Introduction
Today’s organization includes people from different generations and cultures. Generations are categorized by age groups such as Silents, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennial (Generation Y). Baby Boomers are born between 1946 and 1964, Generation X between 1965 and 1980 and Millennials are born after 1980 (American Management Association, 2014). Generational diversity do have benefits which include job appeal, and increase productivity. However, it has created various issues such as employee value, attitude, and style of communication. This forms a unique challenge to balance the different perspectives and needs of the generations. Each generation differs in their social dynamics and the contrasting environment that they experience …show more content…
Baby Boomers are known to be hardworking and have a vast knowledge due to their experience in the workforce. Generation X and Millennial can benefit from those values. Millennial has a vast knowledge in technology as they were born during the period where technology was advancing. The technological knowledge can be imparted to other generations to create a more efficient and effective workplace. This would increase productivity. Different talents from different generations can work together towards a common goal using different skills (Paley, …show more content…
As technology continues to evolve, it is a challenge to accommodate the style of the various generations. Millennial prefer communicating through technology such as instant and text messages while the Baby Boomers and Generation X would prefer phone calls, emails and face-to-face. Communication breakdown would occur between the generations since the younger generation tend to use informal language and abbreviations (Fallon, 2014).
The difference in communication style would lead to ineffective communication resulting in lack of teamwork, decrease productivity and confusion in an organization (Goudreau, 2013). Ineffective communication may create the assumption of negative stereotypes (Notter, 2012). Managers are to set clear grounds on the expectations of both internal and external communications and create employees’ awareness of inter-generational issues. This would increase effectiveness in the workplace (Notter, 2012). Employees can learn their coworkers’ preference of communication and try to meet in the middle to avoid miscommunication and further conflict (Goudreau,
Today’s organization includes people from different generations and cultures. Generations are categorized by age groups such as Silents, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennial (Generation Y). Baby Boomers are born between 1946 and 1964, Generation X between 1965 and 1980 and Millennials are born after 1980 (American Management Association, 2014). Generational diversity do have benefits which include job appeal, and increase productivity. However, it has created various issues such as employee value, attitude, and style of communication. This forms a unique challenge to balance the different perspectives and needs of the generations. Each generation differs in their social dynamics and the contrasting environment that they experience …show more content…
Baby Boomers are known to be hardworking and have a vast knowledge due to their experience in the workforce. Generation X and Millennial can benefit from those values. Millennial has a vast knowledge in technology as they were born during the period where technology was advancing. The technological knowledge can be imparted to other generations to create a more efficient and effective workplace. This would increase productivity. Different talents from different generations can work together towards a common goal using different skills (Paley, …show more content…
As technology continues to evolve, it is a challenge to accommodate the style of the various generations. Millennial prefer communicating through technology such as instant and text messages while the Baby Boomers and Generation X would prefer phone calls, emails and face-to-face. Communication breakdown would occur between the generations since the younger generation tend to use informal language and abbreviations (Fallon, 2014).
The difference in communication style would lead to ineffective communication resulting in lack of teamwork, decrease productivity and confusion in an organization (Goudreau, 2013). Ineffective communication may create the assumption of negative stereotypes (Notter, 2012). Managers are to set clear grounds on the expectations of both internal and external communications and create employees’ awareness of inter-generational issues. This would increase effectiveness in the workplace (Notter, 2012). Employees can learn their coworkers’ preference of communication and try to meet in the middle to avoid miscommunication and further conflict (Goudreau,