Generation Y's Leadership and Management Style in the Workplace

This article evaluates the leadership and management style of Generation Y in the workplace compared to previous generations. It discusses the differences in perception and approach to business functions, highlighting the importance of effective leadership and management in creating a positive working environment.

Evaluate generation y's
leadership and management
style in the work place
compared to previous
generations

Leadership and management style are considered as one of the most effective
and influencing factor which highly affects the overall behaviour of the staff member. In
every business entity, there must be effective leaders and managers so that they will be
able to produce positive results to the organisation. It has been said that both the styles
plays very essential role in order to produce positive results in an effective manner
within the competitive marketplace. It has been analysed that over the period of time in
both leadership & management style there is huge change has examined (Bencsik,
Horváth-Csikós and Juhász, 2016). There was a time when leaders use autocratic style
in order to produce positive outcomes whereas in today's world participative leadership
style is adopted by the leaders in current generation. It has been said that generation y
are also known as Millennials who have their birth year between 1980 to 1994.
Members of generation y refers to “echo boomers” because they are the children who
have constant access on the digital and technological gadgets. On the other hand,
generation x refers to the people who born between 1965-1979 & are currently between
the age group of 40-60 year.
It has been said that there are various factors which highly influence the success
of organisation. In this, one of the most essential element is effective leadership and
management style. It is said that there are huge difference arise between the styles of
leadership as well as management as perception, requirements as well as working style
of individual person highly changes. There are various leadership styles used by
leaders within an organisation which are quite different from generation to generation. It
is identified that some of the leaders belongs to previous generation adopt autocratic
leadership style where as some leaders belongs to generation y adopt participative style
(Iorgulescu, 2016). It has also been identified that there is no single leadership style
used by leaders in order to perform all the business functions in an effective manner.
For example, it has been said that Bill Gates is a successful entrepreneur who adopt
autocratic leadership style also known as authoritarian style of leadership belongs to
generation x. It has also been said by him that no single leadership style is best for any
company as they need to adopt different types of styles according to the changing
situation. On the other hand, in case of Mark Zuckerberg it has been said that they
choose transformational leadership style which requires constant growth as well as

innovation from this staff members. Therefore, it has also been said that Bill gates is a
person who belongs to previous generation or generation x and Mark Zuckerberg is the
one who comes under generation y. It has also been identified that, there should be
effective leadership style used by top management authority in an organisation (Kelly
and et. al., 2016). It is very essential that these leadership style might encourage and
motivate staff members working within the organisation. If a leadership style adopted by
a company is not effective and does not work for a specific person, then they are less
likely to encourage and motivate individuals in order to work hard.
Management style refers to a specific way, with the help of which managers
attain their objectives in an effective manner and within given time frame. It is the
method which includes how a manager take decision, plan, organise as well as manage
all the work within an organisation (Oldham and Fried, 2016). It has been said that
generation y use various management style which is quite different from generation x as
there level of thinking, perception as well as views are quite unique from each other. It is
said that management style refers to the principles which underlines various methods,
techniques and abilities used by managers in order to handle situations arise within the
business organisation. The management style of Warren Buffet is a big investor who is
chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of very successful entrepreneur in the
world. The management style adopted by him was persuasive style of management in
which the leader has the authority for final decision making in case of all types of
decision which are to be taken in the course of functioning of business (Rodriguez and
Rodriguez, 2015). At times when He was at initial stages of his career there has to be
lot of safety to be taken with regards to every decision as a smallest decision can have
a major impact on the business in both positive or many be negative manner. So, to
reduce any type of risk the entrepreneur felt that it is better to consider every decision
before making it final to be implemented on the company. This was a very great option
of managing employees and all the functions in every organisation as this will lead
expert opinions which help in taking of best decisions as there is opinion and vies of all
concerned people are taken into consideration but power of final decision making vest
with entrepreneur only (Rentz, 2015). In present case of entrepreneurs such as if
Gerard Adams is taken into consideration he is also a entrepreneur who has become

famous because of his start-up which is based on an innovative idea of helping other
aspiring entrepreneur who is also having a very innovative idea and are willing to
establish a venture. They are helping individuals of millennial generation in creating
their own start ups. The management style adopted by this entrepreneur is democratic
style of leadership this is a very attractive management style from view point of
employees and subordinates. In this views are not only taken into consideration but also
given them full liberty that they can make their own decisions and apart from that they
can also take major decision in the company. There has been a complete
transformation in the way earlier entrepreneurs were managing their business and now
they are adopting style of management. Now authority is also given to subordinates
which will help them in developing their own innovative and creative thinking which
leads to better decision making (Zhang, Abound Omran and Cobanoglu, 2017). This
difference in the way management is done in organisations has completely transformed
because of change thinking of leaders and managers. This has resulted into positive
working environment in organisations. Therefore, it is very essential for the top
management authorities to adopt effective leadership as well as management style so
that they will be able to create positive and secure working environment. This will assist
in attaining organisational objectives and goals of the company in an effective manner.
With the help of above mentioned analysis, it has been concluded that there is a
huge difference between leadership and management style adopted by generation y
and generation x individuals in order to perform their business functions. It has also
been concluded that managers and leaders have different styles in order to manage
and encourage staff members which are quite different from previous generation
(Rentz, 2015). It has been identified that both the generation have different type of
perceptions in order to conduct the business functions in an effective manner so that
they will be able to produce positive and effective outcomes. Managers belongs to
generation x adopt various leadership style according to their requirements and by
passing the time there are modifications arise in the process of thinking and perception
of individuals living in this generation.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Bencsik, A., Horváth-Csikós, G. and Juhász, T., 2016. Y and Z Generations at
Workplaces. Journal of Competitiveness, 8(3).
Iorgulescu, M. C., 2016. Generation Z and its perception of work. Cross-Cultural
Management Journal, 18(01), pp.47-54.
Kelly, C., and et. al., 2016. Generation gaps: Changes in the workplace due to differing
generational values. Advances in Management, 9(5), p.1.
Oldham, G. R. and Fried, Y., 2016. Job design research and theory: Past, present and
future. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 136, pp.20-35
Rentz, K. C., 2015. Beyond the generational stereotypes: A study of US Generation Y
employees in context. Business and Professional Communication
Quarterly, 78(2), pp.136-166.
Rodriguez, A. and Rodriguez, Y., 2015. Metaphors for today’s leadership: VUCA world,
millennial and “Cloud Leaders”. Journal of Management Development, 34(7),
pp.854-866.
Zhang, T., Abound Omran, B. and Cobanoglu, C., 2017. Generation Y’s positive and
negative eWOM: use of social media and mobile technology. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(2), pp.732-761.