Aging Workforce in Singapore

Discuss about the Aging Workforce in Singapore.

The recent times has seen the workforce and the way the work is done changing drastically. The use of the new collaborative, the social technologies, and its application is reshaping on the way business operations is occurring (Ball, 2011). The next generation, which is regarded as generation Y, is clearly different from the previous predecessor in various and sundry ways: this is in regards to age distributions in different countries, geographical dispersion, and uneven skill distribution worldwide (Ball, 2011). The use the term next generation workers acknowledges on the influx of the younger employees into the workforce, but they also recognizes that they will be working differently over the years ahead.

The workers from the older generation are postponing retirement while the more youthful accomplices of generation Y are going into the workforce (Burke, Cooper & Field, 2013). The intergeneration contrasts are said to have arisen into the multi-generational workforce. Nonetheless, there have been prejudice against the older generations, which has also affected the young generation (Cogin, 2012). The intergenerational tension among the generation is more acute for the ones that has widest age gap such as generation Y employees in comparison to the Baby Boomers and the traditionalists. In the recent literature, it has shown how the leadership has changed in the organizations and the way it has resulted from the new dynamics of the intergenerational tension especially when the young employees manage the older employees (Duxbury, 2006). The purpose of the essay is to break down on the issue of generational differences inside the associations and the different effect on hierarchical advancement procedure. The examination will be situated in the Singapore nation setting.

Singapore is one of the nation that has been confronting the financial impact of the maturing populace. It is one of the Asia speediest maturing populace and it is evaluated that one in the six living arrangement will be no less than sixty-five years old by year 2020 this is as per the Straits times (Cogin, 2012). Taking into account the work drive study in Singapore more than the more established individuals were in the livelihood in year 2011 in contrast with the earlier year that was 61.2% being utilized. Numerous organizations in Singapore are permitting the representatives to work past the period of statutory 62 years and they have tasteful work execution and the therapeutic wellness as the re-occupation criteria (Duxbury, 2006). The more seasoned individuals have additionally been inspired to keep on working as a result of the money related perspective and the should be alive.

Multi-Generational Workforce

As the more seasoned people are staying longer to the workforce, the more youthful Era Y additionally are entering to the workforce universally. In Singapore, the generation Y contributes to around 60% of the workforce (Klun, 2008). In Singapore inside the common administrations, the quantity of generation Y employees have dwarfed the workforce of the older generation. The multi-generational workforce has been highlighted to bring many benefits such as the workplace productivity, innovation and creativity, reduced turn over in the organization, talent attraction, and the increased competitive advantage (Leibold & Voelpel, 2007). In Singapore, many of the employees are viewing the multi-generation teams as an effective way of the improvement of the performance of the organization.

Ageism has been regarded as the prejudice or the discrimination based on the age, more so against the older employees. Despite the aspects of promotion of age friendly policies in the workplace by the government, the ageism has continued to affect the older employees. The young individuals are described as being less accommodative and are more prone to undervaluing of the older employees experiences (Nankervis, Compton, Baird & Coffey, 2011). On the other hand, the older people could likewise see the more youthful representatives adversely, for example, considering them untrustworthy or conflicting on their work deliverables.

Diversity, which is a subset of the organizational development of recent, has gained a vital prominence. Identification of the generation differences has become the forefront issue for the creation of the healthy dynamics in the organization (Lyons & Kuron, 2014). In each generation of the organization, they all have unique set of beliefs, value and the assumptions. Every individual has unique personal history, which in effect creates on the set of filters and how they communicate with others.  Flexibility in the organizational structure is essentially the key element for embracing the generational differences (Ng, Lyons & Schweitzer, 2012). There is need to evolve on new organizational development principles in order to reflect on the need of influencing the development strategy. Generational diversity has impact on the organizational development strategy on the work life balance. This aspect been ranked highest across generations (Stevens, 2010). On the current literature, it indicates that employees with different generations seek the work life balance. The more established individuals in Singapore consider rejoining the workforce particularly when there are employments with the low maintenance and adaptable work courses of action. Generational diversity has influenced how individual balance on their work life.  The generation Y, they want the balance in the pursuit of their careers at a personal level. Additional organizational diversity has enhanced on the meaningful and interest for the work (Scott-Ladd, Travaglione, Perryer & Pick, 2010). The generational differences helps to value meaningful and interest to the work among themselves. According to Lancaster (2002) suggests that the generation Y employees are more motivated than the older generations. This individual need to help the community through the work they undertake. They are also more mindful for the employer’s involvement especially in their corporate social responsibility efforts. Additionally, generational diversity has influenced provision of the benefits. The trend of the benefits increases in significance especially to the older generations. The employees become more concerned in regards to their health as they age (Klun, 2008). The older employees prefer the benefits such as the extended medical coverage and the retirement packages that are generous while the Y generation they prefer more the annual leave and the flexible work hours in Singapore. The generational diversity in organization has led to the knowledge transfer.  As the veteran and the Baby Boomers reach the age of retirement, the element of knowledge has become vital to the organization. It would become significant to pass the intellectual capital of the experienced employees to generation Y who would be the new leaders in future (Klun, 2008). To achieve this there is need for a focus on communication, documentation and there should formation of relationship that facilitates the transfer of this vital knowledge.

Ageism in the Workplace

Various strategies can be used by organization in the management of the generational diversity in the workplace thus be able to impact positive on the development strategies. One of the technique to use is focusing on the goals and set expectations that are clear (Duxbury, 2006). Each of the generation approach to work differ, and each has their strength, which the other does not possess. A clear goal and expectation should be put on every generation.  Another way is through mentoring and inclusion. There is need to encourage each generation in mentoring one another (Collinson, 2014). Each of the generation brings their own strength, experience and the knowledge in the workplace. The aspect of inclusion helps to achieving the differences as leverage for maximum results.

Conclusion

The businesses are starting to perceive what propels every generation.  They have created communication tools that has specific end goal to minimize on the contention, dynamic HR and the work life methodologies keeping in mind the end goal to draw in and hold on the key ability as well as the management practices that help to enhance on the productivity. The human resource through internal research could play a strategic role in the organization where they identify the percentage of the workers that are within each of the generation and gather on information in regards to their work and the non-work related priorities. The data that would be gathered will help in the development of strategies for the purpose of recruitment, retention and engagement, which is in line with the demographic and related variable in the industry. There is need for the organizations in Singapore to gather information on how to effectively motivate the multi-generational workforce. They can achieve this through offering training and the development program that would tune on the preferred work style to the various generations.

References

Ball, K. (2011). Surviving the Baby Boomer Exodus: Capturing Knowledge for Gen X & Y  Employees. Cengage Learning. 

Burke, R. J., Cooper, C., & Field, J. (2013). The aging workforce: Individual, organizational and societal opportunities and challenges. Aging, work and society, 1-20. 

Cogin, J. (2012). Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications. The International Journal of Human Resource Management,   23(11), 2268-2294. 

Collinson, C. (2014). The retirement readiness of three unique generations: Baby boomers,generation X, and millennials. 

Duxbury, L. (2006). You, Me, and Them: Dealing with Generational Differences in the Workplace. Unpublished manuscript, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University. Ottawa, Canada. 

Klun, S. (2008). Work?life balance is a cross?generational concern—and a key to retaining high performers at Accenture. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 27(6), 14-20. 

Leibold, M., & Voelpel, S. C. (2007). Managing the aging workforce: Challenges and solutions. John Wiley & Sons. 

Lyons, S., & Kuron, L. (2014). Generational differences in the workplace: A review of the evidence and directions for future research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(S1), S139-S157. 

Nankervis, A., Compton, R., Baird, M., & Coffey, J. (2011). Human resource management: strategy and practice. Melbourne: Cengage. 

Ng, E., Lyons, S. T., & Schweitzer, L. (Eds.). (2012). Managing the new workforce: International perspectives on the millennial generation. Edward Elgar Publishing. 

Scott-Ladd, B., Travaglione, A., Perryer, C., & Pick, D. (2010). Attracting and retaining talent:Social organisational support as an emergent concept. Research and Practice in Human    Resource Management, 18(2). 

Stevens, R. H. (2010). Managing human capital: How to use knowledge management to transfer knowledge in today’s multi-generational workforce. International Business Research, 3(3), 77.