Managing Intergenerational Differences in the Workplace - Essay Example

Name Course Human Resource Essay Tutor Date Introduction The statement ‘Organizations are facing challenges in relation to managing intergenerational differences in the work place’ is true. Employers are having a hard time trying to balance the needs of different generations in the workforce. Even though the intergenerational conflicts are viewed as social issues, they can lead to frustration, conflict, lack of morale at workplace. Intergenerational issues are quite difficult to manage and need a wise approach in order to be dealt with (Zemke, 2000). However, despite the fact that intergenerational issues are difficult to manage, they are manageable. For intergenerational differences to be well managed there is need to create awareness about their existence to the employees within the organization. When the employees are aware that such issues exist then the employers should focus on bringing the workforce together to make it easy for them to function well. To bring the workforce together the employer will need to look for the sources of the intergenerational conflicts, encourage the employees to work together, and use teambuilding tactics (Steel, 2009). The processes involved in managing intergenerational differences in the workplace are difficult and expensive to maintain. Therefore, the challenges that arise in management of intergenerational differences continue to increase in the long run. The intergenerational differences end up affecting the respect levels, communication amongst workers, and impacts on interactions amongst employees. The organization suffers poor performance as a result of intergenerational differences. How complex the intergenerational differences are is dependent on how deep rooted they are to attitudes, beliefs, and differences in values at work place. The more deep rooted they are the more the difficulty in resolving them (Mitchell, 2002). In the past it was possible for different generations to work together and without causing any differences. However, this has changed and intergeneration differences are on an increase as a result of organizational layering. Previously when generations mixed they were led by a protocol yet with the current economy protocol on generations is difficult to follow. Intergenerational differences at workplace occur as a result of misunderstandings. Since management of these differences has proved to be difficult many organizations wish that the differences could disappear by themselves. The consequences of intergenerational differences include loss of employees who are valuable, waste of human potential, and increase on human capital cost. In addition, management of intergenerational differences is seen as a challenge because of the existence of different sets of generational differences (Melissa, 2005). Intergenerational differences arise from differences in values, behaviors and priorities among generations. Every work place has faced a major change in many ways. For example the employees at workplaces in 2000 are different from those present in 2014. The technological development such as use of internet, has led to revolution of the businesses. The workplace has become more casual and the managing structures have become totally different. People always respond differently to change and this is what has created the intergenerational differences. Adopting change is not always an easy task for most people and therefore when the young and the old work together they have different judgments to different things or issues (Matson, 2000). Intergenerational differences are caused by a number of different things. The differences exist based on judgment of work on merit and effort. The old generations criticize the younger generations to lacking work ethic. They believe that work ethic involves being part of the organization, participating in meetings, and being part of the teamwork. However the younger generations believe on balancing work and life as long as they work hard when they want and when they want. They are independent and want to be judged on merit not on time spent seated on chairs (Lawrence, 2008). Furthermore different generations have different communication styles and different styles have different impacts on the messages heard. Organizations go through a difficult time trying to put together different communication styles to manage the intergenerational differences (Kobayashi, 2008). In many countries across the world the issue of intergenerational differences has become every organization’s worry. The issue is always how to close up the gap that is created in the organization by different generations. It has become difficult to have an effective team that can work together without issues coming up due to their differences. In the process of trying to manage the intergenerational differences the managers or employers get so worried. They become so worried and make it a great deal; in turn a lot of energy is used trying to solve the differences. A lot of different models are created for their leadership styles to try and fit every generation in the workplace. The managers get involved trying to make all the employees despite their generation to feel valued and appreciated. In the process they also get worried that when they try to adopt identity for different generations, they may end up losing their own identity. Thus, dealing with intergenerational differences becomes hectic and confusing at workplaces (Hodge, 2005). Trying to manage intergenerational differences can end up being a disappointment. For example when trying to deal with appearance differences and issues, different generations hold different views on their appearance. The young generations consider extreme clothing and piercing as normal and okay to go to work with. However, they may cause the older workers to remain uncomfortable at workplace. Therefore, trying to set the right standards that should be maintained at work becomes difficult for managers and employers. In some instances it may be required policies from the court be applied (Jepsen, 2009). Political issues also bring about intergenerational differences. Voters get strongly divided along generations. The employers and managers are then faced with the responsibility to ensure that the environment at workplace is safe from any violence that might originate from political differences. They need to protect employees from political pressures from colleagues. The tasks are overwhelming for the manager and therefore, may not be able to solve all the issues like it is required (Kinicki, 2007). Intergenerational differences also create religious issues where attitudes on expression of religious beliefs are different. Different generations have different ways of expressing their religious views. The employees are in charge of solving conflicts at workplace that arise as a result of different religious beliefs. Policies that address the issue are a necessity for every employer (Aboderin, 2004). Intergenerational differences cause difficulties at workplaces and the employers are required to adopt to change that come along with it. Adopting change is not always easy and it can lead to an employer facing legal problems. The managers or employees are required to understand the intergenerational conflicts and have policies they can use to manage them. Managing the differences is only easy forthose who are always prepared to solve them compared to those who ignore the probability of intergenerational conflicts arising (Beutell, 2008). To achieve positive performance at workplace with intergeneration’spresent; organizations need to achieve positive performance at individual levels. Furthermore, managing the intergenerational differences brings up the challenge of being able to accommodate traits of different generation employees. A paradigm of integration can be used to solve the problem of intergenerational differences. Through this concept, diversity among generations is viewed differently and a strategy for achieving organizational performance and eliminating the differences is set. The strategy involves employees’ retention despite the changing economy. Organizations need to review the assumptions they hold on intergenerational differences to serve the needs of the workforce in a better way (Chen, 2008). In addition, the differences that we see as personality differences are sometimes just cultural attitudes or values but the personality values could be similar across generations. Therefore, if employers realize that the intergenerational differences are not differences in personality, then managing the differences would be much easier. They will only need to help the employees in the workplace to understand the different styles and preferences and create dialogue that creates understanding. If organizations have the will to reduce intergenerational differences then they must be ready to reduce the generational tensions that exist in the workplace. Eradication of the tension can be achieved through creating awareness, acceptance and understanding at workplace. The employers are required to understand the different values and experiences of the employees then design strategies that can help them work together in a productive manner (Clochesy, 2007). Organizations that are willing to manage intergenerational differences must recognize that there is a common ground for different generations. There are differences that exist on all team in workplaces despite their generation and training can easily address them. Employers and managers need to talk about the intergenerational differences as a stepping stone to solving them. Conducting information awareness across the generations at workplace will get people to work together. The sessions educate each employee about the generation’s history, their character and other characteristics. The manger needs to ensure that there are representatives from every generation participating in the dialogue (Company, 2004). The employer or manager will need to expand his or her communication strategies in order to manage intergenerational differences. It is important to keep in mind that different generations have their preferred communication style. Recognizing the existing communication differences will help in eliminating the misunderstandings. Organizations need to consider generational communication differences amongst employees. Using multiple channels of communication will ensure that messages reach all the workers like it are required (Dencker, 2007). In addition, the managers can use mentoring programs and training programs to manage the intergenerational differences through the mentoring programs critical skills are transferred from one generation to another. Different mentoring models can be used and the employees should be allowed to ask questions they may be having. It is through these programs the differences will be pointed out and the solutions to them set as well (Gursoy, 2007). To manage the intergenerational differences the employers will be required to accommodate the differences at workplace. They should be ready to allow the workplace to shape itself along the work that is being done. Allowing the different generations freedom to do things the way they feel best as long as productivity is maximized will reduce the differences encountered. It will help in creating dialogue in case of conflicts and it will become easy to understand how intergenerational differences can change perspectives. Team building also alleviates intergenerational differences. Team members build their own strengths when team building is encouraged. Team building also encourages different generations to build each other’s strengths and point out the weaknesses. Helping employees who belong to different generations to work together can be difficult but it is possible. When the different generations finally work together without conflicts then one can consider elimination of intergenerational differences successful (Henry, 2000). During management of intergenerational differences mangers come across different generations that need different help.Some need to be taught how to put up with other workers who belong to a different generation while others require to be helped in balancing their life with work and be able to maintain life demands of different kinds. When solving the intergenerational differences the manger comes across four different types of generations in the workforce who view and approach things differently. They include the traditional, the boomers, generation X and generation Y. When it comes to work style they all have different work styles. The traditional insist on having an approach that is fair and consistent to the workplace and have clear expectations and goals. They possess strong work ethics and want to be valued for their experience and age. They do not like conflicts or disagreements. The boomers usually have strong work ethics, emotional maturity and good communication skills. They are good team players and like being involved in decision making. They like it when they are in charge of the direction of the organization and are also uncomfortable if there are conflicts. The boomers hardly go against their peers. Generation X isquite different and they always prefer to work alone or independently without being told how to accomplish the set goals. They do not concentrate on being loyal to the company but aim at being committed to the people they work with. In most cases they are risk takers and like having fun at the workplace as they try to seek work-life balance. The generation Y is capable of multitasking and often has an expectation that they will be able to social network. They always prefer working in teams and they need supervision yet need input immediately. They love flexibility at work so that they can be able to pursue other interests they have (Gursoy, 2007). The different expectations of different generations are what cause the intergenerational differences that are experienced at workplace. Being able to manage each of the group is a difficult task for the manager though it still can be achieved. One has to keep each generational satisfaction levels high. Examining their demographics would be necessary. It is notable that despite the differences most individuals from different generations will have the same job desires. In most cases they seek well-payingjobs;therefore, paying well could be a solution to the arising problems from intergeneration differences (Glass, 2007). The managers who are dealing with the intergenerational differences should be trained. Through the training they receive they can then be able to recognize intergenerational differences and be able to deal with it. Sometimes the managers can decide to change and fit in instead of changing the staff. When the managers are trained they can be able to mentor the different employees who belong to different generations. The managers should put more focus on the end results the employees produce instead of focusing on how they are able to achieve it. They should be able to keep the employees engaged to keep them interested in the organization thus, providing them with little room for their differences. It is important that the managers avoid confusing character issues with generational issues since they will block the ability to solve intergenerational differences. Managers need to learn to balance all generations when looking for solutions to the already noticed intergenerational differences to avoid creating more differences. Conclusion The statement ‘Organizations are facing challenges in relation to managing intergenerational differences in the work place" is very true and has been supported by several authors. It is a challenge but requires to be solved in order for an organization to flourish. All employees’ needs must be met for them to remain inspired. The expectations vary from one person to another depending on their generation and other factors. There are several different generations with different work expectations. They include the traditional generation, the boomers, generation x and generation y. the four types of generations have different expectations and needs in workplaces. For the intergenerational differences to be solved it is necessary that their needs and expectations are met. It has proved to be a challenge to manage these differences. The differences are brought about by differences in technology used by each generation, the dressing styles, the communication styles, and their cultural preferences. Hover, their behavior is similar with every generation having its own introverts and extroverts (Dowd, 2005). Team building programs have proved to be an essential part in managing the generational differences at workplaces. Indeed creating awareness is an effective way of solving the differences although it does not get down to an individual. Intergenerational perceptions are responsible for the behavior at workplace that contributes the intergenerational differences. References Aboderin, I. (2004). Modernization and Ageing Theory. Journal of Ageing and Society, 29-50. Beutell, J. (2008). Work Conflict resulting from Intergenerational Differences. Journal of Manegerial Psychology, 507-523. Chen, P.-J. (2008). Generational differences in work values: a study of hospitality anagement. Journal of Hospitality Management, 595-615. Clochesy, J. (2007). A Generational Shift in the Diversity Landscape. Diversity Factor, 22-29. Company, F. (2004). Managing Generational Differences in The workplace. Journal of Business Management, 254-256. Dencker, A. (2007). 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