What Generational Difference Can Teach Us About Work
Do workplaces need a Gen Z strategy?
That was one of the questions raised in a recent episode of The Rest is Politics, which looked at whether workplaces need different strategies for younger workers.
Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, argues that the data does not match the stereotypes. We are not seeing a generation of people who are fundamentally different, he says, but a disconnect between age groups who now have much less contact with each other.
Outside family, we are increasingly limited to spending time with people close to our own age. We consume different media, use different language and have been shaped by very different economic and social conditions.
Perhaps the more constructive question isn’t simply, Is Gen Z different? But What helps different generations work well together?
From five generations to six
We often talk about the five-generation workforce. At 10Eighty, we have six generations in a small team, from Michael in his 70s to Dan and Hannah in their 20s.
This means there are differences in how people view their relationship to work, what they think work owes them, the language they use, what they find offensive and how they approach situations. Some may see work as something life needs to fit around. Others may expect work to fit, at least partly, around life.
These differences affect performance too.
Research from the London School of Economics found that generational tensions are linked to lower workplace productivity. In firms using intergenerationally inclusive work practices, productivity was higher among younger generations.
An ageing global population means there is less young talent in the pipeline, while organisations are becoming more generationally diverse. If we ignore generational difference, it can easily become a source of both frustration and financial loss.
More in common than we think
Interestingly, when different generations across 10Eighty were asked about their work values, there was a high degree of cross-over.
Hannah and Dan, in their 20s, talked about helping others, growth, creativity, security, collaboration and resilience. I, a Millennial, listed collaboration, integrity, kindness and being results-driven. Michael, in his 70s, listed optimism, credibility and persistence.
Those values are not the same, but they are not in conflict either. Collaboration appears across generations. Resilience and persistence sit close together. Integrity and credibility speak to the same need for trust.
This brings us back to Duffy’s point that, “we’ve got far more in common than we like to think.”
Many of the things that people want from work are shared: to contribute, to grow, to be trusted, to feel useful and to know their work matters. But there is value in difference too. Different generations bring experience, fresh perspective, technical confidence, cultural awareness and new expectations of what work can be. When those perspectives are brought into conversation, they can challenge assumptions and help organisations see problems from more than one angle.
Purpose and belonging
This is where purpose and belonging matter. Across generations, people need to feel that their skills, experience and perspective have a place in the organisation. That means recognising what people bring, making space for open communication and connecting individual contribution to shared goals.
At 10Eighty, this sits closely with a wider organisational purpose: helping people maximise their potential and helping organisations harness that potential. In practice, that means helping leaders understand what drives individuals, create the right conditions for people to contribute, and connect individual potential with collective purpose.
When people understand each other better, they work better together. Then generational difference becomes more than something to manage: it becomes a way to strengthen collaboration, broaden perspective and build workplaces where people of all ages can contribute fully.
