The career center will be hosting a Multi-Generational Workplace event over Zoom, hosted by career advisor Ty Collins, on Wednesday, April 28, from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
This marks the final event of the “Seniors Series,” which are sessions for preparing upcoming graduates for life after Lawrence, discussing topics like living alone and finding a job. Other events that have taken place this year have been “Budgeting Your Money after Graduation” and “Managing Your Finances as a New Graduate.” The Multi-Generational Workplace event is predominantly focused on those who will be entering the workforce, as they will be joining a group of people of a wide variety of ages and ways of being.
The Lawrence seniors are in Generation Z, so the other generations they will shortly be joining are the Baby Boomers as the oldest, Generation X born between the mid-1960s to the early-1980s, and Generation Y (Millennials), whose generation ended in 1995, according to Collins.
Collins states, “By understanding why someone older than you thinks or acts the way they do, it will reduce the chance of workplace conflict or misunderstandings and allow everyone to work together for the good of their organization.”
An example of a potential divide between generations is that Baby Boomers grew up without modern technology, whereas the seniors, Generation Z, largely grew up surrounded by it. These different skill sets and strengths can lead to knowledge exchange in the workplace, such as technology and work ethic.
Therefore, one day in a job, a Generation Z employee could help and teach a Baby Boomer more about a computer program. This, of course, goes both ways as the Baby Boomer generation may have more experience. According to Collins, Generation Z could greatly benefit from communicating with more experienced workers and think of them as mentors.
“I hope students learn how to successfully interact with people in the workplace that are different than they are,” Collins said. “Lawrence does a great job teaching us to appreciate diversity in all its many wonderful forms. In this case, we’re talking about diversity in age and how to respect, appreciate and learn from those who have been in the workplace longer than our new graduates.”
Lawrence senior Ghania Imran is attending the event in the hope of learning new tools and tips to gain a better understanding of the mindsets of other generations. She hopes this will help her and others create a more productive workplace by incorporating everyone’s ideas, regardless of age.
“I hope to gain an understanding of the other generation’s mindset because that will help me foster a productive workflow by incorporating diverse ideas from several generations,” Imran said.