Generational differences in the workplace

V delovnih organizacijah se pogosto srečujemo s sodelavci, ki sodijo v različne starostne skupine. Trenutno na trgu dela prevladujeta generaciji X in Y, počasi odhaja generacija baby boom in prihaja generacija Z. Generacije se razlikujejo med sabo v vrednotah in stališčih, v odnosu do dela in denarja, materialnih dobrinah in načinu komuniciranja. Dobro sodelovanje različnih generacij na delovnem mestu prispeva k boljši delovni klimi in boljšim delovnim rezultatom. V teoretičnem delu smo opredelili generacije in predstavili značilnosti generacij veteranov, baby boom, X, Y in Z. Predstavili smo medgeneracijske razlike med generacijo X in generacijo Y. Opredelili smo pojme, kot so delovno mesto, delovno aktivno prebivalstvo, motivacija na delovnem mestu, pa tudi medosebne odnose in delovne vrednote. S pomočjo anketnega vprašalnika smo izvedli raziskavo, s katero smo ugotovili razlike med generacijami na delovnem mestu: kako poteka komunikacija med njimi, kaj jih motivira, katere delovne vrednote so pomembne za posamezne generacije, kako poteka deljenje znanja med sodelavci različnih generacij in kakšni so medosebni odnosi. Rezultati raziskave so pokazali, da se generaciji X in Y najbolj razlikujeta v druženju zunaj delovnega časageneracija Y se več druži s svojimi sodelavci tudi po službi. Manjše razlike so se pokazale tudi v medosebnih odnosih, komunikaciji, načinu komuniciranja, posredovanju znanja med sodelavci, v motivih za delo in prav tako v delovnih vrednotah. Razlike med njima niso velike, vendar jih delodajalci morajo upoštevati, če želijo uspešno voditi svoja podjetja.Work organizations are often facing a crowd of colleagues from different age groups. The labor market is currently dominated by generations X and Y. Generation of baby boomers is slowly leaving work and is being replaced with youngsters. People from different age gaps, have different views and values in relation to work, money and communication methods. Good cooperation between generations in the workplace contributes to better working climate and better work results. First of all we descriped characteristics of veterans, baby boomers, X, Y and Z generations. We will focus on differencies between generations X and Y. Secondly we will touch concepts of workplace, working population, work motivation, mutual relations and work ethics. We made a research with a survey, hoping to find differences between the generations in the workplace. We were interested in different communication methods, how are they motivated, which values are most relevant, how they share knowledge among each other, and their personal relations between them. Results of the survey showed, that the generation X and Y are different the most in socializing outside of working hours. Generation Y is more hanging out with their colleagues outside the working hours. Minor differences are being indicated also in the relationship, the way of communication and how they share the knowledge between the colleagues. Some differences are also in the motives for work and how they understand the working values. The differences between them are not great, but employers must follow them, if they want to successfully run their businesses