Overcoming High-Conflict Generational Stereotypes at Work

Why should leaders abandon generational stereotypes in the workplace?

Media-driven generational labels—like "lazy" Gen Z or "entitled" Millennials—create false narratives and toxic derision across teams. To cultivate a healthy corporate culture and protect employee well-being, public relations leaders must actively dismantle these stereotypes by facilitating cross-generational mentorship and treating employees as distinct individuals.

Some of you identify as Baby Boomers, Millennials, Generation X, or Generation Z.

I identify as me and am part of no generation. And I wish you did the same.

Why? The “Generation Debate” emphasizes false narratives and stereotypes meant to create derision. And that derision is causing strain on teams trying to create healthy cultures.

I ask you, my public relations friends, to lead in shifting from argumentative, compartmentalized debates about generations to conversations that emphasize learning and understanding, which benefits everyone’s well-being.

This Generation Debate is not new. Magazine covers from the past several decades have focused on stereotypes of future generations. “Lazy,” “Entitled,” and “Me, Me, Me,” are common themes in articles.

A deeper examination comparing generations has grown in recent years, fueled by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to working from home. Many of us have had to learn how to do our jobs from home while keeping our teams connected and motivated.

With social media algorithms emphasizing debate topics to solicit engagement, combined with up-and-coming generations entering the workforce while spending formative months and years of high school and college from home, the debate has only grown in dominance.

Because we have been fed these messages over decades through earned and social media, it’s impacting our relationships with college students, new professionals, emerging leaders, and those at the end of their careers.

And, we must ask, what’s the value of these debates?

These debates do us no good in learning how to build relationships.

These debates do us no good in understanding the motivation of individuals.

These debates do us no good in creating effective communication strategies to reach our publics.

These debates do us no good in terms of our well-being.

We need to shift from a debate about generations to an understanding of individuals within each generation.

How can our public relations community take the lead on this effort? Five thoughts.

- Ask yourself, “Am I making a broad generalization?” This is a reminder that these stereotypes come from decades of messages delivered to us. Others define them and, to date, have not asked for your critical thought. I’m empowering you to think first before acting!

- If you see someone comparing someone to a stereotype, say something and call it out in the moment. Start a conversation and get to the root cause. You will both learn something about the process.

- If issues persist or potentially cross over to discrimination, please check with your human resources team for guidance.

- Find mentors from every generation. Instead of complaining about others, let’s turn this conversation around and turn it into a learning experience. We have a lot to learn from one another. Perhaps multi-generational mentoring is a topic for a future PRSA session!

- Finally, if you’re responsible for employee communications, consider mining internal and external story ideas highlighting examples of different generations working together.

I’m confident we can, over time and with a concerted effort from our industry, move away from these media-hungry headlines to ones that benefit our well-being and society.