Generational diversity in the workplace has become a hot topic especially with the pandemic changing where and how we work. With five generations in the workplace, there are nuanced differences in styles and they impact every aspect of work. Our firm, Groove Management has been leading generational diversity workshops for several clients to help leverage the multi-generational workforce as a competitive advantage.

One of the exercises we utilize during our workshop is to ask each participant to share the following three things:

1) What was the first music you ever bought? Artist and song/album

2) Where did you purchase the music

3) What format was the music delivered via?

This activity is always fun and engaging, but more importantly it highlights the differences between generations. Below are examples of how the different generations acquired their first music.

Baby Boomers (1946-1964) often respond that they bought something like The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers Album. They purchased it in a local record store and it was on vinyl.

Gen X (1965-1979) participants would answer that they purchased their first album or 45 also on vinyl or on tape and it was something like Kiss Alive and bought at a local record store or chain store.

Millennials (1980-1995) answers tended to vary the most because the formats of music varied so much for their generation. Older millennials answered that they bough their first music at a store like Tower Records or Sam Goody’s of Fye’s and they bought the music on CD. Artists include Paul Simon’s Graceland and Peter Gabriel’s So as examples. Younger Millennials skipped the music store and bought their music on iTunes and downloaded it directly to their iPods. Rather than buying albums in many cases they just bought individual songs. Songs included Waterfalls by TLC, Hold my Hand by Hootie and the Blowfish and I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. Things get really interesting when Gen Z (1996-Later) answers the same question.

Gen Z audience says they have never bought music instead they subscribe to Spotify, Pandora or just stream the music on YouTube.

This activity and the answers helps participants to see the diversity within the team, but it also highlights the fact that music and artists transcend time. The Rolling Stones are cool and popular with Gen Z and as a Gen Xer I can get into the music that is cool with the youth of today.

The biggest aha and lesson from this activity came when facilitating this activity for a Software as a Service (SaaS) company. The music purchasing activity highlighted the paradigm shift that is occurring in the ways that companies approach their IT needs. CIOs that are Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are often reluctant to move to a subscription model and would prefer to buy software and host servers on site. This is a legacy issue as they were raised in a paradigm where you bought and stored things including music. Millennials and Gen Z employees have embraced SaaS and the cloud as they were raised in a digital world where you digitally downloaded your music or even rent and stream it as with today’s services. The music analogy is a great way to help with SaaS software sales when approaching customers that grew up in an era where software was bought versus subscribed to.

By recognizing the generational differences in your workforce and leveraging that diversity, your organization can turn a perceived challenge into a strength.