Abstract
Each generation entering and working within organizations differs from the previous one in terms of education, values, aspiration, work attitudes, and world views. Managers are increasingly grappling with generational differences in their workforces. Beagrie (2013) referenced four distinct generational groups: Veterans are people who were born before 1946 and are very loyal, disciplined, logical, and detail oriented. Second are Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, who are competitive and very respectful of authority (Beagrie, 2013). Third are Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1977, who are more likely to be skeptical and independent-minded (Beagrie, 2013). Gen Ys—also known as Millennials—were born in 1978 or later and like teamwork,
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Different generations communicate differently and are motivated by different managing techniques. This makes it difficult for me as a manager; therefore it requires special attention to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Managing employees of different generations requires patience, balance, and careful observation of the needs and behaviors of each generational group. As a new manager in the company, I will have to adjust my managing skills to work in a variety of situations as well as facilitate communication between people with different viewpoints. The following strategies will help me to enhance my transition into my new …show more content…
Each generation has a different set of values and work ethics that may not translate well between generations. This might result in miscommunication and confusion in the workplace, therefore; it is important that all managers understand that open communication is very essential in the workplace. It is very crucial that they feel comfortable enough with any aspect of their work environment and if they are not, they should be able to come and discuss the situation. Halvorson (2014) discussed that a manager should act like a “mediator” between employees of the different generations to decode confusion and help each employee understand a frustrating situation. He suggested variety of communication methods that will appeal to each generation: announcing an open door policy, having a suggested box, and having regular periodical reviews for times of one-on-one conversation (Halvorson 2014). It is very crucial that I would educate my employees so that they are aware of the fundamental differences between each generation and that the strengths of each generation are all important to the
In the article “Why Your Office Needs More Bratty Millennials”, the author Emily Matchar expresses a variety of reasons why the new generation in the workforce (millennials) needs to have their voices heard. She uses different terms to discuss this generation of workers, including Generation Y, another common name for millennials. Matchar’s exposition of why millennials are changing the workplace is broken down into specific points. She references the declining job market and why, due to circumstance, it is hard for millennials to get jobs as it is. Moreover, millennials are now pushing for a “customizable” workplace, such as being able to set their own hours. It appears that Generation Y is executing the wishes that other generations of workers subdue, and are subsequently portrayed as a vocal group by default. As a result of millennials’ demands, various companies are now beginning to conform to the ideas this generation presents. As such, new policies are being implemented,
Boomer’s see millennial’s as having a short attention span which is not what millennial’s intend. If they don’t see a job working out, they are faster to jump ship than Boomer’s and that fearless attitude actually leverages them more power with their company. Sherry Buffington, co-author of Exciting Oz: How the New American Workforce Is Changing the Face of Business Forever and What Companies Must Do to Thrive, says that they have the upper hand because they are perfectly fine working dozens of different jobs in their lifetime. “In a survey conducted by IdeaPaint of 600 employed Millennials, 49 percent believe that poor management is dragging their company down; 45 percent attribute that to the lack or misuse of technology solutions.” (Avallon) This helps the reader to better understand the mentality of millennial’s. They are typically more tech savvy then their older bosses and feel they could make more of an impact if they were in charge. Millennial’s are hard-wired to think that time really is their most important resource. If they feel they aren’t being treated completely fair then they won’t hesitate about trying to find a new
The millennial generation is made up of people that were born from 1978-1999. People from older generations say the millennial generation people are growing up being unprepared for the real world. In an article titled “The Tethered Generation” written by Kathryn Tyler she talks about why the millennial generation is so different than any other generation. She also explains how they depend heavily on their parents well into adulthood. In this article Tyler allows the reader to see why HR professionals are worried about the millennial generation entering their work force. Using Toulmin’s schema the reader can judge the effectiveness of Tyler’s essay to the audience, and this schema is used to persuade the audience to
HR has abundant resources, however to bridge the generational gaps and provide employees with what they want seems to be a similar issue. In years past, HR only had to deal with Baby Boomer and Traditional values, which were similar in nature, however the new generations have different values and have different career paths than their elders. For example, “Why is it that Gen Y has not been more actively recruited? Why is it the Baby Boomers remain in the market place? Why would someone still want to work when their 70?” These are all questions an HR hiring manager has to decipher when determining candidates for a position. The task has become quite difficult due to the broad spectrum and variances of these generations.
By 2025, about 75% of the American workforce will be made up of Generation Y workers, said Emily Matchar, author of “Why Your Office Needs More Bratty Millennials.” Generation Y, also known as millennials, are those who were born within the years 1982 and 1999. Time management has become a persistent issue for people in the United States because of the lack of flexibility in the workforce. Work is taking over people’s lives. The current generation of workers tend not to demand because of the fear of unemployment; jobs are scarce these days. Generation Y workers have shown that they will not accept today’s hierarchical workplace, on the contrary, they will begin to change the workplace to their likings.
Workers are often pitted against each other in the work place as a form of competition. One division that is commonly seen is gender and race, but there is also a divide concerning age that isn’t discussed as frequently. Baby Boomers are those who was born between 1946-1964, when WWII soldiers came back home, settled down and started the “Baby Boom”. While Millennials are those born around 1981-2000, and have a similar population size as Baby Boomers. In the workplace, Millennials are categorized as being bad workers due to how they were raised in sheltered lifestyles and require a different environment than the previous generation, but that is not accurate. Even though the two generations view work different, sometimes to the point of conflict,
Salahuddin goes on to discuss the importance of understanding the events that have effect each generational to create a work environment that is harmony. Noted by Salahuddin (2010) generational difference are present in the workplace and impact the organizations
As a matter of fact, the manner in which they handle their children at home, managing their expectations should be the actual case in the work places. The generation Y employee is a constrained bomb of ideas, innovations, and expectations which only then transforms to expectations. The point is, these young employees have abilities that lack capacities. So now they look unto the generation X, the management to feed these capacities, as much as they may do this in a shrewd manner definitive of their expectations (Vaiman & Vance, 2008) Ideally, the generation X should be ready to embrace change in whose case the models of change should be very instrumental to help them manage the generation Y and their ideas and suggestions of change. The synthesis of the two conflicts now becomes the fusion of cultures to end up with a stable understanding of procedures for the young employees and a modern inception and injection of modern ideas into the long held organization cultures,
As generations come and go, they each gain a variety of individual values, attitudes, and goals that separates them apart from other generations. Each of our generations has played a role to get to where we are today. The older generations have played a big role in shaping my generation by offering more help to us. Because of all the help that the older generation offers my generation seems to have developed a different attitude about life and themselves. Along with open mindedness is easily seen among my generation. These numerous aspects all make up my generation and how we live today.
If workers are constantly interfering with each other, it will eventually create a tension filled environment. Three researchers conducted a study and hypothesized that “Generation cohorts reportedly, hold different perceptions of each other, which can result in conflict and misunderstanding…” (Meriac et al). The older generations needs to understand that they don’t need to worry about how millennials perform their tasks. In 2005, the Family and Work institute reported that “...workers overall are working longer hours than in the past and that there are no differences between the hours worked by Millennials and Gen Xers…” (Deal). Until there is a real issue to how young employees are performing, older employees should avoid creating conflict by constantly intervening and watching after workers considered Millennials or younger. Conflict in the work-place can be avoided when both generations remain focused on their
...The importance of the generational mix within an organisation is that it brings about inclusivity and helps generate new innovative ideas that could bring the organisation to its sustained competitive advantage. With each age group with its expectations by interacting with one another, there is knowledge and experience exchange.
Klobucher, T 2011, Characteristics of Generation 2020: Generations at Work, The Great Workplace Revolution, accessed 11 November 2013, http://www.thegreatworkplacerevolution.com/characteristics-of-generation-2020-generations-at-work/
Zemke, Ron. (2013). Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Boomers, Gen Xers & Gen Yers in the workplace. Edition #2.
Robbins (2013) recognizes that baby boomers have an enormous hard-working attitude with a definitive want to characterize themselves through their expert achievements. Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 value their achievement, ambition, loyalty to career and dislike to authority in competitive workplace (Robbins and Judge, 2017). Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1977, who are independent-minded like work-life balance, team-oriented, loyalty to relationship and dislike of rules. The generation born between 1978 and later, known as Millennials value flexible hours, teamwork and collaborative culture, career development, loyalty to both self and relationships with employers and dislike the formality of regular meetings if there
...s with proper etiquette and communication. This can lead to very tense working atmosphere in the company and lower productivity. However, in my dream company these relations will be supportive and oriented to communal help in order to overcome the differences people at different stages of their lives might have. I want to work in a company in which management takes actions orientated at answering the expectations of each group and improving comprehension between the different generations and the conjoint aid in solving problems cussed by the distinctions in the generations.