How Different People Are Motivated - Example

Motivation across Different Generations Name Institution Course Date Motivation across Different Generations Introduction Managing multigenerational workers is one of the greatest challenges faced by managers of the 21st century. Today, managers across industries are grappling with the challenge of managing age-diverse teams (Kilber et al., 2014). There are typically three age generations that still make up the workforce that include baby boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. Managing teams from the different generations pose a challenge to managers mainly because employees from different generations have different needs, expectations and are motivated differently (Krahn & Galambos, 2014). Besides, Roodin and Mendelson (2013) argue that workers of different generations have different values and work expectation that sometimes conflict with other and such differences in work expectations if not properly managed can adversely affect workplace productivity. This paper explains how different people are motivated by different things at different stages in their lives with a focus on the three generations that make up today’s workforce. Analysis There are three main generations working side by side in today’s workplaces, which include Baby boomers, Generation X and generations Y. Baby Boomers refers to those employees who were born between 1943 and 1960s who are still in employment. This generation is approaching retirement on the virtue of their age as the majority is now aged 60 years and above. In Australia, the population of the baby boomers currently stands at over 5.5 million people. Reports indicate that more than 5.5 million Australian senior citizens are turning 65 years (Murray, 2013). These means that a significant number of Australian workforces are have either retired or approaching their retirement age. The other generation that makes up today’s workforce is Generation X. Generation X refers to those workers who were born between 1960 and 1981. The Generation X workers makes up the largest percentage of the workforce as these are workers who are within the age bracket of 36-56 years old. The population of Generation X in Australia is almost the same as that of Baby Boomers at 5.8 million people (Kultalahti & Viitala, 2014). Considering that some of the Generation X workers were born in the 1960s and are now above 50 years old, this implies that a section of Generation X members are also not very far from approaching their retirement age just like the baby boomers. Lastly, there are the Generation Y workers that comprise of those born between 1982 and 2000 (Schullery, 2013). The majority of people in today’s workplaces are the Generation Y who is highly educated. They are also commonly referred as the “digital generation” because they are highly educated and tech-savvy. In Australia, the population of Generation Y stands at about 6.2 million people (Kultalahti & Viitala, 2014). The above three generations have characteristics that differentiate one from the other. According to research conducted about the three generations, it has been found that baby boomers value efficiency, quality, personal fulfillment, adventure, consensual, are good team players, do not appreciate feedback, prefer money, title and recognition and have no interest on work-life balance (Mencl & Lester, 2014). Generation X value self-reliance, structure and direction, highly skeptical, prefer challenge, see everyone as the same, highly entrepreneurial, prefer freedom and look for a work-life balance (Krahn & Galambos, 2014). On the other hand, Generation Y workers value, multitasking, goal oriented, seek fulfillment, participative, want meaningful work, prefer working with creative people and look for work-life balance. Understanding the characteristics and the work values of the three generations that make up today’s workforce is important for managers as it enables managers understand how to manage employees from each generation best. Understanding how people are motivated is important is achieving organizational success. Managers have a duty to ensure that they understand how the employees working under them are motivated so as to ensure that they come up with better programs to ensure that the workforce is highly motivated to execute their tasks (Burke et al., 2015). There are a number of motivational theories that have been developed that attempts to explain how people are motivated. The motivational theories assume a standard way of motivating people across all generations. For instance, Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, maintains that there two factors that affect the motivational level of an employees. These are the motivators, which are the factors that if present, motivate an employee and hygiene factors that if absent create demotivational effect on an employee (Petri & Govern, 2012). These among other theories of motivation do not factor in the generational differences in explaining how people are motivated. Instead, the theories assume that, regardless of the generation of an employee, people are motivated in the same way. However, this is further from the truth as evidences suggest that, depending on the generation that a person is in (baby boomer, Generation X & Generation Y), these generations are motivated differently something that managers need to know to ensure effective management of age-diverse teams (Kultalahti & Viitala, 2014). Generation Y are arguably the most difficult generation to manage because they are highly educated and have different expectations from their predecessors. Generation Y, otherwise called the millennial or digital generation are those employees who were born between 1980 and 2000 (Mencl & Lester, 2014). They are called digital generation because they are born in the age of technological advancements. Understanding how Generation Y is motivated is an important thing for managers because what motivate them might not necessarily motivate employees of the other two generations-baby boomers or Generation Y. To begin with, Generation Y employees are motivated by praise and recognition for what they do. According to Schullery (2013), the millennial were raised by parents that gave them a lot of attention. They were brought up in a world where they were recognized and rewarded for all that they do. Because of this influence, Generation Y prefers working where their efforts are being recognized and praised by the employer. This is to mean that, if an employer fails to recognize their efforts through praise, this might lower their morale level, thus affecting their commitments to the company they work. Second, Generation Y is motivated by work environment that gives them the opportunity for skill building and personal development. Roodin and Mendelson (2013) note that Generation Y employees are highly self-centered to the extent that they do not look up to the government or the employer to take care of them. This generation also place little faith on anyone, including the employer managing their career as they believe that, for them to realize their goals, they must improve their skills (Roodin & Mendelson, 2013). For this reason, Generation Y is more concerned with skill building and personal development. Therefore, to motivate Generation Y to increase their commitments to the employer and organizational objectives, the employer should ensure that Generation Y employees are provided with a workplace environment that promotes skill building and personal development opportunities. Additionally, Generation Y is motivated not by job security, but by interesting work and flexibility. Studies have found that millennial have less interest in job security, but instead interested in being provided with an interesting and challenging work. This is linked to the fact that this generation has being told in the past that the future belongs to them and that they must conquer it. For this reason, they are motivated by challenging and interesting job. At the same time, because the millennial are busy and want to attend to family matters, such as taking care of their retiring baby boomers and their children, flexibility is very important in the lives of this generation (Burke et al., 2015). In this regard, Generation Y have been found to be motivated to work for companies that provide flexible work arrangements, such as work-life balance to enable them attend to personal and family matters. This has implications on management in the sense that failure to provide flexible work arrangement might impact negatively on the motivational level of employees of the Generation Y. Additionally, Generation Y is motivated by friendship. It has been found that Generation Y value friendship to the extent that they are willing to choose a job in order to be with friends (Kultalahti & Viitala, 2014). Attached to this, because millennial value friendship, they are highly tolerant to diversity and are more willing to work for companies that promote diversity by respecting the differences of individuals based on color, skin color, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation and age among others. Lastly, although money is important in the lives of Generation Y, just like the other generations, it is never a standalone (Burke et al., 2015). This implies that managers must understand that, as much as adequate compensation has a motivational effect on the millennial, this is not the only thing they look for in an employer. Instead, good compensation must be accompanied by other motivational factors for this generation to help increase their dedication and commitment considering that Generation Y are not likely to stay longer at a company that does not satisfy their needs. Generation Xers are motivated differently from Boomers and Yers. Therefore, understanding how Generation X is motivated is important in managing this generation of workers that make a huge part of the workforce. Generation Xers are people born between 1960 and 1981 and currently constitutes about 25% of Australia’s population. First, Kultalahti and Viitala (2014) noted that General Xers are highly independent people and are not comfortable working in teams. Instead, they prefer situations, where they are left to work independently as individual achievement is much preferred. Accordingly, this implies that this generation of workers are motivated by individual work assignments, which is in contract to Generation Y that prefers friendship and working with creative and innovative teams. It is noted that, as much as people of all age groups value independence, Xers value it more. This implies that Xers are more likely to appreciate working independently than Boomer or Yers (Ferri-Reed, 2014). Besides, Xers are less attracted to office gossips, politics or small talks compared to the other generations. Additionally, Xers happens to be the generation that is motivated most by the provision of work-life balance. Although Yers also value work-life balance to enable them attend to personal and family issues, Xers value flexible work them most. Studies have found that Xers value their own sense of competency and mastery (Kultalahti & Viitala, 2014). For this reason, they are focus on doing their work in a hurry and logically so as to finish and leave the workplace so as to live their lives outside work. This has implication on management as it implies that managers need to ensure that this generation is provided with flexible work arrangements that allow them to balance between work and family matters to motivate them to commit to the organization and its objectives. However, unlike Generation Y‘s that put little emphasis on money and financial rewards, for Generation X, personal and financial fulfillment is a key motivational tool. Murray (2013) states that Xers see money as a reward for a job perfectly executed though it does not add value to the job. Baby boomers are motivated differently from Xers and Yers and this has implications on management. Although many baby boomers have retired, they are very powerful and have a lot of influence in the workplace that the Yers and Xers (Hillman, 2014). Boomers have players an important role in shaping workplace culture that all the current generations’ work under. Boomers are very hard working people are ready to work even for longer hours compared to Xers and Yers to increase the performance of their companies. Boomers are motivated differently compared to Xers and Yers (Young et al., 2013). First, boomers seek status in organizations where they work. In this respect, Boomers prefer workplaces where they are recognized by being awarded positions that puts them above the rest. For this reason, Boomers are motivated greatly by promotions to positions that enhance their status in the workplace and the society, such as being promoted to managerial positions that make them respectable people in the society. Secondly, Boomers are motivated through advancements. It has been found that Boomers tend to seek advancements in their careers (Murray, 2013). These include both personal and career advancements that enable them to gain high status in the society. Accordingly, managers can provide personal and career advancement opportunities as a strategy for motivating Boomers. Additionally, Boomers happens to be the generation that is motivated the most by money. Because Boomers are people who are approaching retirement and are concerned about their lives after retirement, monetary rewards, such as salary increments and retirement benefits have great motivational effects on Boomers. Moreover, Boomers value workplace flexibility that includes being allowed to work from home (Teclaw et al., 2014). Accordingly, this means that employers can use flexible working arrangement as a means of motivating Boomers in the workplace. Recommendations The discussion has shown that different people are motivated by different things and this varies from one generation to another. This disapproves the assumptions made by motivational theories, such as Herzberg's Two Factors theory that maintains that people are motivated or demotivated in a similar way by motivators and hygiene factors respectively (Petri & Govern, 2012). Accordingly, understanding different ways in which the three generations are motivated in critical in coming with better programs that motivate each generation best. From the analysis, it emerged that Generation Y workers are motivated more by praise and recognition, opportunity for skill building and personal development, flexible work arrangement, friendship and money though to a less extent (Roodin & Mendelson, 2013). Therefore, to motivate Generation Y workers, managers need to consider first ensuring that Generation Ys are motivated through praise and recognition for good performance. Second, because Yers value skill building and personal development, employers should consider creating a work environment that promotes skill building and personal development for staff, which might include organizing training workshops and providing fully paid study scholarships for Generation Y employees (Malik & Khera, 2014). Additionally, because Generation Ys value flexible work arrangement, employers can consider motivating this generation of workers by providing a work-life balance. These can include part-time working arrangements to give them time to attend to personal matters as well. Additionally, employers should ensure that Generation Ys are provided with a work environment that promotes friendship building, as well as ensuring that Yers are properly remunerated. As far as Generation X motivation is concerned, because Xers value independence and working autonomously, it is recommended that employers ensure that this generation of workers are motivated by provided with a work environment, where they can work independently and not putting them in teams as doing so would demoralize them (Roodin & Mendelson, 2013). Second, because Xers value flexibility more, like Generation Y, employers should ensure that Generation X workers are provided with work-life balance opportunities, such as part-time working arrangements. Additionally, because Xers value monetary rewards, employers need to ensure that employees of this generation are properly rewarded through high salaries as this would create great motivation to Xers, consequently resulting in their increased commitments to the organizational goals (Kultalahti & Viitala, 2014). However, attractive monetary reward should be accompanied with the provision of work-life balance, such as giving Xers membership to a golf club that allows them to have time for fun. As for Baby Boomers, it is recommended that employers put more emphasis on provision of good monetary rewards for motivating this generation of workers (Hillman, 2014). In addition to monetary rewards, employers should consider motivating Boomers by providing them with advancement opportunities and promoting Boomers to higher positions that enable them acquire status and respect because Boomers have been shown to value status in society. Conclusion Managing age-diverse teams is one of the greatest challenges faced by today’s managers. The essay has demonstrated that different generations that make today’s workforce that include Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y are motivated by different things. Therefore, managers need to ensure that the right motivational strategies are used for different generation of workers as recommended above to ensure increased commitments, satisfaction and improved productivity of the three generations of workers. References Burke, R. J., Cooper, C. L., & Antoniou, A. G. (2015). The multi-generational and aging workforce: Challenges and opportunities. Washington DC: Edward Elgar Publishing. Ferri-Reed, J. (2014). Millennializing the workplace. Journal for Quality and Participation, 37, 13-14. Hillman, D. R. (2014). Understanding multigenerational work-value conflict resolution. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 29, 24-257. doi:10.1080/15555240.2014.933961 Ismail, M. & Lu, H. 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