Understanding Generational Differences at Work

This assignment requires you to delve into the academic literature surrounding generational differences in the workplace. You'll examine studies exploring varying work values, levels of work-family conflict, and the presence of work-family synergy across different generations (e.g., Millennials, Gen X, Boomers). The focus is on understanding these generational gaps and their implications for Human Resource Management practices.

Running head: WORKPLACE 0
Organization wellness

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................................2
What are values?.........................................................................................................................................2
Values at work:............................................................................................................................................2
Importance of work values at the workplace..............................................................................................3
Changing trends in the work values of generational groups:......................................................................3
Work values and different generations:......................................................................................................4
Work values in baby boomers:................................................................................................................4
Generation X:...........................................................................................................................................5
Work values for Millennial:......................................................................................................................6
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................................6
References:..................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction:
Employee behaviour and motivation are some of the organizational concepts that have
been studied by the researchers in order to know about the behaviour of the people at the
workplace in different situations. Human resources have become the specialized department so
that the employees can be managed at the workplace. The major concern of the human resource
managers these days is related to the values and the behaviour of the people of different age at
the workspace (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008). This is because the people of different age groups
have different requirements and need as well as different ways of working in the organizations.
This study helps in understanding about the changing nature of work values at the workplace
because of the difference in the age group of the people. This is because managers have to
maintain the balance between the different generation’s employees who work together under a
roof having different thinking processes.
What are values?
Values can be defined as the beliefs of the people that remain constant in different
situations. The values of an individual form his personality and the way he works at the
workplace (Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman & Lance, 2010). There are many reasons that can affect
the values of the person such as his upbringing, his cultural background, his family, the
environment and the educational values of the arson. Values developed slowly and steadily
among the individual. The experiences they go through in their lives may also affect their beliefs
and the thought process for different situations. For instance, there are cases where an individual
have different beliefs then his family such as the whole family of the individuals believes in God
but he may be an atheist because of some of the situations he may have experiences (Adner &
Kapoor, 2010). Thus, experiences also play a great role in framing the values of the individuals.
Values at work:
It has been analysed that different researchers have different views regarding the work
values. Some argues that the personal values and work value have some kind of similarities in
the structural aspect while other argues that work values can emerges when the personal values
of the person have projection on the work that person is doing (Gursoy, Maier & Chi, 2008).
Work values are considered as the element that is the basis of the behaviour of an individual in

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the organization and various organizational factors also affect the work values of the people. It
has been identified that the work values of the person should be the fundamental rights and
wrongs that need to be articles at the workplace. There are two dimensions in which the values at
the work can be assessed (Beutell & Wittig-Berman, 2008). One dimension is the moral aspect
of the value and the other dimension is the requirement of the value at the workplace.
Importance of work values at the workplace:
Work values have become a vary import part of workplace these days. This is because
there are different generation that are working at the same workplace and the generation gap can
be observed even in the gap of 5 years of age. Generation gap results in difference in the thinking
process of the people at the workplace. Thus, or makes it difficult for the managers to manage
such distinct people (Cogin, 2012). Examining the values at the workplace helps the managers to
know about the intergroup differences in the groups that are working together in the
organization. This information helps the HR manager to manage such employees who have
different thinking and working process.
Changing trends in the work values of generational groups:
Difference in the generation affects the values that develop among the people. It has been
identified that the social and the historical events affect the values of the groups in different
generations. The theory of life span suggests that all the people generally experience same things
at the same time of their life span. There are different developmental stages in the life span of the
individuals and those stages provide them with different experiences that affect their beliefs at
that point of time in their life. As similar situation are experienced by the people at similar age, it
is possible that they develop same kind of values in their life span in accordance with the time.
It has been analysed that the workers who are old may have received different types of training
as compared to the younger ones (Guest, 2011). The concept of career has also changes and so as
the thinking bad values of the people. In earlier times, people used to work for a single company
for long period of time or for a life time as they feel committed towards their company but now
people also thinks individually about their career and look for opportunities in the market now

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and then. Introduction of contractual jobs have reduced the concept of job security from the
market and thus the trust between the companies and the employees have vanished.
Work values and different generations:
It has been analysed that very less research has been conducted on the topic of work
values in different generations at the workplaces (Ng, Schweitzer & Lyons, 2010). Some of the
researchers have considered only the age factor in order to understand the value perspective and
neglected the aspects of social and historical factors. Thus, it may give the decision or the result
of only a single dimension of the concept. The group of employees or the generations of the
employees have been divided into three categories such as baby boomers, generation X and
millennial.
Work values in baby boomers:
These are the employees who are at the verge of their retirement or spending the last
years of their life in the employment (Kowske, Rasch & Wiley, 2010). It has been analysed that
they are people whose motivation factors at the organization are job security and economic
benefits. It has been stereotypes that these employees are hardworking and traditional in nature.
Their traditional approach to work makes them believe in craftsmanship more than the younger
workers. They want that the roles of the members should be clearly defined and a proper formal
hierarchy needs to be followed in the organization as thus is their value. If they are at the higher
position, they want the respect to an extent and if they are at lower post, they respect their higher
authorities to a great extent. Any informal approach to these people may offend them as they
think that behaving informally at the organization is not what they have accept what their values
are (Parry, E., & Urwin, P. (2011). Their values never support such kind of information
behaviour at the workplace. The primary of object of employment for this kind of generation is
to earn respect by sacrificing and working hard whole of their life at the organization rather than
earning more wealth and money. They take job as their responsibility and believe in being
committed to a single organization rather than switching their jobs for new and better
opportunities. They are also stereotype are “workaholics” and may sacrifice their personal
happiness for work responsibilities. They are more loyal to their organization as compared to the
younger generation people. All the discussion suggests that their values are very clear at the

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workplace. It also suggests that they personal nature affects their values at the workplace as they
feel that work are the prior responsibility for them.
Generation X:
This group of generation X are stereotyped as the group with selfish nature. Actually, the
selfishness can be explained with the terns called in dependence and autonomy. This autonomy
and independence is supported by the fact that the employees in this generation wants to be
creative and wants to work with their own ways which is vary contrasting with the views of the
baby boomers who believes in standard processes to be followed. This independency is also links
with disloyalty of the employees who are in the category of generation X. this is because they
look for opportunities or the creative opportunities and hence leads to stitching of jobs from one
organization to another (Deal, Altman & Rogelberg, 2010). The competition has increased now
for the generation X people and thus they have to be competitive at the same time for grabbing
the creative opportunities available in the market in order to grow in their career. The companies
at the same time are also looking for the creative people rather than the committed people. With
the change in the requirements of the companies, the change can be easily observed in the values
of the generation X employees. It has been analysed that the employee who falls under the
category of generation X usually change their jobs frequently. It has been analysed that change in
the market situations and the company’s strong policies force the employees in generation X to
change their jobs so frequently (Angeline, 2011). The lack of commitment by the people of
generation X is not clear. This is because they are the people who want job security and if they
have job security than they remain committed to the organization for long time. If the
organization is providing them enough opportunities to grow than the employees will not show
this behaviour of non-commitment towards the company. As far as hierarchy and seniority are
considered, it has been analysed that the employees from generation X does not believe in formal
hierarchical organization. They believe in equality and open communication between the
employees rather than following the process to communicate. They believe that the position of
manager can filled by the competence of the employee and not just by their experience. They
should earn their respect by their performance and not by their title. They want managers who
are open in nature and believe in group growth rather than individual’s growth. They want that
their views should be considered at the time of making decisions. A positive side of the people

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from generation X has been observed. It has been identified that they are the people who believes
in work life balance and they are capable of doing the same.
Work values for Millennial:
This is the generation group of the employee who wants more freedom from their
working life as compared to above both generation groups. This generation is the mixture of
mature baby boomers and the generation X people. The stereotype that has been formed for this
group is being materialistic. It has been analysed that these are materialistic and can switch jobs
if they get short term benefits in other organization (Kapoor & Solomon, 2011). The employees
of this generation are very fortunate as they are coming up with the technology and skills that are
required by the organization. The organisation needs not to train them with the new and updated
technology as they have already learnt the same in their universities. Thus, hiring such skilled
workforce is very beneficial for the organization. These generations said to be violent in nature
and want to have higher positions very early and thus switch their jobs in shirt term that might
affect their career development in negative way. This is because the companies cannot trust the
employees who switch frequently. It has been analysed that in this generation, the candidates are
available in large quantity but the jobs are not available that much thus it affect the employment
level. Competition is very high and candidates have to be very effective and efficient in their
skills to grab the jobs available (Lieber, 2010). The education level of these employees is too
much high that their expectation from the work and life is so high. They are the rebellions and
want freedom of speech. This is because they believe in sharing their views. Development of
relationship and better working environment is very important for these people are very
important. They look for the organization that provides tam with large benefits that helps them to
maintain their life and work simultaneously (Stevens, 2010). This is because they are the people
who want to live their life to the fullest ad look for money as well as comfort at the same time.
They are hard as well as smart workers and have the social skills that help them to communicate
with their managers properly.
Conclusion:
Changes in the trends of the work values can be easily observed in the above discussion.
It has been analysed that it is not just the age factor that affect the values of the person but the
social and historical development of the people also matters a lot (Tolbize, 2008). In the above

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discussion, the categorization is done in accordance with the age because most of the people go
to the same situation at the similar time of their life span and this affect their life similarly. The
mature baby boomers were more formal in their values as compared to the generation X groups.
On the other hand, Millennial are considered as the rebellions that look for better opportunities
and have entrepreneurial behaviour at their workplace.

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References:
Adner, R., & Kapoor, R. (2010). Value creation in innovation ecosystems: How the structure of
technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology
generations. Strategic management journal, 31(3), 306-333.
Angeline, T. (2011). Managing generational diversity at the workplace: expectations and
perceptions of different generations of employees. African Journal of Business
Management, 5(2), 249.
Beutell, N. J., & Wittig-Berman, U. (2008). Work-family conflict and work-family synergy for
generation X, baby boomers, and matures: Generational differences, predictors, and
satisfaction outcomes. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(5), 507-523.
Cennamo, L., & Gardner, D. (2008). Generational differences in work values, outcomes and
person-organisation values fit. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), 891-906.
Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country
evidence and implications. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 23(11), 2268-2294.
Deal, J. J., Altman, D. G., & Rogelberg, S. G. (2010). Millennials at work: What we know and
what we need to do (if anything). Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 191-199.
Guest, D. E. (2011). Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal, 21(1), 3-13.
Gursoy, D., Maier, T. A., & Chi, C. G. (2008). Generational differences: An examination of
work values and generational gaps in the hospitality workforce. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 27(3), 448-458.
Kapoor, C., & Solomon, N. (2011). Understanding and managing generational differences in the
workplace. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 3(4), 308-318.
Kowske, B. J., Rasch, R., & Wiley, J. (2010). Millennials’(lack of) attitude problem: An
empirical examination of generational effects on work attitudes. Journal of Business and
Psychology, 25(2), 265-279.

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Lieber, L. D. (2010). How HR can assist in managing the four generations in today's
workplace. Employment Relations Today, 36(4), 85-91.
Ng, E. S., Schweitzer, L., & Lyons, S. T. (2010). New generation, great expectations: A field
study of the millennial generation. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 281-292.
Parry, E., & Urwin, P. (2011). Generational differences in work values: A review of theory and
evidence. International journal of management reviews, 13(1), 79-96.
Stevens, R. H. (2010). Managing human capital: How to use knowledge management to transfer
knowledge in today’s multi-generational workforce. International Business
Research, 3(3), 77.
Tolbize, A. (2008). Generational differences in the workplace. Research and training center on
community living, 5(2), 1-21.
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, S. M., Hoffman, B. J., & Lance, C. E. (2010). Generational
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