Generation X – It’s Our Time to Change the Workplace

The boomers have not only left the White House they are starting to think about leaving the workplace.  That may be delayed due to their typically dismal ability to save for the future, but it is coming and Generation X it’s your turn to make the workplace the place you want it to be.

As an Xer I find myself resenting what Gen Y accomplished in the workplace.  But they are really not to blame, I’m just miffed that we as a generation didn’t gel and work together to get what we wanted as they have.  Clearly it’s possible and here are some things we can do in the next five years to accomplish what they have in such a short time.

Get Over It – Yeah we were the first generation with absentee parents, we’re the first generation of Americans who may not do as well financially as our parents, and we’re sandwiched between two very large generations of incredible self-promoters.   We followed the rules and continually watched those who didn’t follow the rules get raises and promotions.  It’s time to get over it.  Thankfully we’re not entering the workforce now.  We had it good.  College was semi-affordable and there were plenty of openings to go around, if you didn’t go Ivy League you could still have a great career and make a good salary, and we have grown to be more independent than most generations.

There was a research study last fall suggesting happiness is contagious.  Let’s make it our mission to be positive in the workplace and to lighten the mood and keep from tying our entire identity to our work life.  Our attitude has always been that most of life and work are not rocket science and should be seen and weighted appropriately.    I’m not saying take work lightly but also don’t feel that if you go to lunch, your work world will collapse, trust me, most of us just aren’t that important.   Let’s be realistic and optimistic.

Stop Using the Term Work Life Balance – it’s not achievable.  There will never be a true balance in those two realms.  Besides isn’t work part of life?  Start thinking in terms of flexibility.  Getting the flexibility at work to be able to take care of your personal interests and having a support system in your personal life to cover you when your work life takes higher precedence for a time.

Questioning Rules = Good, Changing Rules = Best – Gen X never liked the answer “because that’s how we’ve always done it” but we also don’t do much to change the system, except maybe opt out.   If we do change the system it’s usually not for the good of all but more secretly to make it work for you, personally.

We are poised for great change in this country.  One change is a shift to a more human approach to business and profits – a time where employees and vendors can be treated well by companies who can still turn a nice profit.  Let’s make it our mission to move that idea along by supporting and working for companies that have this approach and rejecting companies that do not.  I for one am unwilling to work for companies who don’t respect their employees enough to offer a decent benefits package and the flexibility to take care of ourselves personally.  If we all got together and refused to work for these companies they would need to change their ways.

Don’t Discount Who You Are – One of the reasons it’s so hard to achieve harmony between work life and personal life is because we’ve spent so long putting more weight on what we do instead of who we are.  It’s okay to have personal interests.  It’s okay to talk about them at work.  It’s okay to show people who you are.  It’s especially okay if you do your work well.  In my last desk job one of my fellow employees was a bird watcher.  Our office was located adjacent to some wetlands.  He brought his binoculars to work and would spot a bird, check it out with his binoculars and tell you about it.  It was nice to take a break and learn something new – just don’t do it at the expense of your work product.

Manage as You Would Like to Be Managed – As you were coming up in your career it felt good when someone really listened to you, heard you, took your suggestion, helped to make it work, and gave you the credit.   Well then pass it along.  And be sure to really listen.  Gen Y employees are some of the most innovative and creative thinkers in business in a long time.  You can learn a lot from them and they from you.  But you need to listen and think outside the box – not just give lip service.

You Can Have It All, Just Not All At Once – In the realm of being realistic… you can have a career and have time for your family.  You just might not be able to be an executive and still read bedtime stories every night.  And that’s okay.  It should be whatever works for you and your family.   Last fall I talked about the brouhaha over Michele Obama choosing to take some time to get her kids adjusted to their new lives at the White House.    I’m guessing she’ll be interested in working again in her adult life, but for her, now is not the time.

We need to educate HR professionals that it’s okay that a resume is not always a straight line and that taking care of your family does not require an apology.  As our generation takes over the VP role in HR I hope for some real change here both in HR and individual hiring managers.  After all remember the television show “Square Pegs.” Don’t we all feel like square pegs sometimes no matter how old and experienced we are.

Save For a Rainy Day – Saving for a rainy day allows you to comfortably change employers.  We’ve all seen the boomers spend their paychecks as soon as they got them and now we’ll watch them hang around the workforce longer than they or we want them to.   Not drowning in debt means you have power over your employer because you can change your career life when you want or need to.

I mean really how much stuff do you and your children need.  I saw some flabbergasting media articles around the holidays about how to tell your kids you are cutting back on Christmas spending.   I’m not saying Christmas shouldn’t be fun it just shouldn’t be as excessive as these articles suggest.  You can buy presents that are reasonable and your children will still love you.  And I’m definitely not suggesting we be miserly – the economy needs money to flow in order for it to work but there should be some middle ground between conspicuous consumption and not spending at all.

I think as a generation we’ve tried to get everyone to agree with us or complained that they don’t.  For the next 5 years, let’s embrace the difference between the Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y and use our knowledge to change the workplace so that it works for all generations.   We need action, not words or we just may miss our window to end our careers on our terms.