The Challenges of 21 Century Leaders with Multi-Age Workforce - Essay Example

Even then, age still influenced fashion, slang, and leisure activities, and these were brought into the workplace without causing any disruption. By the turn of the 21st century, the differences in attitude, style, language, and motivation had become obviously different across the generations, as each new crop of children sought new ways to differentiate them. Values, political and social viewpoints, the concept of authority, and technology have invaded the workplace as four generations attempt to communicate across generations and assume new worker roles.

Every aspect of the workplace, from what to put in the vending machine to how to implement change, has been affected by these sharp generational differences. The CEO, Mr. Smith, is now simply addressed as Bob, and casual Fridays have spread to more days of the week (Remke 1999, pg 7). Managers are challenged by this experience, as they must accommodate all generations without offending any of them. Managers may find themselves changing generational hats several times a day, which will soon be perceived as shallow and disingenuous.

A better approach is to seek a management style that includes all ages and doesn't disrespect the values of the others.According to Remke (1999, p 8), the multi-generational management style will need to be acceptable to the attitudes and temperament of the individual manager. The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the various values, attitudes, goals, and motivations that affect the four distinct generations and examine the implications that these differences have for the workplace.

This paper will additionally make recommendations in regards to how this information might be used to develop a management style that is tune with today's multi-generational workforce. Of course, every manager will need to develop their own unique style based on their individual characteristics. However, this paper will show that there are some universal management techniques that can be used to bridge the age gap in the workforce.