The Generational Differences Between Firefighters

The workforce is more diverse than ever before. Numerous generations have entered the workplace causing generational diversity. Generational diversity leads the debate on how to lead organizations whose employees have very different generational experiences (Al-Asfour, & Lettau, 2014). Each generation is a cohort with similar values, beliefs, and attitudes, political, historical, and economic environment. These cohorts affect the way organizational leaders lead their employees. It is a necessity for leaders to understand how to effectively motivate employees as more generations join the workforce. The United States has four generations of individuals working alongside one another due to demographic changes (Al-Asfour, & Lettau, 2014).

Being assigned to various roles from subordinate to assigned leadership positions, I have noticed that the work environment and project teams are not constructed in a manner to capitalize on the strengths of the current generation that are entering the workplace. This is not only true for USAREC, but also most mainstream organizations. I have witnessed symptoms and the results from not understanding how to benefit from creating the environment to capitalize on generational traits dealing with the millennial.

Managing multiple generations can pose a challenge for employers. Managers have to find a balance. Taylor (2014) state “The modern workplace is no different than those of years past, with Generation Y, Generation X and baby boomers all coexisting in the same office. But as more boomers work past retirement age, and tech-savvy millennials continue to graduate and enter the workforce, the stark differences in the values, communication styles and work habits of each generation are becoming increasingly pronounced.” (Taylor, 2014). Taylor (2014) also states “"As new generations join the workforce, there is a period of adaptation that 's required on both ends," said Rich Milgram, CEO of career network Beyond.com. "New talent needs to respect and assimilate, while established talent needs to adjust and remain flexible. Companies should challenge their employees to rise above [generational differences], think outside their comfort zone and tackle problems together."” (Taylor, 2014).

Generational differences and characteristics are multifaceted, and increasingly diverse leadership groups exist within today’s organizations. Tailoring the leadership approach and messaging to various generations improves effectiveness. Terry Wiedmer (2015) explores the strengths, differences and values of generations X, Y, Z and today's Traditionalists and Boomers. Comprehension of how the existing culture at UPS connects to the new breed of Millennial’s becomes an undemanding realization to new frontrunners. Using a narrowed focus by synthesizing generational complexions, leadership facilitators will experience superior success. UPS Leadership University is imperative to recognize the audience and convey a targeted generational specific

In 2011, the United States Fire Administration (USFA) reported that 83 firefighters forfeited their lives while on the job. 87 line-of-duty-deaths (LODD) occurred in 2010, 115 in 2005, and 81 in 1993. Throughout the history of the United States’ Fire Service, firefighters have been dying in the line of duty at a disturbingly dependable rate of approximately 100 each year. Although technological innovations and a cultural shift towards safety have had a significant impact in curbing firefighter LODD’s over the years, the total number of fatalities per year has rarely deviated. This may seem contradictory, until one understands that as the total population residing within the United States has risen, so has the population of those employed as firefighters. Considering this, one may conclude that total LODD’s should increase analogously with the population of firefighters. Thankfully, advances in education, engineering, equipment, and enforcement have reduced the total number of fatalities, thereby evincing the erroneous nature of this supposition.

This article is written in a particular setting where there is a need to replace the Baby Boomers with a millennial employee in the law library. This group is very used to mentoring and have a great understanding on what it takes to mentor employees. The writer begins the article by defining generations. Each generation is dissected in detail to give readers the best understanding on the differences between generations. Baby Boomers have so many tough life lessons that shaped their morals, ideas, personalities, and characters. In contrast, Millennials had more of a sheltered covered life, they did not have to work as hard to get where they are, so they are made different. Finding the middle ground is the target of the writer to see how the

As indicated by Forbes, the normal work environment now accommodates four generational eras in one place, including Veterans (born in or before 1946), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1979), and Millennials (1980-2000). Today, the old dog and the young pup need to work congruously to reach their end goals. These diverse generational and work perspectives can be advantageous. However, as you can imagine, such perspectives can be slightly hard to explore.

Today, the workplace environment is comprised of people, both males and females from all different cultures and generations. For the first time in U.S. history there are four different generations out in the workforce. A generation can be defined as a group of individuals born within a term years having similar ideas, goals, attitudes and experiences. It can also be defined as the average period between the birth of parents and the birth of their children. Resources differ as to when some generations start and end; a generation is usually around 20 years long. generational differences are based on broad variations in values that develop based on the

There are four generations in today’s workplace: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers (Gen-X), and Millennials For the first time, these generations are all working hand in hand. Each generation has their own life experiences, different attitudes, desires, goals and motivations. Molding all of these distinctive characteristics into one company goal is an immediate challenge facing managers and business owners, particularly as they must transfer the knowledge from their older employees to the new hires. (Huggins 2008)

After being with my company for over twenty years there have been many organizational changes. In my role as a hiring manager, it is important to understand the generational differences between employees. Generational terms like, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and whatever comes next may be indicative of general patterns. However, we must be mindful that, while each generation develops a kind of collective identity, generational stereotypes must be seen for what they are, oversimplified labels. It is much more helpful to view all generations as complex groups made up of people with all kinds of values, goals, and points of view.

Millennials, individuals born between 1980 and 1995, are characterized in the workplace as being egotistical, lazy, untrustworthy, and overall disrespectful. This type of typecasting unfortunately contributes to the misconception that millennials have a difficult time communicating and building relationships in the workplace with other generations such as baby boomers and Gen Xers, and also the widespread concern that this can affect a company’s performance. Organizational leaders must learn to look at the positive qualities that millennials have the luxury of possessing and how they can benefit the company. As researchers Myers and Sadaghiana (2010) explained, millennials work well in teams, are motivated by the impact they can make on a company’s success, they prefer to communicate openly and often with their managers and coworkers, and most importantly, especially in today’s workplace, they are at ease with communication technology (p. 225). All generations that exist in the world today are constantly affected by circumstances in the work place that drive change. As Howe & Strauss (1991) noted, changes in any tiny aspect of the workplace can trigger change within an entire organization. Tomorrow’s success for these organizations that are around today will depend on how they develop and respond to change (p. 93). Baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials all communicate and build relationships differently in the workplace. Organizations that embrace the change that

Generational Diversity is also a barrier for effective communication as different generations have different ways of relaying and processing information. Tolbize (2008) states that generational diversity has made the workplace more rigid and demanding. The author further states that the four main generations in the current workforce are the Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. Kyles (2005) notes that people communicate differently to others even if the difference in age is five years.

Today’s workforce environment is comprised of a wide variety of Millennials, Generation Xers, Baby boomers, and even some Traditionalist. Organizations are learning that there can be challenges when working with a diverse age of employees. Every age and generation has different and unique characteristics and values that prove to be challenging and advantageous. What motivated one generation of workers will not necessarily motivate another. In an organization age has an impact in many aspects such as hiring, promotions, workload, innovation, creativity. Each age group can bring something to the table in a positive and negative way. No matter the age or generation that an individual is from they all want equality in the workplace.

Management of all types of generation effectively in the workplace is imperative to the prosperity and harmony of the organizations. A few, if not greater, are probably not aware that generation gaps exist in the workplace or maybe avoiding the existence of these generational differences. According to Toops, (May 2013), “in my organization, there are real differences between older and younger generations and how they approach work” (p.40). No two people are alike and the more people recognize our differences, then they will concede our similarity in some aspects. In addition, knowing the difference between people and adjusting to that diverse workforce is not stereotyping but a recognition from one person to another.

Workplaces in our current era are a mix of different generations with different qualifications, experiences, self-strengths and limitations. These differences lead to positive things like development, and negative such as collision. Generations that call themself co-workers have known as Veterans (Traditionalists), Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y (Millennials). According to Greg Hammill, “This is the first time in American history that we have had four different generations working side-by-side in the workplace.” (Hammill, FDU Magazine). If these generations combined, this can give opinions from their experience that younger generations may not know and that will result a perfect modern organization. Hammill also declared, “Generational differences can affect everything, including recruiting, building teams, dealing with change, motivating, and managing, maintaining and increasing productivity.” Generations has made their own life-expectation, so every generation tend to know every thing that they made through in their lives even if the younger generation are majoring these things. In keeping with Hammill’s article, the sequence of generations with their behaviors and communicating with the others based on the generations that came before them. In my research, I will describe the generations and some of their values and differences when it come to one workplace, comparing each type with the other also is part of this paper.