Workplace generation dynamics discussed at Bear Paw Development meeting

Bear Paw Development Corp. held its annual meeting Thursday, providing an update on the last year of the organization's local impact, as well as a presentation on the changing generational dynamics of the modern workplace.

Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss said this is the 55th year of the organization's operation and they worked on a lot of projects in 2023, bringing in $16.5 million of outside funding into the community.

Tuss, who also is a state legislator and Democratic candidate for re-election to the state House facing former Republican Rep. Ed Hill, said this means that each dollar of funding their organization received brought in 155 dollars to the community.

He said none of this would be possible without the staff and board of the organization whom he thanked for their hard work and guidance.

He also introduced the Montana Department of Commerce's new director Paul Green, whom he worked with in the Montana Legislature and who has been a champion for economic development and workforce housing, as well as other causes vital to the region and its economy.

Green gave a brief address thanking the organization for its work and its strong continued partnership with the Department of Commerce.

He said he's honored to have been given the opportunity to be a leader and advocate for the economic development of rural communities in the state and he intends to establish and strengthen partnerships across the state.

"I'm not here to change things; I'm here to be an asset," he said.

After Green's address, the event's keynote speaker, Rick Edwards, director of community connections at NorthWestern Energy, gave a presentation on the increasingly complex generational dynamic of the modern workplace and what employers and members of the workforce can do to navigate it.

Edwards said, for the first time in history, five generations have substantial representation in the U.S. workforce as older generations are increasingly going back to work.

He said while there are plenty of exceptions, there are broad trends, values and characteristic work habits that can be observed in each of these generations, mainly a result of the environments in which they grew up.

He said the oldest generation, traditionalists, more commonly known as the silent generation, values loyalty and discipline, respects authority and has a strong belief in hierarchy, and a strong sense of morality.

Baby Boomers like him, he said, desire involvement, value fairness, work long hours and overtime, and believe in getting the most out of any job they have and rising the ladder.

Generation X is self-reliant, desires feedback and good work-life balance, and are independent, casual and believe in working smarter, not harder, he said.

He said Millennials are expressive, optimistic, desire personal fulfillment, are impatient and desire consistent positive reinforcement or "participation trophies."

Generation Z, he said, is cautious, pragmatic, extremely debt-avoidant, resistant to making big purchases like cars or homes, and is the most educated generation in U.S. history.

Edwards said these generations have very different styles of feedback and communication and if employers and employees want to work well together it's important that they not attempt to change these preferences, but accommodate them as much as possible.

He said older generations are used to scheduled and formal performance reviews as the primary avenue for feedback about their work, but young people want to know immediately if they are doing something wrong so they can fix it. Younger people hate surprises when it comes time for a formal performance review, he said.

There is also a divide in the preferred medium of communication for this feedback, with younger people using text and instant messaging, while older employees tend to prefer written communication.

On the other hand, he said, younger workers are much more likely to question the policies and decisions of their bosses and be part of a collaborative process, while older generations tend to have a more rigid approach to the hierarchy of business.

Edwards said this rigid approach to decision making doesn't work anymore, and it's important for employers to recognize the importance of being collaborative, especially with younger workers who will be more willing to ignore decisions and policies that don't make sense to them.

Of course, he said, sometimes a decision will be made that conflicts with the desires of those down the line, and in those cases it's important to explain why that decision is being made so employees at least know that their voices are being heard.

He said the greatest generational tension he sees is between baby boomers and millennials, with the former often saying that the latter doesn't respect or listen to them.

Edwards said he doesn't believe that is really true, as young people in the workplace for the most part just want to be taken seriously and heard regardless of where they are in a business' hierarchy.

He also said there is a divide in terms of job hopping, with older generations being far less willing to consider changing jobs than younger people, to whom loyalty to a company matters much less.

He said this difference, as well as others, has a great deal to do with the environment these generations grew up in, and the same is true with technological literacy.

Edwards said while almost everyone uses the internet in some capacity, younger people grew up with it as a constant presence which affects how they view and use computer technology.

He also talked more about the generation's divergent views on how they work on an hour by hour level.

He said younger generations, millennials especially, are going to use the leave time their company provides if they can, while older workers will just keep working from 8 to 5 and beyond, though he noted that younger workers are willing to make up the time they lose from home very often.

Edwards said younger workers are also more used to working from home, which can be an effective way of doing things depending on what kind of business they are in.

He said the differences between these generations can lead to friction, but that also means there is a great variety of unique strengths in workplaces today, and it is possible to leverage all of them.

At the end of the meeting Tuss presented Edwards with artwork by local artist Don Greytak as thanks for his time.