History of Baby Boomers in the Workplace
History of the world has led to five generational cohorts that have existed in history. These generations are shaped by key events and historical periods that happened during their time. Baby boomers are the demographic cohort the silent generation that was witnessed in western countries. Demographers have estimated this population as being born between the periods of 1940s and ending between 1960 and 1964 (Green, 2006, P. 5). The term baby boomer is a cultural context that is associated with the rejection of and redefinition of traditional values in Europe and North America. Karp, et al. (2002, P. 15) suggests that baby boomers came as a result of the desire for normalcy in western world after sixteen years of depression and war. After the world war people embarked in giving birth and thus many children were born during that period than any other period in history. This essay analyses the baby boomers generation at the work place by highlighting several indicators that make them different from the rest of the population.
The work place of today is being characterized by the first period where the five generations of the world will work side by side. Two thirds of the baby boomers in the work place have hit the retirement age of 65 in many countries and have thus retired leaving the rest of the work to generation X and millennials. This has been described as the clash of the work place especially between baby boomers and millennials (Eletter, et al., 2017, P. 2). The baby boomers are slowly shrinking in the workforce in many countries with the population expected to be out of the work force by 2025. This means that they make only a third of the whole workforce in many countries. This is characterized by an increasing millennial or generation Y population that is quickly coming up. Every year, a new population of millennials is added to the workforce or turns twenty one (Edmunds & Turner, 2005, 562). This has threatened the baby boomers since the two generations view the business environment from a totally different perspective.
This population entered the workplace at the time when the world was recovering from the effects of the World War and recession periods before they were born. According to Parry & Urwin (2011, P. 81) the baby boomers population has different work traits that emanate from the period that they grew up in. they are work-centric, independent, goal-oriented, competitive and self-actualized in their abilities. This population has a strong work ethic full of dedication and goal oriented attitudes derived from post-war experiences. This makes them more resourceful at work, team oriented and discipline in their work (Karp, et al., 2002, P. 21). The period that they grew up in emphasized hard work and the need to set and achieve goals. However, the characteristics of being independent and productive makes them less adaptable and collaborative. This are people who worked under the classical management period which emphasizes goals and system effectiveness rather than emphasizing the concerns of employees. This is the reason why there is a generation clash in the workplace today from the two generations.
Percentage of Baby Boomers in the Work Place
Values define what believe in at work and can be fundamentally right or wrong depending on the views of the individual. Baby boomers have been characterized by a high work ethics and spending more hours at work. This generation emphasizes personal fulfilment and work efficiency. This is based on the need for efficiency and the desire for quality at the work place. Tolbize (2008, P. 16) suggests that boomers believe hard work and sacrifice are the only options for achieving in life. This is thus based on a chain of command work attitude that is based on the classic management styels. Berucarcy works well for them since they believe in following procedures at work as compared to other generations of workers (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008, p. 899). This generation is therefore more productive as compared to any other generation that has ever existed. This is based on the aspirations of recovery that they witnessed in their countries when their parents were working to recover their economies.
There is a difference between generations when it comes to communication styles. Baby boomers grew up in the era when science was slowly taking the world by storm. This population is characterized by traditional workplace styles of communicating face to face rather the use of different technologies that are available today. This is thus based on limited use of technology in communication as compared to generation X. However, Gursory, et al. (2013, P. 43) argues that some of them are slowly transforming to the intense pressure in the communication systems to adapt technology and use mobile phones for communication. Unlike their counterparts. This population uses other forms of communication like social media less. Mobile phones are preferred by non-traditional baby boomers since they are not intense and complicated for use.
Baby boom generation grew up in the period where education was a right to them rather than a privilege. Whereas education was a privilege to veterans and the way to attain life goals in generation X, baby boomers grew up in a period where there were so many opportunities and areas of study. The industries were growing and multiplying very fast requiring people to work in such companies. During that time effects of the scientific revolution were driving the economy allowing people choose where they want to study (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008, P. 897). When this portion of the population went to school they paid little school fees while some were supported by the state grants for higher education. However, when the same population came to power later on, they changed the education system by drastically increasing tuition and pulling back financial aid.
Baby boomers control almost 70% of world’s disposable income and are set to inherit a lot of money that will come from retirement benefits when the remaining group of baby boomers retires. Baby boomers have been as set ignite the consumer economy from the spending boom that they have been saving since they started working. The period that they grew in was based on financial hardship which made such group careful investors thus having a growth in investments (Edmunds & Turner, 2005, P. 561). Today, the population is described as not living within their means due to accumulated savings that they have worked for all their life. There investments will be based in lower risk investments since they are retiring from work and only left with savings. The population, therefore, spends their savings on medical premiums and vacations. Since they experience increased healthcare conditions, they tend to spend more on mediations rather than other lifestyle investments. Vacation is the only lifestyle that is left for retired baby boomers. Most of them spend time moving around the world exploring places that they did not go to during the younger ages.
Characteristics, Strengths and Weakness
Being raised in the classic and scientific era of work, baby boomers prefer team informed decisions in their lives. They believe in communal decisions as the best way of achieving the best decisions in their system (J., et al., 2007, P. 761). This is based on the horizontal approach of decision making through identifying all the possible ideas and alternatives that are linked to a particular problem. Horizontal problem solving approach is based on the use of relevant principles and procedures to reach to a conclusion about a problem (Benson & Brown, 2011, P. 1846). Through s democratic approach baby boomers seek consensus of others on issues that affect them. Carmeli, et al. (2013) adds that tthrough a system of using organizational resources to find solutions, baby boomers believe the horizontal approach gives the best option in finding decisions and solving problems that affect them.
The attitudes towards technology for baby boomers has been slowly changing with increased need for technology. Researchers have suggested that since this population requires healthcare more than any other population, their attitude towards technology may change the use information technology in health care (Morris, et al., 2005, P. 71). The attitude of technology by boomers is increased since they learn from their children. Since most of this generation have a family and at least one child, they slowly learn and adapt to new technology from their children since they are not particularly receptive to technology (Badowska, et al., 2015, P. 1053). Baby boomers grew up in period defined by teen culture, social upheaval, the Vietnam War, Watergate and recession. Television was the emerging technology during this time, first in black and white, and then color. Boomers believe you can have it all if you work hard enough. Their attitude about life is mostly optimistic, as long as you take on the responsibility to make good things happen. This makes the population receptive to technology and the belief that you can achieve all through hard work and reap the rewards.
Conclusion:
Baby boomers describe the population that has experienced the best of life in history. The generation seems to have enjoyed everything that ever existed in the world. The population experienced the best work environments making them bosses of today and they saw the rise of technology, the economic recession and the economic depression that is still stressing the world. However, this population raised their children in a world where times were different from what they grew up in. this population comprises the workforce of today and control the world that we live in. this group of the population believes in the spirit of hard work and the need to succeed in life. Managers need to understand the differences between the generations that exist within the workplace. Today the workplace comprises of all the four generations in one place which has led to a clash of generations in the workplace.
References:
Badowska, S., Zamojska, A. & Rogala, A., 2015. Baby boomers’ attitudes toward innovations: empirical research in Poland. s.l., s.n., pp. 1050-1056.
Benson, J. & Brown, M., 2011. Generations at work: Are there differences and do they matter?. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Volume 22, p. 1843–1865.
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Edmunds, J. & Turner, B., 2005. Global generations: Social change in the twentieth century. British Journal of Sociology, Volume 56, pp. 559-577.
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Lipschultz, J., Hilt, M. & Reilly, H., 2007. Organizing the baby boomer construct: An exploration of marketing, social systems, and culture. Education Gerontology, Volume 33, pp. 759-773.
Morris, M. G., Venkatesh, V. & Ackerman, P. L., 2005. Gender and Age Differences in Employee Decisions about New Technology: An Extension to the Theory of Planned Behavior. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management , 52(1), pp. 69-84.
Parry, E. & Urwin, P., 2011. Generational differences in work values: A review of theory and evidence. International Journal of management reviews, Volume 13, pp. 79-96.
Tolbize, A., 2008. Generational differences in the workplace, s.l.: Research and Training Center on Community Living.
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