Better Together: How to Support and Strengthen a Multigenerational Workforce

Generational conflict is an ancient tale: Zeus had enough of his father Kronos’ tyranny, which led to an Olympian takeover. All three of King Lear’s daughters turned against him in their own ways. The parents ruined everything for Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet managed to end up on both sides of the feud.

Much like the generational tensions that played out in these fictional, mythological stories, the modern workplace has its own version. Today, four (and sometimes five) generations of professionals are working side by side, all with distinct motivations, communication styles, expectations, and approaches to work. Undeniably, and understandably, these distinctions allow tensions to creep.

But managing multiple generations needn’t be an intractable problem. Instead, it can be an opportunity for an inclusive culture and a key differentiator in the marketplace.

Growing Skills Gaps Amplify Tensions

Amplifying generational tensions in recent years are the growing skills gaps among early-career professionals and their more experienced supervisors—with many supervisors sharing the sentiment that younger professionals just aren’t cutting it for today’s workforce needs.

In the Illinois CPA Society’s latest Insight Special Feature, “The Readiness Divide: How Next-Gen Accounting Talent Measures Up,” researchers uncovered notable disconnects between how prepared early careerists felt in their first full-time roles and how prepared managers felt their early-career employees were in their roles. Across 37 skills among six distinct categories, early-career professionals significantly overestimated their career readiness, rating themselves 7.39 on average on a 10-point scale, while managers rated them at just 4.95. Likewise, managers rated them far lower on critical thinking and problem-solving skills, adapting communication styles to fit audiences, choosing the right communication channels, and demonstrating professionalism.

John Bennecke, CPA, managing principal at Baker Tilly Advisory Group, has seen this criticism play out in real time, admitting that managers can be hypercritical of these skills gaps. However, he pushes back: “It’s easy to be critical, but what are you as managers doing to supplement that accidental learning that used to happen in real time?”

Gone are the days of learning side by side in the office every day. At the same time, the expectations of younger professionals are much different than they were for older generations. As the special feature points out, today’s professionals are expected to be more than just accountants, “they must also serve as trusted and strategic advisors, focusing on where their clients and their organizations are now and where they’re going.”

Lessons From the Ground Floor

Importantly, managers surveyed in the special feature acknowledged their shortcomings in preparing younger professionals for the realities of the current landscape. They noted they should do a better job at giving effective feedback, have more candid conversations with their staff to identify skills gaps, clarify career goals, and better explain what skills are needed to advance.

The experiences of Thomas Rouse, CPA, risk and controls consultant at Crowe in Chicago, may be instructive for understanding how managers can help bridge the divide.

Before serving in his current role, Rouse held two internships with the same team that he works with now. At the time, Rouse didn’t realize that excelling as an intern would mean that he’d be prepared for the demands of his current role. Although managers offered encouraging feedback, they didn’t fully clarify how expectations would evolve as he progressed from intern on up.

“If I wanted to receive that same positive feedback as a consultant, I’d have to significantly develop my skills to get to the next level,” Rouse explains.

Since then, Rouse has taken a proactive approach to his career development. For instance, after immediately receiving feedback, he now schedules a meeting with his supervisor to ask how it would change if he were a senior staff member, manager, and so on. This allows the feedback he receives to involve more than a snapshot in time—it illustrates a growth trajectory.

“This is why I think it’s really important for accounting firms to recognize and reward strong people managers who go beyond their individual expertise and really mentor and develop young professionals,” Rouse says. “Those are the people who sustain a firm’s culture and collective growth.”

Notably, the special feature supports Rouse’s take: According to the research findings, early-career professionals and supervisors both placed equal value on the importance of mentorship or coaching in skill development, suggesting that it may be the key to closing the skills gap and minimizing generational friction.

Expanding Perspective: Seeing the Whole Picture

Nicole Maimon, CPA, a senior tax consultant in Deloitte’s Chicago office, believes generational collaboration works best when each group appreciates each other’s perspectives and unique contributions to the team.

She notes it’s important to remember that each group looks at things through a different lens: “Senior leadership is thinking about clients and relationship management, while middle management is thinking about tax planning, value propositions, and opportunities. Younger professionals—the ones who are really in the weeds—are thinking about the overall process of how to complete the deliverable.”

As Maimon puts it, when younger professionals can see the big picture from senior leadership—the end goal and how the firm provides value—and more experienced professionals can learn ways to change processes and improve efficiency from early careerists, it results in a deeper sense of team and better client experience. In fact, Maimon recalled a client meeting early in her career where she contributed a technology solution while a senior leader leveraged their strong relationship-building skills. By combining their strengths, they achieved a successful outcome for the client and the firm.

Communication: The Missing Skill Everyone Needs

One theme running through these experiences is the importance of clear communication, which would smooth some of the frictions that can arise on all sides. No matter your experience level, excellent communication sets you apart.

“I tell people all the time, if you’re the person who wants to give the information, it’s your responsibility to know how the other person will take that information,” stresses Sandra Wiley, president and shareholder of Boomer Consulting Inc., who helps firms navigate culture and communication across generations.

Maimon, a Gen Z professional, ran head on into that problem recently. After delivering a project to a senior leader for review, comments came back written, in cursive, and on a printed PDF. Not unlike many professionals her age, Maimon can’t read cursive, creating a hiccup in the process.

But it’s not just older, more experienced professionals that need to be mindful of their communication. Maimon admits that early careerists can rely too heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) in writing emails to clients, which can lend itself to having information, requests, and overall intentions be misunderstood by the recipients.

“You should be leveraging AI, but it shouldn’t be doing all your thinking,” Maimon stresses.

What Drives Different Generations?

Understanding generational motivations can go a long way toward more effective communication.

According to the special feature, managers believed financial incentives would be the main motivator for younger professionals to build new skills. However, younger professionals rated a desire to feel more confident and capable in their roles as their top motivator (interestingly, financial incentives were the third reason for them).

“Younger professionals obviously want to be properly compensated, but what they really care about is whether they’re living a life with value and meaning,” Maimon explains.

But that doesn’t mean early-career professionals don’t care about career progression—they do. Maimon says they just need support, knowledge, and resources that come from above. As Maimon explains, support empowers them to be more confident, engaged, and successful.

Wiley believes getting young professionals involved in higher-level client work earlier in their careers would be a game changer in all of this.

Bennecke agrees, noting that younger staff would feel more ownership if they had their own client list, adding to a collective responsibility for top-quality client service: “We should want them to understand that it’s a 50-50 relationship. We’re going to provide you with the opportunity and the clients, and the other 50% is investing in your own professional development.”

Bridging the Divide Starts With Leadership

Easing generational conflicts is everyone’s business, but Wiley stresses that partners must take the lead, setting the example for others: “If you’re a firm leader, relationship building has to start with you. If you say you don’t have time to go out and have all these conversations, then don’t be surprised if you don’t get the loyalty.”

Many firms are already experimenting with practical ways to strengthen cross-generational ties. Here are a few examples:

• Schedule in-person trainings: At Baker Tilly, principals hold monthly, ad-hoc trainings on technical topics with no remote option. The idea is to replace some of the learning that previously took place in person with low-pressure but content-heavy sessions focusing on a case study. Deloitte offers soft skills training on communication, organization, and time management.
• Offer in-person social events: Deloitte partners invited early-career professionals into their homes for dinner during the less busy summer season. Boat rides, Cubs games, and other events were also held for all levels to get to know each other outside the workplace.
• Mentor both early and seasoned professionals: Any time an older professional mentors a younger one, they’ll learn something new themselves. Maimon mentors young college students in an intern program that simulates real-life client engagements, helping them learn how to communicate and collaborate with clients, peers, and managers. Younger professionals can teach their older colleagues too, such as technology tips. At Crowe, Rouse was assigned a career coach and peer liaison, someone with one more year of experience.
• Hold structured development meetings and assess readiness regularly: Baker Tilly holds monthly trainings with individuals across all levels as a supplement to firmwide trainings. Evaluations are done in real time to help professionals prepare to manage others, and individuals create their own personal work plans so they have ownership of their career trajectories.
• Put younger generations in charge: Wiley worked with an Alabama firm where a younger professional told a managing partner that he wanted to work 40 hours a week all year, including busy season, and make a lot of money. The partner said, “Me too.” Together, they figured out how to reduce the tax season workload to 48 hours per week.

Overall, Wiley argues that real progress begins with mindset. Framing a multigenerational workforce as an asset rather than a challenge would go far to ease the frictions that often arise.

“They’ve got to stop grumbling,” Wiley admits of firm leaders. “I hate to say it like that, but I talk to firm leaders all the time, and the thing that concerns me is there are still leaders who don’t try to understand the other generations that they’re working with, and they don’t try to understand how to change their firms to meet changing expectations.”

Wiley believes the solution is as simple (or as difficult) as changing the way firms do business and harnessing the talents that every generation brings to the table: “If we do that, we’ll build a great profession. If we don’t, I worry for the next generation of accounting firms.”

Ultimately, the multigenerational workforce isn’t a problem to fix but a chance to grow stronger together. By embracing collaboration and curiosity, firms can bridge gaps and build a more united profession prepared for the future.

Chris Camara is a Rhode Island-based freelance writer who has covered the accounting profession for more than 20 years.

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• How to Effectively Bridge the Gap With Next-Gen Talent: For today’s leaders, bridging the generational divide isn’t optional—it’s essential for building resilient, forward-thinking organizations.
• A Leading Lineup: How to Coach Your Accounting and Finance Team: Here’s how accounting and finance leaders can step up to the plate to create and keep a team that can withstand the highs and lows of every season.