I'm intrigued by the concept of generativity. Mahler, writing in Hoare (2011) defines generativity as a stage of adult development spanning 30 or more years. Mahler goes on to quote Moore et al who define generativity as "the midlife transition point at which individuals become disillusioned with their current reality, involves confronting and reintegrating the polarities that define their lives and represents the most important structure-changing phase of life" (Hoare, 2011, p. 197). Later Mahler quotes Erickson regarding generativity, as "primarily the interest in establishing and guiding the next generation."
When reading these definitions I immediately classified myself in the category defined by Moore et al. There are definitely some heady, life transitions going on in my life; 1) kiddos growing to a point where they don't need as much supervision, 2) wondering what more can be done with my job and organization, 3) searching for other activities and pursuits that might provide meaning.
My wife has defined it as my mid-life crisis, and it’s comforting to know that many other men my age have gone through this same search for purpose. Reading Mahler's chapter and Erickson's views, he states that the length of the stage may last 30+ years. I don't look forward to wading through the stage, especially if it doesn't end with a rewarding byproduct. However, the idea of giving back to the next generation is fulfilling in a spiritual way.
What intrigues me about these three passages and definitions is wondering if there are resources in our industry of petrochemical manufacturers or mentors who might help adults transitioning through these times. I have this class and others like it to help guide me through, and understand this stage. What about others? Those without Ph.D. classes?
I think too about how my organization might help workers in this stage of adult development. There are field workers and supervisors, those that I have trained in our leadership courses, who might be experiencing that disillusionment that Moore et al use in their definition. Are there avenues that can help guide them toward giving back to the community and our industry? Are there resources open to them that allow them to train the next generation of field workers who are coming on board to eventually replace them?
We have courses for new leadership development, we have courses for established leaders, and we have courses to help with skills and safety development. We do not offer courses that give back to the industry and to the workers or help mentor workers through this stage of development. Is there a way to help people get to and accept the idea of generativity more easily? It makes me wonder if our organization that supports contractors, should find a way to create a group that helps guide them through these periods toward a goal of giving back to the industry and helping the next generation of workers. I hesitate to call it a support group, but maybe a guest trainer program? A chance to talk with the experts? Perhaps allowing them to act as speakers at forums so that less experienced audience members can hear from those who have been there before.
At my previous organization, I was asked to find ways to improve our worker retention. One way we did this was by having workers who had been in the organization for many years and advanced through the ranks come and speak to our new hire training classes. We hoped that by seeing other workers who were successful at staying with the company they might model themselves and their work off of that success. Sadly we had no KPI's or metrics by which to measure the success of that program, but it was always fun, and based on the responses of the students, it was rewarding.
There is evidence too that by having an opportunity to affect positive change for older, more experienced workers and helping them through this stage of development can have positive benefits for cognitive development in later life as well (Malone et al., 2015). By keeping these more experienced workers actively engaged not just in mentoring newer workers, but also active in the industry and community, there could be longer-term benefits to their health and well-being.
There might be a possibility to try something similar to this career development program with our contractor safety council. The organization could ask more experienced workers to serve as subject matter experts to review training courses and add experience. The council could give these adults opportunities to speak to our new hire classes about their work and field experiences. The learning development group could offer the chance for these workers to create video testimonials that could be attached to training courses to provide realism and experiences to otherwise shallow training courses. These are things that might help some experienced workers, those who like Moore et al state might be "disillusioned with their current reality". Or are "reintegrating the polarities that define their lives," and help them move a bit more easily through the thirty-year stage toward a destination that can benefit them, the younger worker, and the industry as a whole.
References
Hoare, Carolyn (Ed.) (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Reciprocal Adult Development and Learning. 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0199736300
Malone, J. C., Liu, S. R., Vaillant, G. E., Rentz, D. M., & Waldinger, R. J. (2016). Midlife Eriksonian psychosocial development: Setting the stage for late-life cognitive and emotional health. Developmental psychology, 52(3), 496–508. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039875
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