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).
Baby Boomers’ perspective
According to Hahn (2011), baby boomers share the following background and characteristics:
• Raised during a time of economic prosperity and optimism.
• Grew up with a clear division of gender roles and low divorce rate.
• Experience the Vietnam War, the Apollo 11 moon landing, and the civil right movement.
• They are comfortable working in hierarchical organizations.
• Demonstrate a strong sense of self, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
• Expect life to revolve around work.
• Prefer face to face meetings.
• May feel
The great depression all started with the stock market crash of 1928. The president at the time was herbert hoover who promised to keep peace. He ended up winning 444 electoral votes to his opposing opponent who only had 87 electoral votes (Notes). After the stock market crashed banks started to fail and had no money to give to people. Nobody had money to pay anyone so unemployment roared all the way to 23% from 3%.
The current generation, the Millennials, who are born between nineteen ninety and two thousand and ten are known to have the highest rate of depression. 2% of Americans in nineteen fifteen had depression whereas fifteen to twenty percent suffer today from the illness. A staggering rise in depression can be seen throughout the generations of the past century. All the people born and living about the same time are an individual generation; they have all taken part in the shift of increased depression. Millennials have had a rise in depression due to the media and financial difficulty dating back to the recession.
The cause of the Great Depression has been debated for many years. The actual cause of the Great Depression is a multitude of factors, there was no single cause. Several reasons for the Great Depression were supply and demand, the banking system, wages of workers, success and failure of business, government policy, excessive speculation in the stock market and the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle class. While there are many theories to what caused the Great Depression; all of these factors played a role in the Great Depression.
Have you ever wondered how you could ever survive without water or food? This is how families lived during the Great Depression. The jobs that families had been uneasy. Families had to save every penny they could. Families would keep on hoping for rain. The families had to cut back on things and borrow loans from the president. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president, he made a promise to families who needed help during the Great Depression.The New Deal held programs to help families get back on their feet. Women even sold children to earn a bit of money.
Imagine having almost no money and having to depend on the tiny amount of supplies that your family has for your life. How terrible would that be? There were many effects that the Great Depression had on people who lived through it. People were very poor, people had to use their very little supply of items as replacement of items that they lacked to survive. The government helped people so they could survive, though. These were the effects of the Great Depression.
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 have the power to drive to get the results (Hewlett, Sherbin & Sumberg, 2009). Baby boomers and Gen Y have similarities in what they value and there motivates them in the workspace. They tend to share some attitudes and behaviors. At work, Baby Boomers and Gen Y are motivated by not only money and making a pay package. They both desire a bunch of other stuff in life. Along with strong title, recognition, and respect. They are drawn to crave
People from different generations are, simply put, different. This is true in all aspects of life including the social, religious, and familial components. However, where this truth can become quite apparent is in the workplace. I interviewed four of my family members to determine how much these generational differences would hold true despite being a part of the same family, and therefore likely to be similar. What I learned is that each person has some characteristics that align with their generation, and some that do not. Yet, this happens in varying degrees for different people. Still understanding how a person wants to be managed will help a manager manage them more effectively. Since generations play a big role in how a person works and
In this article, Wisenberg discusses how the Millenials are changing the work environment through developing technology. Because the Millennials are starting to dominate the workforce, the environment has gone through drastic changes. Just as much as technology, Wisenberg notes how the Millennials are bringing more focus to a more practical, more community-oriented family and workplace as well as demanding heavier technology to fulfill these preferences. They wish to fulfill a work-life balance and to become well-rounded people who want to work for a job they love instead of for a job with good pay.
According to Cekada (2012), today’s workforce consists of four distinct generations described as, The Silent Generation (1933-1945), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), and the Generation Y/Millennials (1981-2000). Members of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers represent the group of the growing older worker trend in the workforce and according to Leppel (2012), there is a need for more effective and focused training to accommodate this population, as well as retain
The strategies to engage Generation are quite different compared to baby boomers. So creating such strategies has become one of the management’s goals. Jay Gilbert (2011) writes from his experience that there are few generational differences do exist between millennials and baby boomers. The social characteristics, the way they bring their bodies, and mind to work are the key differences when compared to baby boomers. Employers must trust the belief that to attain prolonged employee engagement, they must understand the engagement drivers for the Generation Y. Thus, Setting up goals for the Generation Y encourages them to produce desired results.
The contrasting values of the generations can impact manangment and human resources in the workplace. Currently, the diverse generational wokplace is a challenge that leadership must face. The genearations contrast in value set can impact the leadership style found in workplaces (Twenge, 2010). Managing Baby Boomers includes earning their respect and communicating with them in person. Because Baby Boomers are the oldest generation in the workplce, they tend to be in higher leadership positions. As a leader they need to keep in mind that the younger geneartions may not value the same things as their generation (Gibson et al., 2009). Workplace leaders need to recognize that Generation X values a work/life balance, so they can offer them flexible scheludes to accomadate their value set. In addition, leaders need to be giving these workers stimulating work, because they value it (Gibson et al., 2009). Unlike, other generations, Millenials favor friendship and working in groups. Leaders should recognize this value and allow their workers socialize in the workplace (Gibson et al., 2009).One way leadership could allow their employees to socialize is through group projects and company parties. It is crucial for leaders to recognize that the generations value many of the same things like health, family security and honesty.
The workplace consist of four different generations. These generations are, the Silents, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers and the Generation Ys of the Millennials. All four generations contribute to the workplace whether negative or positive. The millennials are technological advanced and view work as an essential part of life, Silents generation is retiring, baby boomers are making changes to fit their post retirement while still in charge and the Generations Xers trying to maintain a balance between their work life and their personal life. With this being said, each generation continue to interconnect and causing a change in the work place. Not only that but the younger the generation, the more unique and advance things become and this is the
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).