Abstract:

Demographic changes, and populations’ ageing entail the necessity of introducing HRM measures which will foster both senior employees’ support with regards to maintaining their knowledge and skills required for extending the period of professional activity, as well as the development of conditions facilitating the operation of diversified teams (not only those age-diversified). Therefore, competence management emerges as one of the key instruments of human resources management. Management theoreticians and practitioners’ attention is drawn by the search for solutions facilitating the identification and development of competences. In order to improve the efficiency of employee competences’ management, constant monitoring of the level of knowledge and skills and stimulation of employees’ activity in undertaking pro-developmental actions, seem critical.

The objective of the paper is to identify differences in the frequency of activities undertaken in order to improve knowledge and skills of age-diversified employees representing Y, X, and Baby Boomers generations. Based on results of the study encompassing 2027 employees of large and medium-sized Polish enterprises, the frequency of pro-developmental activities was determined and recommendations for HRM formulated on the basis of the evaluated differences.

Keywords:

Knowledge improvement, generation gap, employees’ generations, age management, diversity management.