The Cultural and Generational Differences in a Workplace.
GENERATIONAL
1) Baby Boomers
Baby Boomers were the post war (WWII and the Korean War) war babies who are often seen as greedy and materialistic. This is the generation that came up with the 50/60 hour work week. This generation was the “Yuppies” of the 1980’s who value success and hard work where the ends justified the means. Work hard and you will be rewarded.
The Baby Boomers are not only greedy and materialistic but they are also hard workers, optimistic, and work well in a team setting after all this generation lived through the Civil Rights Movement, Sexual Revolution, travelling to the Moon and back, etc.
In a workplace the Baby Boomers would be the individuals who are competitive
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The parents were successful and they had many different opportunities. They are more optimistic than the Xers. They tent to work hard however they will only work until the end of their shift unlike the Xers who prefer to complete the task/project. Generation Y`s are great at multitasking and they are highly educated.
This generation is closely linked the Millennials. See millennial
4) Millennials
The ‘Entitled’ generation or Digital generation. Like the Gen Y’s, they are great multitaskers, very tech savvy, goal orientated and educated.
Millennials seek greater feedback about their job. They want a work place with flexibility and an organization that is socially conscious. Millennials don’t mind making mistakes as they think it is a learning opportunity. They think outside the box and are more often open to new ideas. In a workplace, they would be great in a brainstorming session. They tend to be self-absorbed however they do want to please others.
This generation and Gen Y’s are very smart. These generations are the ones who come up with the Sharing Economy such as Uber Taxi, Air BNB, Lyft and others. They believe in giving back they tend to think globally.
CULTURAL
1) Francophone
-cooperative approach during cross cultural negotiations
2)
Since both authors can relate to both age groups, they have written this article to describe the reasons behind Gen Y’s characteristics and allow older generations a chance to understand their younger counterparts. The article is written not towards Gen Y but instead is written for their critics. Since the article allows readers inside the lives of Gen Y members, it is directed at people who do not already understand this generation and all it has to offer to the world. The authors’ knowledge of the criticisms that Gen Y faces allows them to portray their purpose to intended audiences. They do all of this while remaining mindful of older generations that work full time and live busy lives by breaking the article up with headings and subheadings that allow readers to read only sections at a
Boomer’s see millennial’s as having a short attention span which is not what millennial’s intend. If they don’t see a job working out, they are faster to jump ship than Boomer’s and that fearless attitude actually leverages them more power with their company. Sherry Buffington, co-author of Exciting Oz: How the New American Workforce Is Changing the Face of Business Forever and What Companies Must Do to Thrive, says that they have the upper hand because they are perfectly fine working dozens of different jobs in their lifetime. “In a survey conducted by IdeaPaint of 600 employed Millennials, 49 percent believe that poor management is dragging their company down; 45 percent attribute that to the lack or misuse of technology solutions.” (Avallon) This helps the reader to better understand the mentality of millennial’s. They are typically more tech savvy then their older bosses and feel they could make more of an impact if they were in charge. Millennial’s are hard-wired to think that time really is their most important resource. If they feel they aren’t being treated completely fair then they won’t hesitate about trying to find a new
The baby boomers are the generation of people who were born between the years of 1946 to 1964. At the time of the baby boom, social change was very prominent. According to History.com, baby boomers
To delve further into the various attributes of each of these generations you have to understand the history of what has caused the evolution of these generations. We begin with the Baby Boomers, or sometimes referred to as the, “Me Generation”. The birth years of this generation span from 1946 to 1964 or more specifically, after the Second World War. These children were raised in an era of economic prosperity by their parents who survived the Great Depression. They witnessed on the radio and TV the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. They were front in center for the Civil Rights Movement and were greatly affected by the Vietnam War. Which for the first time in U...
The beginning of this generation marked the economic growth and an expansion of the middle class post WWII. Families could afford to own houses, cars, and newfangled appliances because of the GI Bill and booming industry. Children were afforded luxuries their parents could have only dreamed of. Families could not only provide a comfortable middle class lifestyle for their Baby Boomer children, but also save their money and send their children to college. As a result, Baby Boomers were more educated than their mothers and fathers, and were often first generation college graduates. They were raised with values that reflected their Traditionalists parents’ values: money equals security, work hard equals success, and loyalty to employers were all important qualities (Money et al., 2014). As nurses, Baby Boomers are very committed to the organization, a trait enforced by their parents. They are also strong willed, competitive, and tend to challenge authority, perhaps a result from the political and civil rights turmoil they were raised in (both from the Cold War and the Vietnam War). They want to be valued and noticed by their employers, and strive for promotions and job opportunities because these are characteristics that their parents instilled in them. The motto for this generation is “living to work” (Hendricks & Cope, 2012), and they seek validation of their hard
As Andres Tapia mentioned, “ To be young is to be experienced”. Millennials have a different perspective about how to success in life. Since millennials are born during this current era, they have an advantage over people that were born before. With the inclusion of technology, it is easier to learn and apply new knowledge than before. A good example is the “Apps”. It is only necessary to create an app that attracts the interest of many consumers to start making money. Finally, Millenials have the ability to adapt and evolve. Millenials are the representation of
By 2025, about 75% of the American workforce will be made up of Generation Y workers, said Emily Matchar, author of “Why Your Office Needs More Bratty Millennials.” Generation Y, also known as millennials, are those who were born within the years 1982 and 1999. Time management has become a persistent issue for people in the United States because of the lack of flexibility in the workforce. Work is taking over people’s lives. The current generation of workers tend not to demand because of the fear of unemployment; jobs are scarce these days. Generation Y workers have shown that they will not accept today’s hierarchical workplace, on the contrary, they will begin to change the workplace to their likings.
Baby Boomers are those who were born from 1946 to 1964 post World War II.
This generation is in need instant gratification from all sources. What used to be the norm like going to the store to shop compare prices is now done on line form the house. The attention span of the average millennial is short. At any given time a person has roughly 3 seconds to capture the attention of a person before they are on to the next subject.
During Generation Xers formative years, “investigations called into question many major organizations including the U.S. presidency, military, organized religion, and corporations” (Fore, 2013). As a result, this generation generally had little confidence in institutions and instead placed more faith in themselves. At home, Generation Xers became “‘latchkey children’”, who came home from school without a parent or adult supervision, and their mothers now worked outside the home. They were responsible for themselves, and often became dependent on video games and television sets, which resulted in them being characterized as “independent and resourceful” (Fore, 2013). At work, Generation Xers relied on themselves and their peers to accomplish goals, and did not put much hope in companies or organizations. Unlike Veterans, Generation Xers disliked traditional hierarchy, challenged authority, and expected their leaders to demonstrate competence and fairness, as well as embrace a participative and diverse workplace (Fore, 2013). Similar to the Millennial generation, Generation Xers placed a stronger focus on their personal lives much more than the generations before them. “They were likely to stay with one company throughout their career as long as it did not interfere with their private lives” (Gilley & Waddell, 2015). This lack of organizational loyalty is often attributed to
Another factor that differs these two generations is how they view work. Baby Boomers have a tendency to see work as their life. They live to work. The Baby Boomer generation is often characterized as being workaholics, as they place significance on their job status and experience (Generational Differences Chart). And because of this, their lives are often unbalance, with work taking a larger role in their lives than families. This is why some Baby Boomers refuse to retire because work gives them a drive to go
In the United States, the term Baby Boomers commonly applied to people with birth years after World War II and before the Vietnam War. A large part of the cause of the Baby Boom was an after effect of World War II where the bombed out cities and fractured economies increased the needs for goods and services in unprecedented peacetime amounts. America cranked up the exports and supplied the "free world" with goods to rebuild its own economies. Furthermore, in the U.S. the G.I. Bill enabled record numbers of individuals to attend college and obtain, perhaps in most cases, the second college degree in their extended families. This led to an increase in education and granted higher incomes to families allowing them the resources to produce more children. (Wikipedia)
With this considered, the thought of Generation Y being ‘lazy’ in the family department is immediately discredited. Advances in modern medicine allow women to have children after 30, so while it may have been common for younger women to drop everything and have a family very early in Generation X, it isn’t unheard of to wait a little longer to make a name for yourself in this generation. So, just because you don’t have your life figured out by the time you hit 30 doesn’t mean you are lazy or that you aren’t trying hard at all, it could simply mean you are out doing more to get you where you want to be in the future. A final reason multiple generations refer to Generation Y as lazy is because most are seen as simply trying to delay adulthood and are off doing other things.
The Millennial Generation is a generation founded on the backs of the Baby Boomers. Born 1980- 2000, the Millennial Generation is the largest in history. The 80 million millennials make up 25% of the United States’ population (Barkley). They have seen the rise of the Internet, the iPhone and Social Media. The Millennial generation is also the most recent Civic Generation. The last Civic Generation was the founding fathers born 1742-1766. Civic Generations are known for being an “institution building” generation and for setting agendas for their countries. Civic Generations tend to be very revolution oriented, while their parents reflect a more conservative Generation.
As the largest generation on the planet (Jenkins), the Millennials (otherwise known as generation Y) have faced plenty of scrutiny from the previous generations. A Millennial is the demographic group made up of anyone who was born between the years 1980 and 2000. This group of young people has proved to be a great contribution to society and also to the advancement of technology. They do things in their own ways and on their own terms, always approaching a problem in the most efficient way possible for everyone. Millennials have settled numerous issues in our society and they are expected to change our world exponentially. Millennials adapt to new technologies very quickly, however, while Millennials see themselves in generally positive terms such as ‘tech-savvy’ and ‘up to date’, many people from the older generations see them as ‘spoiled’ and ‘lazy’. The new technologies do make living everyday life easier and more functional, however, Millennials are not at all ‘lazy’ for taking advantage of them. Millennials use these new tools in incredibly innovative ways and they see the world in a completely different light.