How to leverage generational diversity in teams

P. Palaveev, in his book “The Ensemble Practice: A Team-Based Approach to Building a Superior Wealth Management Firm,” says 10% of wealth management firms grow faster than their competitors in the industry. Why? Because, according to Palaveev, those firms create and promote a team-based service model that serves as the foundation of the company.

Three generations attempting to work together in a team environment, however, could prove disastrous if not managed with care. Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers all bring certain strengths — and quirks — to a team setting. Learning how to harness the strengths and unique qualities of each group will prove fruitful for business leaders. But getting there takes generational knowledge, patience and adaptability.

 

Millennials

Millennials (those between the age of 18 and 35 today) have sometimes been the subject of negative press when it comes to work ethic, maturity and ability to take responsibility. The Center for Generational Kinetics reports that, in the U.S., there are approximately 79.8 million Millennials who comprise more than 50% of the country’s workforce. They are the most diverse generation in history and have more college degrees (and college debt) than any previous employee generation, and they bring all of these issues to work.

Managing Millennials in a team environment may require managers to consider different and nontraditional approaches that embrace more flexibility, transparency, autonomy and different channels of communication. Getting it right can have a profound and lasting impact on the business.

“There are benefits to having multiple generations in a team,” said Mark Dean, director at Thrivent Financial. “The financial services industry is aging — and their client base looks like the advisors.”

Dean, who focuses on practice management and team building with Thrivent, says a world of opportunities lie with the children of current clients. Those adult children, however, want to work with someone like them.

“My kids are in their twenties and they don’t work with my advisor, they work with a member of the team that’s more in the Millennial generation,” says Dean. “Millennials are an important piece of our team.”

Shying away from bringing Millennials into your practice may make management easier in the short run, but will likely put you at a competitive disadvantage in the near future. If you are seeking to take your business to the next level or considering a future succession plan, developing a multigenerational team is critical. If you manage it appropriately, you may find they are critical in keeping your practice relevant in today’s fast-paced environment.

 

Gen X

Those born roughly between 1965 and 1981 are reportedly resourceful, fiercely independent and place great emphasis on work-life balance. At the same time, they are also highly collaborative and adaptable, making them and important part of a team.

A recent EY study found that, compared with other generations, members of Gen X achieved the top scores in being considered a “productive part of the organization” (73%), a “team player” (65%) and “nurturing and essential for development opportunities” (56%). In addition, when asked which generation is the “best” at displaying select positive characteristics, respondents to the study cited members of Gen X most frequently in seven out of 11 attributes.

Examples include being a revenue generator and relationship builder, as well as possessing traits of adaptability, problem solving and collaboration. Gen Xers were also least likely to be considered “difficult to work with” (16%) or “cynical and condescending” (29%).

“I think it’s an advantage to have multiple generations working together, because we feed off of each other,” said Howard Wein a financial advisor and part of the management team at Prime Financial Services. “The younger producers tend to have higher energy level and greater expectations. The older producers are able to teach patience and self-control. The marriage of these things can be challenging, however.”

Gen X members of business teams can help in this area as they are often seen as a buffer or bridge between the Millennials and Boomers, helping to ease occurrences of communication issues or other generational workplace frustrations. The members of the Gen X demographic cannot go it alone, however. They need support in the form of professional development, mentorship and communications training. Generational miscommunication is a real problem in the workplace and, more specifically, team settings. But with the right development and support, Gen X can become a natural bridge between Boomers and Millennials.

 

Baby Boomers

According to Gallup, 80% of Baby Boomers in their early 50s are in the workforce and one-third of the oldest boomers are still working in some capacity.

They represent a large segment of the worldwide workforce, and they are often viewed as extremely hard working, yet challenged when it comes to adapting to change and acting as brand ambassadors. Another challenge with Boomers in a team environment lies in keeping them optimally engaged, whether because of the looming retirement age or unease about working with (or under) younger colleagues.

On the other hand, Boomers carry with them years of experience; oftentimes they have seen the same business challenges sometime in their career and can offer a mature and evidence-based perspective in a team setting.

“There’s benefit to having some gray hair on the team,” says Dean. “If they’ve been in the business a number of years, that helps. Having the wisdom and expertise and steady hand is a benefit.”

As Dean says, many young agents and advisors today have never seen a down market and therefore lack the experience of guiding clients through such an event. “Younger advisors don’t know what it’s like to call people when their fund value is demolished,” says Dean. “The older advisors these clients are working with — they can rely on their wisdom.”

Boomers offer the perspective of someone who has been there, done that, and can help teams avoid making the same mistakes other teams or organizations have made in the past, all while offering solutions that have had successful outcomes. And, as the EY study notes, boomers are best at displaying executive presence and being cost effective, when compared to other generations.

 

Using generational diversity in teams

In order to leverage different generations in a team setting, it’s important for managers to not dwell on differences, but to embrace them and use them to the advantage of the business. It’s also crucial for managers to continually remind teams of various ages what the common goal of the firm is. This focuses more on the commonality of the team than any differences there may be.

But perhaps the most important point for managers to remember when dealing with multiple generations is the significance of creating opportunities for cross-generational mentoring. The traditional method of older workers mentoring younger workers is valuable, but reverse mentoring is — especially in today’s workforce — just as important. Younger employees can share social media and technology skills, while older employees impart institutional knowledge and best practices for handling clients.

It’s also important for managers to be aware of the methods used to engage different generations. For instance, assigning Boomers to be team leaders of a certain project would fulfill their inclination for position and prestige. Gen Xers would appreciate being given autonomy to achieve goals — that were set for them — using their own resourcefulness and creativity. Millennials enjoy having opportunities to multitask and be flexible with their working hours, and to work creatively in teams where they are welcome to offer ideas and suggestions.

It’s not all easy, however. Managers must be aware of generational tension — loosely defined as a lack of respect for someone who’s of a different generation from you — among colleagues and team members. It’s a manager’s job to help employees recognize that they each have distinct sets of skills and different things they bring to the table. To make diversity work, leaders need to be aware of pain points that are likely to cause generational tension in a team setting. Each generation has a different idea about workplace standards and communication. Mangers must treat these points of differences as they would different cultures — with sensitivity, curiosity and respect.

Diversity fuels innovation, and innovation in business teams comes from collaborating with individuals of different age ranges, gender, cultural experiences and backgrounds. Understanding and embracing age diversity in a team environment is critical to success in every industry, especially that of financial services.

 

---

 

Emily Holbrook is the Contributing Editor for the Women’s Insurance Network. She is a former Editor in Chief of National Underwriter Life & Health and Retirement Advisor magazine. She has covered the financial, risk management and insurance industries for more than a decade, with her work appearing in Risk Management, National Law Review and Huffington Post. Emily graduated with dual degrees in Finance and English and worked in the financial industry as a fixed income trading administrator and analyst before becoming a full-time writer and editor. Emily now owns her own writing, editing and content strategy company, Red Label Writing. She can be reached at emily@redlabelwriting.com or on LinkedIn.