For the first time in history, organizations find their offices occupied by employees spanning four generations—Generation Y, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Traditionalists. While the generational gap can create a healthy marriage of fresh perspective and deep wisdom, we’ve all seen it give way to significant culture clash. For instance, the largest generation in the workforce—Baby Boomers—are used to a structured work environment with planned face-to-face meetings, overtime, and the occasional weekend at the office. While most never really learned to love the structure imposed on them by their Traditionalist predecessors, Boomers have learned to deal with it. Generation Y, on the other hand, has never lived in a world without telecommuting, business via BlackBerry, and text messages crafted with code words that stump even the most tech savvy among the older generations.

Aside from lingo and work habits, TalentSmart^® researchers wondered whether generational differences also exist in the vital workplace skill of emotional intelligence—recognizing and managing your own emotions and those of others.

Our analysis of more than 6,000 individuals tested using the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal^® revealed a sizeable difference in the core emotional intelligence skill of self-management. Notably, Generation Y (18–29 years old) and Baby Boomers (42–60)—the two largest groups in today’s workforce—have a massive chasm between their abilities to self-manage.