Diversity and Inclusion
Various generational differences exist within the workplace based on the categories of the individual employees. To begin with, the traditionalist’s generation category encompasses individuals who were born in 1922-1945 and are now retired from working ( Betcon & Farmer, 2014 ). The traditionalists were dedicated and sacrificed themselves to succeed, and they based their work ethic on following rules, hard work, and respected the authority from above. Also, during the era of traditionalists, many women were not allowed to work from outside their homes. As such, the traditionalists were mostly known for working in one place until retirement and also for their loyalty in the company that they worked for. Secondly, the baby boomers generation category comprises of individuals born in 1946-1965, and it is the generation that created the culture of having meetings. The baby boomers mostly focused on work rather than family responsibilities ( Betcon & Farmer, 2014 ). Consequently, baby boomers were defined as independent, respected authority, achievement-oriented, loyal, and diligent on their jobs. Since baby boomers have a significant influence in the society, they are considered to be higher in self-reliance, work centrality, and worked harder than the younger generation. As a result, they are regarded as competitive in their work and they also had the habit of assessing success materially. Thirdly, is the generation X who were born between 1965-1980 and during this time they experienced harsh economic times, unemployment, and uncertainty in choosing careers. Generation X is also believed to be financially self-reliant, individualistic, and distrustful, they also lack loyalty, and focused on balancing their work and personal lives ( Wascheck, 2017). Subsequently, generation X is considered to be focused, skeptical, and has recognized expressively on the importance of openness to change self-direction.
Fourthly, is the millennia’s also known as the generation Y who was born in 1981- 1997 and received much attention and coaching from their parents (Wascheck, 2017). During their time they technology had advanced and today they are professionals in technology. However, they are found to value leisure, and they have a strong desire to being successful and measure success by meaningfulness of work. They are also considered to value education and view the family as the key to happiness. Lastly, is the Generation Z who was born from 1998 to-date, and they are the most technologically advanced and will provide for the next generation of entrepreneurs. They are also considered to be the most diverse generation and will expect the present development toward more inclusive communities and policies to carry on an increase ( Wascheck, 2017). Due to the generational differences in the workplace, they are appropriate strategies applied to help in managing a diverse workforce, and they include the following. By investing in diversity training and emphasizing policies employees can deal with challenges that might arise among them. Also, by creating a comfortable environment, it empowers the employees to use their skills and encourages them to work as a team. Consequently, having a free flow of communication helps both the employees and employer to understand each other, share ideas, queries, and even provide solutions thereby creating a healthy environment (Betcon & Farmer, 2014). Besides, an employer should understand discrimination and ensure that it does not happen and this helps in reducing behavioral issues and conflicts among the employees.
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Risk Management
The following are the appropriate proactive HR activities and policies for mitigating risk and how the strategies can be used within the organization. The first policy for mitigating risk is the succession planning. This is brought about by not having a future leader in place which can lead to low shares prices ( Jacobs, 2017). However, by using internal audits and discussing on the risk committee provides a better opinion within the organization. Consequently, the lack of people with the required skills and knowledge can damage the organization future and this can be prevented by collecting data and analysis that builds a compelling case for adding this to the organization. As such, inadequate training in specific skills like communication and leadership can change management in an organization. Lastly, compliance and regulation can also be a risk in the organization, and therefore, the HR is obligated to work with the compliance teams to make sure that the employees are aware of the hazards ( Jacobs, 2017). On the other hand, this can be prevented by ensuring that all training programs have the correct information on compliance issues.
Corporate Social Responsibility
HR plays a crucial role in creating a culture of social responsibility within the organization and the organization’s community. The first role of HR is to foster a culture of social responsibility (Lokhandwala, 2018). By employing young employees, it creates a new meaning of corporate social responsibility, and therefore the employer can join their employees and the community through corporate sponsorship of community events, community programs and volunteering, and also company matches for employee’s charitable contributions. Secondly, HR can implement and encourage green practices to assist in environmental waste reduction and also encourage better corporate ethics and lasting practices that endorse personal and corporate accountability. Consequently, the HR should also share and communicate the value of corporate responsibility to employees and the community. This will help them to understand the benefits of corporate social responsibility (Lokhandwala, 2018). Finally, the HR ensures that employees celebrate corporate social responsibilities success. This helps to sustain the energy of the program and creates a mutual understanding of the cultures in every region that the company serves. Besides providing employment opportunities for the locals, the company also gains interest and participates in local issues.
HR in the Global Context
There are several appropriate strategies used to properly prepare employees expatriate assignment and these include the following. One of the strategies is to train the employee for an international assignment ( BIP, 2017). Therefore, this increases the awareness of the host countries and helps to moderate the risk of cultural misunderstandings and encourages cross- cultural experience. The other strategy is to have a project alignment meeting where the host and the expatriate exchange valuable information and this is done to discuss how to alleviate misunderstandings and common expectations of the assignee and the manager. However, there should be assignment mentoring where the expatriates are closely supervised and also receive direct coaching ( BIP, 2017). Besides, the interactions between the expatriates and the team members should be adequately monitored. Lastly, there should be knowledge management whereby the expatriate work is documented, and therefore this helps the organization to avoid redundancy and develop best practices.
References
Betcon, J., & Farmer, J. (2014, February). Generational differences in workplace behavior . Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264580977_Generational_differences_in_work place_behavior
BIP. (2017, August 15). How to prepare an expat for a successful assignment abroad . Retrieved from https://bipsearch.com/news/prepare-expat-successful-assignment-abroad/
Jacobs, K. (2017, August 15). Top eight HR risks and how to handle them . Retrieved from https://bipsearch.com/news/prepare-expat-successful-assignment-abroad/
Lokhandwala, S. (2018, July). HR's role in promoting corporate social responsibility . Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-hr-role-in-promoting-corporate-social-responsibility-1917743
Wascheck, M. (2017, November 3 ). Understanding generational differences in the workplace . Retrieved from https://www.croplife.com/management/understanding-generational-differences-workplace/
