My interviewee is a supermarket attendant aged 60 years. The attendant is in charge of handling customer care-related matters. The attendant is the only child of his parents. The parents brought him up when there was a lot of social and political strife in their country. The effect was the family migrating to a different country while he was only three years of age. The results of the conflict narrowed down to their family, where the dad and mum were not on speaking terms. The child, therefore, grew up without an immediate good role model. His behaviour had to be shaped by the students he interacted with in school. Most of these students were of a different religion and race. Therefore, it took him a lot of time to cope with the eroded traditions.
General issues that Julia faces with each employee
Julia is facing a myriad of challenges with each of her employees. One employee has a problem with understanding technology, which we cannot rule out during this age of development. He is, therefore, prompted to ask the customer to leave the shop and come back when the technology-savvy people are back. This is not good for the customer and the organization. As the customer feels that they are not getting the right attention, they may stop shopping at this specific shop. (Colbert et al. 2014). Dosing off when receiving training is not good for a learner. The attendant cannot communicate through text messages and emails. These are means of communication that ensure that the speed of communication is fast enough. Technology, though a need, presents a dilemma to the organization when a technology-savvy employee comes in, and all he can do is remain working with technology at the expense of customer service, not realizing that both the hardware and the software of the organization are critical for its success. One of the employees, though experienced, is so rigid that he cannot forward the challenges that the customers are experiencing to the relevant person (Bonner et al. 2016).
The effect of generational issues on Julia’s management of the department
Though each employee seems to have the skill to offer to the organization, it is not a holistic approach. The veterans, though keen to detail and hardworking, are not able to communicate with the customers. If the customer needs products that deal with technology, they may not offer appropriate answers. They also lack courtesy, as they show that the issues to do with technology can only be handled by the baby boomers. They are not ready to work extra hours. When they leave their job and go home, there is no more office work. In fact, they have not made any efforts to acquire the necessary technology which can increase their value to the organization. Technology-savvy employees have a bias towards the customers that they serve and are more inclined to help their fellow baby boomers. They are impatient with customers. Since the customer is king, they need to be heard. While calling is time efficient, the baby boomers opt for text messages as this is what their generation has pushed them to. The above two employees will result in decreased sales.
For the middle age, they perform optimally when dealing with familiar products. This has a net effect of increasing sales. However, this may not be realized because when technology products are required, they may not give them the best.
Improvement of customer care within the department
Since the customer is king, their welfare should be looked into. This will include a variety of approaches, such as conducting customer satisfaction surveys. Out of this, the organization should embark on putting up the necessary infrastructure. The management should positively pick any points they get from their employees to improve customer service, encouraging peer learning, regular review of the organizational policies to enhance customer service, and showing every employee that they matter to the organization towards the realization of a happy customer (Bonner et al. 2016).
Generalizations by upper management about employees
Some employee’s inputs may be detrimental to the organization irrespective of whether one is a veteran or a baby boomer. However, not all contributions are bad. The management should weigh the points they receive from the employee against the returns from such actions. For example, if the building of accommodation will be the right thing to increase the number of tourists, so be it.
Exchanges in the retail shopping experience with employees of different generational cohorts.
The veterans are very patient within any organization. They feel that they have served their families and society, and since they are living in their latter days, they are the best to work with. The baby boomers are attracted by the remuneration and other packages, and if they are not present, they are ready to quit. This is common among the baby boomers. When students graduate from college and have acquired some skills on the job, they are prepared to go to the next, where the packages are more appealing (Demirtas et al. 2015).
References
Bonner, J. M., Greenbaum, R. L., & Mayer, D. M. (2016). My boss is morally disengaged: The role of ethical leadership in explaining the interactive effect of supervisor and employee moral disengagement on employee behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(4), 731-742.
Colbert, A. E., Barrick, M. R., & Bradley, B. H. (2014). Personality and leadership composition in top management teams: Implications for organizational effectiveness. Personnel Psychology, 67(2), 351-387.
Demirtas, O., & Akdogan, A. A. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(1), 59-67.
