Generations in organizations. Ageing workforce and personnel policy as context for intergenerational conflict in local government
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The topic of the dissertation is the collaboration between generations in the workplace. In the first chapter, this topic is situated in the context of the ageing problem. The question that is addressed is why the collaboration between generations has become a point of attention for the personnel policy, and more specifically for age management that is targeted at keeping workers to work longer. Also, the context of the research, namely Flemish Local Government, is discussed. In the second chapter, we propose an alternative conceptualization of generations in organizations based on a critical review of the literature. Our definition emphasizes the importance of the organizational context for understanding generations in organizations. This context also includes the personnel policy of organizations. In addition, a theoretical understanding of the concept intergenerational conflict is provided. Based on conflict management literature, different types of intergenerational conflict are defined: conflict of interest, relationship conflict, task conflict and conflicts due to conflicting age norms. Moreover, the concept of generations is linked with the concept of organizational culture. A research question is to what extent the presence of different generations in the organization can help explain changes in the organizational culture. In other words: to what extent do younger and older generations desire a different organizational culture? This research question is connected to a research theme in the field of public administration that examines the influence of New Public Management (NPM) on the organizational culture of government organizations. The idea is that the implementation of NPM is associated with the departure from a traditional, bureaucratic culture towards an more innovative, goal-oriented culture. In the third chapter, the research design is presented. The research consisted of a case study whereby two similar local governments were studied in depth. In each case organization, both qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (survey) data were gathered. In this chapter, also the specific context of both case organizations is discussed, since we assume that the context is important for understanding intergenerational conflict in the workplace. In this respect, changes in the personnel policy as well as administrative-institutional changes are discussed. The fourth chapter contains the results of the qualitative research. The main findings were that workers in local government did perceive tensions and conflict between younger and older workers in the organization. This was associated with negative stereotypes and group formation. Although the sources of these conflicts were diverse, the data confirmed the role of the personnel policy. In particular, the personnel policy had created faultlines between generations based on function level and civil service status (contractual versus statutory). In addition, the erosion of the traditional career seemed to have an influence on the collaboration between generations. The data also revealed that respondents made a connection between the succession of generations and the organizational culture. For instance, in the focus groups, respondents talked about the difference between the old and the new culture and explicitly linked this with the entrance of newcomers in the organization. Another interesting finding of the qualitative study was that especially older workers were negatively about the younger workers and that the experience of intergenerational conflict was considered to be a factor of demotivation. In the fifth chapter, the research question to what extent generations desire a different organizational culture was answered. The hypothesis was that younger generations would be more focused on innovation and goal orientation, while older generations would adhere more to a bureaucratic or rules oriented organizational culture. The survey only partially supported these hypotheses. Only a significant difference was found between generations concerning the rules orientation. Furthermore, younger generations felt less pleased with the current organizational culture when compared with older generations. This was in line with our hypothesis that younger generations in organizations would perceive a greater need for organizational culture change. Finally, the survey showed that older generations experienced more intergenerational conflict in the workplace. Moreover, the more older workers perceived intergenerational conflict, the less they were willing to work longer. However, for the younger generations, the perception of intergenerational conflict was not associated with a higher turnover intention.
Source: Lirias (KU Leuven)
Author: Platteau, Eva
Institution: KU Leuven
Language: English
Subfield: Life-span and Life-course Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2525132004