Intergenerational ontology & leadership: uniting the multigenerational workforce

The multigenerational workforce offers a wide landscape of knowledge and successful practices that can propel organizational success. Currently, however, only 20% of organizations have a formal, strategic program in place for fostering intergenerational interaction. By overlooking intergenerational strategies, organizations are not experiencing the tangible results derived from harnessing the strengths offered by each generation and across the generational spectrum. This dissertation focuses on building what can be termed the interactional bandwidth of cross-generational relationships through the use of ontological principles and leadership development resources: the Gallup organization’s Clifton StrengthsFinder and the Myers & Briggs Foundation’s Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Through addressing and understanding sources of motivation, values, communication preferences, and thought processes, individuals are able to form intricate connections with the potential to cultivate ontological security, transcendent self-actualization, meaningful work, ethics and accountability, emotional intelligence, and organizational prosperity. Facilitating intergenerational interaction offers organizations insight into better leveraging their workforce to deliver optimum results while benefiting the individuals that support them