Abstract
One of the most prominent challenges managers face today is managing a
multigenerational workforce efficiently. Employees from different generations may
have different expectations for what they want or value, both intrinsically and
externally, from their jobs (Lester, Standifer, Schultz, & Windsor, 2012). If the
workplace’s generational differences are not considered, problems with scepticism,
tension, broken communication, and a lack of teamwork could emerge. For employees
to feel involved and aligned with the organisation’s mission and values, organisations
must consistently fulfil the needs of all the different generational groups in that
organisation (Crowe, 2016).
The study’s first goal is to understand the employee engagement strategies used by
the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) Group by assessing their
applicability to the various generational groups represented in the organisation. The
study examines employee engagement (EE), organisational culture (OC), and internal
communication (IC) concepts to present a literature review of these concepts and their
relation to the study’s goals. Secondly, it attempts to understand how employees view
this organisation’s engagement initiatives and, lastly, how the management team
views the level of engagement within the company. This study evaluated how the
strategic communication facet affected the generational cohort that makes up the
GGDA Group.
The study’s findings show that the group’s values, vision, and objectives have not yet
been thoroughly entrenched. To ensure that the values are developed and lived out
from the top down, engagement must be led by the management team. Secondly,
there was a similar thread between management, Gen X, and Gen Y participants who
unanimously shared that they expected the GGDA Group leadership to exhibit specific
behaviours that would promote cooperation between these stakeholders. The ability
to communicate with personnel through information sharing, consultative
engagements, evolution, and a two-way symmetrical flow of communication, for
instance, must be demonstrated. The two age cohorts expressed comparable views
about not feeling valued, acknowledged, or heard by their employers.