With four generations thrust together in offices and factories around the country, conflict is inevitable. Some of the flare-ups are downright humorous, like the pique a Traditionalist or Boomer may feel at getting a thank-you note e-mailed to them or the confusion over the difference between fat and phat. Less funny are stories like one reported in a recent issue of Fast Company: Angry parents of a Generation Y car salesman showed up in the CEO's office, demanding to know why their son didn't receive a bonus. They left only when security booted them out.

Perhaps more common, though, are simmering resentments that often go unsaid, but have a definite impact on workplace harmony. At Sutter Gould Medical Foundation in Northern California, some Baby Boomer doctors are quietly exasperated with what they see as their younger colleagues' lack of commitment to the organization. "We have doctors who are in their early 50s who, when they came to Gould early in their career, paid their dues," says Stephanie Miller, executive director of human resources, who is in the process of launching some programs to address the generational divide. "They took calls every night and every weekend, and these new guys want more work-life balance, and they want to spend more time with their family."

Bottom-Line Impact
If these generational fissures were just a matter of grumbling and mild discontent, they could easily be dismissed as a nonissue. But more and more companies are realizing that managing and rewarding different generations in ways that meet their respective hopes and expectations has a real bottom-line impact. One area where it's particularly important is in the recruitment and retention of the most talented, productive people. "It's expensive, time-consuming,­ and difficult to find talent," says Susan Johnson, vice president of strategic talent management for Pitney Bowes, a Connecticut-based document and communication management company. Or, as Paul Silverglate, an audit partner at the consulting company Deloitte & Touche, puts it: "It's a seller's market for talent in our industry right now. There's so much work and fewer people coming into the job market that we have to figure out a way to get the most talented people."