Multiple Generations at

Workplace
 After this session, participants
should be able to:
1. Recognize multiple generations at workplace
2. Identify the prominent features of different generations
3. Appreciate the issues and challenges for different
generations
4. Interrogate the best ways of engaging various generations
at workplace the nature
 Why Study Intergenerational
Relationships in Organizations.
• Managing an increasingly age diverse workplace (Different response to org processes
like talent management, employee engagement)

• Transferring firm-specific knowledge and skills from retiring employees to new job
incumbents (A 2005 study by Accenture found that at least 45% of respondent
organizations were failing to transmit critical workforce knowledge to newer
employees)

• Increasing complexity of tasks (tasks related to robotics, bio medical research,

digitization by multidisciplinary by nature)

• Lack of engagement due to poor communication among generation

• Preference for Leadership, comfort with technology, different response from the same
issue

• Asia Pacific region has the world’s most positive view about generational diversity with
44% confident that it contributes to workplace productivity.
 Generations: The Two Essential
Components

• Common location in a historic time period

• Distinct consciousness that is the result of

important events of that time

Mannheim's (1952/1928)
 Three Key Aspects of Generational
Identity
• Cohort-based identity: E.g. Organizational entry,
within a specific interval
• Age based identity: E.g. Baby boomer, Millennials
• Incumbency-based identity: Kinship based

➢ Chronologically linked
➢ Intergenerational interactions, ranging from
resistive to transmitive
Joshi, A., Dencker, J. C., Franz, G., & Martocchio, J. J. (2010). Unpacking generational
identities in organizations. Academy of management review, 35(3), 392-414.
 Basic Assumptions

• There are multiple sources of identities

• Org identities emerge from the membership in

collectives like roles, demography

• Identities may be primed based on situational

clues from org
 Generations
The generations identified as per year of birth:
1) Baby Boomers : 1945-60; The doer, legacy, thinks in terms of
words, clever conversationalist

2) Gens X: 1960-80; Drivers, independent, entrepreneurial,

recession, layoffs, insecurity, technology matters,

How to get along with Boomers, GenXers and Millennials | Mary Donohue | TEDxToronto
 Generations Cont…
3) Gen Y: 1980 – 2000: Action focused, Driven by Development,
self esteem, detail instruction but autonomy, sceptical, value
transparency, ask their opinion, answer them why

4) Gen Z: Born after 2000: Grow up with technology, 3 min.

youtube, instagram, technology is their soother
 More Details Classification
Oldest Age
Births Births Youngest
Generation Name Today*
Start End Age Today*

The Lost Generation

The Generation of 1890 1915 106 131
1914
The Interbellum
1901 1913 108 120
Generation
The Greatest
1910 1924 97 111
Generation
The Silent Generation 1925 1945 76 96
Baby Boomer
1946 1964 57 75
Generation
Generation X (Baby
1965 1979 42 56
Bust)
Xennials
1975 1985 36 46
Millennials
Generation Y, Gen 1980 1994 27 41
Next
iGen / Gen Z 1995 2012 9 26
Gen Alpha 2013 2025 1 8
Generations: A Quick Reference

https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/who-are-boomers
-gen-x-gen-y-and-gen-z-d1784f02d25d
 Few Other Popular classifications of
Generations in the Workforce
• Hewitt’s : Passionate Advocates, Enthusiastic
Followers, Under-rewarded Supporters, The
Disenchanted, Unrealized Potentials, The Detractors
(Marusarz, 2009)
• NASSCOM’s: Free-birds, Seekers, Stabilizers,
Loyalists (NASSCOM)
• American theorists: the Depression Era, World
War II Era, Post War, Leading-Edge Boomer, Trailing-
Edge Boomer, Gen-Xer and N-Gen (Morgan &
Kunkel, 2011)
 Generations in Indian Workforce
Based on the continual brainstorming discussions
with corporate representatives

The generations identified were

1) Veterans : 1920-45
2) Free-Gens: 1945 – 1960
3) Gen X’s:1961 – 1970
4) E Gen’s: 1971 – 80
5) Gen Y’s: 1981 – 90
Rajesh, S., & Ekambaram, K. (2014). Generational diversity in the Indian workforce:
an Exploratory study. International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR), 2(7), 54-64.
 The Free Gens
• The Free Gens born between 1945 and 1960
constitute about 20% of India’s active workforce.
Their entry into the workforce happened during the
60s and the 70s.

• What are the most defining moments for this

generation?

• Food scarcity, Invasion of Chine, Troubled East

Pakistan, Green revolution, Nationalization,
Emergency, Akashwani, Railways…..
 Major Attributes of Free Generation
• Service oriented
• Naturally relationship driven
• Want to please
• Very good team players
• Uncomfortable with conflict
• Social shyness
• Gives more importance to process rather than
results
• Very sensitive to feedback
 Gen X
• The Gen Xs account for about a quarter of the
Indian workforce. This cohort consists of individuals
born between 1961 and 1970.

• What are defining moments for this generation?

• Teething problems of Indian democracy, Indian

women making remarkable progress, India
emerging as nuclear power
 Characteristics of Gen X

• Adaptable
• Pragmatic
• Techno-literate
• Creative
• Multi-tasking
• Aggressive in driving growth
• Values self-reliance
 Gen E
• The E-Gen born in the decade 1971-80 account for the
majority in modern India’s workforce today – 29%.

• Defining moments for this generation were

Liberalization, Globalization, Fastest economic growth,
Assertive nuclear power, self confident nation,
technological revolution, rising middle and their global
exposure

• The members of this cohort value hard work and

believe that efforts in the right direction will bring
results.
 Attributes of the E-Gen
• Growth orientation
• Global thinking
• Techno-savvy
• Environmentally conscious
• Focus on Education
• Want a life
• Hates micromanagement
 The Gen Y or the Millennials
• Gen Y the youngest amongst the formally
employed members of the workforce. Born
between 1981 and 1990, their entry into the
workforce was most recent – the 2000s onwards.
It is estimated that they comprise of almost 26%
of the total workforce.

• The Gen Y woman is seen no less than her male

counterpart in terms of educational attainment
and professional capabilities; 42% of university
graduates of this generation are women. Most
liberal, Social media generation.
 Attributes of the Gen Y
• Favor of flexibility
• Disposable jobs
• Sceptical about corporate lives.
• in general techno brilliant and carry global
mindsets
• Value diversity
• Good taste in experimentation
• Preference to pursue portfolio careers and
explore different avenues in the process.
 Two Points of Focus

• Generation gap

• Unique contributions
 Way of Synergizing Across
Generations
• Building collaborative relationship: Ex arm forces
• Study the demography of workforce to know what
matters to the set of employees
• Create opportunity to cross generational mentoring
using mixed age teams
• Consider life paths for facilities and incentives
• Organize Wisdom talks
• Recognize wisdom workers: E.g. P&G Master program
• Creating employees resource groups

Knight, R. (2014). Managing people from 5 generations. Harvard Business Review, 25(9), 1-7.
Conley, C. (2018). Four ways to help the different generations to share wisdom at work, HBR
 Synergizing Across Generations:
McKinsey Study
200 in-depth interviews with high potential young
professionals and an additional 60 with talent
professionals looking for ways to engage younger
employees effectively. covers 120 companies, including 55
of the Fortune 500, across many industries.

The sample primarily draws from millennials in the United

States but includes multinational perspectives: more than
40 percent of those sampled were immigrants from over
40 different countries or first-generation Americans.
Barsh, J., Brown, L., & Kian, K. (2016). Millennials:
Burden, blessing, or both. McKinsey Quarterly, 1-5.
 Build bridges with data
• HubSpot, a marketing-software company with
a recent IPO, conducts surveys of its mostly
millennial employee base every 90 days and
reports the raw findings, along with analysis,
to all employees. In addition, they use
anonymous micro-feedback platforms to ask
questions about specific topics and to engage
on follow-up feedback requested by
supervisors or senior management.
 Extensive Communication
W.L. Gore’s use of this approach is a classic
example: all new employees are assigned a
sponsor who helps them to navigate the culture;
to reach out and form other mentoring
relationships, based on work interests and
chemistry; and to be successful. More recently,
Sodexo began to test mentoring circles of four
people to help onboard new employees: three
experienced ones each form their own
connection with a newcomer.
 Culture of Mentorship
For example, last year Barclays started up a
young leaders’ resource group called Emerge. Its
primary goal is to help the company’s most
recent hires accelerate their careers through
opportunities to develop skills, to network, and
to manage projects through “extracurricular”
initiatives inside or outside the company.
 Creative about Professional Growth
Finally, young workers tell us they are energized
by rotational programs, an old standby that’s
fallen by the wayside at many companies.
Programs at Synchrony Financial and other
businesses have expanded the traditional model
to include increased mentoring, exposure to
senior leaders, cross functional work, and
community service—elements that millennials
value highly
 Flexibility
Flexibility is also important to millennials starting
families: many young women, and a growing
number of young men, cite their families as a top
priority and want more family-friendly policies at
work. Netflix has instituted an unlimited parental-
leave policy allowing employees to spend more
time with their newborns and to choose return
dates balancing their responsibilities at home and
at work. For many companies, paid parental leave
would be a long-overdue first step.
 Shape midlevel managers into
leaders.
For example, Danone has created an innovative
internal training program that brings together
leaders of different generations so that each can
better understand how the others work (and to
stamp out stereotypes) in 5 this digital era.
Citigroup requires every manager to undergo
coaching and training before working with an intern
or a participant in a rotation program. You might
think training an intern is just a headache, but not
so. It’s a form of recognition for mentoring ability
 Tata Consultancy Services: A Case
Example
So while only making up 34% of the worldwide
population, TCS-BPO estimated that Gen-Y
employees made up over 70% of their workforce
and would increase to about 85% by 2016.

Gen-Y was already dominating the TCS-BPO

workforce, which meant expectations in the
workplace had already seen significant change:
 Inter Generational Dialogue and
Engagement at TCS: Basic Principle
In 2020 the proportion of the workforce from Gen-Y at TCS-BPO
was expected to hit its peak at 92%. These numbers were so high
that at TCS-BPO terms like Gen-Y retention and Gen-Y
engagement were often synonymous with overall employee
retention and engagement.

1. Empower associates at all levels

2. Create a problem solving culture
3. Encourage decision making at the lowest possible level
4. Make associates feel valued and build their trust in the
organization
5. Provide a platform for employees to express their opinions
and concerns.
 Inter Generational Dialogue and
Engagement at TCS: Basic Principle
TCS-BPO developed different programs to meet the needs of an ever changing, and
increasingly Gen-Y workforce. They had set out several different initiatives described
as the mPower platform.

1. Propel –A forum for managing change and taking ownership

2. Catalyst Program –A nominated person from the operations team goes through
a structured program to become a “go-to” resource among the operations teams
for people and policy related issues. They champion the HR cause from the
Operations side.
3. HI Pot Program –A program to augment the skills of high potential employees
4. DAWN –Enhance diversity and inclusivity
5. Associate Connect –Breakfast meetings, One on One Connects and town halls
6. Coach Protégé –senior leaders mentor and develop high performers and solid
citizens
7. Just Ask –Social networking platform to act as an informal setting at work in
order to network and to ask formal and informal questions and interact with
colleagues on matters of common interest
 JustAsk Programme
In particular the recently launched was geared towards the social media
inclined Gen-Y. In the age of enterprise social media platforms, this was seen
as a way of connecting with young employees who heavily depended on
social media in their personal lives. Just Ask
This was a program launched across TCS and was an internal social network
for TCS employees. It had four main goals:
1. Allows an open forum for employees to ask questions and get answers
2. Acts as an early warning indicator to identify issues troubling the
employees.
3. Serves as a channel for immediate feedback on policies or programs to
make sure information has been clearly communicated.
4. Allows trends to be analysed over the lifetime of an associate to
measure impact of programs, etc. With over 27,000 posts in a short
while, the platform had been viewed as a success across TCS business
units. While posts were 27,000, views by fellow employees were well
above this.
• Deloitte LLP has introduced a mass career
customization program where individuals work
with a counsellor to make explicit choices about
which job opportunities in the firm make the
most sense at different stages of their careers,
given the pace, workload, location and level of
responsibility they are willing to take on. Giving
employees a sense of choice in how they shape
their careers is highly empowering. (MetLife
Mature Market Institute, 2009)
• KPMG has a strong mentoring program, which is
actively supported and encouraged by leadership
and where both the mentors and mentees are
expected to contribute to the relationship in
meaningful ways. The process for pairing is fluid
and self-directed; mentees are encouraged to
identify co-workers whom they know personally
to be mentors. This program is also embedded in
KPMG’s performance management system and
mentors are formally recognised with the
National Mentoring Award. (Sabattini et al, 2010)