Date of Award

9-2018

Rights

© 2018 Kenneth R. Sisneros

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Michelle Collay

Second Advisor

Brianna Parsons

Third Advisor

Natalie Balian

Abstract

There is a need to train and retain the 85 million Generation Yers and 35 million Generation Xers within and entering the workforce to fill the Baby Boomers’ vacant positions, as 52 million of them continue to exit the workforce (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). The Baby Boomer generation is exiting the workforce with extensive institutional knowledge gained through years of experience within the public sector. Without the transfer of their experience and knowledge to younger generations, a loss of organizational knowledge will occur, adversely affecting organizations’ productivity and wasting taxpayer funds. Therefore, though Generation Xers may fill some vacancies, not enough Generation Xers are in the US workforce to fill the Baby Boomer vacancy (Geber, 2000; Levit, 2016). To maintain sustainability, public-sector organizations need to adapt to the changing workforce by utilizing the Generation Xers’ knowledge and transfer the knowledge held by Baby Boomers to the Generation Yers, while working to retain Generation Xers and Yers.

This study reveals four key findings that could help public sector employers revise the job securities and benefits they offer. All generations are sensitive to job security and benefits and rated their most important job security as healthcare. While the Baby Boomers and Generation X were interested in the public-sector pension plan, Generation Y was more interested in a steady paycheck and paid time off. Gen Y is more highly formally educated overall, but those in this public sector setting were not more educated than the older generations. The majority of the public-sector employees sought a core desire of healthcare, compensation, a pension, steady paycheck, and have recourse to retain their jobs. If these findings are utilized properly, the public sector could position itself for a higher retention rate and avoid losing institutional knowledge during the transition from one generation to another. The recommendations provided in this study will promote retention and attract others wanting to join the public sector for employment. Generation Y has an incentive to stay and allow Generation Xers and Baby Boomers to continue their employment, with fewer lost to attrition.

Comments

Ed.D. Dissertation

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