by Nora Spinks

New associates want a life and a career. Partners have put work first throughout their whole career. New associates define hard work as being accessible by e-mail, voicemail, and pager. Partners define hard work as time behind the desk, hours at the office, and number of billable hours worked.

It is no surprise that the tension between the generations is building. In law firms across the country, partners, associates, and students are trying to find ways to get along when they have very different experiences, perspectives, and expectations. Historically, there were only three generations in the workforce at any one time – today, you are likely to encounter any one of five generations in the course of a typical day.

Generational characteristics are a result of four elements: demographics (genealogy), human development (biology), social, economic, and political forces (sociology), and shared experiences (psychology). The more you understand the science, the easier it is to perfect the art of managing across generations. If you are experiencing intergenerational stress, ask yourself a few questions: what is the other person’s generational perspective, and what is yours? How do they differ? And what are the unwritten or unspoken understandings or behaviour norms for each generation?

For example, people who were raised in North America in the 80s and 90s have a high likelihood of having received daily positive feedback, and frequent feedback with every hour spent playing computer and video games. On the other hand, people who were raised in the 50s or 60s likely received feedback only when they did something wrong. So, for an associate, feedback is sought after – for partners it is avoided.

What associates are saying when they ask for feedback is, “I am interested in growing, building skills, and enhancing competencies.” They expect lifelong continuous learning and expect partners to provide coaching and specific advice about how to be a better lawyer. A partner may think the associate is lacking confidence, unsure of their abilities, demanding, needy and unprofessional. Partners are busy and think associates should work hard, “pay their dues” and learn through experience. Both are accurate from their respective generational perspectives but a complete misinterpretation of each other.

This conflict can result in tension and misunderstanding, and may contribute to regrettable turnover and less than optimal productivity. Neither party is completely right nor completely wrong; they are simply different. To resolve the issue, it is important to respect the other opinion and perspective. Associates need to recognize that their need for feedback does not necessarily come naturally to the partners. Partners need to recognize that new associates expect and even need more feedback than red marks on a document.

Neither generation will become like the other, however, they can respect their differences and think about communication from the receiver’s perspective as well as their own. Whether the tension is around feedback, face-time or different definitions of hard work, a fresh perspective on generations may reduce the stress and anxiety, and ultimately make both associates and partners more productive.

Nora Spinks is President of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises, an international research and consulting firm working with the legal profession to leverage generational diversity in the workplace.

This article was published in the December 2007 issue of BarTalk. © 2007 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.