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Understanding Generational Differences

Program offers easy way to discuss expectations, understandings

Like many departments on campus, the Duke University Hospital Performance Services team represents a cross section of workplace generations.

The 47-member department, which tracks and analyzes data to improve hospital care, includes Millennial-aged employees and their preceding Generation X, 
Baby Boomer and Veteran generations.

To understand differing values, attitudes and needs among generations, the team invited Duke's Office for Institutional Equity (OIE) to its office retreat last May.

"We wanted to learn how different generations prefer to communicate and how 
to take advantage of the diversity in our team," said Jeff Harger, a senior director within Performance Services.

OIE offers free educational workshops for departments on generational diversity, harassment prevention, overcoming bias and other topics supporting Duke's commitment 
to a diverse workplace.

Bob Crouch, assistant director for OIE, said the benefits of a well-functioning multi-generational team are flexibility, innovation and inclusiveness. The main sources of generational conflict in workplaces today involve perceived differences in work ethic and use of technology, he said.

"Younger folks may inadvertently offend older generations when they say something like, 'when are you going to learn to text?' " Crouch said. "Younger generations may feel slighted when older people joke that telecommuting is a way to goof off."

During the 90-minute workshop with the Performance Services team, Crouch led staff members through several exercises. They discussed common age-based stereotypes and shared values around issues such as workplace attire and face-to-face feedback.

Harger said the exercises were a fun way to raise awareness of different viewpoints.

"It gave us a chance to really hear each other and realize how you can't rely on one-size fits all assumptions about why people do certain things," he said.