Experts say 'heuristics' are used to create overly simplified explanations for highly complex phenomena
Focusing on employees’ generations and the associated generational stereotypes risks missing vital aspects of their complex identities, which can lead to risk for the employer, says research from McLean & Company. The report, entitled Making Sense of Generations in the Workplace, says more attention has been placed on generational differences in recent years as organizations seek to adjust their approach to people management to better meet the needs of employees.
"The discussion about generations is inescapable and exists through several lenses, including social, economic, political, and organizational. No aspect of generational differences exists in a vacuum. Rather, each reinforces the others, causing the phenomenon of generational stereotypes to intensify," says Janet Clarey, principal director of hr research and advisory services at McLean & Company. "For example, the recent social interest in generations has led to business consultants pushing the concept to sell their services. This push inflates interest in generations, which in turn can risk adopting a one-dimensional approach to people management that ignores the critical and varied complexities of employees' identities."
Consider employees’ diverse identities
The report says that organizational decisions should not be made based on assumptions or concepts of generational stereotypes, as doing so risks missing vital aspects of employee identities and invites an undesirable amount of risk for the organization. Instead, HR and organizational leaders should consider the variety and complexity of employees' diverse identities when making talent decisions.
To support leaders seeking to apply a holistic approach to people management and make sense of generational stereotypes within their organizations' unique context and needs, McLean and Company has offered some key considerations:
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Critical examination of generational differences
Findings from empirical investigations, reviews of relevant literature, and interviews with leading experts in the field put forth arguments to challenge the very concept of generations as a valid means by which to categorize and explain people.
The construct of generations is further complicated by the fact that it cannot be accurately measured in isolation due to the many factors that are so closely intertwined with it, such as variation associated with aging attributable to life stage, maturity, and physical changes; variation associated with societal, historical, or cultural shifts in a specific period, such as widespread technology accessibility; and variation associated with groups of individuals based on shared experiences of major events, such as birth year or coming of age around a particular period.
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Psychology and media as catalysts
Psychology and media are examined as two catalysts through which humans have come to rely on generations as a way of organizing and giving meaning to the world. For example, the human brain seeks to simplify and make sense of complex environments. One of the ways in which this is done is by relying on heuristics, which are mental shortcuts employed to quickly make judgments about surroundings or solve problems without requiring immense cognitive effort. In this context, organizing complex people by generation is an application of heuristics.
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Implications for the workplace
Despite the limitations, generations are something organizations must reckon with as they continue to be a popular construct. As such, organizations must approach the concept of generations with sensitivity and awareness of the implications generational stereotypes pose and learn to navigate and manage the permeation of generational stereotypes within the organization.
Heuristics: a quick and easy sensemaking tool
The human brain seeks to simplify and make sense of the complex world around us. One of the ways in which this is done is by relying on heuristics, which are mental shortcuts we employ to quickly make judgments about our surroundings or solve problems without needing much cognitive effort, says the report.
Because heuristics are a quick and easy sensemaking tool, they are often used to create overly simplified explanations for highly complex phenomena (e.g. individual differences in the workplace), ultimately producing biases or erroneous conclusions.
People rely on heuristics across many situations because they provide an easy and efficient way of explaining the complex world, says Dr. Mazi Raz, assistant professor, general management, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario. She posits that perhaps understanding ourselves and others isn’t supposed to be easy. Unfortunately, the rapid nature of heuristics also presents risks of faulty attributions and biases.
“Often, when confronted with a dissatisfying event or an unexpected setback, our instinct is to seek out a scapegoat. Blaming generational differences is a convenient way to point the finger at others and evade our own accountability,” says Raz. “This swift shift of blame allows us to distance ourselves from the issue at hand.”
Misjudgments serve little collective purpose. McLean & Company says it is our responsibility to engage with our world and those who take part in it in a more conscious, logical, and intentional way to prevent misjudgments from occurring.
The firm recommends checking any assumptions being made based on generational differences to ensure unintentional biases are not applied in a workplace environment.
