Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/136276
Talent Management Generationally Speaking Multigenerational workers introduce workforce challenges. Here's how to tackle them. By Rachele Focardi Walk into any typical work environment today and you would likely find at least three generations of employees: Baby Boomers or those in their 40s and 50s; Generation Xs who are in their 30s and late 40s; and Generation Ys ranging from fresh graduates to those in the early 30s. It takes hard work for management and HR to foster a cohesive work culture, and needless to say, painstaking efforts are required to keep everyone engaged and happy at the same time. The points of views are quite different: "What do you mean I cannot be promoted yet? I have delivered the results I was asked to deliver." —Generation Y employee [40] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | SPRING 2013 "I've worked here most of my life. My dedication and service have to be rewarded." —Baby Boomer employee The beliefs, expectations, preferences, and work styles held by different generations of workers are shaped by certain socioeconomic experiences unique to each generation, according to a recent study by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. These are compounded by cross-cultural and geographical differences. While the Baby Boomers grew up in a healthy postwar economy in the U.S., their counterparts in China went through hardship during the "Great Leap Forward" through the Cultural Revolution.