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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Multigenerational Workplace

The concept of generations, first introduced in sociological theory in the 1950s by Karl Mannheim, illuminated and dissected U.S. culture. Kupperschmidt defined a generation as “an identifiable group (cohorts) that shares birth years, age location, and significant life events at critical developmental stages” and generational characteristics as “worldview, values, and attitudes commonly shared by or descriptive of cohorts”. As a result of the era in which they grew up, each generation brings a unique set of values, behaviors, and attitudes into the workplace.

Social scientists differ with respect to naming and segmenting the generations, with some dividing the generations into three groups and others dividing generations into as many as six groups. The most common categorization includes four generational cohorts represented in the business community. The oldest group, known as the matures, veterans, or the traditional generation, was born before 1946. The second generation is the baby boomers, a name given to the cohort because of its unprecedented size of 78 million. The cohort following the baby boomers is the baby bust population, Generation X, or Generation Xers. Generation X employees were born between 1965 and 1976 and, at 51 million, are a much smaller population than the baby boomers. The youngest cohort, born between 1977 and 2000, is the Nexters, Millennials, Generation Y, or the baby boom echo cohort and is just entering the workforce.

A review of the literature addressing generational differences reveals conflicting perspectives by theorists regarding the impact generations have on leadership style and work motivation. Zemke, Raines, and Filipczak cautioned the generational diversity of the U.S. workforce creates tension and resentment between older and younger employees. Although cognizant of the dangers of stereotyping, Zemke suggested, “The specific affections of a generation’s formative years do bind them together in exclusive ways” perpetuating a them versus us attitude. Harris postulated understanding the differences between each generation requires an analysis of each cohort’s value imprints from the formative years.

Kyles cautioned although each of the four generations of working employees manifests different values, expectations, and attitudes, “not every person fits all of the characteristics of his/her generation’s description”. Kupperschmidt indicated although generations share experiences and develop a peer personality, “these characteristics are generalizations, thus individual differences within generations do exist.”

Generational differences in values, attitudes, expectations, learning styles, and needs present unique challenges for leaders responsible for intergenerational knowledge transfer within organizations.


Harris, P. (2005, May). Boomer vs. Echo boomer. Training + Development, 59(5), 44-49.

Kupperschmidt, B. R. (2000). Multigeneration employees: Strategies for effective management. Health Care Manager, 19, 65-76.

Kyles, D. (2005). Managing your multigenerational workforce. Strategic Finance, 87(6), 53-55.

Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2000). Generations at work. New York: AMA Publications.

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