Below is an article from our most recent newsletter we thought you would find of interest!Generation X — Born 1965 to 1980“They Do Not Want to Work as Hard as WE DO!”When we conduct our generational workshops we often find that Baby Boomers find Generation X to present the biggest challenge in the workplace. Not surprisingly, Gen X’rs usually have the most challenges with Baby Boomers!What is going on here, why are these two generations at such loggerheads at work? One point of interest that may explain some of the challenges faced by both generations is the fact that the parents of most Gen X’rs are Baby Boomers. It is like we Baby Boomers are working with our children and the X’rs are working with their parents! Another issue that we observe is the difference in company loyalty and a perceived lack of work ethic that Baby Boomers believe is a basic flaw of many Gen X’rs in the workplace. It is true that the X’rs do not share the same work ethic held by many Baby Boomers. This younger generation believes it is important to have a balance between their work and personal life. Generation X’ers believe that work is not the most important thing in their lives. They are resourceful and hardworking, but once 5 o’clock hits, they would rather pursue other interests. They have observed the long hours that their parents worked and see no benefit in doing so themselves. This is the generation that had the divorce rate triple during their formative years. So many were left home alone while their parents worked (the extensive network of daycare/after school centers we have today had yet to be established) that a new phrase was coined to describe the phenomena, latch-key kids!  We Baby Boomers are not their role models when it comes to work. This generation does not want to make what they perceive were mistakes by their parents. Many of them change jobs often in order to assure that they have a wide range of skills that will allow them to work no matter the economic circumstances that may befall their employer or the economy in general. Too many of them witnessed their parents being laid off and then not having any additional skills to fall back on. The word that best describes this generation in a nutshell, skeptical.So how do you manage this generation at work? They are used to getting feedback quickly by communicating through emails and text messaging.  They want timely communication and feedback and are equally comfortable providing the same to others.  One of the common complaints we hear from Generation X’ers is they do not feel they are listened to in the workplace.  Leadership tips include:•    Do not micromanage•    Give candid, timely feedback•    Encourage informal, open communication•    Use technology to communicate•    Provide learning opportunities and mentoring•    Allow them to manage multiple projects or tasks simultaneously, they like itFinally, we leave you with this one final observation that may explain in a very poignant way these Gen X’rs and how they view life. In our generational workshops we often ask members of various generations to list some of the heroes they had as they were growing up. Traditionalists, Baby Boomers and Generation Y (Millennials) easily produce a list of the heroes they had growing up. In the numerous presentations we have presented with hundreds of participants we have never had a group of Gen X’rs produce a list, beyond the occasional “my parents or grandparents”. It is almost like a trick question to them. Being a Baby Boomer and having been brought up in a time when I had many heroes (Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy for instance), I cannot imagine what it would have been like to not having any heroes. To me that crystallizes this generation, no heroes, skeptical, and very resourceful, and by the way, they will do it their way.