HRM Report: Challenges of Generational Differences at Adecco Company

This report examines the challenges of generational differences within the context of Human Resource Management, specifically focusing on the Adecco Company. It highlights the communication style disparities between younger and older employees, with Gen Y favoring digital communication methods and Gen X preferring traditional channels. The report also addresses negative stereotypes associated with different age groups and the impact of changing cultural expectations, including work-life balance preferences. The author recommends that Adecco leaders adopt inclusive approaches, promote teamwork, and implement models like the LasFasto and Larson model to enhance team effectiveness and mitigate generational conflicts. The report concludes by referencing several academic sources to support the analysis and recommendations. This assignment aims to provide insights into managing a diverse workforce and fostering a productive work environment.

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Human Resource Management
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Conclusion
Most of the management teams have the perception that young workers have different
aspirations, ideas, aspirations, and working styles that are different compared to older employees.
Adecco Company is one of the companies that recruit employees from different generations.
Adecco has faced several challenges emerging from its team due to variation in age (Guillot-
Soulez and Soulez, 2014, pp.319). The first challenge that Adecco as a company experiences is
the difference in the communication style among the recruited people. The communication styles
between young and older people are different. The generation y is fond of communicating via
tweets, instant messages, and text messages while the older Gen X prefer using phone calls and
emails (Festing and Schäfer, 2014, pp.262). On the other hand, Gen Y mostly uses abbreviations,
colloquialisms, and informal language (Schullery, 2013, pp.252). This may lead to
communication breakdown when Adecco recruits employees from different generations. Since
different generations’ value different communication styles, job sparks, team structures, it has
been a challenge for Adecco Company to understand what motivates the employees and what
they value. Therefore, the company has faced the challenge of communicating its job
expectations effectively.
Another challenge that Adecco Company has faced in recruiting from different
generations is negative stereotypes. The company has faced challenges in overcoming the
existing stereotypes since employees need to align their visions and success with ethics in the
workplace. This takes quite some time and has a challenge to the organization that Adecco has
sent the recruits to (Cogin, 2012, pp.2268). The stereotypes have caused generational judgments
and misunderstanding among the employees that Adecco has recruited. Some organization that
depends on Adecco for sourcing has gad issues to do with young employees. It is perceived that

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young people know less and has less experience in the job market. However, according to
Adecco, age does not matter as long as a person has the required skills and can deliver quality
work.
Cultural expectation is another challenge facing Adecco recruitment firms. The changing
mobile trends and technologies in organizations has made the workplaces places to change and
caused a change in the cultural expectations of people. The older generation has been affected a
lot compared to the young generation. The family backgrounds may influence the work expected
of the young generation and the old generation. The young generation aims at balancing work
and outside life while the old generation may sacrifice their personal time for a job since they
have seen loyal workers losing their jobs. This challenge has affected the recruitment process at
Adecco.
Recommendations
The leaders of Adecco Company should design the best approach which involves
allowing both generations to work in a style that suits and acknowledge the efforts of each
employee irrespective of their work styles. On the other hand, the company should encourage
teamwork to reduce the communication barrier (Costanza, et al., 2012, pp.375). The company
should educate and help employees to adopt the LasFasto and Larson model of team effective
which enhances team leadership, team problem solving, team relationship, and organization
environment with the right culture. This assists the company to reduce the challenges that come
as a result of generational recruitment.

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Bibliography
Festing, M. and Schäfer, L., 2014. Generational challenges to talent management: A framework
for talent retention based on the psychological-contract perspective. Journal of World
Business, 49(2), pp.262-271.
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),
pp.2268-2294.
Schullery, N.M., 2013. Workplace engagement and generational differences in values. Business
Communication Quarterly, 76(2), pp.252-265.
Costanza, D.P., Badger, J.M., Fraser, R.L., Severt, J.B. and Gade, P.A., 2012. Generational
differences in work-related attitudes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Business and
Psychology, 27(4), pp.375-394.
Guillot-Soulez, C. and Soulez, S., 2014. On the heterogeneity of Generation Y job
preferences. Employee Relations, 36(4), pp.319-332.