How do generational differences impact learning?

In this blog, we’ll dissect that very question – and uncover insights that will help your workplace learning land, whether your learners were born in 1972 or 2002. (Yes, people born in 2002 are 22 now; we know, let’s not dwell on that too much…)

When it comes to communicating across different generations, the emphasis tends to be put on the younger end of the spectrum (like Gen Z, or the recently-coined Gen Alpha.) While it’s incredibly important to tailor learning to younger generations, it’s also crucial that older generations don’t get forgotten along the way. According to recent research by Virtual Training Team, 95% of workers in their 50's see age discrimination as a common occurrence in the workplace – so it's clear there's a discrepancy here.

No generation is a monolith, and each individual learner has their own individual needs and preferences. But even so, there are commonalities amongst people who grew up during the same time period – whether it’s their cultural touch-stones, their interaction with technology, or their sense of autonomy. So while you can’t generalise, we think it’s worth keeping these things in mind when designing learning.

Let’s take a journey through the generations, and discuss how their age may influence their learning preferences.

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Baby Boomers

While the older end of the Baby Boomer generation (70 – 78) are largely no longer in the workforce, those born during the later years of the 20th-century Baby Boom are still of working age. As of 2022, approximately 25.6% of Baby Boomers in the UK are part of the workforce. It’s safe to say that because of their perceived scarcity, perhaps they are sometimes overlooked during the learning design process. So where do you start?

It’s helpful to consider how Baby Boomers grew up. People born between 1946 and 1964 did not grow up with technology, so were introduced to it later in life. As a result, tech literacy wasn’t a fundamental, ingrained skill from their early years – and in some cases, the learning curve may be steeper than their Gen X, Millennial or Gen Z counterparts.

In order to accommodate this, supplement e-learning with face-to-face instruction. A blended learning approach is a perfect compromise: Just look at Thrive customer Ann Summers, who increased sales of targeted product lines by 10% when using this method.

Another facet of this is the importance of relationship and team-building. Providing regular opportunities for discussion and collaboration will improve effectiveness.

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Generation X

Generation X’s birth years fall between 1965 and 1980. Recent internet trends have seen some of them come out of the digital woodwork to announce their presence, professing their affinity for drinking out of the water hose, playing outside, and watching Gremlins before they were legally allowed to do so.

Jokes aside, Gen X grew up in times of political and economic uncertainty, during which they were given a lot of freedom by their parents. In their later life, Gen X are both parents of young children and care-givers to their elderly relatives – and as a result, they are largely very independent, pragmatic and self-sufficient.

So, how do these factors influence the way in which they learn?

Gen X sits on the bridge between the pre- and post-digital world. They did grow up with some technology (such as video games and early computers) but it’s not all they’ve always known. As a result they are comfortable with both digital and in-person learning, again returning to our “blended learning” suggestion from the Baby Boomer section of this blog.

But what about their independent, self-sufficient side that we mentioned earlier? How can your workplace learning cater to this? To promote autonomy and learning in a way that makes sense for them, self-led (but structured) learning is likely to be most effective. Think structured learning pathways that can be easily followed in their own time, with logical, linear modules that lead to a sense of celebration or achievement at the end.

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Millennials

It sometimes feels like, in terms of public favour, poor Millennials can’t catch a break. Having been identified as both “entitled, lazy, self-involved participation trophy kids” by the older generation (and who was handing out those trophies, hmm?) and “out-of-touch, cringe-worthy overgrown children” by the younger generations, they’ve taken their fair share of roasting over the years.

But despite the “cheugy” allegations and Hogwarts house quizzes, Millennials are widely thought to be the most tech-savvy generation. Having grown up with both computers and smartphones, they bridge the gap between being able to touch-type on a keyboard and successfully share Reddit posts to their WhatsApp group chats – a worthwhile skill indeed. Meanwhile research shows that less than 1 in 5 members of Gen Z are comfortable using office-based software, thanks to smartphones being the norm throughout most of their lives.

Because of this relative “tech savviness,” the Millennial generation will be more than comfortable with e-learning and digital tools. However, research also suggests that they crave social interaction within their learning programs (despite what the memes about how scared they are of phone-calls might have you believe!) Ensuring that your LMS facilitates social learning, and enables social-media-like features such as Likes, Comments, and Shares is a must. Communication features like Broadcasts, Notifications and Community Posts will help drive learning home – as well as actionable lessons that can be practically applied to their real life or role.

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Gen Z

The youngest generation currently in the workforce (born between 1997 and 2012), Gen Z are perhaps the most talked-about when it comes to designing learning with a specific age group in mind.

Because of the (debunked) perception that Gen Z’s attention spans are shorter than older generations, said attention has become a desirable commodity; something to be coveted, chased, and bottled. But it needn’t be that way. In the words of McKinsey and Company, “For a generation adrift in an overwhelming sea of content, it’s less about paying attention and more about what breaks through the noise.”

Technology is your best friend when trying to “break through the noise.” Implementing a digital platform that holds all your learning in one place mitigates the distraction tax: a term coined by Asana to describe the sense of overwhelm caused by multiple apps and competing notifications, and something that disproportionately affects Gen Z. Ensure that your platform can host a wide range of files – like PDF, audio, quizzes and video – to keep things interesting and varied while avoiding content chaos.

Just like Millennials (in fact even more so), Gen Z is very used to using social media. They have grown up with platforms like Instagram from such an early age that many of them have never known a world without the expectation to share your life in a visually-appealing 1080 x 1080 square.

As such, those same tools from our “Millennials” section also apply here – with a strong emphasis on continuous learning. It’s widely thought that relative to other generations, Gen Z values self-development and growth. By making sure that the learning you are assigning your Gen Z employees actively enhances their own career progression, you’ll increase their motivation to complete it.

Okay, we know we said that the Gen Z attention span thing was a myth – but it is true that this generation are more used to interacting with short-form content, so you may as well take advantage of that. Use a platform that facilitates micro-learning to deliver lessons in digestible, bite-sized chunks.
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Generational differences aside, your learning should be accessible to absolutely everyone in your team, no matter their age or background. In order to cater to the overlap between all your learners, you need to ensure that your learning platform is built on proven learning theory, and designed to be as engaging as possible.

All generations can learn something from each other, so cross-generational learning is a great way to make use of that in the workplace. Mentorship programs, skills swaps and coaching will help your employees bridge the generational gap and learn something as a result.

What do you think? Join the conversation over on LinkedIn.

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