Let our workplaces be like the dawn chorus

Written by Helen Clarke

Each generation has its own culture formed from its period in history. This affects each generation’s values, beliefs, and identity. Our workplaces are made up of people of many generations. Millennials, born between roughly 1981 and 1996, comprise the largest group. Their managers are most likely to be Gen Xers, people born between 1965 and 1980.

Gen Xers

Gen Xers have a reputation as hard-working, resourceful, and independent.  Many have taken financial risks and chosen to be self-employed. Life for GenXers has been more about work-life balance than it was for their parent’s generation. Significant events in New Zealand’s history in their early life include the occupation of Bastion Point, abortion law reform, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, the Springbok tour, and economic ideologies from Think Big to Rogernomics.

Millennials

A Millennial’s life has been set firmly in the digital age. They are said to be natural collaborators and team players due to the education pedagogy of their school days and living much of their lives online. They have been described as the most affirmed generation in history[i] being raised believing they can be anything they dream of. For Millennials, the corporate social responsibility of where they work is key to attracting and retaining them as employees. Significant events in New Zealand’s history in their early life include historical Treaty claims to be investigated, homosexual law reform, New Zealand adopting a nuclear-free status, student loans being introduced and the Employment Contracts Act becoming law.

Both descriptions are full of generalisations and there is evidence that contradicts them. That said, our behaviour and communication will be in part informed by the generational culture we are part of. We also all have unconscious biases[ii] that influence our interactions with others.

Workplaces are an ecosystem and have a culture 

In a workplace with Millennials and Gen Xers, as well as Baby Boomers nearing retirement, there will be conflict. The causes will be multi-factorial, but differences between generations’ values, beliefs, and how we each see ourselves will contribute to conflict in the work ecosystem. 

In Aroha[iii], Dr. Hinemoa Elder shares this proverb which is about acceptance and nonjudgement of others:

E koekoe te tūī, e ketekete te kākā, e kūkū te kereru.

The tūī squawks, the kākā chatters, and the kereru coos.

While there are many differences in the birds of New Zealand – where they live, what they look like and how they communicate, their songs are all part of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Move now, from the bush to our workplaces. Consider how Millennials and Gen Xers might have differences, in the way they speak, the way they look, and the way they live. Yet, they are at the same time all human and part of the shared culture within their workplace. There is also an intersection between the stated culture of the workplace and the influence of the generational culture of each person in that workplace.

Conflict Pivots

Tammy Lenski’s book, The Conflict Pivot, invites us to change the direction that we focus on in conflicts to achieve a better outcome.  She invites us to place our attention on the present and the future, where we can influence change.

Lenski identifies three pivots we can take:

1. Pivot away from your stuck story and towards its message.[iv]

What are our stuck stories and generalisations we make about Millennials or Gen Xers when we are interacting with our colleagues at work?

2. Pivot away from their behaviour and toward your hooks.

For productive relationships in the workplace, we all need agency, collegiality, solidarity, and respect. All those needs are generationally nonspecific.

Lenski says that we get hooked by conflict when:

“You perceive that something important to you is being threatened and you decide, even subconsciously, to defend it.”[v]

Lenski identified six conflict hooks – Competency, Autonomy, Fellowship, Status, Reliability, and Integrity.

In a workplace with a mix of generations, what hooks might be activated in the following situations?

• I will always leave work on time even when the pressure is on.
• I need to hear I am doing a good job from my manager.
• I want to apply for a more senior role even though I have only been in my current role for a short period.
• I won’t say much in the team meeting as my views are not valued.
• I was surprised by what was discussed at the lunch table today.

3. Pivot away from the past and towards the now.[vi]

Conflict thrives in the unknowable past and in our reliance on the other person to set things right. Lenski suggests that identifying solutions that do not always require the other person’s contribution should be part of our plan to resolve conflict. It is not avoiding the conflict, rather it is part of addressing it by working out what’s hooked us and why, and what we want to do next.[vii]

Consider again, the workplace ecosystem with Gen Xers and Millennials. Pivot three assists us to shift our focus from the differences between the generations to the opportunities of what we might do differently.  Diversity provides an abundance of great ideas to be harnessed for the projects, and products of our workplaces.

Let our workplaces be like the dawn chorus, richer for the combination of all generations’ voices.

References and footnotes

[i] Hartman (2014)

[ii] The shortcuts that our brain makes so that we can process the huge amount of information we deal with each day. For example, we implicitly, and automatically make judgments about how warm or competent a person is.

[iii] Elder (2021) p41-43

[iv] Lenski (2014) p40

[v] Lenski (2014) p59

[vi] Lenski (2014) p122

[vii] Lenski (2014) p145

Elder, H. (2021). Aroha, Māori Wisdom for a Contented Life. Auckland: Penguin.

Hartman, M. (2014, March 24). Millennials at Work: Young and Callow, Like their Parents. New York, New York, United States of America.

Lenski, T. (2014) Conflict Pivots - Turning Conflict into Peace of Mind. United States of America: MyriaaccordMedia.

Rivera, A., & Healy, P. (2022, May 3). What your Younger Employees are Really Thinking. New York, New York, United States of America.

Schumpeter. (2015, August). Myths about Millennials. London: The Economist.

About the author

Helen is an experienced workplace conflict coach, trainer and dispute resolution specialist.

If you would like to get in touch with Helen, you can contact her by emailing workplace@fairwayresolution.com