Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Building Trades
Author(s): Kevin Real, Andrea D. Mitnick and William F. Maloney
Source: Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 25, No. 2, Special Issue: Millennials and
the World of Work: What You Didn't Know You Didn't Know (June 2010), pp. 303-313
Published by: Springer
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40605788
Accessed: 09-03-2017 20:34 UTC
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J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313
DOI 10.1007/sl0869-010-9163-8
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304 J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313
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J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313 305
opportunity to make
group, 2,581 friends)
usable responses were returned
and for an overall
how t
from intrinsic/extrinsic
response rate of 32.3%. rewards (Johnso
The difference between mail sur-
et al. 2004). It is veynot and in-personknown
response rates was stark.whether
Response rate
building trades have from journey-level workers was 18.5% (927 of
different job5,000) valu
generation membership. while the response rateThis leads
from apprentices to th
was 51.8% (1,553
question: of 3,000). Respondents came from nine geographic regions
comprising all 50 states and the District of Columbia. All
RQ2 Do Millennial workers have different job values
surveys were anonymous.
than other workers in the construction/building trades
After survey data were collected, 15 focus group discus-
industry?
sions were conducted in five cities: Denver, Los Angeles,
A third fundamental area in which to examine genera- Louisville, Philadelphia, and Portland. In each city, there
tional differences involves attitudes and beliefs about were three group interviews, one for each of the three gen-
gender in the workplace (Anker 1997; Stewarterations,and with six in each group. Participants were not paid
McDermott 2004). Although limited, prior research sug-
and were recruited in each city with the assistance of the
gests that both gender and generation may be important to leadership. Sessions lasted on average between 1 .5 and
union
the study of values and "should not be considered in 2iso-
h and the data were recorded and transcribed. Each focus
lation of each other" (Lyons et al. 2005, p. 763). Male
group was facilitated by a member of the research team.
blue-collar workers' perceptions of gender issues These
have focus groups were aimed at developing a better
relevance (Kolmet et al. 2006) and many male construction
understanding of Millennials in light of the specific results of
workers hold traditional conceptions of masculinity the survey data. The interaction and feedback within focus
(Iacuone 2005). Males also continue to be dominant in discussions lead to a broad array of responses that
group
construction, where the average percentage of women
provided opportunities to interpret the meaning of survey
responses. The focus group data afforded a qualitative
employed within the trades is 4.1% (Menches and Abra-
ham 2007). As such, it is not clear whether attitudes extension
and of the central topics measured in the survey.
beliefs about gender are related to generation. This forms
the basis for the third research question: Survey Measures
) Springer
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306 J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313
Principal component analyses with iteration and varimax The sample consisted of 762 Millennials, 1,012 Generation
rotation were employed to explore the structure of theX, and 742 Baby Boomer-era workers. A small number of
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J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313 307
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J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313 309
Hard work Millennials on Let's talk about hard work. It's the only type of work worth doing in the first place. This is hard
Millennials hard as some people think. I would rather go to work and come home exhausted than go to wo
bored all day long/Sitting at work... nah, I'd rather bust my ass all day long than be bored
Gen Xers on I'm glad for them (the youngest workers). They need to be steered in the right direction - they're
Millennials they can work harder, their bodies are stronger and they can do some of the shit I can't do any
impressed with what I've seen. On the other hand there are those who go and do nothing - not
committed - a big part of this, though, is education, or bad family life
Baby Boomers on They bring a lot of technological knowledge, in the newest part of the field, computer-type s
Millennials love that. But physical labor they hate
Centrality of Millennials on Sure some days I don't want to work. I'd rather work on cars, or play on the mountain, but I'd rather be
work Millennials doing this for work than something else. I do work to live, I prefer to think I live to work, but right now I
am starting my life, I am working to live
Gen Xers on A lot of them still live at home. Every penny they make they don't have to spend, don't have
Millennials responsibilities we do, they could care less. They think they can get hired anywhere. We never missed
work. They're more lax. They call in sick, haven't been held accountable. Not disciplined, always
trying to get out of work
Baby Boomers on Some of the youngest guys worked nonunion,..., figured every time they want a raise they have to
Millennials negotiate. Now a light went on they get more from the union. Thos are the best ones now; they really
know what a good thing they've got
Self reliance Millennials on Some people get handed too much. My experience was that you go out and work. You want something
Millennials you go out and work for it. This teaches you to find out you like working with your hands and having
responsibility
Gen Xers on Young kids today can't work on teams too well. They lack communication skills. I think it's from TV
Millennials maybe, now they text message everything, they don't even have to talk anymore. You don't have to
carry on a conversation, not face-to-face
Baby Boomers on Part of our curriculum teaches roles and responsibilities. A lot of us old timers resent this... They figure
Millennials we shouldn't be teaching these kids how to balance a check book, figure out a budget. 90% think we
have no business doing this. But the whole reason we do this is so they can get that house sooner, so
many of these young kids we see have no sense when it comes to this stuff. We even show 'em how to
read their paychecks, to make sure deductions are correct, the 401s are correct, to calculate the overtime
if they have disputes about getting overtime
Gender Millennials on The biggest problem, some of them take advantage of their femininity. "I can't do this, will you do it for
issues Millennials MALE me?" Some can work in the shop and not in the field. Maybe we need to put people where they can
work the best, like women should be in the shop more, not in the field so much. There is a place for
women in the trades. Maybe we should use women for what they bring: use women for putting in fuses,
they can get into smaller places
Millennials on I don't get too much flak. The old guys are really cool they want to teach me, but the guys in their early
Millennials forties give me a lot of shit. These guys are threatened. They think they have to be so careful because
FEMALE (F) they think I'm gonna sue them all the time for sexual harassment, but it doesn't keep them from acting
straighter with me. I don't want to be treated differently from anyone else. It takes about 2 weeks to get
to know me and then they see I am just like everyone else. They need to know I am not going anywhere,
and I am just as much a part of this union as they are
Gen Xers on Being a woman and being queer in the trades, [I think Millennials] bring a more liberal attitude. They
Millennials (F) don't seem as phased by my choices. I don't flaunt it, if asked I'll tell. But still, I think kids are more
used to this
Participants also had different perceptions of Millennials approach differed from that of older workers: "It's not that
in the matter of self reliance. One Boomer described hisI know more than the baby boomers, I don't have more
efforts to help Millennials take care of themselvesknowledge.
by I have new knowledge that is useful".
teaching them basic "roles and responsibilities" (see In summary, these comments suggest that these workers
had a mixed view of Millennials' work ethic. Many
Table 2). One Xer described his take on Millennials in the
workplace: "Kids today play by themselves. We used Millennials
to saw themselves as hard working while their
play in groups. If you walk into a new shop, it's intimi-
older brethren had mixed perceptions. A number of state-
dating. Team work is important; somebody needs help you
ments could be related to work experience, age, or stage of
ought to jump right in". A Millennial noted that life
his rather than generation membership. This interpretation
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310 J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313
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J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313 311
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J Bus Psychol (2010) 25:303-313 313
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