Multigenerational Work Differences

Background

Dealing with diversity in the workplace means understanding and relating effectively with people who are different than you. The ability for a diverse group of people to build strength and unity through their diversity is the power that propels organizations into new dimensions of performance. Discussions of workplace diversity in the United States tend to start with the topics of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. Indeed, organizations that want to thrive in the future will need to have employees and managers who are aware of and skilled in dealing with differences along these identity lines.

Another piece

of diversity that is not always included in typical diversity discussions, however, is generational diversity. In any organization, you are bound to find divisions, units, or work teams where at least four distinct generations are working together. Sociologists, psychologists, and everyday managers have identified important differences between these generations in the way they approach work, work/life balance, loyalty, authority and other important issues. The profession of nursing is experiencing these differences as four generations of nurses are working side by side. This document will uncover some of the basic characteristics of the generations in today's nursing workforce and discuss the relevance of these differences to organizational performance.

A generation is a group of people defined by age boundaries- those who were born in a certain era. They share similar experiences growing up and their values and attitudes, particularly about work related topics, tend to be similar, based upon their shared experiences during their formative years. Generations are fuzzy things. The age guidelines are approximations with people at the beginning and end of these defined boundaries sharing some of the same values, beliefs and work related ideas as the generation they move away from or towards.

Nursing leaders have historically not had to deal with a multiple generation workforce. In the past, nurses have either retired or cut back their hours between the ages of 53 and 56 (Thrall, 2005), however, due to changes in life expectancy, lack of retirement benefits, lack of access to healthcare, etc. nurses are forced to stay in the profession longer. In 2003, Buerhaus, Staiger, and Aurbach noted the fastest growing segment of the RN labor market is older nurses reentering the profession. This is not a trend that is likely the change as many organizations, in the midst of the current nursing shortage, are developing flexible programs to attract the older nursing workforce.