1.

Link between biographical characteristics (age, gender, marital status, and tenure) and
organizational behavior (OB) in terms of:
 Absences
 Age-absenteeism
It is believed that age and absenteeism have an inverse relationship. Absences
can either be avoidable or unavoidable depending on the situation. Older employees are
observed to have lower avoidable absences and higher unavoidable absences.
Deteriorating health and longer recovery time when injured can be factors affecting the
high unavoidable absences of older employees. Results from the study of Woods, Poole
& Zibarras (2012) and Hackett (1990) support the claims above.
 Gender-absenteeism
According to a study of Ichino & Moretti (2006), women belonging in Western
countries have higher rate of absenteeism than men due to illness-related reasons.
However, this difference in absenteeism rates have been observed to disappear for
workers aged 45 and above. With this information, the researchers of the study
concluded that menstrual cycle increases women’s absenteeism rate.
 Marital status-absenteeism
As indicated in a research study by Panisoara & Serban (2013), marital status
does not have a large effect on the work-life balance of the employees.
However, results of the research of Karlsson (2013) showed that married women
have higher absences than those unmarried women even if the childbirth absences are
disregarded. In which the researcher believed that it is due to discrimination with
regards to career and income.
Meanwhile, according to the Virtual University of Pakistan, married employees
have lesser absences than their unmarried co-employees.
 Tenure-absenteeism
According to the Virtual University of Pakistan, the longer the tenure of the
employee to the company, the lower the absenteeism rate of the employees. It may be
because the employee is more committed to the company than those who have only
started working.

 Skills
  Age-skills
According to Picchio (2015) of Marche Polytechnic University, fluid cognitive skills
deteriorate with age. With this, older employees have a decreasing productivity rate
when they are assigned to tasks that require solving new problems and accomplishing
unfamiliar work. They are also generally slower, less effective in work, and lacks
learning needs that are required for trainings.
 Gender-skills
Based on an article posted by Bundy (2016) on the Expedite Consulting website,
women tend to have better communication skills than men since they are better listeners
and conflict resolvers hence making them better communicators. Women also display
more sociability skills than men as they like to work in teams in share their experiences.
Meanwhile, men possess more competitive drive than women which leads them to like
working on a project alone and independently.
 Marital status-skills
According to the research study of Ryu & Kol (2002), it is difficult to claim that
marriage increase or decrease the job productivity and skills of the employees.
However, the results of the study shows that married employees receive higher scores in
terms of performance and skills than single employees.
 Tenure-skills
According to the definition of Human Capital Theory, the greater the tenure of the
employee to the company, the knowledge and skills of the employee also increases and
can receive greater economic value.

 Job Satisfaction
 Age-job satisfaction
As employees grow older, they gain experience in their labor or job industry, aiding
them to obtain high paying jobs and receive better benefits. Thus, increasing their job
satisfaction (Riza, Ganzach & Liu, 2016).
 Gender-job satisfaction
According to a research conducted by Hajiha, Jassbi & Ghaffari (2003) on
university staff members, job satisfaction rates were lower on women than on men. The
researchers said that the difference may be a result of different perceptions. However,
according to the Virtual University of Pakistan there is no specific evidence indicating
that genders affect the job satisfaction of the employees.
  Marital status-job satisfaction
The results of a research study conducted by Bowen, Radhakrishna & Keyser
(1994) showed that married adult employees have higher rates of job satisfaction than
single younger employees. These results may suggest that the single and younger
employees are still deciding on their career path. However, several studies also claim
that marital status have no significant effect on job satisfaction.
 Tenure-job satisfaction
Job tenure and job satisfaction are inversely related to each other. As job tenure
increases, the employee may become bored in their work which may lead for a lesser
job satisfaction (Riza, Ganzach & Liu, 2016).

 Productivity
 Age-productivity
In a study conducted by Van Ours & Stoeldraijer (2010), employees’ productivity
rate tends to decrease as they age although the turning point for the productivity rate of
the employees is still unclear.
 Gender-job productivity
The productivity between the two genders are not significantly different. The
impact of gender on job productivity can be caused by indirect reasons. One reason
may be the women not being able to attend schools to increase their skills (Gui-Diby,
Pasali & Rodriguez-Wong, 2017).
 Marital status-job productivity
According to a research study conducted by Padmanabhan & Magesh (2016),
single employees have been reported to be more productive than married employees
since they have less family commitments.
 Tenure-job productivity
Results of the study by Ng & Feldman (2010) show that employees who have long
tenure to the company have greater performance. Job tenure have a positive
relationship with job performance of the employees.

 Turnover
 Age-turnover
 In a research study conducted by Emiroglu, Akova & Tanriverdi (2015), older
employees have been observed to display lower turnover intention. It may be because
they have different expectations and thoughts than younger employees. However, some
researchers have other reasons regarding the low turnover intention of old employees.
According to Martin & Roodt (2008), older employees stay in the organization since they
have already invested a lot in the organization. Meanwhile, according to Cotton & Tuttle
(1986), older employees have grown familiar to their jobs and have already built
friendships with their co-workers, thus lessening the turnover intention.
 Gender-turnover
Results of the research study of Emiroglu, Akova & Tanriverdi (2015) show that the
female employees have a higher turnover intention than male employees. According to
the researchers, this can be a product of the limited job opportunities and the expected
responsibilities in their families which forces the female employees to leave their jobs.
 Marital status-turnover
According to the study of Emiroglu, Akova & Tanriverdi (2015), single employees
have been found to have higher turnover intentions that married employees. They
concluded that the financial responsibilities of the married employees to their families is
the reason why the turnover intention of married employees is lower.
 Tenure-turnover
The study of Emiroglu, Akova & Tanriverdi (2015) shows that employees that have
longer tenure have a lower turnover intention than those who have shorter tenure
with the company. The researchers have based the results of their study with
Becker’s (1960) theory that over time, employees invest and bond with the
company.

2. Different generations in the workforce and their characteristics, work values, and
challenges faced in the workplace.
 The Silent Generation (Born 1925-1945)
 Characteristics – they are the oldest and most knowledgeable in their work
industry. However, they are risk averse.
 Work values – they are loyal, hard-working and have strong work ethics. They
work in teams and collaborate with other employees in order to develop
interpersonal communication skills. They also respect authority and top-down
management.
  Challenges faced in the workplace – stereotyped as people who resist change and
old-fashioned

 Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964)

 Characteristics – they are competitive, disciplined, and strong team players. They
question authority and large systems. They are motivated by rewards and prestige.
 Work values – they are also loyal and hard-working. They also have great face-to-
face communication skills and value cooperation. Although they have teamwork
skills, they also give value to independent work.
 Challenges faced in the workplace – experiences generational differences with co-
workers especially with millennials who prefer conversation through emails rather
than phone conversations. They are often regarded as workaholics who prefer
long work hours over set work hours preferred by younger employees.

 Generation X (Born 1965-1976)

 Characteristics – they are the ones responsible for the work/life balance concept.
They are also more technologically literate than the previous generations.
However, they dislike company hierarchy.
 Work values – they are usually not loyal to the company as they are more loyal to
their own career. They also possess adaptability skills and strong technical skills
and are perceived as more independent than the previous generations.
 Challenges faced in the workplace – often regarded as selfish as they value their
personal time. They also find long business meetings as boring and have been
labelled as impatient.

 Millenials (Born 1977-1995)

 Characteristics – they are largest generation in the workplace. They are also
optimistic and tech savvy.
 Work values – they are also not usually loyal to the company. They see each
company as a stepping stone to land a better job to another company. They also
dislike company hierarchy and views respect as something that must be earned.
They are team oriented and values communication as they crave for feedback from
their managers.
  Challenges faced in the workplace – being perceived by previous generations as
spoiled and entitled. They are also said to be too technology dependent.

 Generation Z (Born 1996 and after)

 Characteristics – they are tech savvy and entrepreneurial. They are independent
and is good at multi-tasking. They are also more comfortable with communication
through social media.
 Work values – they are very adaptable with the technology and can learn
softwares in a short period of time. They also want detailed instructions on how to
accomplish their work.
 Challenges faced in the workplace – they are also perceived by the previous
generations as technology dependent. They have problems communication skills
with older people as they lack interpersonal skills especially those outside of their
age group. Some are not contented with what their job has to offer and wants to
start their own business out of their hobbies.
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