DEFINING GENERATIONS

A ‘generation’ is usually defined as a cohort of persons born at the same time. As early as 1952, Mannheim defined individuals by chronological age, noting that the sociological phenomenon of generations is ultimately based on the biological rhythm of birth and death (Mannheim, 1952). He defined generations as a useful construct above and beyond age, viewing it as a gestalt, a fundamental confluence of biology and history. Since then, the definition of ‘generation’ has evolved and spread into the workplace. Inglehart (1977) positioned generations as a cultural phenomenon as early as 1977, and continued with the development of the definition until 1981. The evolution of the definition has however continued and it still ongoing even in the 20th _century. Howe and Strauss (2007) define a generation as a group of individuals born and raised in the same period, and who have attitudes, values and behaviours that have been forged by shared experiences and the generational cycle in which these individuals were born. They further define a generational cycle as a four-part process of history, spanning roughly 80 years, defined by successive 20-year cohorts of idealist, reactive and adaptive characteristics. More recently, ‘generations’ have been defined by industrial psychologists as groups of individuals born in the same period and who experience a similar culture (Gentile, Campbell, & Twenge, 2013; Lyons & Kuron, 2014).

Although the definition of generations is generally accepted and understood, the reviewed literature indicated that there is difficulty in consensus on defining generations, as age, period and cohort are all variances that need to be taken into consideration.

25 qualities of a floating signifier, since the term can mean different things to different people. They further explain that, although organisational researchers have attempted to clarify and define this concept, they seem to lean more on examining differences between age groups. However, the authors have not ruled out the possibility that the concept of generations is more nuanced and distinct. The study by Urick et al. (2017) revealed different ways in which the concept of generations is understood in the workplace. The authors identified seven dimensions (termed categories of understanding) that show ways in which participants from their study understood the term ‘generations’. These categories are collective consciousness, genealogy, life stage, age-based, identity, contribution, and the ambiguous/irrelevant concept. The differences in understanding by the participants in this study further showed the lack of agreement on the concept of generations, and the need for further research in this area. The definition of generations based solely on cohorts has been problematised, as it “disregards the predominant significance that historical events and socio- economic and cultural phenomena may have on the creation of generational groupings” (Sakdiyakorn & Wattanacharoensil, 2018, p. 135).

“Differences in assumptions about what generation means have important implications for both research and practice” (Urick et al., 2017, p. 3). For simplicity reasons and the purposes of this study, the researcher defined a generation as a group of individuals born during the same period and who experience the same culture, as suggested by Gentile et al. (2013) and Lyons and Kuron (2014).

Researchers are generally not in agreement on how many generations are active in the labour market at any specific moment. For example, Kennedy (2002) and Novkovic (2007) argue that there are five generations, whereas as Cordington and Grant- Marshall (2006) as well as Howe and Strauss (2007) argue for four generations. On the other hand, Gursoy, Maier, and Chi (2008) as well as Sayers (2007) argue for only three generations in the workplace at the time. Benson and Brown (2011) identify only two generations most prevalent in the workplace at the time of their writing, namely Baby Boomers and Generation X. Furthermore, a new Generation Z is emerging in the workplace; however, little research has been done so far on this new generation, which is about to take the place of Generation Y as the youngest generation in employment (Sakdiyakorn & Wattanacharoensil, 2018).

26 Despite the lack of consensus on the number of generations in the workforce, most researchers agree on the following cohorts:

• Traditionalists • Baby Boomers • Generation X • Generation Y

The current study focused on three cohorts that are currently functioning in the world of work in South Africa, namely Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. There are only few Traditionalists functional in the workplace, as many of them are retired or approaching retirement (Jonck et al., 2017); hence, this cohort was excluded from the current study. Future studies could include Generation Z, as the latest generation in the work force. Generation Z shares overlapping beginning birth years with Generation Y’s ending birth years (Sakdiyakorn & Wattanacharoensil, 2018).

Furthermore, generational boundaries are one of most non-consensus points (Campbell et al., 2015). It was found that the boundaries separating the different generations are not exact, and that some generations overlap, depending on the country of origin (Gursoy et al., 2008; Kennedy, 2002; Sayers, 2007). Birth date parameters, according to Cordington and Grant-Marshall (2006) and based on the country of origin, are depicted in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Birth date parameters according to country of origin

Generation USA Europe/UK Japan South Africa

Traditionalists 1923–1942 1918–1945 1925–1945 1930–1949 Baby Boomers 1943–1962 1946–1965 1945–1965 1950–1969 Generation X 1963–1983 1966–1984 1966–1985 1970–1989 Generation Y 1984–2001 1985–2001 1986–2001 1990–2005

For the current study, generations were defined according to the South African birth date parameters as shown in Table 2.2. It was decided to use the South African birthdate parameters of Cordington and Grant-Marshall (2006), to add value to the body of relevant research in the South African context. Although the parameters are from research in 2006, the researcher could not find other or more recent applicable

27 parameter tables in the literature, and therefore accepted that the given data were still true.

Table 2.2: South African birthdate parameters

Generational timeline

1950–1969 1970–1989 1990–2005

Baby Boomers Generation X Generation Y