Overview
Employees are the backbone of your company. Therefore your leadership ethics should be based on analyzing, understanding, and resolving workforce challenges. You must keep your employees together, earn their loyalty and trust and utilize their skills to achieve goals.
Most companies include a diverse, multi-generational workforce. A Deloitte survey indicates the current workforce consists of 4-5 generations.
Multi-generational teams have benefits and challenges. A multi-generational team has the advantage of a highly skilled and technologically advanced workforce. On the other hand, you may find yourself with a less age-diverse group of knowledgeable and experienced middle-aged and near-retirement-age workers.
Whatever the composition of your workforce, companies and their leaders must effectively and efficiently lead the teams.
A multi-generational workforce has its unique needs and demands. Often distinct generations have different expectations from the company. Moreover, every generation brings its age-related skillset to the table.
Therefore, as a leader, you may need different communication mediums and strategies to manage workers of different generations.
As a leader, you need to understand the factors that impact different generations of your team. Only by understanding the mindset, working patterns, skills, and loyalty trends can you develop better strategies to manage a multi-generational workforce and get the desired performance.
Leaders and managers must adjust their talent strategies around employee engagement, communication, collaboration, and performance.
This article will focus on multi-generational teams’ key aspects and management tips.
We will also focus on another pressing matter among present-day leaders – conflict resolution. Our article will explore how you can avoid conflicts in the workplace and come up with better solutions to manage challenges and disagreements as a visionary leader.
Managing Multi-generational Workforce
What is a multi-generational workforce?
A multi-generational workforce is a team of workers in an organization who belong to different generations. A multi-generational team consists of the following:
- Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)
- Generation X (1964 – 1976)
- Millennials (1977 – 1995)
- Generation Z (1996 and after)
Integrating a multi-generational workforce has been challenging for companies for decades, and leaders are analyzing and searching for ways to manage it.
Various working generations have different expectations and needs from their employer. Moreover, they have other characteristics, skill sets, and communication languages.
All four generations must work together in sync to boost productivity and efficiency; otherwise, chaos may arise. Leaders must understand each generation and their traits to manage everyone and bring everyone together to achieve targeted business goals.
Companies and leaders will have to work on improvising policies for employees on the verge of retirement, hire young talents, upskill the middle age workforce, retain retirees, and ensure knowledge transfer.
There are countless benefits if we look at the positive side of a multi-generational team. Increased creativity and productivity, greater mentoring, high thought diversity, and more learning opportunities are notable benefits of having a multi-generational team.
A survey by Manufacturing Institute shows that over 60% of companies use a multi-generational workforce to enhance innovation & creativity and improve productivity.
As a leader, you must overcome the challenges of a multi-generational workforce and turn them into successes.
The different types of multi-generational groups
Let us understand each generation in detail.
Baby Boomers
Baby Boomers are people born between 1946 to 1964. According to Gallup’s 2013 report, baby boomers comprised roughly one-third of the U.S. workforce. However, in subsequent years post-2013, this figure was predicted to decline. Gallup projects that from 2011 (when the oldest boomers hit 65) to 2029 (when the youngest ones will reach that age), approximately 3.8 million individuals will turn 65 annually, or roughly 10,000 per day.
However, not all baby boomers will exit the workforce at age 65. Many of them may find they have saved little for their retirement and that Social Security benefits are insufficient to support their standard of living. Nearly 50% of working boomers declare they will not retire before they surpass 65, and 10% believe they will never retire.
A later retirement date implies that many companies will have baby boomers working for them longer than previous generations, particularly since they tend to remain in the same job for an average of 15 years.
Traits of Baby Boomers
- Loyalty
- Self-motivation
- High work ethic
- “Live to work” mentality
- Deep experience
- Average tenure: 15 years
- Focused on financial stability/retirement
Generation X
Generation X are people born between 1964 to 1976. Harvard Business Review reports that 66% of Gen X leaders have received no promotions or just one in the last five years. In comparison, millennials and baby boomers were more likely to receive two or more promotions during the same period.
Gen Xers have consistently experienced promotion rates 20-30% lower than millennials. As a result, almost 20% of Gen X leaders have stated that their desire to leave their job has increased in the last year.
Organizations must engage and retain Gen X employees and leaders as older employees exit the workforce.
Traits of Generation X
- Ability to learn new technologies
- Highly educated
- Good work ethic
- High leadership potential
- Self-reliant
- Average tenure: 5 years
- Focused on work-life balance
Millennials
Millennials are people born between 1977 to 1995. Millennials have the largest generation of workers contributing to 35% of the workforce. Millennials were more focused on rapid promotions and fun perks at their ripe age. But with age, millennials are more focused on job stability and satisfaction.
Traits of Millennials
- Idealistic
- Flexible
- Tech-savvy
- Able to integrate work and life
- Ambitious
- Highly educated
- Average tenure: 2 years
- Focused on career growth
Generation Z
Generation Z are people born between 1996 and after. Generation Z represents the youngest workforce talent; some are presently working, while others will enter the workforce in the coming years.
Gen Z individuals were born after the invention of modern technologies. That is why they are tech-savvy people who assist companies seeking to digitalize their processes.
Generation Z is an objective, multicultural, fast-paced generation with high ambition and desires. Employees seek better pay, explore where they can best contribute, strive for work-life balance, and other perks.
In terms of creativity and innovation, there can be no one better than Generation Z. Companies should look to hire younger talents to derive innovation in the model and open doors to new revenue streams.
Traits Of Generation Z
- Multicultural
- Tech native
- Entrepreneurial
- Able to multitask
- Independent
- Average tenure: TBD
- Focused on learning with purpose
The Matter of Aging Workforce
The Manufacturing Institute survey shows that 78% of companies are worried about the generational gap in their workforce over the next decade.
Currently, the industries have a double-edged problem – 5% of the workers are beyond the retirement age, while the 20% of employees will reach the retirement age by the next decade.
Now companies do not only have to work to retain older workers but also ensure knowledge transfer. Moreover, the companies will have to develop strategies to lure in the younger generation to join their company. To do so, they must understand what the more youthful generation expects from their employer.
Regarding the aging workforce problem, 86% of companies do not have strategies to recruit and retain older workers. So, they will be losing knowledgeable and experienced employees.
The severe pattern of an aging workforce is due to two main factors. They are:
- The older generation is choosing to work past retirement
- Companies struggle with attracting and retaining younger employees
As a result, the majority of the employees in the company are baby boomers and Generation X.
Many companies are exposed to a concentration of both Baby Boomers and Generation X talent who collectively likely all retire in the next decade as they become too old physically to continue working productively.
Then the companies with the majority of older employees may experience a sudden shortage of workers.
If these companies have leaders formulating strategies to recruit younger generations, they may mitigate potential worker shortage risk.
But if the leader or managers are clueless about the issue, it may create continuity and service issues.
As a leader, you must consider succession issues and:
- Formalize policies for older employees
- Offer phased retirement
- Establish a transparent system of knowledge transfer
- Build recruitment campaigns to include employees of all generations
- Focus recruitment on middle age workers
Recruitment Of Younger Generations
Millennials and Generation Z are the younger generation workforce that can play a significant role in scaling the growth of companies. These generations comprise 31% and 14% of the workforce, respectively.
The younger generation’s sparse representation in the workforce is a matter of concern. Companies must attract younger talent to fill positions as the older generation retires.
Moreover, younger generations tend to exhibit creative creativity and are tech-savvy, integrating new technologies more seamlessly than baby boomers.
Companies need to ensure knowledge transfer from older employees to newer ones. To do so, they must have a recruitment strategy to hire younger people actively and facilitate knowledge transfer.
One of the surveys shows that 3 out of 5 companies plan to hire younger talent in the next five years.
Companies are hosting summer camps, employment campaigns, and other programs to attract Generation Z. These outreach programs help recruiters directly interact with the young people. Recruiters collaborate with management colleges, technical institutions, and schools to attract more youthful human capital early.
Looking ahead, many companies may opt to secure their access to skilled human capital by investing in recruitment and training efforts to effectively harness the potential of younger workers. One interviewee embodies the attitude expressed by several others: companies are increasingly hiring recent graduates and nurturing them into the employees they need. Responding companies already have 10% of their leadership teams composed of Generation Z workers, indicating the significant contributions of younger workers to their organizations.
Upskilling
Upskilling refers to acquiring new skills to enrich the workforce and strengthen them to enhance efficiency and productivity.
With rapidly changing times, upskilling is crucial for companies to sustain themselves and generate a high ROI.
Further, in a company with multi-generational teams, the older and middle age generation workers often struggle to handle technologies and understand the tools utilized in the modern world. Lack of technical expertise amongst the older generations reduces the whole team’s efficiency, and the burden typically falls on the new generation.
In such a scenario, upskilling is vital in educating older employees about the modern world’s new technologies and business management.
As per a Manufacturing Institute survey, 78% of companies focus on employee training, upskilling, and development opportunities for their employees.
Over half (52%) of the surveyed companies utilize training and development programs to attract and retain older workers. This percentage is higher than that of contract work (38%) or job sharing (33%) and only slightly lower than phased retirement (57%). Notably, the proportion of companies with employee training and development opportunities to recruit and retain older workers was similar (55%) among those who acknowledged that having more senior employees is critical to their businesses.
Interviewees added that many companies offer financial incentives to all employees who engage in upskilling regardless of age. They also leverage upskilling to shift older and/or current employees to new tasks during the pandemic.
Mentorship: A Way to Transfer Knowledge
Mentorship plays a crucial role in encouraging employees to function better. That is why companies recognize the value of mentorship and reverse mentorship to train and mold their employees to their companies’ ethics and values.
Mentorship ensures new joiners have a mentor to look forward to when they are stuck. Mentors help dedicated employees to refine their work and find better solutions to accelerate the company’s growth.
Another benefit of mentorship is knowledge transfer. Companies risk losing knowledgeable talents as the next decade will witness many baby boomers and generation x retiring.
By organizing mentorship programs for their employees, the companies can ensure a smooth knowledge transfer from the retiring employees to the younger ones.
Mentorship programs will help retiring employees gradually transfer their work responsibilities to younger employees.
It is important to note that years of experience are far more valuable than theoretical knowledge. Retiring and older employees typically possess over 30 years of industry experience that no book can teach.
It would help to encourage mentorship programs in your organization as a leader.
According to a survey, 48% of companies have a formal knowledge transfer system and mentoring programs.
However, there is one more thing to note in mentoring. It is not only the older generation that can teach younger talents. But even the younger generations can also offer technology educational training to the older generation.
Therefore, it is a two-way learning and communication medium within the workforce that can boost company performance.
What Can Companies Do To Manage Multi-generational Teams?
Torn between retiring employees, an older workforce, and a struggle to hire younger talents, companies may fall apart or decline. To ensure that they effectively manage their multi-generational teams, it is evident that they should have clear strategies and policies in place, improvise formal procedures as per the employee needs, and establish a hiring pipeline to attract younger talents.
Policies and campaigns with a clear set of objectives can aid companies in managing their multi-generational team and reap significant benefits.
Here are some ways companies can efficiently manage multi-generational teams and leverage their strengths.
Formalize Policies
Companies are fully aware of their aging workforce and its related problems, but many do not have policies to handle it appropriately to mitigate continuation risk.
All companies should formalize policies for retiring employees and integrate younger staff to benefit both employees and the company. The benefits of getting in front of the issue include:
- It signals to employees that their company is concerned about them and has a clear strategy to assist retiring staff.
- The companies’ priority should be establishing a transparent system to offer part-time work to retirees and build a phased retirement system.
- Part-time employment and phased retirement ensure smooth knowledge transfer and fill the workforce void due to many workers retiring at once.
- The knowledge transfer system should be developed based on a checklist of topics to address the loss of institutional knowledge.
- Companies should consider pairing senior staff with young employees so that they both learn from one another. While the younger one learns from the experience of the senior employees, the senior employee could use the creativity and technical skills of the younger employee.
Expand Hiring Pipeline
The primary way to address the aging workforce problem is to expand the hiring pipeline.
- Companies should target hiring applicants from Generation X.
- Recruiters should also focus on applicants with diverse skills and backgrounds, improving diversity and inclusivity in the workforce.
- Companies can collaborate with employment firms to reduce the burden of going through hundreds and sometimes even thousands of applications.
- Employment firms can sort out the candidates per your job and skillset requirements.
- Hiring a younger generation is essential for a company. But the company should also target hiring middle age workers to maintain the balance in the workforce.
- Your team may find working with a mix of generation z and baby boomers difficult. It may create a significant generational gap in the workforce. So, it would be good practice also to attract skilled middle-aged workers.
- Establishing pipelines to attract additional mid-career workers can be a critical aspect of preparing for the retirement of older employees.
- By hiring more mid-career workers, companies can achieve a more balanced workforce, particularly as a segment of employees near retirement.
- Mid-career workers frequently bring diverse viewpoints and a broad range of soft and technical skills that can complement teams. Combining diverse opinions and knowledge with historical or institutional awareness leads to a balanced and well-rounded team.
Collect Employee Feedback
Regularly collecting employee feedback on age-related policies can provide companies with a comprehensive and unbiased understanding of generational preferences and needs within their workforce.
- Employee feedback also offers opportunities to improve engagement, identify patterns over time, and leverage diverse perspectives about internal initiatives.
- To achieve these benefits, companies should open forums for employees to voice their thoughts and concerns, including designated spaces for older or younger workers to receive support.
- Additionally, efforts should include identifying and amplifying voices that are not often heard, including those of millennials and Generation Z, who are often underrepresented on leadership teams.
- Diverse perspectives can be valuable for making internal decisions about hiring, benefits, culture, and long-term strategy.
- Manufacturers should consider regular internal surveys to understand how age impacts their workforce and to identify patterns and problems that can inform specific action plans.
- Surveys also provide employees with a private space to explain how proposed changes will impact them without having to disclose personal information publicly.
How Can You, As a Leader, Manage a Multi-generational Team?
Today’s workforce comprises five generations, and teams often have two, three, or four generations working together. The combination of various generations working side by side presents challenges but also offers opportunities.
Accept Diversity
Managing a multi-generational workforce requires a more flexible style of management and a willingness to embrace change. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, so it is essential to experiment and gather feedback to find the right strategy.
Get to Know Your Team
Get to know the people on your team and learn about their preferences, work styles, and motivations. Asking for their input and ideas can also help you understand their perspective.
Use Coaching to Help Employees Grow
Personalized coaching can help employees discover growth opportunities and develop their skills. Managers can help employees identify what skills they need to build and guide them through difficult conversations and conflicts.
Set Stretch Goals
Managers can personalize how they support and encourage a multi-generational workforce by working with each employee to set goals. Keep in mind the different approaches to goal-setting and learning for each generation.
By embracing diversity, getting to know their team, providing coaching, and setting stretch goals, managers can successfully lead a multi-generational team to success.
Conflict Resolution
What are conflict resolution strategies, and why are they important?
Conflict resolution strategies refer to techniques and skills that help individuals prepare for, respond to, and resolve disagreements in the workplace. These conflicts can arise from internal factors such as misunderstandings about projects, strained relationships between co-workers, or external factors such as competitor disputes. The primary goal of conflict resolution strategies is to reach a peaceful compromise that allows the business to return to normal.
Conflict resolution strategies are important because they help protect the organization and the livelihood of its employees. Promptly addressing conflicts can also help safeguard one’s reputation. Additionally, conflict resolution strategies have positive benefits such as promoting healthy collaboration, maintaining morale, reducing stress, increasing motivation, improving job satisfaction, and enhancing the quality of work. By adopting conflict resolution strategies company-wide, disruptions to productivity can be prevented, and profitability can be secured.
5 Conflict Resolution Strategies
Effective conflict resolution is a crucial skill for any professional, and it involves applying different strategies depending on the situation. Here are the five most common conflict resolution strategies in the workplace:
Accommodating
The accommodating strategy involves giving in to the wishes of the other party. While this can be cooperative, it lacks assertiveness and can be overused. Too much accommodation can result in authoritarian leadership and hamper innovation.
Avoiding
Avoiding conflict may seem like an excellent way to maintain harmony, but it stifles creativity and can prevent issues from being raised. It’s important to address conflicts instead of ignoring them.
Compromising
Compromise involves sacrificing something for the greater good. While it can effectively resolve conflicts, it may force tough decisions that compromise ethics, integrity, and trustworthiness.
Collaborating
Collaboration involves working together toward a mutually agreeable solution. This method encourages everyone to participate in the resolution, and it can lead to more creative and effective problem-solving.
Competing
Competing involves going into a conflict to win. While strong personalities often rely on this strategy, it can be harmful in the workplace because it doesn’t allow for diverse perspectives to inform a total picture. It’s important to listen to and consider all viewpoints in conflict resolution.
Steps for using conflict resolution strategies in the workplace
Conflicts are an inevitable part of workplace dynamics. The following steps can help you choose the most effective conflict resolution strategy to prevent or resolve conflicts in the workplace:
Define the conflict
The first step in resolving conflicts is to define the conflict. Before implementing a conflict resolution strategy, you must understand the conflict’s context and scale. Talk to both parties involved in the conflict and ask questions to get a good mental picture of the disagreement. Get them to agree on what the issue is.
Establish a common goal for both sides.
To motivate people to resolve a conflict, they must recognize that confronting the issue benefits them. Establishing shared goals encourages people to be objective and work together. It also creates a clear set of guidelines to measure your actions.
Brainstorm methods to meet your goal.
In this stage, you will evaluate conflict resolution strategies to decide on the most effective approach. It will require you to listen carefully to others, communicate your ideas coherently, and explore alternatives together.
Determine the barriers to conflict resolution.
Before you take action, both parties need to acknowledge how they got into the conflict. Professionals must be accountable and honest, so they don’t repeat the same unproductive steps. Define how you can get around these barriers.
Agree on a solution.
After visiting each possible option, implement a solution in everyone’s best interests. Ensure both parties can work towards it to share equal responsibility in resolving the conflict. Assign duties so that each individual can contribute. Express the terms out loud to encourage accountability.
Conclusion
There are significant challenges and opportunities associated with managing a multi-generational workforce. To effectively manage a team with members from different generations, managers must adopt a flexible management style, embrace change, and focus on personalized coaching and goal-setting. It is also important to acknowledge that each generation has unique strengths and preferences regarding work, communication, and learning; and to tailor management strategies accordingly. By taking these steps, leaders can create a work environment that fosters collaboration, growth, and success for all team members, regardless of their age or background.