4 Strategies for Managing Someone Older Than You
Being a young employee in a supervisor role can create some awkward situations with more experienced teammates
Right now, the U.S. workforce is made up of five different generations, all of which have their own opinions and expectations — about colleague camaraderie, about power dynamics, about work-life balance, and about office culture. And generally speaking, that’s a good thing. Research has shown that multigenerational workforces are more productive and have less turnover, and that age diversity can improve organizational performance.
But as more young people move into managerial roles that put them in charge of older employees, there’s also more potential for tension. An estimated 69 percent of workers 55 years and older report to younger bosses, and Lindsey Pollak, author of the upcoming book The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace, says that the younger manager/older employee dynamic is still “a very new phenomena,” that’s also becoming “increasingly common in the workplace.”
“Do your homework. Talk with a lot of different people. Realize that you’re learning, that you don’t have to be perfect, that you’re going to…
