January 9, 2025
In December 2024, finance, human resources, and audit court professionals from across the country met in Louisville, Kentucky at the Human Resources and Finance Summit. Aimee Lay, the Employee Growth & Development Advisor at the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts, created and presented an enlightening and interactive session on engaging multigenerational teams in the courts.
Both the private and public sectors are seeing a growing workforce that includes four, and sometimes up to five, different generations, each presenting unique skillsets and perspectives. While this combination of viewpoints can enrich courts by combining institutional knowledge with innovative ideas, this also requires understanding the motivations, values, and communication styles of all, as well as how employees of different generations can collaborate and be productive.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, the four most common generations in the workforce today are:
- Baby boomers, born 1946-64 (15% of the workforce)
- Gen X, born 1965-80 (18% of the workforce)
- Millennials, born 1981-2000 (36% of the workforce)
- Gen Z, born 2001-present (31% of the workforce)
While not everyone fits neatly into a box, some commonalities seem to exist in some of the generations. For example, millennials, comprising the largest percentage of the workforce, are generally proficient in technology and value flexibility and meaningful work. These multi-generations often have diverse ways and preferences for how they wish to interact with others, how they want to receive feedback, and their comfort with innovation. We need to find ways for each generation to work together to continue and improve the administration of justice and drive innovation.
Managers should understand the nature of each generation to best lead and motivate the court staff. While managers should understand the values and communication that are often characteristic of generations, it is important to realize that not all individuals will fit within a specific “generational mold.” For example, a Gen X may demonstrate similar traits as a Gen Z and vice versa. Each person is different, and generalities can be a starting point to get to know each person better.
Offering generational mentoring and collaboration can create a healthy court culture by recognizing the contributions and embracing the benefits of each generation. This can improve workplace civility, an issue that has also received increased focus in recent years, and advance workplace innovation.
Courts may want to consider offering managerial training on generational differences and how managers can best communicate with different generations while encouraging collaboration and teamwork with a multigenerational team. Such training may include using actual scenarios that have occurred to determine how a manager should best address a situation with a specific individual but avoid dramatizing and over-stereotyping.
Does your court offer generational training? Share your experiences with us. Email us at Knowledge@ncsc.org or call 800-616-6164 and let us know. Follow the National Center for State Courts on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Vimeo. For more Trending Topics posts, visit ncsc.org/trendingtopics and subscribe to the LinkedIn newsletter.