When youth takes over

So many roofing companies are generational. One generation retires and passes along the business to the next generation. But when that happens, the new owners often are much younger than some of the employees they inherit, and that can cause strife.

The Wall Street Journal recently published “How to Rally the Troops at Work When They’re Older (and Maybe Wiser) Than You,” and the author Rachel Feintzeig explains being older and more experienced no longer guarantees more authority.

She writes: “Now, instead of clear-cut seniority by age, there’s often awkwardness, tension and confusion.”

Some areas of tension include younger managers believing older employees dislike them when older workers often are indifferent. Or maybe older people strain under a younger manager’s faster speed of work, comfort with technology and less formal way of speaking.

Feintzeig writes: “A senior worker might wonder: Is that millennial manager speaking casually because she doesn’t respect me?”

Feintzeig interviewed Lindsey Pollak, an author and speaker focused on multigenerational workforces, and they suggest the following tips to help smooth the transition:

• Younger managers should “use clear language to convey authority.” If a team member disagrees with a decision, the manager should stand firm while acknowledging his or her opinion.
• If an employee makes a comment about the age of a younger manager, the manager could say something like: “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned my age. Why would you bring that up?”
• Younger managers should meet with their new team members, ask questions about what challenges they perceive in the workplace and then make improvements.
• Younger managers should be open to learning from others. They should ask questions and seek advice for complex problems from those who have been at the company longer.

Transitions are always difficult and can become more complicated when older employees clash with younger managers. But with some forethought, they can be less contentious.

AMBIKA PUNIANI REID is editor of Professional Roofing and NRCA’s vice president of communications.