Generations and Work

T he authors would like to thank Frank Fletcher for his initial major contributions to the concept of this book. Also, Sal Mirza contributed ideas, research assistance, and relevant articles used in this work. Allie Hembree helped considerably with social network research as did Terri Matousek of Matousek & Company, a marketing research firm. Editorial advice was provided by colleagues Steve Kleiseth, Edie McClellan, and Moses Altsech. Richard Pictor and the board of the Falling Springs Center kindly allowed survey research to be conducted at this facility and that too is appreciated. d k Generations and Work d d Introduction and Pl f h k lan of the Book 3 d d Introduction and Pl f h k lan of the Book 5 d k Generations and Work As conceived by Rousseau and Locke, the social contract supersedes obligations to monarchy. People can make agreements among themselves to live the lives of free people. If then, we set aside what is not the essence of the social contract, we shall find it is reducible to the following terms: Each of us puts in common his person and his whole power under the supreme direction of the general will and in return we receive every member as an indivisible part of the whole . . . this act of association produces a moral and collective body, which is composed of as many members as the assembly has voices, and which receives from this same act its unity, its common self, its life and its will. (Rosseau, 1967, The Social Contract, pp. 18-19). Rouseau further argues that the social pact, far from destroying natural equality, substitutes, on the contrary, a moral and lawful equality for whatever physical inequality that nature may have imposed on mankind. However unequal in strength and intelligence, men become equal by covenant and by right. That is the way Rousseau puts the benefits of the social contract. For our look at generations and work, it means that cooperation takes the form of quid pro quo agreements between the generations. For social policy, Social Security is often called a "contract between generations." For a work setting, the contract is often informal. A younger person may take on a physical task while an older person provides the guidance based on experience. Both take on unstated but different contributions. "If you do the heavy lifting, I will show you where it will fit best," might be the form of the exchange. A different means of cooperation occurs under utilitarian principles. Instead of being exchanges, it is the prospect for individual happiness that propels human action. In that sense, it is not proportionality or balancing happiness among people that drives outcomes, but a generalized striving for a better state of being. John Stuart Mill (1963) envisioned utilitarianism as follows: According to the greatest happiness principle, as above explained, the ultimate end, with reference to and for the sake of which all d d Introduction and Pl f h k lan of the Book 9 d d Introduction and Pl f h k lan of the Book 13 d d Introduction and Pl f h k lan of the Book 15 Th he C f oncept of Generations 33 Th he C f oncept of Generations 53 Th he C f oncept of Generations 55 Th he C f oncept of Generations 59 Based on an extensive national survey of workers and four separate industry-specific surveys, Generations and Work will examine and provide answers to the most common issues and problems of multi generational work by assessing differences and commonalities between and among generations. This comprehensive, research-based study of different generations in the workplace in the United States is based on an extensive national survey of workers and four separate industry-specific surveys. Generations and Work examines and provides answers to the most common issues and problems of multigenerational work. The discovery of differences and commonalities between and among generations sheds light on the realities of intergenerational work rather than suppositions about intergenerational work which abound in the mass media. The depictions of general characteristics of baby boomers and millennials are limited because they deal only with measures of central tendency, not variations within the population. This truer look at generations examines both differences and commonalities and thus discovers a more accurate depiction of generations at work. Bolland and Lopes provide a book for managers and students of workplace sociology a guide, and a guide for managing employees who come from different generations Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 Acknowledgments 12 Chapter 1 Introduction and Plan of the Book 13 Chapter 2 The Concept of Generations 40 Chapter 3 Age-based Job Motivators and Generational Conflict 71 Chapter 4 Generation Issues in Different Industries 112 Chapter 5 How Generations Impact Businesses 139 Chapter 6 Does Generation Matter? 172 Chapter 7 Diagnosing and Solving Age Issues 199 Chapter 8 Conclusions and a New Model for Age and Work 232 Index 263 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction and Plan of the Book....Pages 1-27 The Concept of Generations....Pages 29-59 Age-based Job Motivators and Generational Conflict....Pages 61-101 Generation Issues in Different Industries....Pages 103-129 How Generations Impact Businesses....Pages 131-163 Does Generation Matter?....Pages 165-191 Diagnosing and Solving Age Issues....Pages 193-225 Conclusions and a New Model for Age and Work....Pages 227-257 Back Matter....Pages 259-265