Employment of Generation X, Y, and Baby Boomers - Challenges Experienced in Governmental Institutions - Term Paper Example

Executive Summary There are many ways in which organization especially one which is government owned has problems. Evidently, there is need to adapt change that will foresee the entire organization develop to be a successful and one which is able to meet up its goals. This paper will discuss on the various problems discuss in the issued case study and how these problems can be corrected. Various recommendations will be issued to ensure that the organization is able to minimize on the many complains issued as well as ensuring that the organization is able to meet up its desired goals. These recommendations will be used by the organization to facilitated development and employee involvement during their working. Departmental report Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Instructor Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Organizational Situation 4 3.0 Employee engagement 5 4.0 Organizational culture 7 5.0 Leadership 8 6.0 Communication Skills 10 7.0 Team Building 11 8.0 Employee motivation 12 9.0 Training 14 10.0 Conclusion 15 11.0 References 15 1.0 Introduction Evidently, many governmental institutions normally have large and diverse data bases for their customers. For such organization, it is very important to develop a strong customer service so as to build customer. It is very important for governmental institution to develop good customer services to ensure that customers’ queries are attended to not forgetting to create a good public image for this same organization. This paper largely focuses on understanding the various problems and challenges that are widely experienced within governmental institutions. Our case study gives a back ground of various challenges that are faced in government institutions based on a departmental background described in generation X, generation Y and baby boomers. After a clear understanding of various problems being experienced in these organizations, comprehensive recommendation will be issued on how this governmental institution can be improved. 2.0 Organizational Situation A good survey of the given case study, it is quite evident that this company is filled with a lot of bureaucracy similar to those that are found in most governmental institutions. It is evident that most staff within the organization work under tough procedures, processes, policies not forgetting strict designated starting and ending time. Usually, most of this organizational funding comes from submission of comprehensive reports largely basing on the employee operation and outcome in relation to the outlined operations. It is important this company being governmental institution it should have accurate and timely data entry as well as efficient and proper record keeping which is not the case in this organization. Based on the staff analysis the following are the kind of groups that define this organization staffs. Most of the workers in this governmental institution are women whereby 30% are of generation X, 20% generation Y and finally, 50% are baby boomers. These groups of employees have been employed for long terms within this same organization. Clearly, with this long term duration, there are several complains that need attention. Most staff complain that the organization lack growth especially in career opportunities as well as poor working conditions. Staffs in generation X have difficulty in balancing their profession and personal life whereby it is made more complicated by the management who are not sympathetic to their needs. There is a lot of tension between these groups whereby each group is constantly involved in accusing the other one for not performing its duty well. The organization seems to lack good leadership and communication background which is affecting other employees. The organization faces a risk of having a bad image since it receives numerous of customer complains not forgetting its inability of proper data entry. 3.0 Employee engagement It is quite evident that employees within this organization lack engagement which can be explained by the numerous complains amongst themselves. Most of the received complains that arises from this staff is largely due to lack of proper employee engagement. Employee engagement is defined as that measurable degree that is largely displayed on an employee negative or emotional attachment to the organization, their job and colleagues and in turn this influences employees’ willingness to perform and learn while working1. Good and effective employee engagement goes hand in hand with employee motivation which lacks here due to the fact that employee lack growth in career opportunities. It is important for the organization to understand that an engaged employee is normally fully involved and more enthusiastic about their work ensuring that organizational interests are achieved. It is therefore necessary for this organization to come up with ways that will generate employee engagement. To begin with, this organization management should ensures it understand how various variables such as organizational values and quality displayed in work relationship with linking them with important work outcomes2. This ensures that employees positively impacts on quality which in turn the numerous customers complain within the organization. Research indicates that engaging in career advancement or improvement of various career opportunities as a way of greatly engaging employees have resulted to great organizational improvement in term of outcome and success. This therefore give an indication that if this company is able to manage the drivers of engagement such as career opportunities then the same company can be able to effectively manage various level of its employees engagement. 4.0 Organizational culture It is quite evident that this organizational culture has a poorly established organizational culture. Over the years, staff has largely operated under rigid procedures, processed and policies thus killing employees’ morale. Further, poor establishment of organizational culture can be explained by the fact that generation X, Y and baby boomers complain of having being employed for long periods with no career opportunity growth. Organizational culture largely affects employee operation as well as intended outcomes. 3Organizational culture is defined as a pattern that evolve from assumptions invented, developed and discovered by team within an organization as it learn in the adaptation of its environment as well as coping with problems associated to external adaptation. Further, poor organizational culture in this organization can be described by the fact that most staff feel stressed and overworked despite of them working for a long period of time4. It is important that the organization management to develop a culture that are in relation to its values as well as those of employees. An organizational culture has a lot to do when dealing with success rate of company’s’ operations. There are various ways in which the company can adapt to ensure that it is able to develop a good organizational culture. Firstly, there is need for the organization to change its governance to one which will address the problems being faced by the company. Also, there is presence of rigid processes and procedures which are not friendly to the staff. It is important that the company get involved in process orientation. Process orientation will ensure that proper processes are put into place thus leading to success. Evidently, an organization that widely follows a good and scalable project management process is more consistent in the success of its operations. 5.0 Leadership Of importance in any organization is the role of leadership. Leadership may be described as a process through which an individual influences the attitudes, behaviors and thoughts of others. Effective leadership is significant in establishing and running an organization successful. Leadership is very crucial in implementations of decisions, influence behavior and creating an environment that will ensure flow of work. Equally, lack of leadership is dramatic in its results. Without effective leadership, organizations are likely to move slowly, gradually stagnate and final lose their set objectives5 In addition, poor leadership results to conflict and argument within a department or organization. For instance in this department, the management is said to unsympathetic to the needs of Generation X while the Baby Bloomers are constantly complaining of the younger staff who are not working accordingly. There is therefore, a need to come up strategy that will ensure the good leadership is perpetuated in the department. The department will thus, hold seminars that will help to equip the team leaders and the managers with necessary tools to run the department. The significant of this, is from the understanding of the impact that the role of leadership has in the organization. According to Kornberger, empowering the leaders in an organization is very significant6. The leaders should be aware of the employees’ behavior and also the impact of their behavior to the employees. This is because the employees have trust and faith in their leaders’ abilities. They also expect the leaders to compel a vision of the direction the organization should go, provide consistency in achieving and pursuing goals, and provide orchestration and tem building and a credible of the organization accomplishments. For an effective leadership in the department, there is need to understand the elements of leadership. These include image management which involves establishing credibility. The central pillars of image management are trustworthiness and task-relevant competence; relationship development that is mainly related building capacity. One of the central functions of a leader is to build a capable and motivated team through guidance and coaching. A leader needs to understand that the employees’ goals and needs. This will only be done in an atmosphere of fairness and justice. For instance, the issue of blame game in the department requires that the team leaders ensure of motivated teams7. Finally, once the team leader has created a skilled and motivated team, capacity is need to be coordinated so that this can be applied to achieving success. The team leaders in this case will be expected to create and maintain collective in the different groups to avoid the uplifts that have been experienced in the department. Basically, the role of leadership need to be kept in check to ensure that the department is able to eliminate the problems is facing at the moment and be able to run effectively in order to meet the expectations of the clients. 6.0 Communication Skills It is obvious, in any organization people spend over 85% of their work time in interpersonal situations. Therefore, it is not a surprise to find out that the main cause of problems in a department or organization is poor communications skills. This organization is not certainly immunized to this problem. Of major concern are complains within the department that there is lack of good communication among the employees. Indeed, to add fuel to the situations, the customers have also raised complains over the same issue8 Therefore, it is a crucial problem that the department has to strategies the way forward. There is need to equip the employees with the basic communication skills. These skills include listening, listening skills which will aid in solving conflicts and uplifts within the department. Sending of clear messages will ensure that the message are not wrongly interpreted or misunderstood. Respect will also improve communication skills as its one of the way to effectively communicate. Essentially, by recognizing the significance of communication skills and of course implementing them in the department, the employees will be able to relate to one another well and work will be flow. In addition, for every organization, where communications are practiced, that is, there is an open atmosphere for communication, especially between the team leaders and staff and among the staff themselves, it will enhance the services that this organization is giving the customers and more also improve its image in the public. The greatest benefit is that it will assist in solving the internal problems in the department leading to collective responsibility among the employees. 7.0 Team Building This is a key ingredient in any organization that is characterized with different employees from different backgrounds and cultures. Lack of team building activities in many organizations has clear indicated lack of commitment and oneness within the work place. This has been evident in this department. From the reports that have been read, employees in the department have constant conflicts and misunderstanding that may be solved or declined through team activities. There are several benefits that the department will gain from involving the staffs in several activities include; improvement in employees’ motivation, confidence, attitude and personal satisfactions, wide range of ideas as every employee will a clear platform to air out there ideas and less conflicts among the employees. The success of the organization’s activities will greatly improve as the employees will be working in an environment that is comfortable and friendly. They are four possible basic stages that the employees will go through in team development. These are; Forming or awareness stage where weakness, mistakes and feelings are covered up, the storming or conflict stage where the employees will open up and there is concern of views, problems and values, the norming or co-operation stage whereby trust and confidence start to emerge. Progress is seen at this stage, the productivity or performing stage is the final stage and everyone’s energy is put to use and the department decisions are put into consideration. When the employees go through the stage successful, effective team will be effectively established. 8.0 Employee motivation It is quite evidently that an employee that is not motivated complains a lot regarding the kind of job he or she is partaking. Employee motivation largely determines the failure or success of any given organization. Without proper a well established and motivated workforce, morale, productivity, profit and service delivery suffer greatly. For this governmental institution to stay competitive there is need to largely invest in effective strategies that will ensure employees are engaged. The company should carry out research so as to understand what kind of factor or factors motivate their employees which is kept in ensuring that human resource gain advantage which in turn lead to success in the company challenging marketplace9. Ensuring that employee are engaged assists in solving various problem which in turn increases quality and quantity. Work motivation is regarded as that process which largely initiates and maintains positive processes which are usually goal directed. It is quite evident that employee motivation is known to largely fuel enthusiasm as well as energizes employee engagement. It is quite evident that employee engagement generates required mental effort which makes a given staff to apply gained knowledge and skills. Generally, without proper measures of employee motivation, it is not quite possible for a given organization succeeds or attain it desired and outlined goals. The department has come up with various strategies of incentive that will be implemented to every employee. Most importantly, the department will aspire at developing the employees’ self assurance in their day to day activities. There is need to support the employees’ attitude on their ability to attain the organizational objectives. This is essential as lack of confidence in attaining the specific objectives, will result to the staff not tacking the targeted goals. The department will therefore largely engage in ensuring that the staff concerns are checked to help them in building their confidence. In this way, this organizational staff will be able to be grateful for their work and this will kill any monotony that has risen as a consequence of lack of confidence in the work. This will be accompanied by admiration and understanding, which are main principles in creating enthusiasm attitudes towards people. Basically, increase in confidence will make sure that the employees are not disgruntled with the work and therefore, will result to increase in the performance of the company. It is necessary for the organization to engage in employee motivation by way of supporting personal values that go hand in hand with the company success. By so doing it is quite notable that employees will be able to balance their work and their personal life. It is quite evident that by ensuring that employees are given room to establish their personal values, they in turn are able to largely connect their commitment to the values and objective stipulated by the organization10. Employees that have a greater ability balance between their personal life and job opportunity are able to perform effectively towards the success of the organization. Therefore, it is necessary that the organization under the department I am heading set up measures that ensures that employees are motivated not only on a job level but also in a personal level. There are various ways in which the department can engaged towards motivating employees such as financial incentive which is largely generated through quota, piece rate, tournament and flat rate schemes, financial incentive are considered to be the chief way used by most governmental institutions towards motivating employees11. 9.0 Training It is quite evident that the employees in this organization lack proper work ethics which is widely defined by the fact that its staffs are unfriendly. It is therefore necessary that training to be carried out in all departments where employees will be explained on what is contained in employee code of conduct12. Training will ensure that staff achieves the required skills that will ensure that duties are carried out more efficiently thus positive increased income. Training ensures that employees are able to be well oriented with the organizational environment. It is necessary that each employee from generation X, Y and baby boomers undergoes training both to promote and largely enhance their operational skills. Within this governmental institution, training largely ensures that productive behavior is maintained among employee whereby staff from different need not to blame the other individuals from different department. This training can enable staffs to have problem solving skills that will ensure that they do not blame each other about issue rather apply necessary skill to ensure such a mistake is not repeated. Through training, staffs within this organization are able to avoid destructive and discriminatory behavior as well as illegal behavior. It is quite evident that training will largely equip the customers service department which is considered to be key within this organization which in turn will ensure that less complains are received from customers. Training also result to staff nurturing which is important in eliminating the boredom that usually arises from rigid procedures, policies and processes. Employees who are lazy are going to be motivated to work will be engaged in the running of the department. 10.0 Conclusion It is quite evident that a lot need to be done within the organization to ensure that the problem facing the employees as well as various complains issued by customers are minimized. Employee and customers are considered to be the backbone of any given organization and therefore, there is need to ensure that these groups are satisfied with what is offered within an organization. Organization success and failure largely depend on how staff and customer are treated within any given organization therefore creating the necessity of ensuring that these two teams are in line with the management to ensure that organizational goals are met effectively. It is quite notable after these changes have been successful implemented there will be less or no complaints from staff as well as customer. 11.0 References Dubrin, A, Dalgish, C, 2003, Leadership, An Australasian focus, Miton, Old: John Wiley and Sons Australia Grant, Armstrong. The dynamics of proactively at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 2008, 3−34 Kornberger, M, Clegg, S, 2011, Strategy as Performative Practice: The case of Sydney 2030, Journal of Strategic Organization. Lim, Jim2011. Transformational Leadership, Organizational Culture and Organizational Effectiveness in Sport Organizations. The Sport Journal ,2011,14 Macey,Schneider. The meaning of employee engagement. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 2008, 3−30 Matcham, A, Schlenker, 2005, The Effective Organization. The Nuts and Bolts of Business Value, Queensland, John Wiley & Sons Michael, Anderson. Rituals in organizations: A review and expansion of current theory. Group Organization Management. 2004, (34), 1140139. Rainey, H, 2009, Understanding and Managing Public Organization, Queensland: John Wiley & sons, Inc. Singh, Patel. Job analysis for a changing world. Human Resource Management Review, 2008,18, 87−99 Wilkinson, Adrien, et al. "Changing patterns of employee voice". Journal of Industrial Relations, 2004, 46, 3 (3): 298–322 Read More