Today, one of the big issues which companies are confronted with is how to manage a multigenerational workforce and phenomenon of a multimillioning generation in the personnel. Over the years, people at the workplace are no longer a uniform biomorphic mass but they belong to different generations and hence they think, learn and work differently. While it may mean the possibility of distinct approaches to problem solving and widened perspectives, it also means that ethnic differences at times lead to misinterpretation of information and the emergence of ethnic tensions. It is important to establish the generational cohort description and their inclinations regarding one another in order to create the conducive work environment in the keen completion. When organizations strive to use the strengths of each generations and at the same time acknowledge the differences of employees they are able to benefit from it. In this section, the importance of workforce collaboration, engagement, and satisfaction is highlighted and key recommendation on the same is provided. There are five generations common in the present-day workplace, namely the veterans or the Silent Generation, the baby boomers, Generation X, the millennials or Gen Y, and Gen Z. Each of them has been molded by their age, culture, other changes and development in technology that defines their point of view towards work. For example, the Baby Boomers consider compensation, job security and other traditional motivational factors paramount as opposed to Millennials who consider flexibility and meaningfulness as some of the most important factors that should be considered as motivators in the workplace. Consequently, the plans of management need to address these various attitudes and expectations of working. Once employers are able to identify them, they are able to form a cohesive team where such differences are embraced and alloyed, for the benefit of fostering innovation and productivity. In this blog, we will discuss rather important points regarding management of a multigenerational workforce which worth noting including communication, benefits, collaboration, and respect for diversity. With such approaches, organizational culture will be achieved and all the employees will be empowered therefore increasing morale and retention among others.
Understanding Generational Characteristics
Therefore, it is essential to comprehend generational attributes to address the challenges of having multiple generations in the same workplace. Veterans meaning individuals who are born within the years 1922 and 1945 have been highlighted to be hardworking with lot of loyalty to their work. They like to work with some amount of structure and despite having email communication, they favor the face-to-face communication. The baby boomers’ birth year range from 1946 to 1964, and they are noble and hardworking individuals who believe in team play and fervor. Generation X, referred as ‘slackers’ as they are between the baby boomers and the millennials, believe in freedom and a balance between work and leisure. Often interest are flexible and may act as middle management between individuals from the different generations. In the meanwhile, millennials are generational cohort that was born between 1981 and 1996, and it is recognised for high digital literacy and the need to have a meaningful job. They appreciate feedback and teamwork and consider flexibility aspect as a primary value on their workplace. Generation Z is the newest generation ready for work, which possess a high level of diversity competence and are ready for fast-paced work environment. It becomes useful to identify some of the generational differences so that the managers can be in a position to address their employees in an appropriate manner. For instance where there are employees in the high sexual category they may need support and encouragement during changes such as the adoption of new technologies while the low sexual employees may be interested in career progression guidance. Therefore, when the employers encourage and appreciate diversity in the organizations, and respect individuals’ differences, then there will be harmonization.
Effective Communication Strategies
It is human nature to communicate, and this is why it is crucial to manage the communication of workers who belong to different generations. It is important to understand that people of different generations can have different ways of communication that can have adverse effects when not considered. For instance, the Baby Boomers may prefer email correspondence or face-to-face communications as the other groups such as the millennials or the generation Z may prefer the use of instant messaging, the video conferencing. To address the gap, there is the need for the implementation of a complementary approach that increases options for communication to cover all these preferences. Thus, it is perfect to maintain organizational communication rules that define acceptable official and casual behavior. Appreciating the need for equal time to be heard and providing training on how to effectively present the obtained information is useful to avoid subsequent generational gaps. Further, if the culture encourages employees to bring their ideas and/or opinions forward it enables relations within the team to grow hence enhancing trust. Just as it has been noted, feedback is an important aspect of communication that needs to be exercised in all generations. Giving feedback also enhances the employees’ feeling that they are valued by their employers and also allows them to identify areas that they could develop in.
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Tailoring Employee Benefits
As most organisations pay attention to aging populations and increasing number of youths at the workplace, it emerges that traditional remuneration practices may not hold much appeal to most workers. Adapting the provisions to fit each generation increases the chances of ensuring positive reactions from the employees with intent of increasing their satisfaction and every organization’s resolution of retaining them. For instance, while the Baby Boom generation may have a focus on adequate retirement benefits and health insurance, the Millennial generation may focus on tuition fees remission and flexibility in working conditions. Employers, therefore, need to have a number of employee benefits that are likely to attract different generations and show how much the organization cares about its employees. For instance, well-being activities can be offered as and vary from stress reduction classes for individuals from the Millennial generation to chronic illness assistance for the members of the Baby Boom generation. It would be proper that organizations offer a flexible Benefit programs that enable employees to select the affairs that meet them at certain circumstances. In addition, offering employment learning from professional development is also an important motivator important to the employees of any generation. To some extent, younger employees expect to learn and have an opportunity to be promoted while the older generation may find it beneficial to have an opportunity to be trained as their working environment drastically changes. This is because through training and education interventions, each of these demography groups can be reached hence encourage to be loyal to the organization. Other issues concerning human capital include flexibility in the forms of working arrangements. The choice of the type of work with or without options for telecommuting is another dimension where millennials and Gen Z will expect to have an option or the ability to work from home remotely and with shorter working hours while the traditionalists will expect to work from the physical workplace, they would wish to have longer working hours where possible. Therefore, the welfare of a strong and motivated employees can be achieved by Organizations that consider different working styles and preferences.
Fostering Collaboration and Team Building
It is very important to engage a multi-generational workforce in a particular organization so as to get the best of their performance. The management should ensure that each generation optimizes the application of their strengths so that the various teams come up with better solutions and make better decisions. Employment of workers from different age categories to make up a diversity of workforce is a good approach to reflecting diverse thinking and ideas in a team. Management can foster collaboration and teamwork through involving structured activities that enhance the factors that are attached to organizational teams. Team building or team bonding events enable the employees to spend time together which helps in creation of relationship between them as well as eliminate any divide between generations. It is for this reason that the management should consider investing in its teams in order to improve upon the morale, cooperation, as well as the overall output of the team in the organization. Moreover, such programs are useful in reconciling the generation of gap and sharing of knowledge between one and the other. It is advantageous to solve the problem of young employees’ training by connecting them with experienced co-workers. Thus, the younger workers can learn from the more experienced ones, while the latter learn from the former regarding the adoption of modern technology. That is why it is necessary to indicate the achievements and possibilities of representatives of any generation, thus, ensuring everyone’s value. It is also critical to endorse and acknowledge the part of everyone in a group that contributed to the wins for the entire team. People appreciate efforts made towards attributing value to their efforts in the organization and this is likely to encourage them to accomplish their work fully.
Conclusion
The idea of having a multigenerational workforce is a mixed blessing when it comes to its handling since it favors organizational growth but behooves some drawbacks as well. If the companies follow certain aspects in management, they get an environment that every generation embraces with passion; these aspects include generation characteristics, communication strategy, benefit tailored, collaboration, and respect. Recognizing one generation’s strengths does not only contribute to creating an inclusive and vibrant workplace culture but also catalyse the creative nature in any organisation. In the ever changing environment, organizations that have learned how to manage a multigenerational workforce and to master the handling of multigenerational work force will have compounded capabilities of facing the difficulties, meeting opportunities, and accomplishing objectives. Through embracing such initiatives, employers can foster an organization culture that embraces the talents of people of divergent abilities hence enabling increased possibility of success and sustainability.