“After a century of trying to control people, processes and information, we have come to a point in organizational history where we need to recognize that what worked before just simply isn’t enough anymore.” This goes to prove that over time just like everything else evolves our behaviors towards our colleagues has to evolve as well. And management has to learn the new behaviors of his/her employees. The Millennials and generation Z needs to know that they are appreciated and need to be challenged before they get bored, hence the reason why managers need to learn
Generational Differences 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).
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.
Many employers are challenged with handling the millennial due to the lack of proper understanding of this generation since there is plenty of myths, propagated through anecdotes and assumptions. However the separation of the myths and the facts is important for an organization so as
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,
Throughout Simon Sinek’s speech regarding the topic of millennials within the workplace, he makes his claim very clear that Millennials disadvantages can be directly correlated to the failed parenting strategies, the advancement of technology, and lastly the environment created by big corporations which hire millennials. Sinek states that these negative factors cannot be blamed on Millennials, but rather the older generations. I wholeheartedly agree with Simon Sinek on his position over this argument because I myself am a millennial who has observed and experienced the claims which he makes. I have felt the failure of parenting systems which gave me a sense of entitlement, I have observed the powerful impact technology has taken over my generation
Working with the Tethered The so called millennial generation, also referred to as Generation Y and commonly called the Net generation, due to the effect of the internet, are made up of citizens in the United States born between the years 1978 and 1999. This generation has become very familiar with technology because they have grown up with it. They were raised with this new technology such as e-mail’s, instant messaging, and even cell phones. Not all of these new devices have been helpful. In the workforce specifically things have changed especially with communication. Many business had to change their ways of “running the firm” to adapt to the new generation. Business are struggling to adapt to their technological ways, and the effects
For decades there has been extensive research on generations to better understand characteristics such as personalities, motivations, and work ethics to help current and future employers better understand how to engage targeted demographics. As a result, in recent years there has been a lot of dialogue around Generations X and Y as employers have tried to understand what attracts, retains, and engages these individuals in the workplace. It’s evident that not understanding and respecting these differences can lead to misunderstanding, miscommunications, mixed signals, and possibly the loss of talent within an organization. Over the next couple of paragraphs I will elaborate on each generation and highlight their values as it is important to
While the Silent Generation and Boomers are characterized as being extremely loyal towards their employers, whereas Generation X & Y lack loyalty with their employer. For instance, Brenner depicts the Silent Generation (born before 1945) as long-term employees who value loyalty and do not question authority. Brenner states that “they tend to respect hierarchy” (p. 26). Next, Baby Boomers (born between 1946) tend to challenge authority, want open lines of communication, results driven and competitive. Brenner states Boomers “…would like to have been long term employees” (p. 27) Continuing on, Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) are not overly loyal to their employer and tend to be skeptical. Brenner states, “the most difficult to work with…” (p.27) Finally, Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1994) may value their relationship with co-workers over their relationship with their company so are not especially loyal. Brenner states, “many Gen Yers experienced downsizing through their parents, in some cases this has created a lack of trust”. (p.
There are many challenges facing managers and leaders in current workforce. The variety of cultures, races and generations in today’s environment is making work harder. “Managing will also get even more difficult because of globalization, multi-generational workforce, dependency on technology, unethical behaviors and practices.” (Kaifi,2013,pg.217). In this paper I will talk about the three generations that we have had over the past sixty years – the Baby Boomer Generation, Generation X and the current Generation Y, known as Millennials. This rich mix of generations in the workforce can be attributed primarily to labor shortages experienced in many industries and the rising average age of retirement.
EXPLORING THE GENERATIONS: THE RESULTS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH A BABY BOOMER Summer 2012 EXPLORING THE GENERATIONS: THE RESULTS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH A BABY BOOMER INTRODUCTION Today, four generations of Americans are represented in the American workplace: the so-called "Matures" who were born between 1900 and 1945, "Baby Boomers" who were born between 1946 and 1964, Generation Xers, born between 1965 and 1980 and the Millennials whose cohort began in 1981 and continues to the present. The purpose of this paper was to gain a better understanding of an individual from the Baby Boomer generation, in order to explore the patterns and markers that are significant to this generation. In addition, a discussion concerning a common conflict that occurs in the workplace between members of the Millennial Generation and the Baby Generation is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.
Gen X, Baby boomers, and Gen Y are the different generations who work side by side in today’s workplace. According to Ann Hewlett, the President for Work-Life Policy Gen Y and Baby Boomers generations are a large chunk of the workforce, around eighty million each. Whatever those generations value, they
Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan also noticed some friction between generations. Srinivasan is the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, chair of corporate responsibility and governance, has an MBA in human resources, and has a PhD from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. In her article, “Multi Generation in the Workforce: Building Collaboration,” she writes, “Informal groups of ‘old timers’ have experienced significant critical events in the early stages of the organization, and ‘new recruits’ who often come with higher qualification and skills are likely to be seen as ‘outsiders’” (Srinivasan 49). These differences could cause generations to doubt one another and avoid communication in the workplace.
Managing Millennials in Today’s Workforce Many changes are happening in the workforce today. Our labor environment consists of multiple generations, which creates fundamentally differing approaches to everything from work ethics, business management, and co-worker cooperation. The most recent generation, commonly known as “Generation Y” or the “Millennial” generation, is slowly taking over the workforce. Because they bring with them a radically new mindset and opinion of labor, the global business infrastructure should be modified to not only accommodate “Millennials,” but also to remain sympathetic to the business practices characteristic of previous generations. Doing so will provide more harmony and productivity among co-workers of different generational backgrounds.
In an interview of 2016, Simon Sinek analyses and discusses the topic of Millennials within the workplace. Throughout Sinek’s speech in his interview, he explains the disadvantages which Millennials have faced while growing up in their generation. Now, Sinek claims that the reason why Millennials have been dealt such a “bad hand” in life, is a result of failed parenting strategies, and an imbalance of technology along with social media (which has advanced like never before within the adolescence of Millennials). Therefore, the imbalance of the internet and real-life interaction results in millennials being unable to form deep and meaningful relationships, in order to carry out happy and meaningful live in comparison to previous