Free Essay Sample. Historical Lenses

Over the years, Cross-generational workforce interactions have changed. In that regard, values, skills, and knowledge have changed drastically. The 1946-1964 baby boomers were told that they must express themselves most creatively and encourage individualism. Today, Baby boomers are recognized as the best based on their experience, dedication, and work ethics. The generation between 1963-1980 (generation X) was raised to become self-reliant. Generation X was taught to have a great entrepreneurial spirit and strike a balance between their work life and personal life. The urge was fueled by the era they lived in, where divorce rates rose significantly. Generation z (the millennials a generation that lived during 1980-2000) were taught to embrace immediate interactions and multiculturalism as a way of life. In their offices, the millennials were endowed with exceptional capabilities and technological knowledge, and skills to perform multiple tasks.

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Historical lenses tend to analyze the history of passed from one generation to the other. Historical lenses cover various perspectives such as ethical judgment, historical perspective, cause and outcomes, continuity and change, evidence and interpretation, and historical significance. These aspects are crucial to determine the behaviors and diversity that are passed in a workforce. For instance, we shall analyze the involvement of Canada in the South African war to elucidate these perspectives. Canadian enter the war overseas to protect the Boers who were descendants from Dutch. Canadians pitied British liberty, civilization, Justice, and freedom against the backwardness of the Boers and Canada had a diversified workforce such as English Canadians and French Canadians. The English Canadians supported the malicious acts of the British whereas French-Canadians opposed the ethicalness of engaging in war. The deployment of Canadian troops into the war was of high significance. The soldiers saw the consequences fueled by more powerful Canadian forces. Most of the primary sources written give elaborate evidence of the battle. The Canadian encyclopedia is one of the reliable sources that reveal the struggle. The evidence can be of great use when agitating for a change by assessing the cause and consequence. Notably, there is a need to question whether it was ethical to deploy the troops.

Similarly, we have seen all types of changes in the workplace with technology, skills, and new generations entering and leaving the workplace. Just as technology has changed in with the new and out with the old, so too has the workforce. The baby boomers are now reaching their retirement age which has also changed over the years from the early retirement of 55 years old onto the late retirees of now in the 70-year-old time frame. Historically the baby boomers were taught to work hard, stay with the same company and retire with a nice nest egg to support yourself for the rest of your natural lifespan (Sharabi, 2016). They were taught as workers to work as individuals for a company, be dedicated and loyal. Generation x was given those same skills from their parents, but they wanted a little something different from the workforce. Generation x wanted to be loyal but have that work-life balance to be able to be present while raising their children. They too wanted to be loyal but if they did not find a work-life balance, they would, in turn, seek to be entrepreneurs.

Based on the historical background of an employee, a generation can realize a stronger understanding of the influence on society. Historical backgrounds of a worker are essential as it allows the generation to open its mind and view the past differently. From here, a generation can investigate its ethics, examine it through the historical line, assess changes and continuity, consider the differences and outcomes, and use them as evidence to interrogate situations.

Humanities

Humanities lenses focus on empathy and cultural awareness, which is essential in managing and preventing workplace conflicts. In essence, empathy is the ability of an individual to understand the feeling of another person. At work, employees face various challenges regarding the nature of their work and personal lives. The reality is that every employee is appreciative when their co-workers understand them better. Cultural awareness means the ability to understand other groups by being open to discussing their beliefs and attitude. Typical, it calls for culture to be embraced by the other groups to make sure that conflict does not occur based on cultural differences. Based on cultural awareness and empathy, workers can work cohesively to realize improved productivity.

Looking through the lens of humanities and how it's connected to cross-generational workplace diversity is through the processing and documenting of the human experience. Human expression and experience through history, literature, philosophy, language, art, and so many more help us connect to others. For that reason, it prepares employees in the workplace to be able to get along and work with each other by learning and understanding the generations before and after them. Knowing how the workplace has been throughout history can help you remember those that are ageing in the workplace, those that are thriving in the workplace, and those that are new to learning the workplace and its culture. "The late Steve Jobs put it this way: "A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they don't have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have" (Bradley, 2018). A better design should enhance working as a team. There is a need to empathize with the aging population. For instance, there is a need for a junior staff member to perform tasks that deal with digital technology than an older adult. For that reason, it helps solve any conflict that can arise in the workplace as a result of cultural awareness. The ability to understand the attitude of elderly workers and junior work can help in spreading cultural awareness.

The millennials have entered the workplace with all of their tech-savvy ways and want to save the world while multitasking through the various jobs and opportunities along the way, with no loyalty and obtaining help from others to raise their children. Generation z is now entering the workforce, and they are not sure how to fit in but they want to have it all after getting all of the educational backgrounds and being given all of the historical information of the past generational workforce, they seek more changes than ever before with their political views, and their equal right's demands (Editorial, 2018). You put all of this together and you have a substantial cross-generational workplace diversity and inclusion mismatch of employees.

References

Bradley, E. (2018). The Practical Humanities. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2018/10/22/humanities-provide-practical-workplace-and-life-skills-opinion

Editorial (2018). Science benefits from diversity - Improving the participation of under-represented groups is not just fairer - it could produce better research. Nature.com. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05326-3

Sharabi, M. (2016). Generational Differences in Work Values and Ethics: An International Perspective. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Retrieved from: https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/ bmxlYmtfXzE0M DYyNDhfX0FO0?sid=e54b41bc-961b-4e70-ad70-938e9c358d59@sessionmgr4006&vid =7&format =EB&rid=4