- Valuing family: Older men show they value their family by working long hours to make lots of money. Younger workers like to show they value their family by spending more time with them.
- Experience: The older generation tries to maintain its clout by emphasizing experience, which it equates with knowledge. The younger generation values experience not "just because," but by analyzing whether anything was learned or gained from it.
- Respect: Older workers want to be held in higher esteem than their younger peers, because they are older or earn more. Younger people also want esteem and to be listened to, but they have no expectation that they should be deferred to in decision-making.
- Work ethic: Older workers believe younger employees don't want to put in the hours necessary to get ahead. Younger workers are willing to put in the time for their jobs, but they're uninterested in having a lot of "face time" at the office."
Return to Barr Corporate SuccessTo attract the best and brightest of coming generations of workers, companies and managers will likely have to adjust their expectations of what the work day, work week, and work life look like, using communications technology and infrastructure, allowing flexible work schedules that still get the right work done the right way.
