Keep up to date on articles and news and subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Older workers adjust to taking orders from younger bosses

As vice president of a general contracting company, Fletcher Burton isn’t shy about telling workers what to do.

But the 27-year-old says that giving direction to employees old enough to be his father can be awkward. About one-third of the experienced journeyman carpenters, equipment operators, drywall experts and acoustic ceiling installers for Anderson Burton Construction are over 40. He also manages older superintendents hired to oversee projects for the firm based in Arroyo Grande.

“I very much saw older people second-guessing me at the beginning of our company,” said Burton, who’s been vice president for five years. “Now, some of the newer employees still have to get used to my age.”

For Burton and other young managers, supervising seasoned employees is becoming more of a workplace reality. Many baby boomers are opting to stay in the work force longer — or return for a second career — and they’re finding that the bosses in the corner office are in their 20s and 30s.

While the generation gap isn’t usually a cause for concern, employers are beginning to pay more attention to problems that may arise between baby boomers, Generation X and Nexter managers, said Jen Jorgensen, a spokeswoman with the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria,Va. The organization, which represents about 200,000 human resource professionals nationwide, defines GenXers as people born between 1965 and 1980. The Nexters or Generation Y workers were born between 1980 and 2000.

“To a large extent, there aren’t monumental problems,” she said. “But you do need to take into account that there are generational differences in the way we learn, the way we teach each other and the way we interact. What a baby boomer considers professional behavior may be different for a Generation X or Y person.”

Some older workers, for example, believe that it’s essential to put in extra hours at the office, Jorgensen said. Many Generation X and Y workers put a higher value on work-life balance.

“It may not register for some baby-boomer employees,” she said.

Young people often notice tension during their transition into the management role, said Michael Gunther, president of Collaboration, a business consulting firm in San Luis Obispo.

“The older person wants their younger bosses to prove themselves as capable of being their boss,” he said.

With a young manager like Fletcher, it may help to clarify the roles of boss and employee, focus on outcomes and build trust, Gunther added.

“The younger person may not know the process,” he said. “But as the boss, he has to learn it so he can make sure it’s done right. It’s part of the older person’s job to explain the process to his boss, and he may resent having to be a teacher — and being told what to do — at the same time.”

Lisa Alphonso, a document control coordinator and new manager at Fziomed — a medical device manufacturer in San Luis Obispo — wondered how she would be perceived by her older employee.

“I didn’t want to come off as too overbearing, but I still wanted to be an effective leader,” said Alphonso, 27. “I was a little fearful that an older individual might have a hard time taking direction from someone my age, but in my case, that didn’t turn out to be a problem at all.”

The company sent her to a first-time managers’ training course to help her build confidence. Her supervisor also taught her how to have a successful relationship with her employee.

“Be aware of your employee’s needs, remain approachable, and if any issues arise, address them immediately so they don’t build up and cause tension,” she said. “It is important that you have and show respect, and more often than not, it will be reciprocated regardless of their age.”

Mutual respect is an important part of Floyd Moreno’s relationship with his boss, Fletcher Burton. Moreno, 48, estimates the cost of construction of new buildings and tenant improvements. He’s worked for the company for five years, but he’s been vice president of estimating for about a year.

“Our relationship is give and take,” said Moreno, a former painting contractor. “He gives a lot, and I give him back 100 percent.”

Moreno said Burton has taught him about materials and new ways of approaching jobs.

“For someone working for a younger boss, I would advise them to be open-minded and enjoy your work,” he said. “If you don’t enjoy it, move on.”

Burton appreciates the knowledge and expertise older workers bring to the job.

“A lot of the new kids who come into construction don’t have the attributes of the baby boomers: the desire to work hard and to take pride in doing quality work,” Burton said. “For older people, construction is a career; for the younger ones, it’s often just a paycheck.”