Analyzing Generational Differences and Management Strategies

This report examines the challenges and opportunities presented by generational differences in the workplace. It highlights the communication disparities between Millennials and Baby Boomers, emphasizing the need for managers to adapt their communication styles to bridge these gaps. The analysis explores the varying skill sets, personalities, and communication preferences of different generations, advocating for flexible management approaches. The report discusses strategies such as style typing, training, and knowledge transfer to foster understanding and collaboration. It also addresses the individualistic tendencies of Generation X and the importance of assigning the right tasks to the right individuals. The conclusion emphasizes the need for dynamic managers who encourage inclusion, address age-related discrimination, and lead teams effectively to enhance overall organizational culture and productivity. The report draws upon various research sources to support its findings and recommendations.

RUNNING HEAD: MANAGMENT
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1MANAGEMENT
Introduction:
In an era where demands of the customers are changing and where the mangers have to
constantly strive for making a parallel between his role as a manager and fulfilling the mission
and vision of the organization, it is evident that changing himself in order to cope up with the
changing environment is an absolute necessity. With change there comes in within the
organization culture, a new set of modern behavior and perspectives (McCuiston Wooldridge
and Pierc 2014.). It is a very common issue for generations of Millennial and baby boomers to
integrate and work at a mutual organization. The managers of these organizations have to play an
effective role in coping up the generation differences in the culture regarding skill sets,
personalities and communication. ,
Analysis:
The problem of generation is primarily noted in the organization regarding the
communication process. The Millennial are known to be highly expert in technological skills,
however possess less expertise in the communication and interrelationship skills. It has been also
noted that millennial generally thrive in a team based environment for which managers can adopt
style typing as well as style flexing technique for understanding the communication style and
developing an effective relationship (Shaban 2016). For addressing the communication issues of
the baby boomers effective managers can modify the communication style among various other
flex for matching the wave length of that of the millennial. Hartman is of the opinion that
“understanding the implications of those acknowledged differences can help overcome
millennia’s communication deficiencies”. Managers of today’s generation can apply the same
technique for different generations. With a vast shifting in the method of communication style in

2MANAGEMENT
the last 50 years from industrial to more office based work the traditional face to face
communication have been preferred. Possible integration between the millennial and the baby
boomers may include training. The use of an effective transfer knowledge base on generation
differences might be helpful according to Denaro Et Al (2018). This will be helpful for
understanding distinctive characteristics of generation. The demographic cohort, the generation
X has been proved to have more individualistic attitudes compared to baby boomers. Managers
in the work place thus face more challenges as well as opportunities while dealing with such vast
range of generations. While the type of understanding of tasks and having an individualistic
approach of solving a problem are great strengths for the manager, on the other hand the
communication problem and the diversity often brings a situation of conflict within the
organization.
The managers will have to primarily embrace flexibility as their mode of operating style.
Understanding the individual needs, the manager will have to develop the ability of assigning the
right job to the right person. With this flexibility, the employees will be able to exercise their
own experience and expertise. It has been found in studies that the boomers prefer face to face
meetings with the clients while the generation X like to work more independently (Douglas
2013). The effective management will be used in order to include the diversity within the
organization and thus total enhancement and rehashement of the total culture will be possible in
this respect Thus they have to pay further attentions for distinct generation in order to understand
their expectation from the organization..
Holly Waston is of the opinion that the ability of the manager to communicate the vision
and mission of the organization to the employees so that there is a proper co relation between the

3MANAGEMENT
people and the management. This will enhance a better communication and productivity since
the employees will know where exactly are the fitting in the company.
Conclusion:
The managers will have to be dynamic as well in encouraging inclusion within the
organizational culture. The age gap or the generation gaps often causes a sense of discrimination
within the work force which has to be managed effectively by the manager . He can either take a
role of the transformational leader in this respect or a role of the guardian. Moreover, the present
day managers are expected to be dynamic in the sense of leading a team not just supervising.

4MANAGEMENT
Reference List:
Douglas, C.A., 2013. Key Events and Lessons for Managers in a Diverse Workforce: A Report
on Research and Findings. Center for Creative Leadership, PO Box 26300, Greensboro, NC
27438-6300.
McCuiston, V.E., Wooldridge, B.R. and Pierce, C.K., 2014. Leading the diverse
workforce. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.
Olson, K.J., Huffman, A.H., Leiva, P.I. and Culbertson, S.S., 2013. Acculturation and
individualism as predictors of work‐family conflict in a diverse workforce. Human Resource
Management, 52(5), pp.741-769.
Shaban, A., 2016. Managing and leading a diverse workforce: One of the main challenges in
management. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 230, pp.76-84.