From JHB's post: Younger Generations and Entitlement?

I'm under 30 and the son of an immigrant in North America.  My parents did all they could to point out all the pitfalls of the "stupid" things they did.  Is that insulating?  I was able to make more money and climb up the ladder faster than they could get their undergraduate degree.  I'd like to think that's progress more than anything.  

There are spoiled brats and freeloaders in any generation and in any organization.  I treat everyone on the team differently because they're all motivated differently.  I always believe (perhaps naively) that nobody wants to spend 7.5 hours a day banging their head on the wall and would like to do something that is at least rewarding for the time they are there.  A few like to go beyond that, perhaps because of the challenge, money, advancement, whatever. 

But as I've found out in my short career, there are entitled people working as customer service rep ("But this is the way we've always done things and if I don't do them, I don't have a job") to AVP (3 hour martini lunches a la Mad Men) from ages 18-90.

I agree that much of the hoopla (emotive term, yes) around generational differences is divisive and probably only serves to provide fodder for the wider media. It might be useful to explain some generalities but managing the individual is always going to be a much more effective approach to getting results in my opinion.

Personally (as a Gen-X-er) I often hear statements about that generation that plainly do not apply to me. When someone puts me in a pigeon hole it only serves to get me offside and does not contribute to an effective relationship.

In times to come, even the Gen-Yers will eventually be described as "stuffy old fools set in their outdated ways" :-)

Manage the individual!

-- Peter

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@pjwestley

The generation before it always thinks the following generation acts rashly with a sense of entitlement.  Boomers think X'ers act entitled, X'ers think GenY acts entitled, and by the time GenY gets into positions of leadership, they will think 'kids these days' are entitled. 

Like Peter and Twinsen already said, it comes down to the individual.  I have grown men more than twice my age acting like children and mid-20's young folks that work as hard as they can because they want to develop and be eligible for promotion.  It's really not generation based; it's just the attitude of the individual.

As a "fifty something" I can still very much remember the first time somebody looked at me like I was old. One has to keep a sense of humor about these things. It is a very special thing to watch my 30-something staff get the same looks. It never stops. I just tell them it is a different kind of cultural competence. We all treat each other with respect and get along very well in life most times. MT's says it it all about love...and it is.

Janet

Management by prejudice is a bad idea.

You can take statistical correlations between age groups and certain mentalities, but that tells you exactly nothing about the real, live, breathing direct in front of you.

I'm 23, got into management about a year and a half ago, and have been working my butt off since I was 16. I certainly wouldn't want to be treated as a "gen whatever-er" and managed based on statistical data (or just gut feelings) about people my age.

My father gave me a newspaper clip 40 years ago about the philosopher Aristotle who, to paraphrase, said: "The younger generation is lazy, ill-mannered, wants everything given to them and will never amount to anything."

The more things change - the more they remain the same.  Concentrate on the person!  This is not new advice.