Forget About Generation Y: We're All to Blame for Workplace Woes

Published by Ryan Paugh on June 27th, 2008 in Blogging, Career Development, Generation Y, Millennials, Work | 8 Comments

I've been blogging about generational differences for over a year now. But with all the back and forth, constant banter, and little resolution, it feels more like ten years.

It feels like everyone is saying the same stuff over and over. Boomers and X'ers complain about Generation Y, and then Generation Y complains about everybody else. But really, we should all just be complaining about ourselves together.

We all have a lot of similar traits that make the workplace really suck sometimes. But for some reason we're so distracted by the minor differences between us that we forget how we're all a pain in the ass sometimes.

Generations aside, here are three things that will always remain the same:

We all have unrealistic expectations of each other.

Does Generation Y have unrealistic expectations when it comes to our first jobs? Absolutely, but who can blame us?

When it comes to education, I can't remember one professor who taught me the ins and outs of entry-level living. And parents, well, let's face it. It was a much different world when then got out of school than it is today.

So while Gen Y needs to get a grip on what it means to be at the bottom of the food chain, managers need to re-evaluate what they expect their young workers to be in tune with. It seems pretty logical to me that we won't know everything.

We're all a little stubborn at first.

My first real project was facilitating groups of senior management on a new operating model being released to the company. Nobody wanted to change and there was a lot of resistance.

"Why do we need to change now?" they'd ask.

Everyone left grumbling about all the work they'd now have to do, explaining this system to their employees. I didn't hear from any of them for weeks.

Then a couple weeks later people starting calling for materials to hand out to their employees. It started to make sense that no matter how much they fought, the company was still making a change.

I think the same is going to happen with the rift between Generation Y and the rest of the workforce. Only it will happen a lot slower. Change is a dirtier process when it occurs from the bottom up.

But just wait until you catch your boss texting and loving it. They're already sending emails via Blackberry, which is really not that different.

We're all whiners.

The older I get, the more I realize that we are all just a bunch of whiners. And by we I don't mean Generation Y. I mean we as in everybody.

For over a year now I've listened to older generations hate on Generation Y, then Generation Y hate back. Even I threw my own two cents into the blogosphere, adding some fuel to the on-going fire of generational conflict.

The sooner we come to terms with the fact that we all have something worth complaining about, the sooner we can cooperate using the only method that's ever kept the majority happy—give and take.

I'm hoping as more Gen Ys mature and become accustomed to the realities of the workplace, it'll be easier for us all to grasp that we all have problems, regardless of our generation.

But even then, Gen Next will enter the working world, bringing more grief for the rest of us who are corporately over the hill. So let the cycle continue, I guess. Just don't let me become the guy who calls all those young employees selfish and entitled. Let me be the cool boss, please.