Communication in a multi generational workforce: Draft small-scale qualitative project write-
up
Small-Scale Qualitative Project Write-Up
For this Discussion Question, please be sure to visit the Application area before completing this
Discussion.
Throughout this course, you completed various components of your Small-Scale Qualitative Project.
The primary purpose of this assignment is to provide you with firsthand experience for conducting
qualitative research.
� For this Discussion, you will attach your initial draft small-scale qualitative project write-up by Day 4
and final draft by Day 7 draft, be sure to also post a 5-sentence narrative abstract of your interview.
COMMUNICATION IN A MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE 2
Communication in a multi generational workforce: draft small-scale qualitative project
write-up
Background: Of late, there has been an increase in the number of multigenerational
workforce and this has complicated communication in the place of work. The current
American multi-generational workforce compasses employees from four dissimilar
generations/eras, with each having their own particular perspectives and needs, as well as
styles of communication. One of the main difficulties experienced by multi-generational
workforce is communication among the diverse age groups (Brown, 2012).
Problem statement: in many workplaces nowadays, people of diverse generations are
working side by side. This multi-generational workforce comprises individuals in the
following generation groups: Generation Y aged 25 years and under, Generation X aged
twenty-five to forty five years, Baby boomer generation aged forty-five years to sixty-five
years, and lastly the Traditionalist or Silent generation who are aged above 65 years (Cekada,
2012). Dissimilar communication styles is what really represents the main difference between
the younger generations – Generations X and Y – and the older generations, Silent and Baby
Boomers, in the place of work. Members of the younger generations have been in the
workforce for a relatively short period of time and are less experienced in comparison to their
older baby boomer and silent generation workmates (Brown, 2012). It is of note that
members of the younger generations are inclined to using a form of communication that
involves abbreviations, informal language as well as colloquialisms that need to be seriously
broken down for better understanding. On the other hand, older generations’ workers are
accustomed to communicating using appropriate formal language and this happens with high
formality that has to be followed to the latter. In essence, the past homogenous human capital
administration may not work successfully for the current working environment that consists
of individuals from diverse ages (Rajput et al., 2013).
COMMUNICATION IN A MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE 3
Purpose statement: thanks to increased multigenerational workforce, the general
problem is that each generation has a unique and preferred communication/motivational style
that challenge the leaders and the supervisors of multigenerational workforce. The main focus
of this qualitative research study is to find out how communication can be a challenge within
the multigenerational workforce and what needs to be done to improve the situation. The
focus of this qualitative multi-case study is to explore strategies that managers use to
communicate with a multigenerational workforce and eliminate any obstacles that impede
effective communication with a multigenerational workforce. A survey methodology that
employs the use of case study can best be used to answer the research questions related to
communication in a multigenerational workforce.
Research questions: effective communication styles that can be used by company leaders
and supervisors when communicating with a multigenerational workforce has not been fully
established. The ability of the people in the multigenerational workforce to enhance their
communication is very important as it will enhance proper relationships and improve the
productivity of employees in the workforce (Jora & Khan, 2014). The research questions
which this research seeks to answer are as follows:
- How is effective and proper communication a challenge amongst a multi-generational
workforce? - What strategies and communication styles can managers make use of to ensure
effective communication with a multi-generational work force?
Theoretical framework: the theory that is applicable to this research study is certainly
the social constructionist theory. This theory considers communication as a perfect
transaction of message that comes from the sender to the receiver as a product of information
sharing and creation of social meaning. The social constructionist theory essentially claims
COMMUNICATION IN A MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE 4
that how somebody says something will determine the meaning of the message by assuming
that the ideas are constructed though the social process.
Significance of study: the data for this study would be gathered from three human
resource managers within New York City. The data and the result from this study might
significantly contribute to the social change by increasing communication and the overall
productivity within the multigenerational workforce environment. This study will basically
look into how communication amongst the multigenerational workforce could actually be a
major challenge in an organization and what could possibly be done in order to address this
crucial issue. In addition, this study is significant since the results would help organizations in
addressing the issue of poor communication amongst staff members from different
generations, which a problem that becoming increasingly common in more and more
business organizations. Improved communication with staff members of diverse generations
will certainly result in increased satisfaction with job and reduce the rates of employee
turnover (Jora & Khan, 2014).
Members of staff usually feel empowered if they appreciate their multigenerational
differences in the context of communication between them. Hiriyapa (2009) reported that the
effectiveness of communication flow is of major importance to staffs given that employees
often feel secure whenever they are able to receive truthful, understandable and clear
information from their leaders as well as their co-workers. All in all, enhanced
communication skills would help in reducing the impediments in the multigenerational
workforce and improve understanding amongst the general employees.
COMMUNICATION IN A MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE 5
References
Brown, S. E. (2012). Attracting, challenging, and leading a multigenerational workforce-A
perspective. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 29(1), 29-33.
Cekada, T. L. (2012). Training a multigenerational workforce. Professional Safety, 57(3), 40-
44.
Hiriyappa, B. (2009). Organizational Behavior. New Age International, New Delhi.
Jora, R. B., & Khan, S. (2014). Motivating multigenerational human resource. International
Journal of Organizational Behaviour & Management Perspectives, 3(4), 1276-
1281.
Rajput, N., Marwah, P., Balli, R., & Gupta, M. (2013). International Journal of Marketing
and Technology, 3(2), 132-149.
