By Jeanine Hage
I’m a Gen Xer, part of the cohort that vividly remembers the dial-up internet sound - a true hallmark of our times. I am both an entrepreneur and investor, primarily focusing on the high-tech industry.
Recently, I chose to invest in a promising local start-up. It is staffed by Millennials and Gen Z employees. This experience is shaping my perspective on how different generations mingle within an organization.
The reason I am reflecting on intergenerational organizational culture in this blog is that, on my last visit to the start-up, I was taken aback to see employees casually arriving at the office dressed in gym suits and, astonishingly, slippers, walking around as if such attire is perfectly acceptable for a workplace. It made me wonder if I had somehow stumbled into a very corporate gym.
We are in an era where Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers are working side by side. Intergenerational organizational cultures are turning into fascinating, life-lesson-filled sitcoms - It is like watching a sitcom episode where all four generations are stuck in an elevator, figuring out which buttons to push.
Buckle up for Season 1 episodes!
Dress Code episode:
This episode inspired this blog and has become a peculiar fascination that's been tickling my Gen X sensibilities.
Let me take you back to the days when I started my career; we had a dress code outlined in an employee handbook. It was rumored that our employee manual, along with the dress code, was authored by a coalition of fashion designers, drill sergeants, and one particularly strict librarian.
Procedures included the details of what was acceptable but most importantly what wasn’t. It was a carefully crafted dress code. Acceptable colors included "charcoal gray,” not to be confused with "slightly darker charcoal gray,” and "navy blue,” which is distinct from "12 minutes past sunset navy blue”. Ties had to not only match the suit in color but also be precisely 3.25 inches wide. As for the ladies, displaying manicured toes through open-toed shoes was strictly off-limits.
Then came Friday "Casual Day,” a concept so fraught with ambiguity that it has led to the formation of support groups.
In a bold move, the company once tried to introduce "Hawaiian Shirt Fridays" to spice up the office atmosphere. This experiment was short-lived, as the sight of tropical prints caused a level of excitement that was deemed "unproductive". The policy was quickly amended to allow Hawaiian shirts, but only if the shirts were in the approved shades of gray or navy. See above.
Today, the office dress code blends vintage and modern styles, allowing suits and gym suits to coexist peacefully. Footwear varies from sensible loafers to hover shoes and slippers, depending on one's meeting schedule and the decade they feel most aligned with on any given day.
Is the dress code still a thing? If so, how? Where can I find the rules?
Asking about rules, are we? It’s clear that such a question is coming from a Gen Xer.
Lunchtime episode:
When you enter the cafeteria, you're greeted with a vivid illustration of generational cohabitation. Lunchtime offers a varied mix of cuisines: Gen Xers enjoy homemade meals heated in glass microwave-safe containers, while Millennials opt for avocado toast, and Gen Zers sip on smoothies made from ethically sourced, carbon-neutral ingredients. Meanwhile, Baby Boomers regale their coworkers with tales of when coffee was just...coffee.
Boardroom episode:
Meetings are a sight to behold, and communication is a delicate dance of emojis, handwritten notes and the occasional carrier pigeon. The boardroom, once a battleground of suits and ties, now resembles a scene from a futuristic sitcom where technology and tradition are in a perpetual, albeit entertaining, clash.
Picture this: baby boomers meticulously adjusting their reading glasses to decipher the hieroglyphics of emojis sent by millennials, who, in turn, are bewildered by the archaic practice of handwriting notes. Gen Xers, caught in the middle, attempt to broker peace by suggesting a compromise that involves the innovative use of carrier pigeons for delivering memos. Meanwhile, Gen Zers are live-tweeting the entire ordeal, turning each session into a viral sensation.
In conclusion, embracing the spirit of intergenerational solidarity, employees march forward (or moonwalk backward, depending on their position on the generational chart), showing that the secret ingredient to office harmony could very well be a collective readiness to accept one another, all while armed with a quirky policy handbook and a healthy dose of humor.
* For the Millennials and Gen Z reading my blog and wondering what dial-up internet is, here's the definition: A prehistoric method of connecting to the Internet that involves a symphony of beeps, buzzes, and static noises, much like attempting to communicate with outer space using a landline phone.
What's a landline phone, you ask? At this rate, we might never finish.