Abstract:
Studies on generational differences have garnered increasing interest among
organizations, practitioners and researchers in recent years. There are many reasons
for this keen interest, including the need to manage people from several different
generations, to better adapt the workplace to a multigenerational workforce, to attract
and retain new talent, and to identify the working conditions that will lead to positive
attitudes and behaviors among younger workers. The different staff from different
generation can be made to work together in harmony for the benefit of the overall
organization in terms of goal achievement if human resource managers adopt specific
strategies that enhance integration of multigenerational workforce. The purpose of
this study therefore was to establish the role of human resource managers in the
integration of multigenerational workforce. The study used three theories, namely
social exchange theory, social identity theory and theory of work adjustment. The
main variables under study were mentoring programs, teambuilding, succession
planning and career development. The study employed a descriptive design using both
quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population was all 66 employees
of the department of lands in the County Government of Nakuru, Kenya. The study
used questionnaires to collect primary data. The data collection instrument was pretested
to ensure validity and reliability. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences
was used to analyze the data and the results obtained were presented using tables. For
purposes of analyzing the strength and relationship of the variables, a regression
analysis was carried out. The R2 value of 0.6921 implies that 69.2% of the variations
in integration of multigenerational workforce can be explained by the variations in
independent variables. It was concluded that both mentoring programs and career
development had the most influence while succession planning had the least influence
on integration of multigenerational workforce. The findings of the study will thus be
useful in enhancing integrating existing workforce into teams and hence improved
service delivery in the department.
