The Compliance Compass: The Multigenerational Workplace

Group of coworkers of different ages sitting in circle and discussing in the office. Mature woman talking with coworkers in a team building session.

The Office of Equal Opportunity and the NC State University Libraries have curated current resources to guide your inquiry, encourage introspection and facilitate your engagement with various compliance topics.

Let’s Explore: Thriving in a Multigenerational Workplace

This is a list of resources where you can learn more about navigating and thriving in a multigenerational work environment. As our workplaces evolve, the number of generations working side-by-side continues to grow. Each generation brings with it a unique set of experiences, values and communication styles shaped by the historical events and social contexts of its formative years. Understanding these differences and how to leverage them is crucial for fostering a collaborative, productive and harmonious work environment. The following resources, including books, articles and media, will help you learn more about the multigenerational workplace and how to thrive within it.

This list has been curated by Tarida Anantachai and Alexa de Falco.

Abrams, Jennifer, and Valerie von Frank. The multigenerational workplace: communicate, collaborate, and create community. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2014. This book demonstrates how educators can look past their own generational filters to reap the benefits of a new perspective, focusing on key areas like recruitment, coaching, professional learning, and succession planning.
Chun, Edna, and Alvin Evans. Leveraging multigenerational workforce strategies in higher education. Routledge, 2021. This volume offers an in-depth look at multigenerational strategies that enhance institutional capacity and respond to educational needs.
Grubb, Valerie M. Clash of the generations: managing the new workplace reality. Wiley, 2017. Grubb explores this increasingly common workplace phenomenon and provides strategies to help managers navigate this complex maze.
Johnson, Meagan, and Larry Johnson. Generations, Inc.: from boomers to linksters–managing the friction between generations at work. AMACOM, 2010. This book offers the perspectives of people from different eras to elicit practical insights on wrestling with generational issues in the workplace.
Peterson, Anne Helen. Can’t even: how millennials became the burnout generation. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. This book provides an incendiary examination of burnout in millennials — the cultural shifts that got us here, the pressures that sustain it, and the need for drastic change.

Costanza, David P., et al. “Generational Differences in Work-Related Attitudes: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Business and Psychology, vol. 27, no. 3, 2012, pp. 367-93. This study quantitatively assesses the research on generational differences in work-related attitudes and provides guidance for future research and practice.
King, Eden, et al. “Generational Differences at Work are Small: Thinking They’re Big Can Effect Our Behavior.” Industrial and Organizational Psychology, vol. 12, no. 1, 2019, pp. 24-27. This article asserts that there is very little evidence that people of different generations behave markedly differently at work, and the stereotypes associated with different generations may be a more significant factor in their ability to effectively collaborate.
Knight, Rebecca. “Managing people from 5 Generations.” Harvard Business Review, 2014. This article discusses how supervisors can support a multigenerational workplace by sharing basic principles and sample case studies.
Lyons, Sean, and Lisa Kuron. “Generational Differences in the Workplace: A Review of the Evidence and Directions for Future Research.” International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 16, no. 2, 2014, pp. 139-57. The authors “critically review the research evidence concerning generational differences in a variety of work-related variables, including personality, work values, work attitudes, leadership, teamwork, work–life balance, and career patterns, assess its strengths and limitations, and provide directions for future research and theory.”
Rudolph, Cort W., et al. “Leadership and Generations at Work: A Critical Review.” The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 1, 2017, pp. 4-22. The authors provide a critical review of generational differences in leadership, proposing an alternative focus on a lifespan developmental perspective.

How to Bridge Generational Gaps on Your Team. HBR IdeaCast, Harvard Business Review, 2022. Workplace consultant and author Lindsey Pollak takes questions from listeners who are struggling to manage older direct reports.
From Gen X to Gen Z: Bridging the Workplace Generation Gap. Working It Podcast, The Financial Times, 2023. Many of us work with — and manage — people 30 years older or younger than we are. And sometimes it can feel like there’s a bit of dissonance between the “wisdom and experience” that Gen X and Boomers can bring, and the ‘innovative energy’ of those in their twenties and thirties. So what — and how — can both learn from each other?
Boomer and the Millennial Podcast. Hosted by a father and son from two different generations, this podcast discusses current events from generational differences while reaching common ground of understanding.
On Connection Podcast. Hosted by a Millennial, Gen-Xer, and a Baby Boomer, 2021. This podcast takes on topics relating to organizational life, leadership, and how the quality of our connection influences our ability to perform and feel personally fulfilled at work.

Georges, Leah. How Generational Stereotypes Hold Us Back at Work. (11:35) TED, 2018. The Silent Generation, baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, Gen Z — we’re all in the workforce together. How are our assumptions about each other holding us back from working and communicating better? Social psychologist Leah Georges shows how we’re more similar than different and offers helpful tactics for navigating the multigenerational workplace.
Donohue, Mary. How to Get Along with Boomers, GenXers, and Millennials. (16:09) TEDx, 2018. Dr. Mary Donohue provides insights on communication skills and advice for working in multigenerational environments.
Hansen, Eric. Bridging the Generational Gap in the Workplace. (9:23) TEDx, 2018. As we strive to write and create into the future, our ability to understand the behavior patterns of each generation and the underlying value system will allow us to create awareness of where we need to adapt to pave the way for the next generation of leaders.
Joshi, Tushar. Rising Above Generational Stereotypes in the Workplace. TEDx, 2018. For most of you, you are entering a workplace full of generational stereotypes. Your bosses and co-workers “know” you before they know you. Most of these stereotypes will focus on the negative, so how do you rise above? This TED Talk focuses on generational differences in the workplace and offers suggestions for employees and employers to navigate traditional generational characteristics.
Thompson, Patrice. Closing the Gap: A Millennial Proposal for a Happy Multigenerational Workplace. (7:09) TEDx, 2017. The unique challenges of integrating millennials into the workplace have been well explored. But what about the other side of the coin? Gen Y’er Patrice Thompson explores the issue from the Gen Y perspective. She charts the differences between Gen X and Gen Y, and maps out a few ways that organizations can create environments where workers of all ages can collaborate and succeed.
Bustamante, Christina. Generations in the Workplace: Collaboration & Communication. (8:16) TEDx, 2018. . This talk focuses on collaboration and communication between different generations in the workplace.