Baby boomers place more importance on politeness in the workplace than their Gen Z counterparts. — AFP
AT WORK, people often have to put up with everyone’s little quirks. But we don’t all get irritated by the same kinds of annoying behaviour.
Some people, for example, get annoyed when someone cuts them off in a meeting, while others just ignore it. It’s no doubt a question of sensitivity, but it may also be generational.
According to a survey by Meeting Canary (carried out by Censuswide among 1,016 British office workers who take part in videoconference or face-to-face meetings at least once a week) and reported on by Fortune, workers of different ages get annoyed by different things at work.
Baby boomers, for example, take particular offense at the patronising attitudes of their colleagues.
Some 74% find this unbearable, compared to 63% of Gen Z.
Similarly, boomers can’t stand meetings that drag on unnecessaririly (84%). Their patience is sorely tested when they have to listen to their colleagues’ long-winded monologues (76%), something that doesn’t seem to bother their Gen Z colleagues nearly as much.
But the generation gap is most pronounced when it comes to professional jargon.
The most experienced employees loathe the technical terms and trendy buzzwords that are used incessantly in the workplace.
In fact, 70% of boomers find this corporate jargon irritating, compared to 44% of Gen Z. Perhaps it’s because this professional jargon excludes the uninitiated, to the detriment of team cohesion.
Respect matters
Generally speaking, baby boomers place great importance on politeness in the workplace.
They take a dim view of any behaviour that goes against the elementary rules of good manners.
For example, they take a dim view of colleagues who fail to arrive at the office on time. Their younger counterparts, on the other hand, are much more forgiving of tardiness. Some 40% of Millennials have no trouble forgiving someone running 10 minutes late, while 70% of baby boomers have a zero-tolerance attitude towards any kind of lateness.
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to say that there is a real generational divide between young and old.
Gen Z and baby boomers have a lot in common when it comes to their views on the most annoying behaviours at work. Whatever their age, employees find respect and civility in the workplace to be highly important, for example. That’s why you should make every effort to mind your manners at the office.
Of course, no one is perfect, and quarrels between employees are commonplace in the workplace. But managers must ensure that these tensions do not fester over time and build up into bigger issues. – AFP Relaxnews
