Agribusiness BlogFarm CPA Today

Gen X – Gen Y – How Are You Dealing With Them

ag000930In a recent issue of Top Producer magazine, an article was written by Linda Smith about how agricultural managers are dealing with the Gen X and Gen Y generation.

I know that being a parent of 4 Gen Y boys that you need to deal with them differently from people from my generation (the baby boomers).

In dealing with Gen X workers, we need to realize that it is much more important for the boss to be a mentor or coach to their Gen X employees than just the “BOSS”.  If not, you will lose these workers extremely fast.  We also need to realize that Gen X are not wrong in this approach, but rather, this is what is important to them.  If we try to change them, we will fail.

For Gen Y workers, they have more of an entitlement mentality due to receiving trophies from simply participating in sports as kids and receiving stuff from their parents instead of time.  When they enter the work force, this transition from college can be tough on them.

They are more willing to accept authority, however, they are not really compliant.  They are results oriented, not process oriented.  Also, we need to realize that this generation grew up communicating more by text than face to face.  Therefore, it is unrealistic to restrict or eliminate their use of e-mail and texting. 

They want a coach and to be part of a successful team.  Make sure to be that coach for them.

Tags: , , , Demographics, Farm Industry Trends, Farm Leadership | 2 Comments »

  • Principal
  • CliftonLarsonAllen
  • Walla Walla, Washington
  • 509-823-2920

Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.

Comments

  • Jeff Bowman, CPA
  • February 9, 2010

Paul,
A great book on this subject is “Not Everyone Gets a Trophy” by Bruce Tulgan. It ties in to the observations in your post, and talks about managing people from different generations. And you’re right about needing a coach instead of just a boss…
Jeff

  • GTF800
  • February 8, 2010

Interesting blog, but it’s missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones (between the Boomers and Generation X). Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, the Associated Press’ annual Trend Report chose the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Here’s a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html

It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. And most analysts now see generations as getting shorter (usually 10-15 years now), partly because of the acceleration of culture. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:

DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Generation Y: 1979-1993

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