As a tendency, Arab Spring has motivated young people from all over the Islamic world to re-think their identities and goals in life and become more productive as professionals, managers, and leaders. This happening is new to the Muslim culture, and this is why it is important to understand and analyze its development, implications, and potential outcomes. The major shift of values and future orientation within the new generation of the society determines its course for the upcoming decades and its wellbeing in the long-term.
In comparison to the older generation of Muslim people, the youth is much more flexible which assumes the upcoming changes in the society. That way, as the new generation is currently in pursuit of jobs, the hirers and companies are to be aware of the specific features of the potential employees.
This phenomenon is similar to the integration of the Millenials in the workforce of the West, the challenging process that requires some flexibility from the organizations. Managing the younger generation of Muslims also may result in a variety of clashes between the youth and the workplaces run by Traditionalists who prefer to follow the older practices.
Today, hiring young people, the managers are to ensure that the companies’ values match the values of the potential workers, respond to their cultural flexibility, and orientation to the new values. The system of incentives also should be changed, as goal-driven young professionals are more interested in self-actualization, career building, and improvement. The companies may want to look into the adoption of such practices as coaching, qualification refinement and improvement, equality practices, team building, innovation, and new technologies.
As workers, the new generation can be motivated by the incentives and benefits that allow creativity and self-realization. It is possible that the Islamic managers would have to review some of the Western practices aimed at the maximization of productivity facilitated using positive stimuli such as appreciation, autonomy, rewards, and perks, instead of following the transactional leadership concept with autocratic authorities. In other words, the businesses today are not only to hire the younger employees but also to provide them with the opportunities to take over the leading roles and enforce fresh changes.
To sum up, the reviewed article provides elaborate information concerning the differences between the new and the older generations of Muslim societies, their specific features, and values. This information allows the managers and decision-makers to adjust their practices and strategies to attract, and motivate younger professionals who represent extremely useful human resources that carry contemporary knowledge, relevant information, and are more in tune with the latest societal and business trends.
The attraction and retention of the employees from the younger generation will allow Muslim businesses to keep up with the rapid development of the business world, expand to other countries, maintain balanced and productive communication and collaboration with the Western world, and remain at the top of their markets evolving under the influence of the Arab Spring as a social tendency.