Academic Purpose: Rewarding Multi Generational Employees (Research Proposal Sample)

PROPOSAL
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In todays global working scenario the changing demographics of today’s work force where three generations are working side by side. by having better understanding of how to motivate this mix workforce and by focusing on the strengths and values of these diverse generations it can be turned into organizations competitive advantage. As human assets and their skills are rare competitive advantage that other companies find hard to imitate. Currently workforce contains three generations
In todays competitive market place it has became a challenge for HR The most unequivocal intends to draw in and retain the staff , the rewarding strategy, has customarily been considered direct: the more bigger the reward offered, the more probable the work environment is to pull in the single person. However it doesn’t, consider the complex nature of the reward or the employee. Rewards can be multiple and both monetary and non-monetary related. Numerous gimmicks of rewarding techniques haven’t been joined into total rewarding strategy CITATION hay99 \l 1033 (hayes, 1999) CITATION Irv10 \l 1033 (Irvine, 2010). According to researchers every single person has different sets of values and motivations. One of the recent studies that has captured attention in worldwide literature is the effect of the different values of people born in different times on their personal motivation and the rewarding system. Its is said that employees belonging to different generations have different set of needs ,perceptions and values which jointly reflect on their priority of rewards. CITATION Bus14 \l 1033 (Bussin, 2014)
The research will be conducted on two factors of total reward strategy i.e Performance recognition and career development opportunities. Main objective is to find out the which reward is preferred by boomers , Xers and millenials.
1.2 BACKGROUND
Researchers have divided the history of mankind generation wise. Basically the concept of "Generations" is given by Karl Mannheim a social scientist in late 1920s "a generation is defined as an identifiable group that shares birth years and significant life events at critical developmental stages”[]
GENERATION

BIRTH YEARS



BABY BOOMERS

1946-1964

GENERATION X

1965-1980

GENERATION Y/MILLENIALS

1981-2000

Source: CITATION The09 \l 1033 (The Multigenerational Workforce:Oppertunity for competitive sucess, 2009)
Changing demographics and social trends have significant impact on a workforce. In todays economy its more important that the organization should be able to utilize all the abilities , skills and knowledge of employees belonging to different generations. If the organization wants to gain competitive advantage it can only be done through capitalizing on the strengths. HR is struggling through the challenge of engaging and motivating the workforce consisting of different generations.
The table above shows three generations who working side by side in many organizations are different in several ways as in experience, expectations, traditions, different beliefs and views etc. it’s very important to learn their traits and expectations from job and find out what motivates them and design reward strategies accordingly.
2.1.PROBLEM STATEMENT
"One shoe doesn’t fits all" as it is said as everyone has different values, believes and needs. Todays workforce is mixture of employees from three generation having vast difference of believes, values , expectations and motivations. These three generations consist of baby boomers, generation X and generation Y also known as the millennial, according to predictions in SHRM’s 2008 Workplace Forecast By 2020 millennials will make 70% of the work force CITATION Wor08 \l 1033 (Workplace Forecast , 2008) having different view of job and career its likely that the perception and expectations in terms of rewards might be different still HR doesn’t keep this in mind while resigning the total reward strategy. Generational gap is something of huge importance it cant be ignored the three generations are born in different times experienced different times and life events which influenced their values and beliefs it shaped the way they see world and understand them. Generational gap can lead to poor morale, conflicts and frustrations. According to a survey conducted by Lee Hecht Harrison, around 60% of employers are facing conflicts due to generational gap among employees . However, these differences can also be the reason of increased productivity ,innovations and creations if handled wisely CITATION Ste05 \l 1033 (Armour, 2005.)
Three generations working side by side in many organizations are different in several ways as in experience, expectations, traditions, different beliefs and views etc. it’s very important to learn their traits and expectations from job and find out what motivates them and design reward strategies accordingly. Its long been observed that these generations are very different from cant be satisfied from one rewarding strategy. Sadly, in Pakistan this important principle is neglected when designing the reward system. So the question is does the same rewards have same impact on different generations?
2.1.1 OBJECTIVES
* Examine if the same rewards have the same and equal impact on them all
* what kind of reward boomers , Xers and millenials seek to motivate them
* find out Preferred rewards for boomers, Xers millenials
2.1.2 PURPOSE
This research will help UBL in understanding differences in the generations and retain the human asset. It will also help them By having better understanding of the generations UBL can design a better and more effective reward system also in turning these generational mix and their differences into unique competitive advantage. By the end of this research UBL will be able to identify whether performance recognition or career development is the key to motivate a particular generation. Not only can this whole banking sector take advantages from this research. Also students can also take benefit from this.
2.1.3 SIGNIFICANCE
This research will help in exploring different values of generations to have better understanding of them. Gathering knowledge about preferred rewards of Boomers Xers and mellenials. Will also help in better understanding of what motivates an employee hence retaining them, reducing conflicts and dissatisfaction among employees because of generational gap and lack of motivation, designing a better reward system in UBL, creating satisfied and loyal employees
3.1. LITRATURE REVIEW
One of the recent studies that has captured attention in international literature is the effect of the different values of people born in different times on their personal motivation and the rewarding system. They say that employees from different generations have different needs ,perceptions and values which jointly reflect on their priority of rewards. CITATION Bus14 \l 1033 (Bussin, 2014)
In todays world "one shoe doesn’t fits all" today is the age of customization everything from pen to car to cloths are customized suiting a group or individual needs. Keeping this in mind one may think that employees from different generations may also have different needs in terms of rewards if one reward satisfies a boomer does it have the same effect on tech savvy millennial as well who was born and bought up in different era having different values. Multi generational workforce if managed and motivated efficiently can become competitive advantage of an organization Changing demographics and social trends have significant impact on a workforce. Today’s struggling global economy, it is more important than ever that organizations leverage the knowledge, skills and abilities of all workers from all generations. By capitalizing on the strengths and values of different generations, HR leaders can gain a competitive advantage. Over the last several years the workforce has changed. HR is facing issue of motivating and engaging multi-generational workforce which consists of:
1 Baby boomers (Born 1946-1964)
2 Generation X (Born 1965-1980)
3 Generation Y also known as millennial (Born 1981-2000)
Millennials are the fastest growing group, To recruit and retain them, organizations needs to understand their work styles , communication styles and perspectives. Plus The members of the boomers are approaching traditional retirement age. However, 8/10 Boomers are expected to work at least part time in their retirement years.these boomers are without a doubt are equiped with experience and knowledge and have so much to contribute to the organization so to retain them HR must keep their interest and design a reward strategy that is able to attract them and yet HR should not forgot the Xers and millenials who form a big part of the work force . so its very important to find out what kind of reward motivates each generation . is it the same or different for different generation.[BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 (2008). Workplace Forecast . Society for Human Resource Management.(2009). The Multigenerational Workforce:Oppertunity for competitive sucess. SHRM.Armour, S. (2005.). Gen Y: They’ve arrived at Work with a New Attitude. USA Today.Bussin, M. &. (2014). Total rewards strategy for a multi-generational workforce in a financial institution. SA Journal of Human Resource Management.hayes. (1999). is your company's reward package out of sync? workforce, 115-116.Irvine. (2010). How to reward a multigenerational and culturally diverse workforce. Workspan:The Magazine of WorldatWork, 4, 63–68.Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology , 1297-1349.]
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