Generational Subculture In The Workplace

Every generation is influenced by its period 's economic, political and social events. From the Great Depression to the civil rights and women 's movements to the advent of television and advanced computer technologies. Thus generational background/situation may also affect the way they work. The key is to be able to effectively address and take advantage of the differences in values and expectations of each generation in the workplace. The current work place consists of four different generations; The Baby Boomers (1946-1964) who are slowly retiring and existing the workforce, The Generation X (1965-1976), The Generation Y or millennia (1977-1997), and the Generation Z who are about to or are just entering the work force. Although these different generations tend to want similar things in a workplace their environment/background has shaped their character, values, and expectations (Hahn 2011).

The most prominent change in the workforce affecting human resources at St. Anthony’s is the rise of a multi generational workforce. Providing different human resource needs for various employees is an evolving challenge. Being aware of different workplace standards between generations is taken into consideration to reduce “pain points” (Calvert, 2015). In the interview, Judie grouped Generation X and Millennials into the same group, and focused primarily on the differences between Baby Boomers and Gen X/Millennials. She described the Baby Boomers as

The Tethered Generation, written by Kathryn Tyler, a self-identified member of Generation X, published this article in HR Magazine, a magazine for HR Professionals. In this piece, Tyler elaborates on what she believes to be the most dependent generation to exist: Millennials. A “frequent contributor” to the publication as a freelance writer, she has quite the background in human resources and training, which reflects in the style of this particular article. In the beginning Tyler discusses the effect that tethering to technology, peers, and parents has had on this generation. Towards the end, she writes a sort of “how to” guide on dealing with those effects in the workforce, and how to make the transition into the workplace for those individuals (and other employees) as smooth as possible. Her thesis is evident in the beginning of the article. Tyler argues that because millennials are too attached to technology and dependent on other people that are close to them (like parents and peers), they lack the skills and traits that previous generations possessed, as well as autonomy, and in the process created an epidemic of very overbearing parents that may be too concerned and involved in the life of their children, which could be detrimental to the new young adult’s development of their professional life. This rhetorical analysis is going to dissect the writer’s use of logos, pathos, and ethos in her argument.

Today, the workforce is made up of many different generations, which is affecting and effectively changing the workplace culture as a whole. The major generational differences between millennials and baby boomers can be either positive or negative depending on whom you ask. Boomers may categorize millennials as lazy and entitled, while millennials may call themselves innovative. No matter what they call themselves or each other, they all have to work together now as simply as that. This topic has sparked a lot of discussion as to how it’s best for each generation to act and deal with their other generational coworkers.

In her versatile article, “The Tethered Generation”, published in HR Magazine in May 2007, educated freelance writer Kathryn Tyler expresses her opinion of technology and its effects on the millennials generation (those born in the United States between 1978 and 1999). Tyler’s intended audience includes the many readers of HR Magazine, those who probably work in the Human Resources (HR) Department themselves. Her purpose is to educate other HR professionals on how they should become aware and prepared to a millennial generation too soon start working in the same workforce they are in. She shows this by arguing that since the reliability of technology, millennials have slowly started to drift away from their own responsibilities, causing a changed etiquette in professionalism while in a workforce environment. Tyler, a member of Generation X (those born in the US between 1960 and 1977) and a former Human Resources generalist, often writes passive, two-sided articles, addressing that neither side of the argument is to blame, according to her previous work in HR Magazine. This conversant piece continues that pattern of examining the cultural change from the perspective of human resource issues. what follows, I will try to reach out to my audience of classmates in order to have them agree with me that Tyler’s persuasive appeal is not strong enough to appeal to her audience.

The 21st century has been characterized by a workforce that has three generations, the baby boomers, the generation X and the millennial. As the baby boomers and the Generation X gradually bow out of the workforce, the millennial is increasingly joining the workforce at all levels including the leadership levels. However, the entry of the millennial who are technology natives having grown up in a technology society is causing a stir in the workplace.

Upon reflecting on the three main generations that comprise the workplace today, a few differences emerge. “Baby Boomers” grew up in a time when movements were prominent, the Vietnam War occurred, key figures were assassinated, the Watergate Scandal occurred, and television was introduced (Twenge et al., 2010; Schullery, 2013). Overall, “Baby Boomers” seem to exhibit a distrust of authority, value hard work, and want to enjoy their achievements (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Twenge et al., 2010). As such, they are results driven and give their utmost effort (Robbins & Judge, 2015). “Generation X” grew up in a time of computers, divorce, two career parents, MTV, and economic uncertainty (Twenge et al., 2010; Robbins & Judge, 2015). For the most part, they seem to exhibit the workplace behaviors of independence and a lack of commitment to employers (Twenge et al., 2010). They value a balance between work and life and place more focus on extrinsic rewards such as monetary compensation (Twenge et al., 2010). “Millennials” grew up in prosperous times with technology dominating the era and over-protective parents (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Schullery, 2013). Generally, they seem to place a greater value on employee benefits, leisure time, teamwork, and open communication (Society of Human Resource Management, 2004; Twenge, 2010; Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). In addition, they have also been given the labels of “self-centered” and “entitled” (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010).

It is important to keep in mind that each generation sees the world through a unique lens that forms as a result of the events that were taking place in the world as these individuals grew up. Brenner focuses on the different events that have shaped their values and their perception of work. For example, the Veterans went through World War II and grew up with a strict regimen. As such, quality, respect and authority are important to them. Baby Boomers embraced the value of having to sacrifice to get ahead. All that sacrifice makes them very loyal. Generation X workers were the latchkey children who watched their Boomer parents forge a new workplace. They were also the first generation to grow up with technology. As such, this generation cares more about productivity and less about the number of hours spent on the job. Millennials are a generation entrenched in technology and therefore urn for instant gratification. They bore easily. Because they best understand how to maximize technology, they value a balance between work and

As successive generations enter the workforce business leaders and managers continually face one challenge, “how do we motivate the next generation of employees?” The transition from Baby Boomer to Generation X, was considered a minor shift for businesses since they’re classified as the “me” and “individualist” generations. The Boomers and Generation X respected both authority and the traditional hierarchal structure, compared to the Generation Y more commonly known as Millennials are considered individuals who respect yet challenge authority and the traditional hierarchal structures. Within this article we’ll review “Gen X Is From Mars, Gen Y Is From Venus: A Primer On How To Motivates A Millennial” by Rob Asghar and “7 Surprising Ways To Motivate Millennial Workers” by Jenna Goudreau, two articles published by Forbes Magazine. After reviewing what Forbes’ Professional writers have to say about Millennials, we’ll hear what Millennial’s have to say about Forbes. While Generation X Lives to work, Generation Y works to live is the driving theme behind Rob Asghar’s article, he uses four mains point to explain what this means. He covers how Millennial’s concept of authority vastly differs from previous generations since Millennials were raised in an environment where their opinions mattered. Asghar discusses how the shift away from Generation X’s individualistic characteristic to Millennials global sense of community affects their motivation. In the second half of his article

In a work environment everybody wants to climb the totem pole. For Millennials, they want to rise to leadership without working too hard for it. They are trying to reach the leadership positions as fast as they can and at times they are unprepared for the position they enter because they have not experienced enough along the way. Where Millennials are too fast to rise to leadership, people considered to be Generation X, who are known for their hard work ethic and experience are often complacent in the workplace. Though they gained their experience (unlike Millennials) by working their way up the chain of command and gradually paying their dues and though they also do not expect to be handed a higher position, like Millennials who feel entitled to higher positions in the workplace, they are also not as motivated as Millennials. (Bresman)

The third generation represented is often referred to as “Generation X.” Members of this group are born between 1965 and 1979. Kyles (2005) defines them as individualistic, disloyal, techno literate, and one of the most challenging groups to manage. This can be attributed to the fact that this group grew up in the rebellious years of the sixties and seventies. Marshall (2004) states, “The employer has to provide an opportunity to work and grow, or they are going to leave” (p. 18). This says a lot about the influence of culture on this generation.

“The number of employees over the age of 55 has increased by 30 percent; however, the number of 25- to 54-year-olds has only increased by 1 percent” (Claire, 2009). In 2008 the eldest of the 77 million baby-boomers turned 62. Estimates are that by the end of the decade about 40 percent of the work force will be eligible to retire. As people begin to reach the age of retirement there may be not be enough new employees to fill the gap (Clare, 2009). Companies need to find ways to attract Boomers and Millennials. Companies that want to attract Boomers and Millennials need to be creative in their culture, HR policies and work environments.

Effective leaders of my age are faced with a few challenges, quite a few actually. One being the generational divide that currently exists between four different workplace peer groups: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, my age group of Generation X, and Millennials. Aside from increased global diversity, our workforce has mushroomed with generational cultures as well. Young associates of today are the future leaders of tomorrow, yet there is an obligation to honor the long-term commitment of our older associates. When bridging these distinct generations,

assignment could not have come at a better time for me, because I have an interview this Wednesday after this assignment is due for a leadership position at MillerCoors. While I am preparing for my behavioral interview and writing this paper, I am pondering of what type of people I would be managing. At MillerCoors, there are three generations that are currently working side by side in the area that I currently work at in packaging. Theses generations are broken down into three distinct groups. They include the baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, generation X born between 1965 and 1980, and generation Y, born between 1980 and 1994 (Hitt, Black, & Porter, 2011). Nearly 60 percent of MillerCoors Golden employees are Baby Boomers. Therefore, by understanding how baby boomers think, work ethic, social needs, interests and goals, is critical in knowing what those years of experience mean with an optimistic belief system associated with hard work.

The world’s labor force primarily consists of three major generations: the “Baby Boomers,” “Generation X,” and “Generation Y.” The “Baby Boomers” were born during and after the 2nd World War (1940 to 1960). This generation has a legacy of expertise, “old-fashioned” autocratic management, and healthy productivity. “Boomers” are known to work hard, remain loyal to their employers, and receive promotions on the basis of hard work and high skill. Technology was rather limited (Hewitt and Ukpere, 2012).