When Generations Collide Hardcover - 2002

From the publisher

BICKERING. BACK BITING. CLASHING. COLLIDING.
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE...If your workplace sometimes feels like a battlefield and your colleagues sometimes seem like aliens, you are not alone. Today there are four distinct generations of employees glaring at one another from across the conference table, and the potential for conflict and confusion has never been greater.In this insightful, captivating book, generational experts Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman shed much-needed light on how to bridge generational gaps at work by understanding the differences that drive generations apart.Traditionalist employees with their "heads down, onward and upward" attitude live out a work ethic that was shaped during the dark days of the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the eighty million Baby Boomers are at a crossroads, trying to balance their overwhelming need to succeed with their desire to slow down and enjoy the fruits of their labor. They alternate between admiration and abhorrence for the chutzpah demonstrated by Generation Xers, who, in addition to feeling as if they have to prove themselves constantly, are chafing under the image of being overly ambitious, disrespectful, and irreverent. Nipping at everyone's heels are the new kids on the block, the Millennials -- with their unique mix of savvy and social conscience, they promise to change yet again the landscape of the workplace.Whether you're a manager, an employee, an entrepreneur, or a skilled professional, you'll derive hands-on, take-home business benefits from understanding this vital form of diversity affecting today's high-performance workplace.Using a wry and practical approach to bottom-line business issues and drawing upon interviews, experiences, and the findings from their national survey, Lancaster and Stillman give you in-depth insights into each generation. With their help, you'll have the tools you need to recruit, retain, motivate, and manage each generation more effectively. And you'll recognize that while -collisions are inevitable, ultimately it's how we manage them that counts.