We encourage your participation in blog comment threads. In order to keep the experience a positive one for all of our users, we ask that you follow our
The battle of the generations for workplace rewards
Friday, 12 March 2010
Category:
The Future of HR
This week we had the privilege of welcoming Dr Elaine Alden to The Work Foundation’s Research Rumbles where she presented her research on the connections between generational membership (Traditionalists; Baby Boomers, Gen X; Gen Y, please see link to Dr Alden’s presentation above) and their reward preferences. She also examined the data in relation to life cycle and gender factors. As a reward manager in a previous existence, Alden was interested in the implications to practice. Was generational membership helpful when designing reward strategies?
As we discovered in our review of the literature, the psychological contract is constantly evolving. It reflects changing norms, expectations and clearly impacts rewards and talent management schemes. Alden found that, for all the fanfare about generational differences, how competitively people were paid and a positive perception of the work environment were pre-requisites for attracting and keeping individuals in all the groups; especially when there was something wrong at the workplace. However, there was a marked shift to a more financially rewarding and ‘career supportive’ environment from the Baby Boomers to Gen X’ers. Gen Y, the ‘yes, please’ group had responded to the recession by being more focussed on job security and cash rewards. Unsurprising.
Alden’s research highlights the importance of locating what is important to the employee, and motivating behaviour through an efficient reward strategy [link to Alden’s slides]. I think the generational grouping only takes us this far and the focus must be a more diverse and individual management of the employee deal; an area that the FHR programme hopes to discuss in our final report this November.
Wilson Wong
Benefits cheats?
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Category:
The Future of HR
Last night on BBC1 there were two programmes which presented an aspect of the world of work familiar to millions of people in the UK: seeking it. Both sought to understand the experience of joblessness through the presentation of a small number of individuals currently looking for work in the UK. However, here the similarities between them ended.
Benjamin Reid