Understanding generational relations key in the workplace
Published:Wednesday | July 19, 2023 | 12:06 AM
Declaring that there is a culture of “generational unintelligence” in the workplace, Jermaine D. Nairne, senior manager of talent, performance and culture at the Jamaica National Group, wants companies to better understand and leverage the strengths of the different generations in their organisation in order to take advantage of the benefits.
“Generally speaking, millennials and Gen Zs are not what we call ‘entitled’, but the psychology is one that says ‘I stand for what I believe in and you ought to value me as a person’,” he said.
“A baby boomer on the other hand will say ‘I have a job, and I am grateful for a job and it’s paying bills. Regardless of my boss disrespecting me, I am going to take it and sit down’. A millennial, a Gen Z will say to you, ‘no, respect is earned’.”
Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 is considered a millennial, while Gen Z is made up of anyone born from 1997. Meanwhile, boomers were born between 1946 and 1964.
But, speaking at a Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Business Forum yesterday, Nairne maintained that there are lessons to be learnt from each generation.
However, he said that, for a company to capitalise on this, it will need to practise employee engagement which he said goes beyond a sports day.
“The very definition, in terms of people development, is the extent to which your employees are attached and committed to the organisation, which heightens their discretionary efforts,” he said.
According to Nairne, value must be placed on not just the technical output, but in understanding the importance of the employee’s need for psychological safety in the organisation. He said research has shown that people leave jobs not only because of the compensation, but more so because of workplace culture which does not facilitate growth.
“Having moved from onboarding, then you get to the learning and development process where the opportunities are there for them to move along the spectrum to know that that is a career pathway that is going to take me from clerical to executive, so that I can look forward to it,” he said.
Stating that “the employee experience will determine your brand”, Nairne advocated for continuous upskilling and reskilling of staff as a feature of the organisation, especially in an ever-changing global economy.
“How do you effectively discharge those duties and ensure that the employee feels valued, and the employee can go home and put food on the table, the employee can be able to see themselves beyond where they are, and, of course, at the point of offboarding, they can say this is an organisation that made me grow,” he said.