Lucas, K., D’Enbeau, S., & Heiden, E.P. Generational Growing Pains as Resistance to Feminine Gendering of Organization? An Archival Analysis of Human Resource Management Discourses. Journal of Management Inquiry, 1-16.
In this article, Lucas, D’Enbeau, and Heiden analyzed discourses in human resources management. They sought to examine generational growing pains in organizations and find out whether it is a form of resistance to the increasing organizational changes which embrace feminine gender. In their analysis, the authors considered baby boomers, Generation X, and also millennial. They were more concerned about the initial entry of these generations into the workplace. Historical records of gender discourses were studied. The views of human resources personnel were also captured especially the way they used to handle younger generations as they join the job market. The authors hypothesized that the older generations’ frustrations by the Millenials in the workplace were largely about the Millennials’ expectations which reflect and effect organizational changes with greater emphasis on gender. Millenials are a generation of workers who were born between 1982 and the year 2000. They are the ones currently replacing the baby boomers. Estimates suggest that by the time those who were born in the year 2000 join the job market in the year 2022, it is estimated that Millennial will comprise 50-70% of the global workers. The authors content that Millenials are no different from baby boomers and Generation X in that their entry into the job market comes with a cultural shift. As organizations influence new workers joining the workplace, the new workers’ presence in the organization also influences the organization in many ways. Whether it is the veterans, baby boomers, Generation X, or Millenials, each generation of workers exhibits unique work ethics, life experiences, motivators, attitudes, and job expectations.
Older generations of workers have a problem with the millennial. Instead of appreciating the changes which come with Millenials, they complain a lot about them. These older generations argue that new generation (Generation X or Y) poses a lot of challenges in the workplace. Despite the concerns raised by the older generation, studies show that new generations have positive attributes such as their ability to work well in teams. Further, they have been found to be narcissistic, hypersensitive, and overconfident. These attributes have been a great source of challenge to organizations which attempt to socialize them. Human resources experts point out that differences between the older generations and the new generations could be a source of conflicts, reduced level of organizational commitment, and difficulties in communication in the workplace.
The gendering of organizations has resulted in breaking of the traditional networks which used to help masculine gender advance in their career. The gendered workplace has also brought changes in the way people perceive idealized career forms, leadership styles, and organizational values. The masculine ethic and masculine standards are viewed as being threatened by the increasing gendering of the organization. Famine traits such as intuition, holistic thinking, concern for others, caring, empathy, and cooperation were less valued in the traditional context of the workplace but are gradually replacing the masculine traits such as competition, aggressive, decisiveness, analytic, tough, rational, and strategic. The authors suggest this is a big concern to the old generation. In the traditional workplace setup, males dominated management positions and any lady aspiring to be a manager had to display masculine traits.
Evidence suggest social and economic conditions, historical experiences, and societal changes shape people of a particular generation to develop similar shared values, beliefs, and attitudes. Such shared values have been found to influence characteristics as well as work-related values of each generation. Shared values of baby boomers, Generation X, and millenials are different, and their respective work-related traits are also different. The millenials have denuding work-related expectations which are frustrating to the older generations. For example, baby boomers are known for their prioritization of work over family; workaholics drove by achievement, high work centrality, strong work ethic, and strong commitment to work. Generation X is known for their competitiveness, individualism, the balance between work and recreation, comfort with diversity, and technical competence. However, Millennials are known for love for flexibility, challenging work, creativity, hate for micromanagement, and the need for constant support. But they have been also found to demand open communication, recognition, frequent feedback, closer relationships with managers, and opportunities for teamwork. It is these characteristics of millenials which have been found to be a source of negative views by older generations who perceive millenials as workers who are spoiled, high maintenance, and demanding.
References
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Glass, A. (2007). Understanding generational differences for competitive success. Industrial and commercial training, 39(2), 98-103.
Lucas, K., D’Enbeau, S., & Heiden, E.P. Generational Growing Pains as Resistance to Feminine Gendering of Organization? An Archival Analysis of Human Resource Management Discourses. Journal of Management Inquiry, 1-16.
Okazaki, S., & Mendez, F. (2013). Exploring convenience in mobile commerce: Moderating effects of gender. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 1234-1242.
