Generation

In his article “Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees,” Greg Hammill discusses how four generations of employees have to work together. These would be the following: the Veterans, which are from 1922 to 1945, the Baby Boomers from 1946-1964, Generation X, from 1965-1980, and Generation Y, from 1981 to 2000. There are many differences among the generations, and these can have an impact on the workplace environment, as each generation has a certain way of approaching and dealing with work. Hammill mentions that everyone needs to be aware of the generation they come from and how it will impact their outlook on and experiences with such aspects of life such as education, family, core values, communication, approaches to money, and various dealings with and in the workplace. The boss especially needs to be aware of these differences in order to make it and efficient and successful place of work. He or she needs to be able to understand these differences and acknowledge them when approaching each individual employee.

Overall I thought this was an interesting and informative article. This might mainly be because this is the first I have heard of my being from Generation Y, and this is the first time I have actually considered the fact that they are four generations in the workforce today. I have always been aware, at all of my places of employment, that there are generational differences with how we approach work, but I never really thought of it in the sense of how we need to focus on understanding these generational characteristics when regarding how to be and maintain a successful working environment for each individual. One significant element of this article that I enjoyed was that it provided so many examples of generational differences and, with the workplace, gave instances where one could acknowledge these differences and ways to work around them or resolve them.
I could definitely relate to some of what was appointed to the Generation Y, what with such things like education being an “incredible expense,” communicating with use of the internet, and the interactive style at work being “participative.” I did, however, find myself relating to other generations over Generation Y in the sense of my core values and communication at work being more along the lines of the Baby Boomers.