Now in their teens through their early 30s, millennials are expected to comprise half of the workforce by 2020. As a group, they are bold, ambitious and demanding — qualities that many Boomers, eyeing retirement after years spent paying dues and diligently moving up the ladder, find enraging.

“I hear a lot of Baby Boomers say, ‘Who do they think they are?’” says Shirley Engelmeier, a diversity consultant who advises Fortune 1000 companies on employee engagement.

That tension can affect workplace morale. Many Baby Boomers describe their Gen Y colleagues as “impatient” and “entitled,” and treat them as such, she says. (One example: Not long ago, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina penned an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ahead of the company’s IPO, urging him to “be patient,” among other nuggets of wisdom.)

Others resent Gen Y-ers for moving up the ladder more swiftly than they did, says Engelmeier, who is also the author of a new book, “Inclusion: The new competitive business advantage.”

But rather than griping about the millennials in their midst, she says Boomers can learn from their younger cohorts. For one, the young generation is “more broadly competent than any previous generation that has entered the workforce,” she says.

Gen Y-ers, meanwhile, often feel they’re unfairly dismissed as gadget-savvy kids who know little about dealing with customers and building relationships. They feel companies put seniority ahead of ability, which explains why many young workers gravitate to startups, where ambitious workers are rewarded more quickly.

Both groups, it seems, would benefit from a little mutual respect. Here, according to Engelmeier, are four advantages that millennials bring to the workplace:

Gen Y is superior at technology. Millennials grew up with technology, so they’re more comfortable using it. Some tech and media companies are pairing managers with younger employees in a practice known as reverse mentoring. Engelmeier, who is 59 years old, says she recently learned how to use Twitter with the help of a younger staffer.

Gen Y isn’t loyal to one company. Blame it on the entitlement, but they’re more likely to hop from job to job. Compared to older generations, Gen Y has no problem leaving a job in search of a more fulfilling gig. That could explain why workers in that age group seem far more likely to launch companies and fearlessly switch careers.

More racially diverse than generations that preceded it, Gen Y is comfortable with ethnic diversity. That generation’s daily use of email, texting and social networks has also made it an interconnected social group, which can translate into more and better workplace collaboration.

Gen Y is impatient with the status quo. Sometimes dubbed “Generation Why,” it has learned to question almost everything, making it less than accepting of business as usual. Incidentally, this impatience is perhaps one reason why Facebook’s Zuckerberg succeeded in building a multi-billion-dollar company in under a decade, Engelmeier notes. “His impatience is what got him to where he is,” she says.

Gen Y, too, can stand to learn a few things from their Boomer forebears – like how to sell clients on a concept, earn their trust and close a deal, Engelmeier says. There’s also basic business protocol, such as what not to say or wear in a particular situation. (Though according to a 2010 Pew Research Center study, millennials cited “clothes” as one of the qualities that distinguish them, along with tolerance and technology use.)

It’s not certain that accepting these lessons would ease tensions in every office, but sticking to stereotypes and assumptions will only “get in the way of what could otherwise be great working relationships,” Engelmeier says.

http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2012/07/02/baby-boomers-play-nice-with-gen-y/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1984735&forum_id=2#21003058)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1984735&forum_id=2#21003125)

fiorina is a failure wherever she goes. It's laughable that she would think she was important enough to advise one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1984735&forum_id=2#21003270)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1984735&forum_id=2#21019010)