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A Multi-Cohort Examination of Generational Differences in Competency-based Performance and EngagementTRANSCRIPT
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A Multi-Cohort Examination of Generational Differences in
Competency-based Performance and Engagement
Journal: Human Performance
Manuscript ID: Draft
Manuscript Type: Original Article
Keywords: generational differences, employee performance, employee
engagement, Millennial employees
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Generational Differences 1
Running head: GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN COMPETENCY PERFORMANCE
A Multi-Cohort Examination of Generational Differences in
Competency-based Performance and Engagement
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Abstract
This study investigated potential differences between Millennial-generation and older
employees’ competency-based performance and engagement using both cross-sectional and age-
defined cohort samples. Data were obtained from 3766 customer service employees and their
managers in a cross-organizational sample. Ratings of Millennials’ overall performance was
comparable with their counterparts from previous generations. When examining differences at
the competency level, Millennials outperformed older employees in learning ability and
adaptability but performed lower on a larger number of competencies relating to work ethic, self-
management, and interpersonal skills. Our study suggests a complex interplay in the relationship
between performance and generation, with each generation leveraging different strengths to
achieve similar levels of overall performance. We discuss implications of our findings for
coaching, training, and selecting a multi-generational workforce.
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Generational Differences 3
A Multi-Cohort Examination of Generational Differences in
Competency-based Performance and Engagement
Within the context of a strong interest in actively recruiting, managing and leveraging the
skills of a diverse employee workforce, organizations have displayed increasing interest in and
have drawn broader implications from research into potential distinctions among employee
subgroups, and generational effects have received extensive attention in recent years. This
attention is likely due to the impending retirements of a large Baby Boom generation, which in
turn has created an imbalance between jobs to be filled, and sufficiently-skilled new workforce
entrants to fill them. This degree of imbalance is such that growth in the labor force itself may be
threatened in the forthcoming decades (Toossi, 2007). This excess of employee “demand” may
have expanded the proportion of candidates from the newest generations who are considered
viable for employment. Because of this, organizations may face pressure to be less selective in
who they hire; instead, they must recognize and prepare for a new generation “as is,” including
their strengths and weaknesses in terms of on-the-job performance.
The generation currently entering the workforce, and therefore a primary focus of recent
attention, has been defined as the “Millennial” generation, with birth years between 1977 and
2000. Similar to prior generations defined using a cohort-based approach to categorization,
Millennials are classified based on the premise that the values and behaviors of individuals
within this cohort would be similarly shaped by defining events, most notably for this particular
generation the 9/11 attacks and the emergent omnipresence of the Internet (Howe & Strauss,
2007). Although inherent conceptual and methodological risks with a generational perspective on
employee categorization have been noted by numerous authors (e.g., Deal, 2007; Macky,
Gardner, & Forsyth, 2008; Sullivan, 2008), it nonetheless remains a salient area of interest for
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Generational Differences 4
organizations facing tangible challenges with staffing and retaining the workforces that will
define their future productivity and growth. With organizations seeking detailed guidance on
these issues, it is important for researchers to conduct targeted investigations on this topic to
inform research-guided recommendations, as a counterpoint to the extensive but not peer-
reviewed publications, many of which are based on anecdotal and/or small-scale examples.
The popular press frequently asserts that the Millennial generation differs notably from
earlier generations in terms of workplace preferences and performance. Millennial workers
reportedly prefer more collaborative work settings, adapt more quickly to change, are less
engaged in their work, and are more likely to change jobs frequently (e.g., Hulett, 2006).
Other popular publications suggest Millennials prefer time on the job for socializing with friends,
want all processes (e.g., job training) tightly integrated with current technology, and demand
constant praise and recognition for their workplace contributions. The purpose of this paper is to
empirically-investigate these common stereotypes to uncover whether they are
overgeneralizations or whether they accurately reflect some observable differences in behavior
between Millennials and the generations that came before them.
A secondary aim of this paper is to provide additional context for interpreting the data. In
addition to comparing behaviors of Millennial and older groups within a multi-year sample, we
partitioned the available samples into three timeframes based on when the data were gathered.
We then used the age of Millennials in the present day to classify employees from each
timeframe into equivalent age categories. Finally, we compared the magnitude of performance
and engagement effects between these timeframes, in an attempt to disentangle generation
effects from the conflating effects of age. Given that the concept of a “generation gap” did not
arise with the Millennial generation – Deal (2007) provides quotations indicating signs of such
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perceived distinctions as early as 400 B.C. – a cohort-based perspective may provide insights
into whether and how current effects differ from effects obtained in prior comparisons.
Job Performance of Millennials
Compared to earlier generations, Millennials are often viewed as more difficult to
manage and retain as employees. While a moderate degree of research has been conducted
regarding the work preferences and motivations of Millennials (e.g., Rawlins, Indvik, & Johnson,
2008; Taylor, Morin, Parker, Cohn, & Wang, 2009), very little empirical research exists
regarding the relative job performance of younger generations as compared to their predecessors
(Macky et al., 2008). In one of the few empirical studies to investigate this issue for Generation
X, the generation immediately preceding Millennials, Sessa, Kabacoff, Deal, and Brown (2007)
compared multisource feedback ratings of leaders from various generations. Due to the small
sample sizes available for Millennial leaders (based on the small number of individuals
achieving a leadership role early in their career), they were not able to include this group in their
comparisons. However, for Generation X leaders Sessa and her colleagues observed stronger
usage of individualistic rather than collectivist leadership styles. Although either of these styles
may be effective in certain employment settings, this finding does suggest that Generation X
employees may differ from the preceding generations in terms of how they interact and work
with others.
In terms of the Millennial generation specifically, but based on survey findings rather
than structured performance information, jobfox (as cited by American Society for Public
Administration, 2008) found that only 20% of corporate recruiters considered Millennials
“generally great performers” and gave much higher ratings to those in other generational
categories (e.g., 58% had highly favorable perceptions of Generation X workers). These
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perceptions align with many of the anecdotal remarks regarding the job performance of
Millennials found in the popular press and trade journals. For example, Hulett (2006) reported
that Millennials are strong multi-taskers and agile learners, drawing upon their interactions with
technology from an early age. Because the formal literature on generational differences in job
performance is limited, research in the area of age and job performance may also be informative.
Because Millennials are also currently the youngest generation, our hypotheses will also draw
upon the more developed literature surrounding age differences in job performance, while
recognizing the importance of addressing the conflating nature of age versus generation effects.
Because we are unable to conclusively separate Millennials from younger employees, however,
for our formal hypotheses we use the phrase “Millennial/Younger” to refer to this subgroup.
One approach to partially address the issue of determining which effects are due to
generation and which are due to age is to compare the current Millennials cohort (based on their
current age range within the employee population) with similarly-aged cohorts for whom
performance information was gathered at earlier points in time. Specifically, we compare the
current cohort of Millennials (birth years of 1977 and later or on average, a maximum age of 31
in the most recent studies available for our analysis sample) to individuals 31 years of age and
younger in datasets gathered between 2002 and 2004 (birth years of 1972 and later) and between
1997 and 1999 (birth years of 1967 and later). The limited research into differences by
generation on competency-based job performance does not allow us to hypothesize specific
effects; however, we view it as a potentially informative research question regarding how
“young” employees in the current 2007-2009 workforce (i.e., Millennials) compare to “young”
employees in the workforces of 2002-2004 and 1997-1999. These latter workforces would
include a proportion of Millennials, but they would also include members of the previous
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generation, Generation X. The “Older” categorization also varies within these cohorts such that
in the more recent sample this aligns directly with the Generation X/Millennial transition;
however, in the earlier cohorts the transition to “Older” as defined by age includes only the
earlier portion of Generation X rather than that full generation.
Job Performance and Age
Research into age-related differences in overall job effectiveness (e.g., McEvoy & Cascio,
1989; Ng & Feldman, 2008) has generally detected low-magnitude positive linear relationships
between these variables. In the most recent large-scale investigation of these relationships, a
meta-analysis conducted by Ng and Feldman (2008), the corrected correlation between age and
supervisor-rated core task performance was estimated to be 0.03. However, these authors also
observed substantial variability in this relationship, suggesting that different facets of job
performance may be predicted to varying degrees. Through subsequent moderator analyses, they
observed correlations ranging from -0.04 for performance in training programs to 0.28 for
punctuality (reverse-coded from tardiness). This pattern of findings suggests that exploring age-
performance relationships, as well as generation-performance relationships, at an overall level
may obscure a more varied set of linkages existing among sub-elements of job performance
(Cleveland & Lim, 2007).
In the current research, we seek to expand upon the potential limitations of an exclusive
focus on overall performance by utilizing a competency framework to attempt further explication
of the complex age-performance relationship. Competency-based approaches to defining
individual characteristics linked to job success are important foundations for understanding and
addressing differences among employee groups because, in comparison to more traditional task-
based approaches, they are viewed to be superior in informing training and development-oriented
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HR applications (Schippmann et al., 2000). Drawing upon previous research where applicable
and to a lesser extent, on popular characterizations related to generational issues, we propose
several hypotheses regarding job performance differences among generational categories.
First, we identified Applied Learning, or assimilating and applying new job-related
information in a timely manner, as a competency linked closely to fluid intelligence, which has
been shown to decrease for older adults (e.g., Horn, 1982) and to reach maximum levels for an
individual in his or her early twenties (e.g., Schaie, 1996). Accordingly, we predicted that
performance in this competency would be higher for Millennial/Younger employees.
Hypothesis 1: Applied Learning performance will be higher for
Millennial/Younger than for Older employees.
Certain competencies are reflective of personality constructs which differ by age, with
Adaptability being one such example. Adaptability is defined in competency terms as
maintaining effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work responsibilities or
environment, and making effective adjustments to new work conditions. We identified Openness
to Experience as a related personality facet which has been shown to decrease for older
individuals (e.g., Roberts, Robins, Caspi, & Trzesniewski, 2003), guiding our prediction for this
competency.
Hypothesis 2: Adaptability performance will be higher for Millennial/Younger
than for Older employees.
Conscientiousness has been shown to increase for older individuals (e.g., Roberts et al.,
2003), which may have implications for work activities drawing heavily upon this attribute. In
addition, the response categories of “Work Ethic” and “Morality/Ethics/Beliefs” were among the
most commonly-cited distinctions between generational categories from a recent survey
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conducted on the topic by the Pew Research Center (Taylor et al., 2009). In Deal’s research
(2007), the value of Integrity was also identified as a top ten most important value by only 39%
of “late Generation Xers” (overlapping in birth years with the current characterization of
Millennials) as compared to an average of 68% for the preceding four generational categories.
Based on these findings, we predicted that performance on the competencies of Work Standards
(defined as setting high standards of performance for oneself and for others and taking
responsibility for work outcomes) and Integrity (defined as adhering to social, ethical, and
organizational norms and to codes of acceptable conduct) would be higher for Older individuals.
Hypothesis 3: Integrity performance will be higher for Older than for
Millennial/Younger employees.
Hypothesis 4: Work Standards performance will be higher for Older than for
Millennial/Younger employees.
Anecdotes and many of the popular press publications cite a high degree of comfort by
Millennials for group-oriented activities and frequent communication with others. However, our
prediction for the competency Collaboration, defined as working effectively and cooperatively
with others and establishing and maintaining good working relationships, is guided by the
finding of Sessa et al. (2007) that later-generation individuals were more likely to use an
individual rather than a consensual interaction style, as well as by the common characterization
of the Millennial group as a “me” generation (e.g., Macey & Schneider, 2008). It may be the case
that group interactions in a social setting, often conducted remotely using technology, may not
translate into effectiveness interacting directly with others (of a more varied age range than one’s
peers) for interdependent tasks in a work setting.
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Hypothesis 5: Collaboration performance will be higher for Older than for
Millennial/Younger employees.
We also investigated exploratory research questions related to several additional
competencies commonly identified as important for these roles, Communication, Customer
Orientation, Decision Making, Managing Work, and Initiative. For these competencies, we did
not propose a priori hypotheses due to the limited insight provided by existing research. We also
explored potential differences in Overall Performance – we do agree with authors (e.g.,
Cleveland & Lim, 2007) suggesting that such a level of analysis can obscure more meaningful
and interpretable effects at the competency level. However, we nonetheless included this analysis
facet in order to facilitate comparisons with other research and to explore the possibility that
competency effects may counterbalance in their contribution to overall job effectiveness.
Engagement
Macey and Schneider (2008) proposed a model of employee engagement that
distinguishes three components: a psychological state, a manifestation of behaviors, and a
disposition. The behavioral aspect is the element of engagement perhaps most closely linked to
popular press perceptions regarding Millennials. Behaviors such as putting in extra effort on the
job, seeking out opportunities to make contributions to the workplace, taking initiative, and
intentions to stay with an organization are all associated with these behavioral aspects of
engagement. This view of engagement is shared by most industry approaches to engagement and
is often conceptualized as a combination of satisfaction and involvement (Wefald & Downey,
2008).
The popular press is replete with anecdotal examples stating that Millennials are
disengaged. For example, a Business Week article (Pallavi, 2005) used terms such as spoiled,
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overindulged, disengaged, and self-absorbed to describe this generation. Related to these
conceptions, Millennials are often perceived as job hoppers that do not expect long-term
relationships with a single employer (Alsop, 2008). Alsop contends that these individuals grew
up in an environment that rewarded and catered to individual interests and that they are therefore
more likely to seek out environments that offer flexibility and work life balance. The argument is
made that because Millennials expect to have their needs catered to, they are not as likely to be
loyal to a single organization, to accept criticism, or to take initiative ([email protected],
2008). The consulting firm BlessingWhite (2008) conducted a global survey of over 7500
employees and reported that a greater percentage of Millennials across a wide range of
geographic regions were disengaged as compared to their counterparts from other generations.
These findings translate into views that Millennials are predisposed to be less engaged
and are therefore more difficult to manage than their colleagues from previous generations. To
counter this perceived effect, managers are often encouraged to adjust their leadership styles to
these so called ‘unique’ aspects of Millennials’ needs (Alsop, 2008) and accordingly,
organizations appear to be continually seeking prescriptions for dealing with this generation.
Research on the relationship between employee engagement and tenure and age has been
mixed. Following a review of the literature on employee engagement, tenure, and age, a report
by The Conference Board (Gibbons, 2006) found trends indicating that employee engagement
was linked to length of service and that factors influencing engagement were likely to shift as
employees aged. For example, they reported a frequent finding that employees early in their
tenure with an organization were more likely to be engaged than those with moderate levels of
tenure and that older employees were likely to be employed longer by their current employer
than younger employees. Harris Interactive (2005, as cited in Gibbons, 2006) found that a larger
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percentage of employees over the age of 55 agreed with the statement “a great deal of my pride
comes from my work” than did employees under the age of 35. Based on this collective although
not entirely uniform set of prior research, we predict higher engagement levels for Older
employees.
Hypothesis 6: Engagement will be higher for Older than for Millennial/Younger
employees.
Method
Our research sample includes data gathered from customer service employees
(engagement) and their managers (performance) from 19 organizations. Employees completed a
proprietary measure of employee engagement. Collection of competency-based performance data
followed a consistent approach involving manager rating sessions preceded by frame-of-
reference and rater error training. In these sessions, supervisors evaluated employees using 4 to 6
behavioral statements for each of 8 to 12 competencies. These competencies were established
through job analytic activities which included interviews, job observations, focus groups,
surveys, confirmation surveys, and stakeholder reviews. Performance ratings were utilized for
research purposes only and were described to participants as such; ratings were not made
available to the client organizations and no administrative decisions were possible on the basis of
the information. Within each organization, we standardized ratings such that performance
reflected an employee’s performance relative to others within their respective organizations.
Our analysis sample size comprises 3766 employees with age data available; of these
individuals, 1478 (39.2%) were classified as Millennial/Younger employees based on their
birthdates of 1977 or later and 2288 (60.8%) were classified as Older employees based on
birthdates of 1976 or earlier. Although our “Older” group in fact includes individuals from a
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range of preceding generations (e.g., Generation X and Baby Boomers), due to the largely
exploratory nature of our study we wished to focus our analysis on the distinctions between the
Millennial generations and all previous generations as a set. Our study investigates three types of
research questions: first, main effects of competency-based performance by generation; second,
main effects of engagement by generation; and third, changes in the magnitude of these effects
from the 1997-1999 to the 2002-2004 and to the 2007-2009 timeframe.
Measures
Engagement. The engagement measure used was the E3, a proprietary 17-item
standardized survey developed by the consulting firm Development Dimensions International
(DDI). This survey measures employees’ perceptions of personal meaning and motivation in
their work, positive interpersonal support from their company and work unit, and efficiency
within their work environment.
Competency-Based Job Performance. Competencies used as the basis for employee
performance ratings were drawn from the competency library of DDI. This taxonomy has been
developed and refined for approximately 40 years based on job analyses conducted across a
range of organizations, positions, and industries. Competencies were developed to be clearly
defined, independent from other competencies, and behaviorally-observable. DDI has evaluated
and observed substantial correspondence between this competency model and generalized
models such as those developed by the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB; Herman,
Bramucci, Piala, & Litman, 2000) and the Occupational Information Network (O*NET;
Peterson, Mumford, Borman, Jeanneret, & Fleishman, 1999), as well as numerous models from
other consulting firms and individual organizations. For this study, we limited our group
comparisons to the most frequently-observed competencies based on job analyses conducted on
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customer-facing positions as listed in Table 1. We also included an index of Overall
Performance, which was calculated by unit-weighting and averaging all individual competencies
included within each study.
Analysis/Results
In order to avoid excessive influence over the findings by a particular organization’s
sample, we randomly sampled within organization such that no more than 1000 individuals were
included from each. Although this sampling approach reduced our analysis sample sizes, we
viewed it as an appropriate procedure to potentially increase the cross-organizational
generalizability of the Millennial/Younger-Older employee comparative results.
We conducted ANCOVAs comparing competency-based performance and engagement
between Millennial/Younger and Older-generation employees. In these comparisons, in order to
reduce the potentially conflating effects of job tenure, we included this variable, measured in
months, as a covariate in the analyses. The evaluation level for this covariate varied slightly
between competencies based on sample variations, with a minimum value of 22.2 months and a
maximum value of 27.5 months.
Competency-based Job Performance
Group-level sample sizes for these comparisons ranged between 650 (for
Millennial/Younger employees on Integrity) and 1866 (for Older employees on Building
Customer Loyalty and Overall Performance). We converted F-statistics to d-values to compute
standardized effect size differences for all comparisons; positive d-values indicate higher
performance for Millennial/Younger employees as compared to Older employees. Results for our
performance comparisons are presented in Table 1, including significance levels and effect sizes
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for the comparisons—all results discussed below are significant unless otherwise noted. A
graphical display of the mean differences between the two groups is also presented in Figure 1.
For Overall Performance, group differences were not significant and the resulting effect
size was small (d = -0.045). We observed significant performance differences in the expected
direction favoring Millennial/Younger employees for 2 of the competencies included in the
analyses: Applied Learning (Hypothesis 1) and Adaptability (Hypothesis 2), p < .01. In addition,
for Managing Work (exploratory research question), we found a small trend favoring
Millennial/Younger employees but it fell short of significance (p = .07). We observed
performance differences favoring Older employees for 3 of the competencies hypothesized,
supporting Hypotheses 3, 4, and 5 (i.e., Collaboration, Work Standards, and Integrity). In
addition, Older employees outperformed Millennial/Younger employees on two additional
competencies explored but not directly hypothesized: Customer Orientation and Initiative.
Engagement
For Engagement (Hypothesis 6), we observed significant differences between the groups,
after controlling for job tenure, such that Older employees reported stronger levels than
Millennials/Younger workers, F = 6.28, p < 0.01, d = 0.108.
Cross-Cohort Analyses
A key challenge when evaluating generational differences is to disentangle these effects
from effects due to age alone. In an attempt to partially separate these two types of effects and as
a secondary analysis to the overall (across all validation study samples regardless of year
conducted) group differences reported above, we split the sample into three portions based on the
timeframe when the data were gathered, and we classified employees from each timeframe into
Millennial-equivalent age categories. That is, because Millennial employees in our most recent
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sample timeframe (2007 to 2009) were 31 years of age or younger, we compared employees of
this age group to older individuals for all three timeframes for which data were available. We
viewed the trend in these differences from the 1997 to 1999 timeframe, to the 2002 to 2004
timeframe, to the 2007 to 2009 timeframe to potentially be indicative of how generational effects
may diverge from age-based effects on competency-based performance.
Of the analyses conducted on competency-based differences by timeframe, we observed
interpretable trends in two competencies: Collaboration and Applied Learning. For
Collaboration, the trend indicated effect sizes progressively favoring Older employees: in the
1997-1999 cohort, Younger employees performed better on this competency to a very small
degree (d = 0.036); however, Older employees performed better in the 2002-2004 cohort (d = -
0.111) and incrementally so in the 2007-2009 cohort (d = -0.135). For Applied Learning,
conversely, effect sizes favored Younger employees to a slightly larger degree in 2002-2004 (d =
0.240) and 2007-2009 (d = 0.223) as compared to 1997-1999 (d = 0.179). In terms of the
remaining competencies as well as for Overall Performance and engagement, effect size
differences were either stable across the timeframe cohorts or did not indicate a consistent trend.
Discussion
The competency-level effects we observed for the Millennial generation largely parallel
those expected based on age differences (e.g., in fluid intelligence and the corresponding
competency Applied Learning). However, at a broader level it is clear that although both
Millennial and older employees are capable of achieving similar levels of job effectiveness, they
achieve this success in varying ways; the strengths of Millennials in competencies such as
Applied Learning and Adaptability appear to be counteracted by stronger performance levels of
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older employees in competencies such as Collaboration, Work Standards, and Customer
Orientation.
Competency-based Job Performance
Millennial/Younger employees performed significantly better on the competency of
Applied Learning, as compared to Older employees. This finding corresponds with the decline of
fluid intelligence levels in older adults (e.g., Horn, 1982) and the close relationship of Applied
Learning to this form of cognitive functioning. Millennials often conduct rapid internet searches
for information they subsequently apply to their immediate needs. In this way, Millennials may
commonly practice some of the skills associated with Applied Learning in their non-work lives,
and may be readily able to exercise these same behaviors in a work context.
Millennial/Younger employees also performed better on the competency of Adaptability.
Although this finding converges with the decrease with age of the personality construct
Openness to Experience, it also contradicts some stereotypes drawn from the popular press.
Managers reportedly express frequent frustration with Millennials because they ask “why” so
often, and may question the necessity and rationale for a new policy or procedure (e.g., Buono &
Nurick, 2008). However, Millennials as a group have also experienced extraordinary changes
during their lifetimes, particularly in the areas of technology and globalization. The
pervasiveness of these changes may have heightened the abilities of this generation to modify
their behaviors to match the situation in a work as well as a personal environment.
Older employees outperformed Millennial/Younger employees in Collaboration. This is
consistent with the research of Sessa and her colleagues (2007) showing that later-generation
individuals were more likely to use an individualist interaction style characterized by assertively
prioritizing one’s own interests over those of the group. Further, Millennials’ perceived
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preferences for electronic communication media such as texting and instant messaging, may not
fit with company expectations or preferred teamwork approaches of older employees. Many have
suggested that their dislike of in-person meetings impedes Millennials’ ability to problem solve
as a group and build strong interpersonal work relationships (Alsop, 2008) as well as to increase
their emotional intelligence at work (Lipkin & Perrymore, 2009).
Our findings indicate that Older employees performed better on the competency of
Integrity. This is a finding shared by previous survey-based research (e.g., Deal, 2007; Taylor et
al., 2009) and also a frequently cited notion in the popular press. In her book detailing the
psychology of Millennials, Twenge (2006) argued that Millennials as a group care little about
seeking others’ approval. She believes this pervasive attitude has contributed to lower adherence
to social rules and an increase in cheating in schools. Millennials have also witnessed numerous
business scandals (e.g., Enron, WorldCom) and have observed rampant disregard of employees
when companies raided pension funds and invoked massive layoffs. These events may have
influenced Millennials’ own ethical workplace behaviors and attitudes.
Our research also found that Older employees outperformed Millennial/Younger
employees on Work Standards and Initiative. These competencies are related to work ethic,
which is a value that characterizes Baby Boomers’ parents (Alsop, 2008). Baby Boomers
themselves are often noted for their work ethic though it is said to be driven by motivation for
status and titles. Another important consideration is that perceptions of one’s work standards will
be colored by prevailing norms within a given job or organization. While some contend that
Millennials do have strong work ethics, albeit different work ethics (e.g., Lipkin et al., 2009),
characteristics traditionally associated with a strong work ethic may be at odds with Millennials’
stated preferences for setting their own work hours and working their jobs in around their lives.
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In terms of Initiative, it seems Millennials often exhibit some related behaviors, but Older
employees may contribute more meaningful, appropriate, or pragmatic ideas and behaviors than
lower-tenured Millennials. Thus, when Older employees speak up or initiate work on their own,
their thoughts or work products may be viewed by managers and leaders alike as more
acceptable and more valuable.
Our research indicated that Older employees outperformed Millennial/Younger
employees in Customer Orientation. The first finding is consistent with the notion that
Millennials comprise a “me” generation and are not particularly skilled at taking the perspective
of others. Millennials as a generation have enjoyed more buying power at a younger age than did
previous generations (Tulgan, 2009). As such, they may be more accustomed to playing the
customer role, rather than the customer service role, and may be less able to view work situations
and their own work outcomes through the viewpoint of a customer.
In terms of the competency of Managing Work, although we did not predict this finding a
priori and the difference did not achieve full statistical significance, converging empirical
evidence does exist to support the trend of Millennial/Younger employees outperforming Older
employees. Studies have demonstrated lower levels of executive functioning (Rhodes, 2004) and
multi-tasking (Verhaeghen Steitz, Sliwinski, & Cerella, 2003) for older adults; both of these
cognitive processes are related to coordinating one’s own multiple work activities effectively
while avoiding or ignoring the influence of potential distractions.
Overall Performance levels were very similar between Millennial/Younger and Older
workers, consistent from an age perspective with large-scale meta-analyses such as Ng and
Feldman, (2008). This suggests that employees of both groups, Millennials/Younger and Older,
may be capable of the same level of work success but may achieve this success in different ways.
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While there were no significant differences in Overall Performance, the observed differences in
individual competencies can potentially be summarized based on the themes of the
competencies. Older employees performed better as a group on interpersonal and self-discipline
competencies (e.g., Collaboration, Integrity, Work Standards) while Millennial employees
performed better as a group on learning and information management competencies (e.g.,
Applied Learning, Adaptability, and marginally on Managing Work).
Engagement
Older employees reported significantly higher levels of engagement than
Millennial/Younger employees. When engagement is conceptualized as a combination of
satisfaction and involvement (Wefald et al., 2008), it may become evident why Millennial
employees may be perceived as less engaged. Millennials have a reputation for leaving jobs once
they become disenchanted with their current work situation (Lipkin et al., 2009). They are not
likely to make sacrifices for the futuristic promise of promotions or other rewards (Tulgan,
2009). Also, they witnessed their workaholic parents getting laid off in the 1990s as the economy
changed (e.g., Lipkin et al., 2009) so their loyalty to the organization must be earned; it is not a
given. Additionally, Millennials are known for having high demands around compensation,
flexible work schedules, perceived importance of work tasks, and constant positive performance
feedback. When these attributes on the job fall short of expectations, Millennials’ subjective
level of satisfaction will decrease. This attitude may also be captured by the engagement measure
used in this study, specifically the components of satisfaction and perceived managerial and
organizational support.
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Changes in Performance Effects by Cohort
We found linear changes in the magnitude of competency-based performance differences
for Applied Learning and Collaboration. This suggests that Millennial-generation employees
may be progressively advancing/declining as compared to their similarly-aged predecessors.
Regarding Applied Learning, the increasing advantages for this competency of
Millennial-generation employees over and above what might be expected based only on age,
may be explainable due to continued growth in education levels for this generation. The National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) has tracked a group of individuals with birth
years ranging from 1981 to 1985, and has compared them to a carefully-matched cohort group
with birth years ranging from 1957 to 1965 (NLSY79). The 1997 group, roughly parallel to a
portion of the current Millennials categorization, were found to have stronger educational
backgrounds in terms of their own academic achievement as well as that of their fathers and
mothers (Altonji, Bharadwaj, & Lange, 2008). For example, the NLSY97 cohort had completed
13.17 grades by age 22 as compared to 12.61 for the NLSY79 cohort.
Regarding performance on Collaboration, although Millennial/Younger employees
outperformed Older employees to a small degree during the first cohort we examined (1997-
1999), Older employees surpassed them on Collaboration performance in the 2002-2004 cohort
and incrementally so in the 2007-2009 cohort. One potential explanation for this finding is that
younger employees’ performance in this area has decreased as the availability and their usage of
technology has increased. The adoption of and reliance on these communication media may
explain the decline in Collaboration performance compared to older employees during the same
time period. Many organizations and managers alike insist that collaboration is best
accomplished during in-person meetings and phone calls, and reliance on these more impersonal
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media causes breakdowns in communication and limits their development of negotiation and
listening skills and better interpersonal connections (Alsop, 2008).
Additional longitudinal or cohort-based research will be beneficial in aligning the
competency differences identified in this study, with broader workplace trends. Because the
work environment and requirements themselves are changing, any differences between
generations, particularly those that are growing in magnitude, can have particularly impactful
implications under certain scenarios. For example, a trend of increased interdependent and team-
oriented roles may lead to challenges for the Millennial generation in capably filling these roles
given their struggles with Collaboration. Conversely, roles requiring a larger degree of
information acquisition and application than in the past may further disadvantage older workers.
Limitations
Because of our exclusive focus on customer-facing positions, further research is
necessary to determine if our results extend to other work roles. One example of a job family
potentially worthy of further investigation is a manufacturing or production role where safety is a
primary consideration, due to previously observed relationships between age and safety
behaviors (Ng & Feldman, 2008). Jobs drawing heavily upon technical or professional
knowledge may also be useful targets for further study, to examine if increases in crystallized
intelligence based on age (e.g., Salthouse, 1988) translate into higher knowledge levels for older
individuals, and if the Millennials generation remains lower in this competency despite their high
and constant levels of information access. Another potential avenue of research that will increase
in relevance regarding Millennial-generation employees would be an expanded focus on leader-
level roles and leadership/management-related competencies, building upon the research
conducted in this area by Sessa and colleagues (2007).
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Our study also focused exclusively on subjective rather than objective performance.
Although age-based differences in objective performance have been similarly small as for
subjective performance (Cleveland & Lim, 2007), objective performance may also be less
susceptible to potential interactions between supervisor and subordinate age in influencing
performance ratings. Another potential limitation of our study is our partial focus on
competencies derived from a single consulting firm’s taxonomy. Although we have attempted to
emphasize core competencies that may overlap with other similar frameworks, extension of our
results to alternative competency frameworks will be important for gauging the generalizability
of our conclusions.
In terms of our cohort-based approach to a portion of our research questions, we did
attempt to use this methodology to gain insights into generational and age trends over time.
However, we recognize the limitations in the data that were available to us in terms of cohorts
extending only 10 years into the past; certainly being able to extend this cohort approach to span
an entire generation (that is, 20 years or more) would have been additionally informative. Further
research attempting to disentangle age and generation effects will be warranted, perhaps with a
specific focus on competencies such as Customer Orientation, Initiative, and Integrity where we
detected generational differences but no consistent trends from a cohort viewpoint.
Practical Implications
With minimal overall performance differences between younger and older groups, it is
likely worthwhile to invest in understanding and targeting performance differences at the
competency-level and providing structure (e.g., coaching, training) to improve employee
performance in these areas. Given the strain that may result based on Millennials’ approach to
their work differing from the way older workers conduct their work activities, it may be
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worthwhile to leverage both Millennials’ and older workers’ preferences and strengths to achieve
overall improved job performance for an organization’s entire workforce. Although we do not
advocate training programs accessible by only one generational group but not by others,
development courses including representatives from all generations and focusing on
competencies exhibiting larger between-generation differences (e.g., Applied Learning,
Collaboration, Adaptability, Work Standards) may facilitate collective learning, understanding,
and reconciliation of approaches potentially differing between the generations. In addition, our
findings suggest that each generation uses their different profiles of strengths to compensate for
other areas of weakness and reinforces holistic models of selection that evaluate performance
across multiple competencies. With Millennials’ successors already being born (e.g., the
Homeland Generation; Howe & Strauss, 2007), investigation and clarity regarding the
implications of a strong Millennial employee presence may be an important precursor to
additional changes expected when their sons and daughters join them in the workforce.
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Table 1
Job Performance Differences: Millennial/Younger as Compared to Older Employees
Millennials/
Younger
Older Performance
Competency
Mean1 N Mean
1 N
F
Sig.
Level
d
Overall Performance -0.007 1279 0.032 1866 1.604 0.205 -0.045
Communication 0.028 1230 0.011 1680 0.214 0.644 0.017
Collaboration -0.028 1164 0.057 1598 4.703 0.030 -0.083
Customer Orientation -0.038 1277 0.063 1866 7.450 0.006 -0.097
Decision Making 0.001 1204 0.016 1609 0.168 0.682 -0.015
Applied Learning 0.119 733 -0.048 1253 12.353 0.000 0.158
Adaptability 0.113 744 -0.053 1013 11.370 0.001 0.161
Managing Work 0.066 670 -0.023 1088 3.349 0.067 0.087
Work Standards -0.028 1123 0.053 1548 4.095 0.043 -0.078
Integrity -0.079 650 0.078 991 9.346 0.002 -0.151
Initiative -0.047 962 0.069 1027 6.276 0.012 -0.112
1 Values represent marginal means after evaluation of job tenure as a covariate.
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Figure Caption
Figure 1. Millennial/Younger and Older Group Means by Competency and Overall Performance
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Group Means by Competency and Overall Performance
-0.15
-0.10
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
Overall Performance
Communication
Collaboration*
Customer Orientation**
Decision Making
Applied Learning**Adaptability**
Managing Work+
Work Standards*
Integrity**
Initiative**
Millennials/Younger Employees Older Employees
** p < .01; * p < .05; + p < .10
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