If an Analysis. is this?
Aetna was founded in 1853 in Hartford, Connecticut. It is one of the leading providers of health care services from medical, dental, pharmacy, group life, and disability insurance, to employee benefits throughout the United States. Aetna provides traditional and consumer directed health care products and services that include long-term care and Medicaid ‘medical management’ capabilities. Aetna covers over 30 million members nationwide (3). It has expanded around the globe with newest offices in Dubai and China.
As a member of the global community, providing Aetna Global Benefits to expatriates and global employers, it has adapted and embraced diversity in all aspects of its business. In 1962 when Aetna reached 16,000th employee, two-third of them were consisted of women. Aetna has been steadily growing – from market capital of just over $750,000 in 1878 to reported revenue of over $31 billion in 2009. It is a member of the Fortune 100 with over 30,000 employees and 18 million medical, 13 million dental and 8 million pharmacy members (1).
Aetna supports many communities and charitable and non-profit organizations around the country. Their focus on “corporate responsibility” (2) is apparent with their involvement and long tradition of giving. To further the cause, Aetna Foundation, a national health foundation that promotes wellness, health, and access to high-quality health care for everyone was established in 1972. Since then it has contributed over $394 million in grants and sponsorships to non-profit organizations for variety of health and education related issues. For example, In New York City, a $70,000 award to the Museum for African Art was given to support “Active Body, Active Mind” targeting senior citizens (4).
The diverse population growth in the U.S. in general and Phoenix metropolitan in particular has created many issues in management and integration for many organizations. They are increasingly faced with multiple challenges that they have to face every day. In 2008 “minorities” were roughly one-third of the U.S. population and by 2042 they will be the majority (Table1). This growing and diverse workforce presents challenging problems to small and large organizations alike including Aetna. The socio-economic and population expansion has greatly changed our society. From a majority homogeneous group, the faces of customers, clients, suppliers, employees and managers have been transforming into a dynamic mix of diverse people with various races, cultures and backgrounds. A predominantly ‘white’ and male organization does not represent the population and fails to reflect diversity in our society.
As a publicly traded organization, Aetna plays a significant role in acquiring and retaining top talent to keep up with the demanding and diverse consumers they serve. It is a difficult task to recruit, train and maintain a workforce that is reflective of society. As a health care provider in a diverse country, the business and its growth will depend on the ability to maintain and accommodate diversity within the organization. By 2050 two third of the U.S. population will consist of minorities (3). But minorities are still under-represented in Aetna’s management and leadership positions. Even though the company has placed many diversity programs over the years to integrate and provide opportunities to minorities, medium to high-level management and leadership jobs seems the exception to the rule – 40 percent of Aetna’s 2010 hires were people of color but only 16 percent of has made it to the management/supervisory positions (4). Many factors play direct and indirect role in creating a diverse workforce and culture. There isn’t a magic bullet for diversity. Most organizations have ‘diversity programs’ in place. They have special and mandatory training courses that each employee must take annually. But they fail to create a culture that embraces diversity. The under representation of minorities are often explained away by ‘we have diverse workforce’. Some companies meet the minimum requirements of the law and call it a diversity training program achieved (5).
There are also other restrictions both on the company and the potential employee’s parts that creates challenges in achieving diversity. Despite many laws, regulations including EEOC, Affirmative Action, Title IV of Civil Rights Act to protect employees from discrimination, the number of complaints against companies have skyrocketed in 2011 (16).
Diversity in a company is not something that happens automatically. Regardless of how diverse the population and society has become, most companies still struggle with diversity. Organizations play a major role in under representation of minorities. First, there is bias. Bias from the organization. Bias from the hiring managers. Secondly, according to Richard Ingersoll, a Penn State professor of education, “There’s been a victory for recruitment but not a victory for retention,” (6), and “corporations are losing women and minority professionals and managers at rates higher than they’re losing whites” as a result of direct and indirect discrimination within the organization (7).
To become a more diverse company, a new approach that measures both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the diversity at needs to be taken into consideration. A quantitative (numerical) study will measure whether Aetna has a diverse management in which minorities, women, gays and lesbians are proportionally represented across the board. A qualitative (experimental) study will measure which members of these groups are proportionally represented in different positions including top leadership throughout Aetna. To be effective in diversity management, everyone in the company from management and leadership to the custodian specialist must be involved. The organization’s culture must be ‘diversity’ attuned to attract the best and the brightest from a diverse culture and society. The management must be inter-culturally knowledgeable and new recruits should be judged and hired based on their qualities – not on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, etc., etc.
When the organization’s culture, plans, vision and goals are written and implemented toward attracting a diverse labor force. In an inclusive organization employees and constituents’ satisfaction will increase and contribute directly to company’s growth. All employees including management and leadership will consist of all different groups equally. They will work toward companies’ goals that benefits both the company and employees. Happy employees not remain with a successful but also contribute to the growth of the company.
To achieve the level of success, the focus on the following area for diversity and inclusion must be discussed among top leadership at Aetna.
• Management and Leadership – perception
• Existing Policies and Strategy
To gather more insight into public perception (publicly traded company) and Aetna commitment to diversity, the following were taken into consideration:
• Focus Group QandA and feedback sessions – I sat down couple of times with two young folks to discuss Aetna’s (management) perceptions
• An analysis of existing strategies and suggestions to improve diversity in management and leadership positions
Management and Leadership
From leadership’s point of view, diversity simply makes sense. Diversity directly contributes to the bottom line and growth of the company. Aetna has been growing steadily over the years. According to reports, “diversity in the workforce are more profitable” (9) especially in the U.S. Aetna has embraced diversity from policy to implementation and has been successful thus far.
To measure how general public thought about diversity at Aetna, two focus group sessions were conducted. The involved parties were assured of their anonymity. The opinion of the focus group regarding management’s involvement and commitment was not positive. Insurance industry has had a black eye “Let’s face it, the insurance industry—in general—is not perceived to be an exciting place to work by college students and people seeking a career change.” Frank Heaps the managing director for Innovation in Insurance (15).
It was focus group’s perception that management lacked the necessary interest in diversity and cultural understanding to embrace recruiting young talent from diverse pool of graduates. “There won’t be an effort on their part” was an answer to “How much do you think the management is involved?” The management and leadership must demonstrate its involvement and commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. Their involvement and support for a culture of inclusive and diverse is curtail to the growth and success of the company.
When ask any final thoughts, “Over all the management probably don’t have the necessary interest in diversity” said the focus group “to be good at recruiting young and diverse candidates.” Aetna’s mission, values, and vision are to create an inclusive and dynamic culture. Top leadership must increase their level of sponsorship and support to group initiatives that promote team building exercises among inter-departmental staff. “Do you think managers have any knowledge to understand and manage young recruits?” was overwhelmingly “No”, Leadership is not prepared for to accept necessary changes to have an impact (10).
Policies and Strategy
Diversity is not about increasing visible differences (sex, age, color, etc) in the workforce but rather a strategic advantage that can be achieved from incorporating a variety of approaches and perspectives. Although Aetna has made great strides toward inclusion, management and leadership positions are lacking minorities. An effort must be made to recruit and/or promote management and leadership positions from the existing diverse pool of candidates within Aetna.
The diversity and inclusion programs embraced by Aetna are having great impact, but most are lower level positions. The same amount of effort must be directed at top positions as well. 76 percent of employees are from diverse groups, but only 16 percent of them are in management and supervisory positions and 15 percent in the top leadership positions. Effort and full leadership involvement toward new strategies on how to promote and recruit from ranks and file of employees must get underway. “A richly diverse America does not await us. It is upon us. It is our present and our future,” Susan Hockfield, MIT President said. Aetna’s core values are based on diversity and inclusive employees. “We cannot permit MIT to be a community of the past.” Philip Harlow, chief diversity and labor relations officer at Xerox. That statement is true for any company that wants to compete in 21st century marketplace. “There is no magic formula” for creating diverse workforce he concluded. Many companies struggle with diversity. They are missing one critical ingredient: strong leadership from the top (13).
“Our company’s evolution as a leader in diversity reflects profound changes in the marketplace. We actively engage the diversity of our employees to better understand the communities we serve.” Mark T. Bertolini, CEO. For example, people of color hold 16 percent of management and supervisory positions. The impact of diversity in all aspects of business is evident at Aetna. It’s relationships with the workforce, customers, suppliers, clients, constituents, and networks of health care professionals that involve many people from all walks of life is immaculate. At Aetna diversity is any mixture of differences and similarities in job function, life experience, discipline, education, socio-economic background, marital status, personality, gender, age, language, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, religion, family, etc.
According to its values “Aetna will be the industry leader in the diverse marketplace.” Aetna promises to deliver best-in-class service to its customers because they are part of the society. They must feel comfortable and welcomed when doing business with Aetna. Some of the strategies currently in place:
• Create innovative and tailored products and service solutions that will meet the unique needs of our constituents
• Develop a diverse supplier base reflecting our multi-cultural workforce environment that supports innovative ways to deliver best-in-class services
• Build a workforce that are knowledgeable and fully understands the diverse communities where we do business
• Foster a culture of inclusion that grows a diverse talent pool and recognizes and rewards the contributions of every employee while allowing employees to do their best work
Existing policies and procedure may need to be modified to include new protected groups. The development and implementation of ‘diversity’ policies and procedures should include providing employees and constituents with an environment that is dynamic, fair, friendly and professional. Impartiality principles are a core element of the planning, recruitment, interview, and selection process for hiring best talent to meet business needs and compete in one of the most challenging industries (4). The organization has an effective diversity strategy in place to grow and recruit talented potential employees that reflect the diversities in our society. Looking at Aetna’s workforce by numbers (below), the organization has had an effective strategy to hire and retain diverse workforce that include women, veterans, people of color from all generations (11).
Gender
• 76 percent of Aetna’s employees are women
• Women hold 62 percent of management/supervisory positions
• Women hold 26 percent of senior leadership positions
• 31 percent of Aetna’s board directors are women
Race and ethnicity
• 31 percent of our employees are people of color
• People of color hold 16 percent of management/supervisory positions
• People of color hold 15 percent of senior leadership positions
• 23 percent of Aetna’s board of directors are people of color
• 40 percent of 2010 hires were people of color
Age/Generations
• Employees range in age from 18 to 85
• The average age of our employees is 44
• 1 percent of Aetna’s employees are in the Silent generation
(born between 1925 and 1945)
• 38 percent of Aetna’s employees are Baby Boomers
(born between 1946 and 1963)
• 46 percent of Aetna’s employees are in Generation X
(born between 1964 and 1978)
• 15 percent of Aetna’s employees are in Generation Y
(born between 1979 and 1994)
“The challenge of continually increasing our value to customers, shareholders and communities requires creativity and insights that only a diverse workforce can deliver” Mark B. ‘2010 Diversity Annual’ report, says that (12). The report emphasizes three aspects of programs that Aetna has implemented. Embraced. Empowered. Engaged.
Embraced: Aetna understands that when people join together to create change and innovate, their deepest insights emerge from both common and uncommon ground. Their greatest contributions arise from the way they live their lives, where they come from, what they treasure, and what they understand about our world.
Empowered: People are empowered to share their unique perspectives in a many ways to make Aetna more successful and a better place to work. They are encouraged to extend their momentum beyond Aetna’s walls – to nurture a greater understanding of diversity and its benefits in our communities and across the nation.
Engaged: Aetna is engaged in making diversity an integral part of the business. Diversity influences the way the company works with customers and business partners. It helps Aetna to identify and serve new markets.
Given Aetna’s history in successful integration of minorities in their workforce, they are ready to meet diversity challenges. Companies that have workforce that reflect the society proportionally will succeed in 21st century and beyond. They will continue to succeed in creating and implementing strategies that give equal opportunity to everyone regardless of who they are. A diverse society is made of people from all walks of life – from baby boomers to the Gen Ys and Aetna has been able to adapt and meet the challenges.
The following recommendations must be taken into consideration for dynamic new diversity strategies:
1. Identify various populations of employees in at Aetna.
2. Survey and study what each population/group needs to feel comfortable and included at work – a sense of what helps employees work together effectively and efficiently adds to employee morale.
3. Create a top-level committee who reports and discusses their findings to brainstorm new strategies for promoting diversity in the top leadership and management positions – as opposed to appointing members.
4. Establish a clear equal-opportunities policy and procedure for management recruitment and promotion – making sure it falls within the guidelines of Equal Employment Opportunities and related laws and regulations.
5. Re-establish hiring practices and policies that select the best candidates for the management positions without considering age, race or ethnicity, etc.
6. Promote and provide diversity training for all employees – especially the hiring managers.
7. Acknowledge that prejudice / discrimination will continue to exist at Aetna.
8. Set clear consequences for discrimination against anyone at Aetna and communicate and remind employees through intra-net, email and other established communication means.
References
1. http://www.aetna.com/about-aetna-insurance/aetna-corporate-profile/facts.html
2. http://www.aetna.com/about-aetna-insurance/aetna-corporate-profile/diversity/index.html
3. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/
4. http://www.aetna.com/about-aetna-insurance/aetna-corporate-profile/corporate-bios/index.html
5. http://www.psc.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=078f3edd-e80b-4a26-9ada-819f91671c53
6. http://www.miller-mccune.com/education/minority-teachers-hard-to-get-and-hard-to-keep-25852/
7. http://knowwpcarey.com/article.cfm?aid=649
8. http://www.chubb.com/diversity/chubb4450.html
9. http://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/diversity.html
10. Focus group QandA and Feedback Sessions held on 2/1/2012 and 2/8/2012
11. http://www.aetna.com/about-aetna-insurance/aetna-corporate-profile/diversity/workforce-workplace.html
12. http://www.aetna.com/diversityannualreport/index.html
13. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/diversity-congress-tt1119.html
14. http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/the-world-is-flat
15. http://www.insurancenetworking.com/blogs/insurance_technology_employment_recruiting_labor_health_care-25406-1.html
16. http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/reports/index.cfm
The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema/Extended
1. What message do you think the author was trying to convey in his description of this culture?
I think the overall message was that these people being so close to us need to be studied and integrated into a civilized society. Another message is that no matter what part of the world you are from and how weird your ‘rituals’ sound to outsiders, you are part of the mankind and should have the same opportunities as the rest. Diversity and uniqueness is part of all human beings. Our uniqueness makes us diverse. We are all different in any aspect of life and looks you can think of. Our difference starts from the finger-prints and expands to our culture. Understanding what, why, who and how about ‘other’ people will enable us to work and live with each other regardless of where we came from. But I highly doubt I am able to say what Miner was trying to convey in his shortsighted, humorous and condescending analysis of people he had no idea about.
2. Why are some behaviors described as “magic”?
Each family member of the Nacirema tribe had built a shrine in their houses. Inside the shrine were many ‘charms and magical potions’ which they seemed to think they cannot live without. These items were collected from different ‘specialized practitioners’ including the medicine and foot-in-mouth men. The medicine men prescribed the ingredients for the ‘magic’ potions and another specialist filled them – just like we fill out prescriptions from the pharmacy. These fine specialized folks required more gifts to provide/make the ‘charm’ or medicine. After using the charms they didn’t get rid of them from the medicine cabinet / shrine, but rather kept them in a charm-box (medicine bottles) because the medicines in them were specifically designed for certain illness (like Tylenol for ache and pain).
They didn’t have labels or a way to distinguish each ‘charm’. I suspect they used a homemade box and they all looked alike. They kept all of these magic medicines inside the shrines forever. They thought of them as magical boxes that couldn’t be disposed of. We keep our medicines in our cabinets and think of them anything but magical. These tribes didn’t have the (50’s) modern lives and to them these medicines that healed many illnesses were magic.
3. Why are some behaviors described as “rituals”? Do you think this is a fair label?
Some of their behaviors are described as ‘rituals’ because the author, Horace Miner couldn’t find a better way or didn’t have enough knowledge to describe them. I think as he studied them, he noticed (and wrote about) a shrine in each household – and how these ceremonies were religiously pursued contributed in author calling these behaviors ‘rituals.’ In Nacirema society every family has their own dedicated shrine. “While each family has at least one shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret.” Shrines as defined by Merriam-Webster are a ‘place in which devotion is paid to a saint or deity.’ Since rituals are performed by symbolic values and are religious or traditional in nature, Miner thought of their actions (even though in private) as ‘rituals’. Although I think if they were ‘secret and private’, how would Miner know they were ‘rituals’? Given how we describe and perceive as ‘rituals’, I think it’s fair to say he labeled some of their behavior ‘rituals’.
4. Does the humorous approach to this culture bother you? Do you feel that the description is belittling or sarcastic in tone?
After doing some more research on Nicirema, Miner’s approach to this culture does not bother me a bit. Miner visited them back in the 50’s. He was the first to visit them and discovered new people and culture. The field of human knowledge including that of anthropology has greatly improved and expanded. At that time, when Miner wrote about a ‘other’ culture that he newly discovered, he didn’t have enough information on ‘other’ people to compare and the only way he could describe their culture and behavior was to satirize them. There are more scholarly investigative work done by Willard Walker and Neil Thompson and others since and they provide much better critique and commentary about this fine culture – which seems to have disappeared (1). As Neil Thomson puts it, “Nicirema were the dominant group in the complex of North American cultures”. Given how complex and unknown this culture was at the time Miner wrote his paper, it is no surprise that he had to approach this culture in a humorous ways. At later time archeologists discovered ‘large number of documents’ relating to Nicirema and have a better understanding of their culture and ‘rituals’.
5. Imagine that you are a member of the author’s culture described in this article. What stereotypes could you have about this culture and its people if this reading is your only source of information?
If I lived in the 50’s, I am sure I would have had very different point of view on ‘other’ people. After reading Miner’s piece on these people, I would have thought these people are crazy and weird. Why would they keep collecting these ‘magical’ materials prescribed by the medicine men and provided by some other (pharmacist?) practitioner? I’d probably have more questions about why would they do such things having a shrine in each household. Why is it private and secret? Are they hiding something from the outsiders? Don’t they know better? They live here in North America. We should incorporate them into our civil society.
Some of their ‘rituals’ seems barbaric. Why are women subjected to torture? They ‘bake’ their head in ovens? Scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp object is no way of living in 19th century – we ought to go there and change their lifestyle for better and teach them how to live.
Diversity at JPMorgan Chase
1. Is Settles’ model sustainable? Why or why not? Remember to defend your answer with material from the case.
Settles model for diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace works fine and is sustainable. The only problem is it applies to lower level positions. The article sounds pretty good when it comes to diversity and how an organization should implement a “multipronged effort to attract, retain, and develop top diverse talent.” Mark Settles, the Diversity Recruiting Executive designated and charged with making JPMC a diverse and inclusive company.
The model as described in this article/case study can be sustainable, but I see two issues with it. First, the timing of this program (2007/2008) is when we experience the Economic Crisis (2). Financial industry was especially hit hard. On October 15, 2008, the Guardian reported that ‘JP Morgan revealed that its quarterly profits fell by 84% to $527m’. Given an 84% loss in your profits, I doubt any organization can manage to stay alive with the same workforce as the year before. Second, numbers speak for themselves. The numbers at the end of the article and it is not even close to what they expect the results to be. Over 90% of their Execs and senior leadership are White, less than 3% Hispanic and only 3% Black. Most of the diversity program’s efforts seem to be dedicated to lower level staff.
According to US Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC), financial industry is lacking far behind other industries in diversity and inclusiveness and promotion “chances are unfavorable to women, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians when compared to white males” (4). According to data provided in the study, less than 10 percent of top level C-suits is from diverse groups. It is no surprise that JPMC reflect this trend. They certainly are doing a “great job at the front end” getting low level employees in the door, but when it comes to higher level position: FAIL. The good news I think is that they are making an effort and over time, these newcomers may rise to the top level positions. As of this case study, JPMC is far from being called a ‘diverse’ company – their diversity homepage is titled ‘Our commitment to diversity starts from the top’ (5). When I see numbers, I will believe that Settle’s model works and should be followed by other companies.
References
1. http://web.archive.org/web/20040807032053/http://naturalhistorymag.com/editors_pick/1972_12_pick.html
2. http://wiki.lexisnexis.com/academic/index.php?title=Economic_Crisis_2008
3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/15/useconomy-banking-jpmorgan-wellsfargo
4. http://www.ebglaw.com/files/7064_article_1325.pdf
5. http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/diversity.htm
Generational Gap – everywhere
Discussion Questions on Scenario Boom-X
1. What should the grievance committee recommend? How do you think this recommendation would be accepted by the two managers?
The committee must recommend that Alex must follow established policies and procedures. He cannot go over the bosses head and do things his way. Although the company is behind the technological innovations in the office – and implementation and adaptation for the company and the employees will take time – we cannot change how we do business over night because Alex thinks his way is the best – given that he’s been here for only 4 months. The recommendation will be accepted because the managers were right to let Alex know that change if difficult and cannot take place over night. The company will need to innovate, but change is not easy and must be implemented step by step with everyone’s involvement. Alex perhaps can lead the change and feel empowered then by bringing new technologies and methods of running an efficient organization.
2. Do you think the grievance committee members will be in agreement in their decision? Why or why not?
Yes they will be in agreement. It is obvious that Alex is not the only young out of college employees. There aren’t any reports of other employees going around the company policies and procedures no matter how good they may be. Alex may know the new technologies and their benefit to the company, but what about the other employees? They don’t know this technology and have never had to deal with what Alex is trying to do. If the company wants to stay successful, all employees must work together and on the same-page. Change must come, but must be implemented with care and employee involvement.
3. What generational issues are involved in this case?
The generational issue is between old-way and new-way of running an office/company. The new ways are the advancement of technology and communication method versus the old-way. In the old-days relationship was more important than efficiency and technology. Stan sure is aware of this issue – the industry has jumped on the tech-wagon and they must adapt. And no one else is more eager to bring about this change than Alex.
4. What do you think will actually happen? Why?
They fired Alex. He was on his probation period and wanted to work his way. He clearly ignored established policies and procedures. I am sure there is a section that dealt with ‘insubordination while on probation’ issues.
Discussion Questions on the Non-Profit Scenario
1. What happened between Rick and Molly?
I am not sure I understand the question. Nothing happened between them. It sounded like they are partners and think alike. Although Molly is leaving the company, she was still angry about him not getting the promotion.
2. How could generational differences have influenced decision making in this non-profit organization?
Each person brings a unique skill and talent set to the table. When issues arise because one group wants things done ‘as always’ and another group likes to ‘get creative’ – a community mentality and shared purpose reminder from the chief is required. The committee chief should remind them why this organization has been successful – by working together as a whole. Segmented workforce is counter-productive to achieving successful events. Each group or individual can contribute and a compromise will benefit the entire organization.
1. What could have been avoided in this case and how?
They have held too many meetings and everyone wants to do things their way. Like every other scenario, if the committee want to get this fundraising done right – as it appears that members/donors are not happy – they need to put their ‘differences’ behind them and work together. The older generation can put their personal relationship in work with potential donors. The younger members can put their technological head together and communicate event details and information more frequently and keep the donor/potential donors informed and involved.
2. What should Molly have done to help Rick?
Molly has established personal relationship with everyone and is an influential presenter. She should have used her connection and lobbied for Rick.
3. What should Rick have considered when taking a leadership role in the organization?
He should know what leadership is all about. It seemed that he wasn’t really interested in this project / organization. His meetings were useless and waste of time. I would recommend ‘The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership’ book by John C. Maxwell in Books.
4. Are the generational issues in non-profit volunteer organizations different than those in the for-profit sector? If so, why/how?
There are many factors that can influence how the generational gaps between employees can be negative or positive. Each generation have his own morals, ideas and cultures. I don’t think the type of organization matters. The generational gaps will continue to exist, but how they are handled through policy, culture, training and communication within the organization will constitute failure or success.
5. Can intergenerational conflict be caused by one group of members having too many activities and the other group having time they want to fill by socializing with other members at meetings? If you answered yes, how would you help reduce these conflicts between people’s needs? If you answered no, justify your answer.
I am not sure if this is the only cause – but certainly a contributor. I don’t think there is a single book of instructions on how to resolve and have a nice harmony amongst employees that do not share the same method of doing business. Each company must take steps and have policies and procedure (including culture) that embraces change and diversity. When employees work toward achieving company goals and are adhering to the policies, the entire organization succeeds.
General Discussion Questions
1. Compare and contrast the generational issues in the two scenarios. In responding to this question, discuss how individuals frame issues in terms of their generational cohort and how generational issues can influence decisions in resolving intergenerational conflicts.
Whenever we talk about the ‘generational gap’, the concept is the same – even if the story is not. Whether we are talking about the mom-and-pop store around the corner or a multi New generation want things done efficiently and with the use of some sort of technology. –national company like Aetna, employees of different age, gender, sex and so on will always work different. The new generation wants them done now. They have email, forget the phone call. They want meetings to talk about business and stay on topic. Fast and efficient – that is their motto or should be.
2. Identify issues surrounding the ability of older individuals to adapt to changing technologies, as well as whether the organization has any responsibility to older, loyal employees or members and what the “responsibility” encompasses.
I think one of the biggest issues surrounding the ability of older employees adapting to changes is when it happens rapidly – especially when it is without their involvement and input. For example, Acme Co. wants to upgrade internal sales management software for all employees. The software has a new interface and many new feats. But none of the older sales people are familiar with GUI software – they are still using the IBM mainframe DOS systems. Old generation will need to be involved from the start – design to development including early training classes.
Back in days – loyalty counted. Now most people change jobs and careers sooner and in rapid successions. The loyalty question goes both ways – corporations are always going up and down. If you consider the economic conditions and crashes over the years – companies have slashed thousands of jobs over night. Older generation do tend to be loyal, but have recently found that those ideas were back in the ‘old’ days – they are adapting to the new realities of 21st century workplace.
3. How might any of the following affect decision making for retention of employees: employee’s age, length of employment, organizational position, and the individual’s ability to change?
When the decision is made to CUT, all of the above can affect which employees can stay and who get the pink slip. A company might let the older employees go first because they use too much health benefits and are raising the premiums on everyone else. Or they may decide to let employees with the least amount of time with the company go first – they don’t have experience and ins-and-outs of the company and they need those experienced employees to keep the company running.
4. What additional generational issues should be considered when working with volunteer non-profit groups?
Non-profit organizations need volunteers from all walks of life. All age groups should be able to contribute their part and individual skills when they volunteer. The main issue I think can hamper their effort is the approach to business decisions. Anytime there is majority of older or younger group, decision making process will favor the majority. The other group will be angry and feel left out which may lead to resentment – defeating the entire purpose of volunteerism.