An Analysis of Generation Gap among Employees, For Sustainable Organizational Effectiveness

Abstract

A generation gap can hurt a companys effectiveness. The history and flexibility of the generations currently within the personnel show that they already are, in many ways, stepping into each others shoes. Every generation in history has separate personality traits, and today is no exception. The values, motivations and life experiences brought with them are diverse. At the workplace there are varieties of generations working simultaneously. The Baby Boomers (1943-1960) and Generation X (1961-1990) are two of these generations working together. The gap between these two generations affects the organization. To solve the problems of inefficiency within the generation gap, leaders in the workplace should perceive the variations between each generations and shrewdness to subsume them. This research looks into possible ways to decrease the gap between Baby Boomers and Generation X in terms of the most effective way of Human Resource Managers to deal with the gap.

A survey with a sample size of 100 was conducted amongst a wide variety of employees (old generation and new generation) to identify the generation gap. The survey consisted of a questionnaire with questions pertaining to employees characteristics, motivational factors, factors leading to conflicts and finally, ways to bridge generation gap.

Keywords: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Gap, Organizational Effectiveness