Haonan Kuang UWP22
Summary:
In the article, “Winning the Generation Game,” published in “The Economist,” the author discusses that businesses are worrying about how to manage different generations in the workplace with different expectations. The article begins with the latest want advertisement of Havas PR, which hopes to attract younger generations to work at company and tell them there is no “hierarchy.” However, the older workers think the firm is ingratiating itself to younger generations. The article points out employers are yearning for talented employees, so young people with right skills are welcomed by them. In the meantime, older staff find younger staff are exceeding them in status or position rapidly and being promoted sooner. Gradually, baby-boomers resent generation Ys. But the statistics from a survey shows that baby-boomers are still valuable. So, understanding generational challenges will help firms to get them to work together. Millennials have promoted into managerial position promptly because they are good at digital technology and social media. But this trend may cause older workers to be less motivated. The article uses Tata Consulting Services as an example. After having launched Knome, it has earned a lot because internal social network has facilitated collaboration on everything. Older generations should learn to behave like generation Ys in some points. In fact, the image of generation Ys has been overstated, but they like challenging work with purpose and development and want to learn from older colleagues. So, generation Ys are asking for the things that everybody else wants. Eventually, the article ends by asking a question that whether all the generations will be happy to be work together or not.
Response:
After reading the article, “Winning the Generation Game,” from “The Economist,” generally speaking, I think firms from all fields should accept different generations to work together and make their effort to manage and balance the diversity. As the same aim that all the firms are chasing for, they want the best talents from their staffs that can help firms to promote in a meritocratic pattern. Although administrators will be more confused about how to manage the difference, the pay back of success should be allured enough to attract them to look for the methods. Therefore, in my opinion, businesses should take the challenge to win the generation game.
Considering the advantages that different age groups will bring, firms should have the confidence to manage them reasonably even if it is challenging. I am surprised to learn from the survey that, “Baby-boomers are still hard-working and productive, generation Xs are best team players, and generation Ys are good at tech stuff but truculent and a bit work-shy.” This phenomenon means older staff retain their enthusiasm for work, which may impress administrators a lot. Moreover, in spite of the “three characteristics” that often show up in millennials’ attitudes, their “truculence” and shyness prevents them from being department heads in firms. So, they need more experience and toughening, and bosses should think twice whether it is wise to promote millennials into managerial positions promptly. As a consequence, older staff do not need to worry about if younger workers are “whizzing past them.” I believe all the experience that older staff have can lead to general accurate orientations when firms need to make decisions. In that case, younger workers can learn from older ones step by step with the combination of their strong points like “digital skills” and their proficiency of using social networks. Gradually, younger workers become mature and discard their arrogance and carelessness during work. The successful management of Google is really inspiring, as it has workers as old as 83. And I do not think Google is tolerating its staff; it must have find the true balance.
However, administrators are still worrying the “rubbing” caused by generation gaps, meaning the collisions during their breaking-in period. But, rubbings do not only appear between different generations. Competition is everywhere so long as there are people. So, firms should be willing to see that because the ones who win competitions may have better talents that firms want. Similarly, grudges are also not only intergenerational. The more resentment an older employee has, the less confidence he or she has in work. In my opinion, if a worker does not become a supervisor until he is getting older, it is his problem for not being that talented, so he can only resent younger ones who are better than him. In fact, the “corporate ladder” is depending on working ability instead of age.
In brief, every firm should control its structure of different generation, and gives staff enough space to show their talents and abilities. Instead of winning the generation game for firms, I think it should be winning the game in the workplace for every staff. Because working is surviving.
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