Introduction
A comfortable work environment is one of the crucial pillars of successful corporate performance. With the help of a positive setting, a manager can foster the culture of corporate social responsibility, engagement in workplace issues, and innovative thinking. However, the process of building proper workplace relationships may be hampered significantly by the culture clash caused by differences in employees’ values and perspectives. The described threat may grow increasingly tangible and even unavoidable in the context of a multigenerational workplace unless appropriate HRM techniques are introduced (Bilginoglu & Yozgat, 2017). Viewing the problem from the standpoint of two essential perspectives, namely, social sciences and natural and applied sciences, one will build an effective method of maintaining a proper multigenerational dialogue in the corporate environment.
Natural and Applied Sciences
In order to approach the problem of the generation gap (GG) observed in most modern corporate settings, one will need to revisit the GG issue by viewing it through the lens of Natural and Applied Sciences. The suggested perspective will invite a manager to consider the nature of the GG development and the factors that cause conflicts to occur in the setting that involves a high GG (Safari, Mansori, & Sesaiah, 2017). For instance, the integration of the technological perspective into the analysis, which the use of applied sciences suggests, allows determining the effects that technological advances may have on the efficacy of communication between different generations and the ways in which technology can contribute to resolving conflicts (Ahmad & Ibrahim, 2015). More specifically, the integration of natural and applied sciences will shed light on the way in which GG-related conflicts develop.
Social Sciences
The adoption of the lens of Social Sciences will help to manage the problem of the GG more productively in the workplace setting. By definition, Social Sciences are supposed to give insight into how cultures are born and how people interact within these cultures. From the described perspective, the difference in the perception of communication as a phenomenon should be kept in mind when managing the relationships within a multigenerational setting. Due to the significance of social interactions for Baby Boomers, a rather skeptical perspective on social interactions in Generation X, and the focus among Millennials and iGen on social networking as opposed to living communication, confrontations may occur in the workplace.
Indeed, the differences in perceiving communication as a concept, as well as its goals and means of participating in dialogue are the key stumbling blocks on the way of mending the GG in the workplace. According to a study published by Stout, Kretschmer, and Ruppanner (2017) recently, possible areas of conflict between Baby Boomers and Generations X-Z may also include incongruences in their idea if the amount of power that an authority can exert. Specifically, unlike the remaining three generations, Baby Boomers tend to have great trust in the power and opinions of authorities (Hayes, Parks, McNeilly, & Johnson, 2018). Therefore, applying the lens of Social Sciences to the issue in question, one may need to consider shaping the corporate policies regarding the use of incentives in order to boost the levels of loyalty among the target demographic.
Simultaneously, to appease Generation Y, the incentives-driven policies should be implemented immediately. According to existing research, Gen Y representatives are less eager to wait for the appraisal of their performance, hence the need to provide immediate response (Stout et al., 2017). The clash in perspectives among Baby Boomers and Gen Z representatives, who tend to be more loyal, and Generations X-Y, which are less naïve, can be managed by creating an environment that rewards staff members for their loyalty, yet does not foist the idea of being unconditionally devoted to the company’s cause onto them. Specifically, it will be necessary to show the target demographic that their performance and engagement are valued by the organization, rewarded, and recognized properly.
When modeling the scenarios of instances of a GG-based confrontation in the workplace, one should bear in mind that making the organizational environment fully devoid of the problem at hand is impossible. Applying the perspective of Social Sciences, one will realize that the policy of avoiding conflicts caused by the GG will only lead to employees becoming increasingly helpless when confronting a communication-related problem. Therefore, staff members will need to be armed with strategies and resources for handling the problem of the GG sand discussing conflicts, their causes, and outcomes openly (Bilginoglu & Yozgat, 2017). Thus, a manager will facilitate the process of building an understanding of cultural differences and the methods of approaching them in a multigenerational team.
Conclusion
Introducing the perspectives of both social sciences and natural and applied ones allows mending the multigenerational gap in the organizational environment and helps employees to adjust to the related communication challenges. The framework designed with the help of Natural and Applied Sciences offers an insight into how theory is applied to solving multigenerational conflicts. The approach created with the use of the Social Sciences, in its turn, gives tools for modeling possible scenarios and structuring interactions in the workplace to reduce the threat of confrontations and avoid the problems related to the GG. Although the area of Social Sciences may overlap with the one of Natural and Applied Sciences, the combination of the two still provides a more comprehensive evaluation of the GG. Therefore, by incorporating the two lenses into the management of issues related to the GG, a manager will create a comfortable setting for all employees, facilitating a multigenerational dialogue.
References
Ahmad, H., & Ibrahim, B. (2015). Leadership and the characteristic of different generational cohort towards job satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 204, 14-18.
Bilginoglu, E., & Yozgat, U. (2017). Is “workplace fun” a new management fashion or another passing fad? Journal of Management Marketing and Logistics, 4(4), 448-455.
Hayes, J. B., Parks, C., McNeilly, S., & Johnson, P. (2018). Boomers to millennials: Generational stereotypes at work in academic librarianship. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 44(6), 845-853.
Safari, M., Mansori, S., & Sesaiah, S. (2017). Generation difference in hiring financial planners in Malaysia. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 35(4), 583-595.
Stout, C. T., Kretschmer, K., & Ruppanner, L. (2017). Gender linked fate, race/ethnicity, and the marriage gap in American politics. Political Research Quarterly, 70(3), 509-522.