What can we learn from a generational perspective on age diversity? Exploring intergenerational conflict in the case of Flemish local governments

Abstract

In the context of an aging society, the importance of age diversity for organizations is increasing (Shore, Chung-Herrera, Dean, Holcombe Ehrhart, Randel & Singh, 2009). While most attention has been given to age-related personnel policies, which take a life-course perspective to explain age-related differences, we argue that in order to fully understand the meaning and implications of age diversity a generational perspective is needed. In this respect, an interesting research question is how (perceived) generational differences affect the collaboration between members of different generations. More specifically, we are interested in the prevalence of “intergenerational conflict”, as this is expected to manifest in a ‘multi-generational workforce’ (Dobbs et al., 2007; Dencker et al., 2007). First, the paper contributes to a theoretical understanding of generations and intergenerational conflicts in organizations. We define generations as the old, the middle-aged, and the young in a particular moment in history who represent separate birth cohorts. Based on literature on conflicts in organizations (De Dreu & Gelfand, 2008) we identify three types of conflicts between generations: conflicts of interest, sociocognitive conflicts, and relationship conflicts. Moreover, intergenerational conflicts can be regarded as a specific type of intergroup conflict. Consequently, we connected the concept of generations with the faultline perspective on group composition and group processes (Lau & Murnighan, 1998). Second, we empirically explored the nature and prevalence of intergenerational conflict within the context of local governments. For this purpose we gathered both quantitative and qualitative data. We found that there is a generational faultline between older, statutory and lower level personnel on the one hand, and younger, contractual, higher level personnel on the other hand. Based on focus groups (n = 9) that were held among workers (n = 54) in two case organizations, we conclude that civil servants experience intergenerational conflicts in their daily work lives, especially sociocognitive and relationship conflicts. Finally, we elaborate on the implications of these findings and we give some recommendations for the HR policies in these local governments.

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