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2019

10/07/2019
Digital Natives Katharina Albrecht
Bruna Da PieDade Castelao
at the Workplace Christian Harms-Haltiner
Lars Richter
– A Case for Diversity Management? Constantin Schweitzer
Fabiola Weber

AGENDA

01 GENERATIONAL
VALUES
02 POSSIBLE CONFLICTS

03 OUR EXPERIENCE
04 STRATEGY
RECOMMENDATIONS

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BABY BOOMERS
GENERATION X
Generational
MILLENNIALS
Values
Baby Boomers Generation X
1946-1964 1965-1981
Post- World War II 2008 Financial Crisis & 911
Great expectations placed on them “Latch-key” children resulting in
highly individualistic values
Believe in sacrifice and hard work
in order to achieve success Tend to believe that education is
the key to success
Meeting targets and deadlines is
more important than other aspects Sense of balance between work
of life and personal life
Less concern to locus of control More motivated in a workplace with
an informal structural management
Do not live to work, they work to
live
12.11.2019
Millenials
1982-1999
Heavily affected by enormous
wealth and money circulation since
the 2008 financial crisis
Higher levels of narcissism and
self-esteem which leads to the high
expectation in the workplace
Tend to change job without
concern for social taboos
Tech-Savvy and connected to the
internet 24/7
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VALUE CLASHES
MISCOMMUNICATION
Possible
MISUNDERSTANDINGS
Conflicts

• Generations are shaped by the historical, social and cultural

events happened in each period

• Oftentimes troublesome to manage such a diverse age group

Generational with individual needs

Conflicts at • Digital Natives see Boomers as reluctant in accepting technology

while Boomers see themselves as open to technology as long as
Work there is real value in it

• Difficult to implement what younger generations learned:

Older generations have different styles and ways of
understanding new tools and methods

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• Gen Z perceives less brand loyalty

 Sees no doubts in switching products if it offers a
better solution

• “Employer brand” developed on social media, easily attracts

new employees
 Prone to changing jobs if the employer doesn’t live up
to its promises
Cases of
• Baby Boomers and digital natives share different values in
Potential terms of working out of the office
 While Xers and Zers don’t care about the process as
Conflict long as the results are sufficient

• Communication and feedback preferences differ highly

between generations
 Digital natives use all streams of direct messaging
while other generations tend resort to in person
meetings and less frequent feedback

OUR REAL WORLD EXAMPLE

THEORY APPLICATION

EXPERIENCE IMPLICATIONS

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• Large percentage of employees are approaching retirement

age
• Highly specialized workforce requiring innovation and
experience
• Challenge: Miscommunication, insistence on “traditional”
processes, combining experience and innovation

一AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE MANUFACTURING COMPANY

5 000 EMPLOYEES
U.S. BASED

SOLUTIONS/
STRATEGY
RECOMMENDATIONS

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1. Mentoring – Intergenerational mentoring to optimize work processes

and each other
2. Voluntary generational exchange programs – Engage employees in
an exchange of experiences and innovation in an informal, voluntary
manner, also improves communication
3. Implement an adaptable incentives structure and bring more flexibility
Solutions into job profiles to serve the needs of different employee groups

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THANK YOU

Any Questions?

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