boss
June 19, 2005
Mentoring, earning trust help bridge age gap
By Dana Knight
Charity Mears has great communication skills and a high-ranking position.
But Carol Cobb noticed something else when she met boss Mears -- a major age gap.
"She's my son's age," said Cobb, 51, who works for 31-year-old Mears at ESCO Communications Inc., a telephone and voicemail company in Indianapolis. "Of course I notice her age because she could be my daughter, but what overrides that immediately is her knowledge, how well she communicates with people. You're in awe of that."
More and more older workers -- particularly baby boomers -- are finding themselves reporting to fresh-faced bosses 20-plus years their junior. And often those bosses have differing values, management styles and attitudes about workplace dynamics.
The trend is fueled by an increasingly older average retirement age and younger, aggressive Gen Xers racing up the corporate ladder.
A report on older employees in the work force by the Families and Work Institute and American Business Collaboration found 56 percent of today's workers are 40 or older compared with 38 percent in 1977.
Of that growing pool of aging employees, many are supervised by bosses who are "significantly younger," mostly in the Gen X category (ages 25 to 39).
Of boomers (ages 40 to 59) surveyed, 23 percent said they have significantly younger managers. Of those categorized as mature (ages 60 and older), 71 percent said they report to significantly younger bosses.
"You have this cadre of young professionals who over time are overtaking some of the older people, and there is some angst," said Robert Wendover, managing director of the Center for Generational Studies in Aurora, Colo. "There's a resistance sometimes."
Wendover attributes that angst to a sometimes unspoken struggle pitting wisdom against skills.
"The young people think, 'Well, now I'm qualified, and I can do your job,' " he said. "The 50- or 60-year-old says, 'Well, I may not have the education, but I've got experience.' "
Approaching older staff
That age-related challenge is one reason more companies are implementing management training tailored for younger bosses.
At Roche Diagnostics Corp., a medical device company on the Northeastside, any young supervisor overseeing older employees receives training that addresses age-related issues, said Doyia Turner, a spokeswoman for Roche.
Among the suggestions for managing an older work force, according to About.com's management guru F. John Reh, is for young bosses to throw out the stereotypes they might have about senior employees. Value their life experience, and communicate that to them. Train them the same as any employee, and use them as mentors.
"Let them coach and encourage the younger workers," said Reh. "Most older workers have a wealth of experience that they would love to pass on."
Mears, a commercial sales manager at ESCO, said she is grateful for the experience her seven-member team offers. Five of her subordinates are older than she.
"I admit, I think at times it can be intimidating," said Mears. "I don't think it's so much the age that becomes the issue. It has more to do with expertise and experience."
Older employees and their experience bring with them generational differences in the workplace that younger bosses must be aware of, said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute in New York.
For example, the institute's study revealed that boomers are more likely to be work-centric, putting work first, while younger generations are dual-centric and strive to find a balance between work and family.
Boomers also tend to be more process-oriented in their supervision style, while Gen Xers are outcome-oriented, said the Center for Generational Studies' Wendover.
Technology can create strife among generations as Gen Xers see it as an end-all solution while older workers resist the high-tech workplace, he said.
"The way we're raised and the values we grew up with and the experiences that have shaped our lives do make a difference (in the workplace)," said Galinsky. "I have always thought they made less of a difference than what this (study) said."
Despite the differences revealed in the study, most older workers said they were pleased with their younger bosses when it came to competency. They also said they feel highly supported on the job. And more than a third of older workers said they believe their young bosses are highly responsive to personal and family needs.
"For most people, it's working out," said Galinsky.
Such is the case for Dan Forst, a 52-year-old group account director of public relations at MARC USA/Indianapolis, who is managed by 30-year-old Chris Watts.
"He may like 50 Cent and I may like the Allman Brothers (Band), but we still get along," said Forst. "His age is really pretty transparent to me. Chris came in having the skills and experience that kind of belie his age."
Watts said he never really thinks of himself as the big boss.
"We complement one another," said Watts, the vice president and director of public relations. "One advantage that comes from this relationship is Dan's experience, and it would be a missed opportunity for me if I didn't take advantage of that and learn from that."
Many older workers say they also welcome differences and appreciate the fresh views a younger boss can offer.
Shane Frye wasn't so lucky. At 21, Frye was running the interior doors division at Hall & House, a lumber company in Westfield. His 13-member crew consisted of workers twice his age.
"There was some tension about my age," said Frye, now 27 and no longer a boss, by choice. "Especially the ones that had been with the company 20-some years and hadn't moved up. I don't know if it was resentment or what."
Backstopping hire process
At its worst, age gaps among employees and their managers can pose legal complications. Companies must take care to avoid age-discrimination lawsuits when promoting a younger person to supervise an older, more experienced employee, said Michael Blickman, partner and chair of labor and employment at law firm Ice Miller in Indianapolis.
Blickman suggests employers have clear policies in employee handbooks regarding promotions that provide the flexibility to select the best-qualified candidate without regard to seniority.
Performance evaluations are a key tool to back up promotions with legitimate business reasons, Blickman said, and employers should communicate the rationale for the promotion decision not only to the person selected but to the unsuccessful candidates.
Blickman also urges employers to enforce anti-harassment policies.
"All managers should know that jokes or comments about another employee's age, whether in jest or not, are completely wrong and may be unlawful," Blickman said.
Princeton Search Group, an executive recruiting firm in Columbus, Ohio, doesn't hear many complaints from older workers.
"We don't typically deal with candidates calling saying, 'Hey, I'm 50 years old and I got passed over for a promotion. I don't like it here,' " said Jeff Hawn, a managing partner.
The firm is noticing an increase in younger supervisors, however.
"Oftentimes, with these overachievers coming out with MBAs and very much on the corporate fast track, it's not odd to see senior executives in their 30s," said Hawn. "Whether or not that causes a problem for the subordinate is a derivative of management, personality skills and their approach to business rather than an issue of age."
Hank Rassel, 37, oversees 14 employees as executive vice president and director of commercial services at Don R. Scheit & Co. Inc., a real estate valuation and consulting firm in Indianapolis.
Three of those employees are older than him by at least 15 years.
"I can't say I've ever had a situation where an employee has said to me, 'How could you say that? How do you know? You're too young to understand that,' " he said. "Age hasn't really been an issue for me."
Executive Search | Recruitment Process Outsourcing | Contract Staffing | College Recruiting | Site Map
This site is optimized for 1024x768 resolution and Internet Explorer.
Copyright © 2010 PrincetonOne