Managing the Next Generation of Public Workers

Managing the Next Generation of Public Workers is a fresh and energetic look at the changing climate of diversity in the public and nonprofit workplace.

The workforce of the twenty-first century represents unparalleled complexity: Baby Boomers, GenX, GenY, and Millennials. Although that diversity may be challenging and often overwhelming for public managers, Madinah Hamidullah emphasizes the potential strengths that can be drawn from complex multigenerational relationships.

This handbook offers public and nonprofit managers the tools necessary to address generational differences and questions such as:

• How do the newer generations in the workplace differ on such fundamentals as work ethic, family values, and retirement horizons?

• Are they recruited differently and do they expect a different mix of benefits―perhaps a better work-life balance as a tradeoff for a lower salary?

• How can diverse, generational perspectives in the workplace add value by questioning old, traditional assumptions?

• Will approaches to organizational decision making necessarily change as new generations take over?

The book is for public and nonprofit managers who recognize the challenges of managing a multigenerational workforce, and are therefore seeking helpful insights. This volume is a roadmap not only for human resource (HR) managers, but for all managers who must address the complexities of the human condition―complexities that are complicated by the most rapid succession of workforce generations that we have yet seen.

Madinah F. Hamidullah is Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University-Newark, USA. Her current research interests include diversity, generational differences, and public service motivation. She teaches courses in Public Management, Leadership, Human Resource Management and Service Learning. She received her PhD in Public Administration and Policy from the University of Georgia, USA.