2.2 Multigenerational Background & Significance Paper

Running head: MULTIGENERATIONAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE REPORT 1

Multigenerational Background and Significance Report Example

Jane Doe

Trevecca Nazarene University

MOL 5800: Special Topics in Organizational Leadership

Dr. David Lomascolo

(Date)

MULTIGENERATIONAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE REPORT 2

Multigenerational Background and Significance Report Example

Training is an important component of employee development and engagement.

According to Ali, Bashir, and Mehreen (2019), employee engagement through training is not just

a benevolent benefit that an organization can offer to attract high quality candidates, but in turn

employee development strengthens organizational effectiveness, and “organizations should

provide training and development practices to their employees which retain the skilled

employees and generate competitive advantage” (p.75). However, knowing that the current

economic landscape typically encompasses four different generations (Hut, 2020), including

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), Generation X (born generally between 1965- early 1980s),

Millennials (early 1980s-late 1990s), and the emerging Generation Z (typically born late 1990s-

mid 2010s), and even can include Traditionalists (born before 1945), there is a wide range of

attitudes and preferences for specific training topics and methods of delivery. The larger the

organization, the more likely that the prevalence of generational diversity will draw attention to

these generational differences, and will need to be an important consideration for the efficacy of

training programs.

Ryman Hospitality Properties (RHP) is a Nashville-based business of over 2,000 team

members focused on hospitality and entertainment, as well as food and beverage, particularly

within the tourism industry. Classified as a REIT (real estate investment trust) for tax purposes,

RHP operates with two distinct divisions of the business (‘About Us,’ 2020). One focuses on the

asset management of the five large convention-style hotels across the nation; while RHP owns

the physical property and assets of these hotels, Marriott International runs the daily operations.

The other segment encompasses both the management and daily operations of its entertainment

venues. In the last three years, the company has expanded from its longstanding legacy music

venues, primarily the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium, into the restaurant industry. In

MULTIGENERATIONAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE REPORT 3

partnership with Blake Shelton, RHP owns and operates Ole Red, the Honky Tonk-style casual

southern restaurant brand that includes multiple stages at each location to marry the dining

experience with live entertainment, spotlighting new artists at the beginning of their journey to

the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman stages. Ole Red includes locations in Nashville, TN;

Tishomingo, OK; Gatlinburg, TN; and the newest location scheduled to open spring 2020 in

Orlando, FL. With the depth and breadth of the organization’s businesses, as well as the size of

the company, there is representation of all five generations, as well as a variety of career tenures.

The business includes examples of traditionalist staff who have built a 50-year career with the

company, as well as Generation Z employees beginning their first jobs as hourly front-line

associates in the newly opened restaurants and the music venues.

In my experience as HR Training Specialist, I have witnessed both the desire of team

members across generations for training that will increase their relevancy in the workforce, and

the difficulty of finding a one-size-fits-all approach to skill building, which Shaw (2013) referred

to as the dual nature of training as a multigenerational sticking point. Noting that RHP has failed

to recruit top candidates for high level leadership positions while also experiencing higher than

industry average turnover, it is worth considering the effect that training (or lack thereof) has had

on these corporate challenges. Objectively, it seems training and development is currently an

extremely low priority within the organization when observing a training budget of less than

$100,000 for a company that had an entertainment income of over $183 million for the fiscal

year 2019 (Ryman Hospitality Properties, 2020). According to the Association for Talent and

Development, the average expenditure per employee on training among companies nationally in

2018 was $1,299 (Ho, 2019); by contrast, RHP’s learning expenditure per employee was $50.

This number plummets when taking into account that half the training budget was earmarked for

a learning initiative focused on a group of 123 executive and managerial leaders.

MULTIGENERATIONAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE REPORT 4

The goal of this study is to observe the different generational beliefs within RHP

regarding training, and to better understand how these differences impact the effectiveness of a

variety of methods of training on performance and retention. Ideally, in understanding these

different foundational beliefs through this case study, there is opportunity to uncover insights

regarding which training methods are most advantageous for comparatively sized companies,

providing clarity on development topics, delivery methods, and how to maximize the return on

investment from these programs both in terms of employee engagement and retention. There

may be complications to the study in encouraging individuals to provide truthful and relevant

feedback if they worry about organizational retaliation for their honesty, as well as in their own

self-awareness of the difference between their espoused preferences and their actual preferences

in practice. In addition, there could be problems in separating out an individual’s preferences and

attributing them to one’s generation and not their age range, personality, experience within their

specific venue, or other external factors that could cloud their short-term responses as long-term

attitudes.

I believe even a small increase in the expenditures and focus on effective training can

yield an extraordinary return on investment for the organization, provided the training takes into

account learner needs and preferences. By understanding the most effective training methods for

an intergenerational workplace, it becomes easier to make the argument for increased investment

in specific training initiatives, and to begin to build metrics that measure the success of such

programs in terms of improving the company’s competitive advantage.

MULTIGENERATIONAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE REPORT 5

References

About Us. (2020). Retrieved May 5, 2020, from https://www.rymanhp.com/about-us/

Ali, Z., Bashir, M., & Mehreen, A. (2019). Managing Organizational Effectiveness through

Talent Management and Career Development: The Mediating Role of Employee

Engagement. Journal of Management Sciences, 6(1), 62–78. https://doi-

org.trevecca.idm.oclc.org/10.20547/jms.2014.1906105

Ho, M. (2019, December 6). Learning by the Numbers. Retrieved from

https://www.td.org/magazines/td-magazine/learning-by-the-numbers

Hut, N. (2020). How to successfully manage multiple generations in the workplace. Hfm

(Healthcare Financial Management), 74(2), 44–45.

Ryman Hospitality Properties. (2020). 2019 Annual Report. Retrieved from

http://ir.rymanhp.com/static-files/37622e68-8725-4ae8-ad83-453600639aa3

Shaw, H. (2013). Sticking Points: how to get 4 generations working together in the 12 places

they come apart. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum.