Leadership of different generations in the labour market

Chapter two deals with the different values of the ages defined in theory. However, on a closer examination, it can be deduced that the requirements of the generations are similar to each other.

In 2009 Kodatt used the six dimensions of culturally endorsed implicit leadership from the Global Leadership survey and incorporated requirements of the generation of Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y in the labour market. Therefore, she examined the finance, food processing and telecommunications industry. For the investigation, she used the following leadership dimensions: (GLOBE, 2007)

1. Participative leadership

Participative leadership reflect the degree to which the leader involves others in making and implementing decisions. Participative leaders emphasise democratic and participative decision making.

2. Charismatic/Value-Based leadership

The ability to motivate, to expect high-performance outcomes and to inspire. These leaders are visionary, inspirational, engage in self-sacrifice, demonstrate integrity and are decisive and performance-oriented.

3. Humane-oriented leadership

Humane-oriented leadership reflect supportive and considerate leadership, but also includes compassion, modesty, generosity and an emphasis on being humane.

Management behavioural of the

superior

Leadership preferences of the

employee match

Successful leadership

51 4. Self-protective leadership

Self–protective leadership focuses on ensuring the safety and security of the individual and group through status enhancement. Self-protective leaders are self-centred, status-conscious and induce conflicts.

5. Team-oriented leadership

Team-oriented leadership emphasises effective team building and implementation of a common purpose or goal among team members. Team-oriented leaders are collaborative integrators who are diplomatic, benevolent, administratively competent and procedural.

6. Autonomous leadership

Autonomous leadership refers to independent and individualistic leadership attributes.

Autonomous leaders emphasise individualism, independence and autonomy and have unique characteristics.

The data was analysed by means of an analysis of variance to obtain the leadership preferences of the participants. The results are shown in the following table:

Early

Table 13 Six dimensions of leadership sorted by importance and generations, own illustration, source: Kodatt (2009)

The analysis showed (table 13) that the Baby Boomers, as well as Generation X and Y, prefer the charismatic leadership style. Also, all Generations voted the human-oriented leadership style in the second place. The only deviation was at the participative leadership style and team-oriented leadership style. Where Generation Y wants to be more involved in decisions, the other two generations choose the team-oriented style in third place. In the case of the autonomous leadership style and self-protective leadership style, the respondents agreed again.

The study shows small differences regarding the requirement of leadership between the generations. Generation Y prefers recognition and wants to achieve an overall goal. Leadership

52 must involve them in the decision-making process, and further, they like to receive feedback regularly.

Generation X focuses on the family. They are motivated when they can work in a learning environment with personalised tasks. The preferred leadership style is team-oriented because they pay too little attention to team spirit.

The Baby Boomers appreciate being motivated by their leadership, and the most important property is "trust". Generation Z was not part of the survey.

5.6.1 Leaders within Generation Y

The new generation was suddenly unexpectedly on the job market, and no one expected them.

While some of yesterday's managers are still very overwhelmed, leaders are already beginning to adjust to the new requirements. Generation Y has brought about a definite change in values and is starting to turn parts of the labour market upside down. Values and needs are defined in chapter two in this thesis.

Nevertheless, how should leadership within Generation Y look like now? They avoid the harassment and pressure of managers. It is a generation that cannot be impressed by rigid management. It rejects regulations and hierarchies, in part. Managers are sometimes praised for being efficient implementers, but they are not admired. Millennials expect respected persons to prove themselves daily new and get thereby their acknowledgement. Leadership is the only way to achieve business goals and lead Generation Y.

The personality of the leader offers an opportunity for identification and orientation and can impress the new generation. Furthermore, it offers a projection screen for their wishes and goals.

The leaders have to animate and motivate people to join the journey, and not the manager's commands that bring the millennials on board, as they did in the past. The playful bond that is conveyed by the leader gives Generation Y the feeling of not being tied to the company.

Generation Y people are willing to have confidence in their leaders, but also to trust them and already prefer to accept praise. But even the acceptance and definition of team tasks and goals.

In this way, they are also prepared to take the negative side, e.g. criticism. A leader, a positive mindset, lead the new generations to better performances. Further, the company is recognised as valuable and meaningful.

The decisive element to lead, reach and address a whole generation is the personality of the future leader. (Sobolweska, Leone & Buzek, 2015)

5.6.2 Leaders within Generation Z

The keyword for Generation Z is "digital natives". Different means of communication and communication channels play a significant role here. Since Generation Z is still very unexplored in part, the first studies are already being carried out. These are astonishing, especially in the area of human resources. In contrast to their predecessors, they are hardly willing to commit themselves to a company. Instead, what counts is the strict separation between professional and private worlds. Flexibility is a particularly negative aspect when it comes to working hours, as it can be exploited by the company and is, therefore, a potential threat. It is also astonishing that the assumption of management responsibility is playing an ever-smaller role. (Scholz, 2014) An

53 Australian study was entitled "Do not manage me - understand me." If one wants to believe this statement, possible yet unforeseeable challenges for leadership work will fall within the core competencies of leadership. (Buzek, Leone & Sobolweska, 2015)

Generation Z is more entrepreneurial compared to the Millennials and shows a significant difference. A study showed only 11 per cent of Gen Y said they had entrepreneurial aspirations, whereas 17 per cent of Generation Z respondents agreed. By fostering innovation, project ownership and autonomy leaders and manager can cultivate entrepreneurial goals at work.

(Lanier, 2017)

A particular leadership style for Generation Z cannot be derived yet. Currently, today's managers have not fulfilled the demands of Millennials. Tendencies show that the boundaries between Generation Y and Z are blurred. However, it is observed in research that Generation Z opts even more for minimal supervision. (Lakshimi Narayanamma, Srinivas & Rama Devi, 2018)