Generational Stereotypes Essay
Age or Generational Stereotypes
Older Employees There are many different stereotypes that are associated with the age of an employee, especially when there are generation gaps between employees. Having a extremely diverse generational gap between employees, such as traditionalists, baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Millennials can have amazing advantages, as well as give great depth and perspective to your business because each generation has its own strengths and weaknesses in every profession. For example, most of the people who fall into the ‘baby boomer’ category are stereotyped as not being afraid of change, being committed, and in turn having a stronger opportunity for career growth than other employees.
Employees who fall …show more content…
into the category of ‘Generation Y’ are stereotyped as having developing faster as a professional, are extremely tech-savvy, and easily adjust to diversity in flexible working conditions (White, 2011).
These stereotypes can cause on generation or the other to have false expectations placed on them, in turn, being set up to fail in the future or being set up to fail in the eyes of their co-workers.
Teenage Employees Teenagers are more apt to go to work as soon as the state law allows than ever before. However, because of their age and their naive approach to the work environment, they can become easy targets for hateful employees or people who enjoy stereotyping people. Most teenagers are not ready to look out for themselves in terms of safety and being treated like a stereotypical young person. Without proper supervision and respectful employees surrounding them, they are at more risk for injury and job related accidents. This is typically because they are over watched, under watched, loopholes in current laws, physical limitations and lack of strength and maturity. If teenage employees are not properly supervised and treated according to their abilities and physical limitations due to stereotypes, they can be at serious risk for injury, or even death.
Educational Based Stereotypes One of the main stereotypes that have made life more difficult for employees is the educational gap based stereotype.
There are large differences between how employees who have obtained educational credentials, vocational credentials, and on-the-job training are treated by their coworkers, and in many cases their bosses as well. Not only are their academic differences between these employees, but many times there are cultural differences between these groups of people. While education is extremely valued and typically allows for higher pay, the person with on the job training and years of experience may have more knowledge and better solutions. However, due to their lack of formal training, the stereotype causes their solutions to be ignored frequently (Bolton, "Where & How to Deal with Stereotyping in the Workplace", 2014).
Cultural Stereotyping
A person’s personal background can greatly affect their job performance. For example someone who was raised in a rural setting may be perceived by coworkers as unable to handle the fast paced world of a big city. Even though they are fully qualified for the position, they are viewed as inadequate by their coworkers, which could negatively affect their self-esteem. This can cause serious decline in work performance and damage the chances of a person on a long term basis. This can also affect minorities that have made poor choices I the past. Because of the past choices they have made, such as tattoos, criminal background, and other variables, people with these issues may experience the same type of stereotyping as mentioned above (Hernandez,
2010).
The Threat of Stereotyping and Bullying
In any workplace, there is a threat of stereotyping in one form or another. Therefore, it is important to ensure that there are rules and regulations that govern the way people are treated in the workplace. Human resources should make regular checks to ensure that job performance remains high and that there is no threat of stereotypes becoming out of hand.
If noticeable stereotypes do begin to develop, it should be addressed immediately. This is because stereotyping can quickly lead to bullying, or harassment. At times, this ca increase to systematic harassment and torment of certain groups of people. Typically, when the situation gets to this point, the subject or subjects of the stereotyping suffer through criticism, teasing, aggressive behavior, verbal or physical abuse, isolation, and sabotage. This can lead to decreased work performance (Hernandez, 2010).
Conclusion
Stereotypes can come in many facets. Because of this, it is essential that administration, the upper staff and human resources stay on top of performance, the way their employees feel, and always have an open door policy with human resources to ensure that any problem is addressed immediately. It is just as important for all employees to understand what stereotyping is, how it can affect job performance and how to report it to the appropriate personnel in order to remedy the problem as soon as possible. It is important to create annual seminars about workplace expectations and include stereotyping in this seminar in order to keep employees up-to-date and to ensure that they are able to properly identify this all too common problem in the workplace. They should also be made aware of the various forms of stereotypes and be taught not to take everything on face value which is what causes us to place people in categories because of their race, religion, sex, color, age, national origin, physical disability, mental disability; prejudicial notations are still present in the workplace and recognizing them quickly can dramatically decrease interoffice pressure and increase workflow and comfort between staff members (Bolton, "Where & How to Deal with Stereotyping in the Workplace", 2014)..
If human resources is not able to manage the stereotype situation that exists in the office, there are a wide variety of companies that have been developed in an effort to assist businesses in developing a plan of attack, and even working with employees on a one on one basis or as a group to bring a solution to the existing problems. They can also instruct human resources in determining how to prevent problems from reoccurring, adjusting rules and regulations, rules and guidelines that will protect the employer as well as the employees in the event that the situation develops to the point where termination of certain employees becomes necessary.
Older Employees There are many different stereotypes that are associated with the age of an employee, especially when there are generation gaps between employees. Having a extremely diverse generational gap between employees, such as traditionalists, baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Millennials can have amazing advantages, as well as give great depth and perspective to your business because each generation has its own strengths and weaknesses in every profession. For example, most of the people who fall into the ‘baby boomer’ category are stereotyped as not being afraid of change, being committed, and in turn having a stronger opportunity for career growth than other employees.
Employees who fall …show more content…
into the category of ‘Generation Y’ are stereotyped as having developing faster as a professional, are extremely tech-savvy, and easily adjust to diversity in flexible working conditions (White, 2011).
These stereotypes can cause on generation or the other to have false expectations placed on them, in turn, being set up to fail in the future or being set up to fail in the eyes of their co-workers.
Teenage Employees Teenagers are more apt to go to work as soon as the state law allows than ever before. However, because of their age and their naive approach to the work environment, they can become easy targets for hateful employees or people who enjoy stereotyping people. Most teenagers are not ready to look out for themselves in terms of safety and being treated like a stereotypical young person. Without proper supervision and respectful employees surrounding them, they are at more risk for injury and job related accidents. This is typically because they are over watched, under watched, loopholes in current laws, physical limitations and lack of strength and maturity. If teenage employees are not properly supervised and treated according to their abilities and physical limitations due to stereotypes, they can be at serious risk for injury, or even death.
Educational Based Stereotypes One of the main stereotypes that have made life more difficult for employees is the educational gap based stereotype.
There are large differences between how employees who have obtained educational credentials, vocational credentials, and on-the-job training are treated by their coworkers, and in many cases their bosses as well. Not only are their academic differences between these employees, but many times there are cultural differences between these groups of people. While education is extremely valued and typically allows for higher pay, the person with on the job training and years of experience may have more knowledge and better solutions. However, due to their lack of formal training, the stereotype causes their solutions to be ignored frequently (Bolton, "Where & How to Deal with Stereotyping in the Workplace", 2014).
Cultural Stereotyping
A person’s personal background can greatly affect their job performance. For example someone who was raised in a rural setting may be perceived by coworkers as unable to handle the fast paced world of a big city. Even though they are fully qualified for the position, they are viewed as inadequate by their coworkers, which could negatively affect their self-esteem. This can cause serious decline in work performance and damage the chances of a person on a long term basis. This can also affect minorities that have made poor choices I the past. Because of the past choices they have made, such as tattoos, criminal background, and other variables, people with these issues may experience the same type of stereotyping as mentioned above (Hernandez,
2010).
The Threat of Stereotyping and Bullying
In any workplace, there is a threat of stereotyping in one form or another. Therefore, it is important to ensure that there are rules and regulations that govern the way people are treated in the workplace. Human resources should make regular checks to ensure that job performance remains high and that there is no threat of stereotypes becoming out of hand.
If noticeable stereotypes do begin to develop, it should be addressed immediately. This is because stereotyping can quickly lead to bullying, or harassment. At times, this ca increase to systematic harassment and torment of certain groups of people. Typically, when the situation gets to this point, the subject or subjects of the stereotyping suffer through criticism, teasing, aggressive behavior, verbal or physical abuse, isolation, and sabotage. This can lead to decreased work performance (Hernandez, 2010).
Conclusion
Stereotypes can come in many facets. Because of this, it is essential that administration, the upper staff and human resources stay on top of performance, the way their employees feel, and always have an open door policy with human resources to ensure that any problem is addressed immediately. It is just as important for all employees to understand what stereotyping is, how it can affect job performance and how to report it to the appropriate personnel in order to remedy the problem as soon as possible. It is important to create annual seminars about workplace expectations and include stereotyping in this seminar in order to keep employees up-to-date and to ensure that they are able to properly identify this all too common problem in the workplace. They should also be made aware of the various forms of stereotypes and be taught not to take everything on face value which is what causes us to place people in categories because of their race, religion, sex, color, age, national origin, physical disability, mental disability; prejudicial notations are still present in the workplace and recognizing them quickly can dramatically decrease interoffice pressure and increase workflow and comfort between staff members (Bolton, "Where & How to Deal with Stereotyping in the Workplace", 2014)..
If human resources is not able to manage the stereotype situation that exists in the office, there are a wide variety of companies that have been developed in an effort to assist businesses in developing a plan of attack, and even working with employees on a one on one basis or as a group to bring a solution to the existing problems. They can also instruct human resources in determining how to prevent problems from reoccurring, adjusting rules and regulations, rules and guidelines that will protect the employer as well as the employees in the event that the situation develops to the point where termination of certain employees becomes necessary.