This blog article is a continuation of the blog article "Part 1 - Companies Need Motivated Employees - Time for a Drastic Change!" which we have linked at the end of this page. Even if you have not read Part 1 yet, you can continue reading with peace of mind:
The different generations have a different understanding of work
What is your understanding of work and what motivates you to work? How important is the secure, monthly salary deposit into your bank account for you? And do you enjoy going to work in the morning - hand on your heart? Do you separate work and leisure time?
Let's first take a look at the grouping of working generations based on the period of their birth and what characterizes them:
- Baby Boomers (1955-1964): first generation after World War II, experienced economic miracle, largest generation, traditional family image, thrifty, workaholics, fond of landline phones
- Generation X / Gen X (1965-1980): Disorientation, lack of interest in the common good - the generation of heirs who define themselves only through consumption, email savvy
- Generation Y / Gen Y / Millennials (1979-2000): Internet boom, globalization, technology savvy, digital natives, smartphone generation, digital entrepreneurs, work-life balance
- Generation Z (1995-2010): Digital tech completely integrated into everyday life, technoholics, impulse buyers, want to work "with" not "for" employers, globally connected, social media, messenger, smartphone & wearable generation
The age groups also have a different understanding of work:
- Baby Boomers - currently (2018) between 49 and 63 years old: live to work - basic and existential security
- Generation X - currently between 38 and 53 years old: work to live - recognition and prosperity
- Generation Y and Z - 39 years old and younger: integrate work and life or work is just a part of life - self-realization
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
If we now compare the different understandings of work with the classic Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it is initially noticeable that the different generations are at different levels of needs. It is astonishing that the generations have evolved "upwards" along the levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Maslow believed that humans are "driven by an innate growth potential to achieve their highest goal, self-realization" (Wikipedia, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs). Generation Y and Z have achieved this!
However, if the respective need is not satisfied on a permanent basis, anxiety and frustration arise - terminations and job-hopping follow as consequences. A study by ManpowerGroup in 2018 states that 50% of employees would change their job in the next twelve months, with the trend increasing in recent years. At the same time, people fall back to lower motivation classes if higher needs are not met - demands for salary increases follow as consequences - only 44% of employees find their pay fair, according to another interesting statement from the same study.
The different generations in the company hierarchy
Now it gets interesting: Where do we find the different generations in companies? Thanks to promotion as a recognition of good work and the associated growing personnel responsibility, Baby Boomers and Generation X are usually in the management levels of today's classically hierarchically organized companies - and this for at least 25 years. Generation Y and Z (currently 37 and younger) are mostly in the team levels.
Conflicts are inevitable!
Executives live by the authoritarian leadership style based on Taylorist principles (Theory X) with instructions and control ("command and control") to secure their existence and prosperity and are risk-averse.
Team members, on the other hand, want to self-realize in their work and are experimental. Executives place great value on virtues such as punctuality and rigid order. And team members do not separate work and leisure, the younger ones among them are "digital natives" and have a completely different, more flexible work style.
With this realization, it becomes clear that the authoritarian leadership style is completely outdated.
Conclusion: Servant Leadership instead of "command and control"
How can collaboration in companies succeed despite the generational problem? Well, with a cooperative leadership style (Theory Y): Managers become leaders - "serving" leaders ("servant leadership"). In the digital context, it is also referred to as Digital Leadership.
Teams become more autonomous - they are given room for action and creative freedom - ideally also budget responsibility.
This requires self-discipline and self-control and leads to overall team responsibility. This in turn results in significantly higher employee motivation and lower turnover.
New ideas come intrinsically motivated from the teams, the team works very effectively and efficiently on an incremental implementation of solutions based on customer needs
