Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Business Journal Q4 2014 | Page 32

Manage Culture to Engage Today’s
Multigenerational Workforce
Generational differences are important, but diversity leaders should
understand generational issues in contexts such as organizational
culture to better manage today’s multigenerational workforce.
Article originally published by Talent Managment
By: Ia Ko, Research Consultant at Denison Consulting
Managing a multigenerational
workforce presents organizations
with a variety of challenges. These
challenges include the brain drain
that occurs as experienced baby
boomer employees retire and lessexperienced generations take their
place as well as situations in which
multiple generations interact and
coordinate work together.
Before addressing how
organizations should handle these
generational issues, the more
important questions are: Are
millennials really different from other
generations? If so, how exactly are
they different
To answer these questions,
Denison Consulting reviewed the
existing research on this topic
and conducted a study. From the
research, it was apparent that while
there are common beliefs about
millennials (e.g., they are lazy, they
have an attitude of entitlement),
some of them are largely based on
myths.
Mixed Evidence on
Generational Differences
The review of existing research
revealed some evidence on

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Development & Growth

generational differences. First,
there is some convincing
evidence that personalities have
shifted a bit both in general and
in relation to work. Younger
generations tend to be more
extroverted and conscientious;
they regard themselves in an
increasingly positive manner.
Researchers predict that this
means the millennials would be
interested in careers that are
expressive of extroversion and
social influence.
Also, millennials put more
emphasis on and express
a greater need for work-life
balance. Although they spend
just as much and often more
time working compared to older
generations, they are different
from older generations who were
and are more accepting of work
interfering with their family or
personal life, and vice versa.
Millennials have more
technology-related expertise.
Especially with the use of social
media, they are used to having
access to information and people,
and believe they can easily find
something or someone. They are
connected with others more than
before.

Although these research
findings seem to point to clear
generational differences, other
studies revealed little or no
differences. For instance, a
recent meta-analysis suggests
that millennials are just as
satisfied, committed and
engaged as other generations.
While many expect to see
generational differences in terms
of commitment, satisfaction,
turnover, etc., the research
findings are still mixed —
meaning it is difficult to make
clear conclusions on this one.
Generational Differences
in Employee Engagement
Denison Consulting conducted
a study with 34,592 employees
from 204 divisions of three large
organizations. They collected
data through a survey on
the organizational culture of
employees’ division/function
and individual engagement
at work. As expected, baby
boomers reported the highest
level of engagement, followed
by Gen X and then millennials.
This difference was statistically
significant. However, in work
divisions characterized by a more
effective, high-performing culture