They are flying around your ears: claims about generations. Generation claims are popular, they classify people based on date of birth. I recently sat in a lecture where (once again) the younger generation was criticized. Chills ran down my spine.
Another person who attacks a generation for a poor work ethic (but is approaching 50 himself and would like to spend more time with the family and cycle more). I didn’t blame the man for that, but I was done with the blunt statement that today’s youth no longer want to work. The irony couldn’t be greater.
As is often the case, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut in this case. Time to stand up against the nonsense of generational thinking and even worse its management.
The curve
I introduced the ‘whistle curve’. Let me explain: the whining curve means that as you get older you become more critical of the generation below you. With the top somewhere between 40 and 60 (inverted U-shaped).
Then you reach the peak I have called ‘generational incontinence’. Then it decreases and you become more gentle with yourself (the importance of work also decreases for you), but also for others.
Scientific research now shows that later born people (younger people) are always considered more work averse/avoidant. This has been said since my parents’ generation (the Romans started it). So the nonsense about the ‘new generation’ is over.
According to research Vandenabeele, associate professor of HRM, generational thinking is complete nonsense and we don’t change nearly as quickly as we think.
These age and period effects make later-born generations seem work averse, while birth year and thus generational membership hardly explain work motivation after accounting for age and period effects. – bron: Work Motivation Is Not Generational but Depends on Age and Period
Appreciate work differently
In short, this means that people in different age phases (age) value work differently in their lives. This applies to almost everyone. This is less in the beginning, becomes stronger and as you get older the importance of work decreases. The idea that Gen Z does not want to work is therefore not true.
Moreover, we have more to do with the spirit of the times (period effects) in which we look at work differently. For example, the 4-day working week is now on the rise (and we incorrectly link it to the new generation). This is a case of correlation and not causation.
For example, a meta-study shows that generations differ little from each other. Yet the story of generational differences appears to be popular because, the researchers indicate, people recognize themselves in it. This is partly because researchers also recognize themselves in the terms, according to professor by special appointment Marian Thunnissen & Associate professor Jasmijn van Harten.
Firstly, there are little to no statistically significant differences and where there are significant differences, the differences are very small.
Persistent phenomenon
Generational thinking remains a persistent phenomenon. Organizations do not want to miss the boat with a new generation entering the labor market: “we have to do something with that”. The problem with this is that focusing on generational differences becomes a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.
So it is not as innocent as it seems and it can actually influence people and organizations (performativity). But luckily (and this is the good news) what they (generation experts) say is also valid for that boomer complaining about the generation ‘below him or her’.
Anyway, maybe I’m from 1989 (so millennial, 1980-1996) and I’m too critical of generational thinking. Perhaps that is a characteristic that simply belongs to me. Generation claims are therefore more like horoscopes than actual science.
Life stage awareness policy
What we can focus on much better is ‘life phase awareness policy’ (I already notice, this attracts your attention a lot less). In short, this means that you can easily combine work and private life during all phases of your life.
Think young and dashing with another degree. Or very young children (and study) with growing children. How about parents who need help (informal care), with less energy or health themselves? And with retirement or a mix of everything you had not thought of before.
Let the 4-day working week make an enormous contribution to this. We don’t need that generational thinking anymore.
Source: www.frankwatching.com
