| Positive health outcome and organizational success depend on employees that learn and work collaboratively in an evolving and complex work environment. Hence, to succeed it is imperative that hospital administrators understand and adapt to the issues affecting health workers. Three hundred and fifty--seven hospital employees in Jamaica, West Indies completed a survey about the new multigenerational workforce. The survey examined how beliefs (age identification and stereotype), and traits (emotional intelligence), influence employees' perception of learning competence, psychological safety, and engagement levels. One hundred and ninety-five Generation Y (born 1982 -- 1999), 113 Generation X (born 1965 --1981), and 39 Baby Boomer (born 1946 -- 1964) participated.;IBM SPSS and AMOS software were used to analyze responses. The results revealed significant age stereotypes related to competence, confidence, creativity, and leisure. The findings also revealed generational differences in age stereotypes, age identification, emotional intelligence, learning competence, and employee engagement levels. There were significant differences in how job roles reported age stereotypes, age identification, and psychological safety. There were 17 significant correlations among the variables, one of which was the relationship between perceived competence for learning and levels of engagement. Finally, Structural Equation Modeling predicted learning competence with 33 percent accuracy and showed that engagement levels accounted for 44 percent of the variance in learning competence. The research implications are discussed and recommendations provided for healthcare administrators, policy makers, and organizational development practitioners. |
