Work That Works

Principle #6Let Your People Live to Work, not Work to LiveA Job is More Than the Time Between Vacations

Attitudes toward work have changed dramatically since the old days when people put in 50 years working for the same utility company and were rewarded with a gold watch. Loyalty has undergone a seismic shift. Employers today continue to be surprised by “those millennials,” but when you look at how they were raised and the world they inherited from previous generations, their behavior really is not surprising at all. I wanted to find out how the different generations answered questions about their work/life balance, as well as getting, keeping, and valuing a job.

Two Generations: Changing Attitudes Towards Work

I started with a member of Generation X. He now has grown children, so he has been in the workforce since before the days of office casual and calling your boss Frank instead of Mr. Melancholy.

The Older Generation Speaks

You have no doubt heard of life hacks, like shortcuts for your cell phone, the fastest way to fold a t-shirt, or ingenious ways to use ice cube trays. Ken, a 50-year-old man who works at a credit card processor company for financial institutions, is a genius at work hacks. He finds ways to fit good times into his job without getting fired.

“My company was doing a reduction in force (RIF), so my boss told me to take my scheduled vacation to ...