Manage the Person, Not the Generation
There is no shortage of advice on how to manage millennials and Generation Z. Most of it starts the same way. They are entitled. They are addicted to their phones. They want everything right now. Then it blames their parents and their technology.
It is a satisfying story. It is also not supported by the research.
What the research says
Work ethic does not differ by generation. A review of 105 studies, published by Zabel and colleagues in the Journal of Business and Psychology in 2017, found no difference in work ethic between baby boomers, Generation X, and millennials.
Generational labels don't help leaders. In 2020, an expert review for the United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that generational labels are not supported by research and are not useful for managing people.
Every generation says this about the next one. In a 2019 study in the journal Science Advances, John Protzko and Jonathan Schooler found that adults in every era believe young people are in decline, because we compare them to a flattering memory of ourselves at that age.
People within one generation differ from each other as much as people in different generations do. Two 26-year-olds on the same team can be your hardest worker and your weakest. Their age tells you nothing about which is which.
One in 3.5 billion
A generation is millions of people. A label that broad cannot tell you how one person thinks, what motivates them, or how they will perform.
Our assessment makes the point with a number: the odds of two people getting the same results are about 1 in 3.5 billion. In practical terms, no two people on your team are alike, whatever year they were born.
We also don't see statistically significant differences in results on our assessments based on age, gender, or ethnicity. In plain terms, any differences between those groups are no bigger than chance would produce. The differences that matter are between individuals.
So the useful question is never "How do I manage this generation?" It is "How do I manage this person?"
The advice gives itself away
Look at what the generational advice recommends once it finishes describing the problem: show people a clear path, recognize good work, involve them in decisions that affect them, and build trust over time.
None of that is special to people under 40. It is good management for a 22-year-old apprentice and a 58-year-old leader alike. If the fix is better management, the problem was never the generation.
What to do instead
Make expectations clear from day one. Say what good work looks like, what the standards are, and what is flexible and what is not.
Show the path forward. Lay out the steps to the next level and the skills and results each one requires. "Give it time" is not an answer.
Give honest, non-judgemental feedback. Non-judgemental means the feedback is about the behaviour, not the person. "You arrived at 9:20 three times this week" is about the behaviour. "You don't care about this job" is about the person.
Ask before you judge. When someone's behaviour frustrates you, find out what is behind it. The cause is usually missing information, unclear expectations, or a need you didn't know about.
Hire with evidence. Use scientifically validated assessments and structured interviews, where every candidate gets the same job-related questions and is scored the same way. A good hire prevents most of the problems that later get blamed on a generation.
The bottom line
Blaming a generation is easy, and it changes nothing. Managing each person as an individual takes more effort, and it works.
I have put together a Manage the Person, Not the Generation Kit for clients. It includes a leader self-check, a one-on-one conversation guide, a development path template, a feedback guide, and a first 90 days checklist. If you would like a copy, email info@opt-assess.com and say "Hey Leo, send me the Manage the Person Kit, please."
Sources
Zabel, K., Biermeier-Hanson, B., Baltes, B., Early, B., and Shepard, A. (2017). Generational Differences in Work Ethic: Fact or Fiction? Journal of Business and Psychology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10869-016-9466-5
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2020). Are Generational Categories Meaningful Distinctions for Workforce Management? https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25796
Protzko, J., and Schooler, J. (2019). Kids these days: Why the youth of today seem lacking. Science Advances. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aav5916
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