Generational Differences Between Baby Boomers and Millennials and The Impacts on HR

Kimberly Senkler
September 14, 2010
Human Resource Management BA 421 KP Normally we tend to think of diversity in relation to age, race, gender and religion. These days there is more focus being given to diversity in the form of generational differences.
While the other factors in diversity (age, race, gender and religion) tend to lead to legal issues, generational diversity is generally more of a performance issue. Generations can be loosely defined as bodies of individuals born and living at about the same time. “Each generation is molded by distinctive experiences during their critical developmental periods” (Twenge, 2008). The …show more content…

Fogg, Kehoe & Kestner (2007) note that after spending millions of hours recruiting, prescreening, interviewing, hiring and training employees, employers find out those people are not actually right for the job or don’t stay in one job for long. Baby Boomers are a work force that is experienced and dedicated. After so many years in the workplace Boomers might be more attracted to companies that offer them reduced schedules. They no longer want 80-hour work weeks but they still want to contribute their knowledge to the workplace (Wagner, 2007). Baby Boomers are looking for a flexible work place to accommodate their new roles as Grandparents and Snow Birds (Wolgemuth, 2009). Baby Boomers also have different benefit requirements. Sometimes Baby Boomers already have benefits from retirement and it may be cost effective to the employer as well as a draw for the Boomer to come on as a contract. As Baby Boomers go into phased retirement, a company that offers telecommuting might have a large draw for them (Skillman, 2008). Baby Boomers are often looking for different types of benefits choices. While medical benefits top the list, disability coverage and life insurance are also ranked highly for this generation. As Baby Boomers reach a point in their lives where they are starting to take care of their parents, they are viewing long-term care insurance as important as well (Munk, 2009). To recruit Baby Boomers, companies may want to