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Generational differences at work
Edited by Keith Macky, Dianne Gardner and Stewart Forsyth
Increasingly human resource specialists, managers and researchers are becoming interested in how to manage and work with people from different generations in the workplace. Much of this interest is based on the assumption that generations differ significantly in their goals, expectations and work values. While this assumption is widely reflected in the popular press, it has been subjected to relatively little empirical evaluation. The aim of this paper was to investigate generational differences in work values and possible discrepancies between the values held by individuals and organisations.
A generation can be defined as an "identifiable group that shares birth years, age location, and significant life events at critical developmental stages" ([17] Kupperschmidt, 2000, p. 66). Definitions of generation boundaries are problematic. To date most research into generational differences has been conducted in the US, UK and Canada. New Zealand has followed similar demographic patterns to those countries, including participation in World War II and the social and economic changes of this era, and increasing levels of technological change especially the continuing rapid growth of information and communications technology ([34] Statistics New Zealand, 2007). The two generational groups prevalent in today's workforce are often called the Baby Boomers and Generation X. The generational boundaries for Boomers are generally set between 1945 and the mid-1960s with the decline in birth rates that signalled the end of the Baby Boom. The generation now entering the work force corresponds with the rise in birth rates in the early 1980s when Baby Boomers began to have children and this has been referred to as the Baby Boom Echo, Generation Y or Generation Next ([21] Loughlin and Barling, 2001; [22] Lyons, 2004; [41] Zemke et al. , 2000). For the present study the classification offered by [22] Lyons (2004) has been adopted as it is compatible with data from Statistics New Zealand. This classification and the names used for the groups of relevance to this research are Baby Boomers (born 1946-1961); Generation X (born 1962-1979) and Generation Y (born 1980 onwards).
Differences between generations are confounded with changes due to ageing, experience, life stage and career stage. Even so, changes to work and the fact that each generation...