Survey the Generations in the Workplace

“Why is demographics so important in an engagement survey?” Robert asked.

“Our employees, by age, fall into one of four groups. Each one of these groups of employees has a different set of attitudes and opinions.”

“Okay, okay, I got it – so I have to put in questions to determine who is who when they respond to the survey.”

“Robert, our data shows that, as a group, millennials have more than three times the turnover rate of boomers and generation X employees.We need to know why they’re leaving.The engagement survey will show us if there is a problem in that area.”

“Analyses of recruiting costs show us that we are spending more recruiting dollars now than we did two years ago when we had fewer millennial employees. So, we have to get a handle on this and work to understand how to connect with what will soon be the largest group of employees in the organization.”

“Now I understand,” Robert acknowledged. “They should be making the company money instead of costing it money!”

The workplace has four generations of workers—baby boomers, generation X, millennials, and gen z—all at the same time. Each group has different attitudes and expectations around the work they do and the culture of the workplace. This week, you will learn more about each generation and their characteristics as well as how to build a culture in an organization that works for all generations.

Alley explained how to best tailor the employee experience to employees of different generations. Interestingly, all three major employee populations have different sets of expectations and place their priorities in different areas. While boomers respond superbly well to engaged supervisors, millennials have more complicated relationships with authority and hierarchy.Some of them have a more expensive set of professional expectations. Learners will work to understand the generational differences among baby-boomers, generation X’ers, and millennials. As you learn about the employee experience, post a response to one of the specific areas below:

What can HR pros do to retain millennials in the organization?

What support can HR pros seek from other staff to create an employee experience that will positively influence millennial retention?

How can information technology support a framework for an enhanced employee experience?

What can we do to ensure other generations in the company also have a positive employee experience leading to retention?

References

Generational Characteristics in the Workplace

(2019, September 21). DataPath, Inc.: Benefits strategies for baby boomers in the workplace. News Bites – Private Companies.

This is an article from the HR industry that describes benefits strategies for Baby Boomers, including benefit preferences and engagement styles. This resource will help you learn about this generation and engagement strategies for them.

(2019, December 10). Survey: When it comes to recruiting Gen Z, meet them on their terms. Business Wire.

This is a very short article that outlines some of the characteristics of Gen Z. This resource will help you learn about this generation and engagement strategies for them.

Mitchell, K., (2016). We are all gen Z-and Y and X. HRMagazine, 61(10), 18–19.

This article answers the question”Is an employee’s age a reliable factor in determining the most effective HR or management strategies?” and it may contrast to some of the other articles you are reading this week.

Generations Working Together

Wubbe, E. (2014). From millennial to traditionalist making it work in the workplace: Asset-based financial services industry The Secured Lender, 70(7), 16–21.

This article is about all of the generations, “Traditionalists or The Silent Generation (born before 1945), Baby Boomers (born around 1946-1964), Generation X (born around 1965–1976) and Generation Y (born around 1977–1992) all working in the same office. Generation Z (born 1993–2000).” It talks about how managers can work with the interplay between the generations to support mentoring and other programs.

Implications of Generations on Organizational Culture

Jones, V. R. (2018). Changing of the guard: Influence on organizational culture of millennials surpassing baby boomers as the largest generational cohort: A systematic review of the evidence. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Despite the fact that this is a dissertation, this final chapter is very readable and it outlines some of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for the different generations that are currently in the workplace. It is important to learn about these motivations because the “work environment may encounter productivity challenges if changes are not made to accommodate employees with very different attitudes and expectations.”

Meng, J., Reber, B. H., & Rogers, H. (2017). Managing millennial communication professionals: Connecting generation attributes, leadership development, and employer engagement. Acta Prosperitatis, (8), 68–83, 119.

This is a qualitative case study that illustrates the key attributes that millennials (born 1982–2004) look for in employers and organizations. This resource gives specific examples of how to engage this generation.