For the first time in American history, we have four different generations of em
ID: 459878 • Letter: F
Question
For the first time in American history, we have four different generations of employees in the workplace – Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen X-ers and Gen Y-ers, the latter commonly labeled “The Millennials.” And each group represents different beliefs, values, attitudes, and behavior norms. Call it the “New Diversity.” Potentially, the situation has enormous ramifications. The multi-generational mosaic can affect how members of these groups work in teams, implement new business practices, and perform the job. And the generational differences have performance implications as well in terms of the level of commitment to goals, recognition of authority and understanding work instructions. The mission for business is to harness the energies of each generation and create a synergy that breeds winning interpersonal relationships. 1) What problems do you foresee occurring with four generations as members of the same work group? 2) What strategies would you suggest that might minimize the differences and create a cohesive team?
Explanation / Answer
Xers and Yers highly value their personal time over company time. Baby boomers are more productive and more dedicated in nature while veterans are type of people good at decision making and controlling. The basic problems will be their different workstyle and different mentality towards work.
Traditionalists/Boomers like to establish network relationships through face-to-face interaction and teams. Xers and Yers, who grew up totally in the computer age, thrive on virtual social networking. Thus for a decision making or a collaborative work environement these different mind set of people is difficult to manage.
Employers have to decide and think about how to best utilize the work ethics and experience of the Boomers has to be utilised to educate the younger employees and motivate them and bring them to level of maturity to take decision making skills and leadership quality, while at the same time working to earn Xers’ trust and allow them to lead the business into the future.
Apparently, employers must develop Gen Yers by providing constant guidance and encouraging their participation in nonvirtual teams.Thus they will get more interaction to people and understand their emotions and can take a better control over people. Successful employers will accept and utilize the generational differences to help grow their businesses
. Ultimately, Boomers, Xers and Yers must work together to meet organisational objectives and use their respective strengths to learn from one another. The result will be a more vibrant and effective workplace.