Are Millennials Changing Corporate America’s Culture?

Are Millennials Changing Corporate America’s Culture?

While there is a growing body of literature addressing America’s contemporary multi-generational corporate culture, relatively little attention has been given to the changes driven by the youngest generation entering the U.S. workforce.  The importance on the subject relies on the fact that the imminent influx of a new generation in the U. S. workforce are affecting the way organizations are conducting their business, particularly attracting, hiring, on-boarding, and retaining their talent.  The most recent marketing researches conducted by the US Labor department (2016) confirm the intergenerational gap existing in the US as the leading caused of imminent conflicts in many corporations resulting in higher attrition numbers that consequently have impacted productivity as well as revenue (See Table 1).  Based on 2015 U.S. Census Bureau data, the declining fertility rates and decreasing international migration, the United States population has shown a significant decline in growth - compared to previous decades - as it continues to grow older (USCB, 2016).  Based on data from the American Association of Retired Persons [AARP], 2010, over twenty-five percent of the baby boomers - born between 1946 and 1964 – have delayed retirement based on lack of financial resources. The alarming statistics published by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM, 2015) revealed an increase in the millennial population, individuals born between 1980 and 2001.  Consequently, the U.S. workforce is experiencing a disparity in the generational mix of talent.  According to the interview that Michael Pepe, chief of the human resources division for VIRTUA a non-for-profit health system gave for the SHRM Magazine, in 2013, Millennials accounted for twenty-eight percent of their workforce and experienced attrition rates of forty percent just during the first semester of the fiscal year.  Many researchers attribute the underpinning of the battlefield resulting among the multigenerational workforce to millennial behavioral assumptions.  Although the society of human resources management confirms the issue is being addressed, the increasing generational gap continues to impact turnover levels. This research seeks to intents to explore the different views exposed in the existing literature shared by organizational and human resources scholars on how Millennials can potentially impact America’s corporate culture.  According to the market research results published by the Department of Labor, (2016) the intergenerational gap existing in the United States might be blamed for the imminent conflicts impacting corporate America’s overall organizational culture.  The United States Census Bureau (USCB) exposes the declining fertility rates and decreasing international migration as main factors for the significant decline in growth of the population, compared to previous decades (USCB, 2014). Meanwhile, the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) alarming statistics revealed an increase in the Millennials population (individuals born between 1980 and 2001).  Consequently, SHRM recognizes the corporate culture in the United States might be experiencing a drastic shift affecting the way corporate leaders view their organizational culture (SHRM, 2015).            

Taking into consideration that different paradigms intrinsically contain diverse ontological and epistemological views, reality can be perceived differently.  Therefore, the paradigms will not only underpin the research approach we will assume for this research, but it would also determine the methodology and methods we will adopt.  For example, a positivist methodology is directed at explaining relationships and this research seeks to establish the relationship between the onboarding processes, the integration of Millennials in a multi-generational workforce and the high attrition levels among this group.  On the other hand, “positivists attempt to identify causes which influence outcomes” (Creswell, 2009, p. 7).   Our research will focus on Corporate America’s reality currently being affected by the increasing generational gap impacting productivity and generating an alarming increase in attrition levels, particularly among Millennials, also know as generation X.

Crotty (1998) defined Ontology as “the study of being” (1998, p. 10).  From this point of view, establishing an ontological research position at the initial phase of the process is critical to drive the researcher to select the research design. While the researchers take a position in reference to the perception they have on how things are and how they work they will be in a position to build a central question of whether social entities need to be perceived as objective or subjective.  For example, in this particular research, we are taking a realistic and objective approach that will drive the research to the data we will find from recent statistics published by the US Labor department, the Society of Human Resources Management as well as particular studies conducted by marketing groups for benchmarking purposes within any specific industries.  With a realistic approach we are aware that one truth exists in reference to how the generational gap is affecting Millennials and the short tenure affecting many corporations.  We can further discover through objective measurements how the generational gap has contributed towards attrition levels and thru the analysis process utilize the information obtained to correct this issue thru the implementation of a new on-boarding process.

References:

2014 National Population Projections. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2016, from http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2014.html

American Association of Retired Persons, (2010).  Research & Strategic Analysis - Approaching 65: A survey of Baby Boomers turning 65 years old. Retrieved from http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/ general/approaching-65.pdf

Carnevale, A., Hanson, A., & Gulish, A., (2013).  Georgetown University Press – Failure to Launch:  Structural Shift and the New Lost Generation.  Retrieved from https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/8tchnjo0wq9meamwwn5f

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th Edition). London: Routledge.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Smith, M. (2016).  Society of Human Resources Management: Reducing New Employee Turnover Among Emerging Adults.  Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/reducing-new-employee-turnover-among-emerging-adults.aspx