Generations In The Workplace Essay

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Today’s workplace is so diverse; there are interactions among individuals from various generations. This can have some serious implications on the working of the business because there are conflicts and disagreements. Each of these generations have different characteristics, interests and beliefs. This poses a significant problem for all managerial levels as each generation has different requests and different work ethics. Today’s workplace is composed of three prominent generations. These four generations are: -
• Baby-boomers
• Generation X
• Generation Y

Baby Boomers are the corporate individuals that are born between the years of 1946 and 1964. Individuals from this generation hold major top-level management positions in the Fortune 500 companies and multi-national establishments. Baby Boomers are very well educated and skilled people that are almost on the verge of retirement. Their retirement is going to have a major impact in the various industries because of the loss of skill and knowledge. Some of their most prominent characteristics are: -
• Hardworking and motivated
• Work-orientated
• Willing to sacrifice their personal lives for work
• Satisfaction in professional achievements
• Confident and independent
• Loyal to employer
• Goal-oriented
• Competitive
(Kane)

Generation X is the category of people born between 1965 and 1980. Over 60% of this generation has accomplished university level education. This generational mainly holds middle-management level positions in various organisations. Some key characteristics of Generation X are: -
• Independent and self-sufficient
• Value freedom and responsibility
• Technologically Adept
• Adapt to change
• More willing to change jobs
• Ambitious and eager to learn
• Work to ...

... middle of paper ...

...month programme, give days off if people have worked overtime and plan field trips of employees. These programmes would help motivate employees into coming to work and giving their best effort. These would also help to build the loyalty of many Gen Yers (What millenial workers, 2008).

All in all, as you can see, Generation Y is a very complex generation. Nor is it easy to attract them and nor is it easy to retain them. They are very demanding and picky. If they do not get they what they want in a company, they will find another company that is willing to provide all that they want. Employees used to adapt to what companies would give them but nowadays companies are adapting themselves around what their employees want. The corporate world is ever changing. That is why every company needs to be up-to-date so that they can give an A-game and be on top of everything.

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