Given Scenario

Organization Intergenerational Conflicts
Authors Name:
Institution:
Generation Y comprises of people born between 1979 and 1999 and is often referred to as the millennials. This generation has received enormous attention in the society as compared to other generations due to the unique traits associated with it. The generation represents the youngest workgroup in today’s organizations. Some stereotypes have labeled Generation Y as young individuals who are broke yet spend the little they have on luxuries. Additionally, they have been depicted this generation as disrespectful, egocentric and the least motivated group in the workplace who do not shoulder responsibility and also produce low quality work in comparison to their colleagues from other generations. This has brought about concern especially in the workplace where this generation has often been at loggerheads with the management and older colleagues.
Other characteristics that are associated with millennials include their ability to juggle different tasks simultaneously and frequently ask for feedback on their progress from their seniors and supervisors. They prefer to work in teams and with a scheduled structure mostly because this is what they have been exposed to throughout their life, i.e., scheduled structures from preschool and teamwork from soccer teams and group discussions in classwork. Changes effected by this generation in the workplace are being attributed to their “can-do attitude,” need for flexible schedules, positivity, and confidence.

Additionally, millennials embrace and encourage the use of technology both in their social life and workplace.
Older employees from the preceding generations (generation X, Baby Boomers, and traditionalist), on the other hand, have different characteristics. They, for instance, are process oriented and mostly prefer to use traditional methods instead of embracing new technology. Therefore, managing these diverse employees to work together in order to achieve a common goal is challenging. Intergeneration problems in the organization between the millennials and older employees arise due to their differences in values, principles, experiences, communication methods, working style, behavior and attitudes etc. (Stefan & Yazdanifard, 2013). Each of the generation, furthermore, fails to acknowledge the value of the other, which contributes to conflicts in the workplace. Conflicts, if not managed or addressed appropriately, lead to problems that hinder the effectiveness of the employees’ translating to the organizations’ ineffectiveness.
Regardless of these differences, an organization’s employees have to work as one in order to achieve the set goals and objectives. In regard to this, Stefan & Yazdanifard (2013) state that “the older generation must learn to work with newer generations and the new generation must acclimate themselves to the organization.” Additionally, managers, supervisors and other individuals in leadership positions must understand the needs of the different generations and offer appropriate support in order to minimize problems arising from intergenerational conflicts.
Management and human resource divisions in an organization can play a huge role in the realization of a coexistent intergenerational workforce through training and mentorship programs, setting of clear organization goals, communication, and teamwork. For example, organizing training programs for all the employs would be beneficial where the millennials are trained on how to be more professional and adaptive to the current organization situation and structure and the older generations can be trained on embracing change and being more flexible. Training of the managing team can also be done to enable them to understand the different characteristics of the generations in the workplace, what works for each and how to merge them into a functional and effective team.
Mentorship programs can be developed and encouraged in which each generation is given an opportunity to mentor the other. This will foster the transfer of knowledge among the generations in the workplace since each one of them has different experiences and strengths that the other lacks. For example, older generation can teach millennials on experience, interpersonal skills, and independence while the millennials can teach the older generation on new technology, risk-taking, diversity, balancing work and life. This will also foster inclusion which, according to Cox & Holloway (2011), is the “ability to involve people that may appear to act and solve problems in a very different way.” Inclusion which requires patience, understanding, and maturity, will foster teamwork among the generations in the workplace leading to effectiveness in the organization.
Communication plays a great role in the daily interactions at the workplace among the employees as well as the management. Stefan & Yazdanifard (2013) explain that communication helps in the creation of emotions and views which either fosters or hinders relationships, learning, and problem-solving. Additionally, connotations, tone, media, vernacular, communication patterns show how the management of issues related to independence, identity, power, negotiations, and conflicts are handled (Stefan & Yazdanifard, 2013). Therefore, open communication by leaders in the organization as well as among the employees is vital in the organization’s operations and coexistence. Candid communication will consequently lead to the build of trust between the involved parties. It is crucial especially for the managers and leaders in the organization to understand the communication styles to be used for a specific generation since different generations prefer different communication styles e.g. millennials prefer emails and texts.
Teamwork is vital in any workplace and contributes to the fast realization of organization’s goals.To reduce intergenerational conflicts in the workplace, teamwork should be encouraged. Team leaders should encourage participation of each member regardless of their age. Teams that comprise members of all the generations in the workplace should be encouraged. Additionally, clear goals should be set for the organization with their specific expectations. This is important since each generation has a different way of working and define their success and achievement different. By clearly stating the goals and expectations, the field is leveled for all the generations in the workplace and efforts by each will be towards the same goal which contributes to the reduction in conflict and ambiguities.
These intergenerational problems will continue to manifest in the workplace due to the dynamism of technology and the individual employees. To counter these challenges, the organization should develop clear methods of resolving conflict among the different generations, encourage prompt accurate feedback explaining decisions and policies which keep the employees up to date with the organization’s operations so as to build trust in the organization; develop and initiate training and mentoring programs that include the different communication styles to cater for all the generations during any formal or informal communication in the workplace and encourage teamwork.
Based on the above recommendations that aim to solve the intergenerational problem facing the older and millennial employees in the organization, the implementation plan will take place over a duration of two months. In week 1, managers and supervisors in all departments will be trained on the intergeneration complexities by an experienced trainer outsourced by the organization. Their training will comprise but not limited to communication styles, how to train and mentor on the issues revolving intergeneration in the organization and conflict resolution. In week 2, the managers and supervisors will be allocated to different departments to train the employees on the same.
In week 3, supervisors will form focus groups in each of the departments. These focus groups will be comprised of ten members with about five millennials and five older employees, issues with diverse tasks that will require the team’s effort to complete. At the end of the week, each group will be required to write a report entailing the challenges encountered. This will be repeated in the fourth and fifth, sixth and seventh week with the team members being swooped to ensure that each of the members has worked or interacted with everyone in their department. The managers and supervisors will be tasked with monitoring and evaluation during the process and in the final week, they will give a conclusive report on the challenges, effectiveness and the corrective measure that can make the process better. This will be routinely encouraged and new employees will be subjected to the same process.
References
Cox, J. & Ihart-Volume, M. H. (2011). Workshop on Knowledge Transfer in a Multigenerational Business Environment. International Handbook of Academic Research and Teaching, 7.
Stefan, F. & Yazdanifard, R. (2013). The Issues of Generational Conflicts in Workplace and Solutions for It.