Generation XYZ

Five generations, one work place – Can we all work together?

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Five generations, one work place – 3 can we all work together?

how should you relate to employees oF 5 diFFerent age groups?

how do motivate diFFerent generations and 8 to encourage their sharing oF knowledge?

how will this aFFect the Future oF recruitment? 10

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3recent news that, by 2020, there will be five

generations in the workplace which will have

a significant impact on companies’ approach

to Human resources requirements.

research published by analysts such as dan

Schawbel, Managing Partner of Millennial

Branding, which specialises in Gen y, writing

for time and forbes magazines, for example,

and books such as “the Gen Z effect” by

thomas Koulopoulos and dan Keldsen have

brought this coming reality to the forefront

of employers stratagem.

People are living longer, delaying retirement

for a number of reasons, and re-entering the

workforce after time away.

firms have been confronted with a plethora

of unanswered questions such as; how should

firms manage employees from such diverse

generations, how to motivate different

generations working together, and what

is the commercial upside to having five

different generations working in harmony?

the language used to describe the different

generations is becoming commonplace.

While sweeping descriptions of generations

are not entirely representative, these are the

five groups currently in the workforce:



4traditional GenerationBorn before circa 1945

these more experienced employees often have a respect for the

conventional rules, tend towards conformity and come from a

generation where frugality and austerity are virtues. this generation

has not grown up with access to technology and has learned to

work without the aid of computing and digital developments.

Baby-boomersBorn between circa 1945 and the mid-1960s

Baby-boomers, the post-war generation, have experienced

financial, educational and gender liberation moreso than any other

generation, and have reaped the economic reward. they carry the

reputation of being workaholics, are viewed as inherently optimistic,

but also quietly seeking personal gratification. technology is more

accessible to this generation, but a calculator and paper calendar

are likely also to be on their desk.

Gen XBorn between mid-1960s and early 1980s

as a result of Baby-boomer working parents, this generation has

a reputation of self-reliance. they are often results-oriented yet fun.

less traditional upbringing has resulted in marriage and children

later in life, and devoting more to a company. they are among the

more entrepreneurial generations.

Gen y / MillennialsBorn between early 1980s and 1995

Gen y is now the majority workforce, since 2013. Having grown up

with technology in the household, they have the capacity for being

tech savvy. research brands them as socially conscious, competitive

and confident. in Human resource terms, companies are favouring

this group when recruiting; they are viewed as a lynchpin in a five-

generation workplace.

Gen Z or linkster / facebook GenerationBorn after circa 1995

the youngest group in the workforce is extremely techno-savvy.

this generation brings a host of new experience to the table; instant

messaging is a preferred mode of communication, believing email

is outdated. the ubiquity of technology has resulted in protective

parents; monitoring by adults is often seen as positive means

of protection. this generation is often represented as confident,

happy and secure; team players, who like to engage in community

service activities.



5how should you relate to employees of different age groups?

Generational stereotypes are often quoted with little thought:

the Baby Boomer mystified by facebook; the Millennial who wears

flip-flops in the office; the traditionalist who seemingly won’t ever

retire; the cynical Gen Xer who’s only out for themselves; and the

Gen linkster / facebook who appears to be surgically attached to

their smartphone. However, research shows that individuals born in

Gen y and beyond have different styles from their predecessors; it

has been a cultural revolutionary shift.

dan Schawbel suggests when a Millennial is using a smartphone in a

meeting, they may be multitasking, rather than disengaged or rude.

they may be resented by their older colleagues, but typically they

respect them and want to learn from them. that explains millennials’

constant pleas for feedback, says dan Schawbel.

But how can the traditional Generation relate to other generation

groups? according to Management consulting firm Penna

organisations need to:

1. throw out all your assumptions

you may think older workers are harder workers or that they are

difficult to train. Get rid of your stereotypes. your older workers are

individuals just like everyone else in your group. treat them as such.

2. remember the range of ages

you wouldn’t treat a seasoned manager of 35 the same as a 21-year

old right out of college. don’t think the 15-year gap is any less in

your older workers. a worker at 55 and a worker at 70 have different

goals and needs. as a manager, you may need to look at groups

getting ready to retire (55–62), retirement age and still working

(62–70), and older workers who want to keep active or who need to

work (70+). each group presents different management challenges.



63. communicate, communicate,

and communicate

don’t assume that the older worker knows what you expect of them.

they might not have the same background as you. Be very clear

what you want done and what the measurements of completion and

of success will be. “Bill, take care of that for me” is not enough. Be

more explicit, “Bill, i need you to prepare the department’s budget

for the next fiscal year. Use the numbers from last year and add 10%

on everything except training, which should go up 15%. i need it

by tuesday”.

4. value their life experience

your older workers have been around. they have seen a lot. they

have done a lot. recognize the value of this experience. learn from

it. encourage the younger members of your team to learn from it.

the lessons from the “school of hard knocks” are invaluable.

5. train them

older workers need training as much as younger workers – just as

much, just as often. the subject of the training may be different, but

the need is the same. and don’t believe that older workers can’t be

trained. they are just as receptive as their younger peers.

6. Meet their security needs

older workers probably need benefits more than the younger

workers. they need medical coverage, vision care, and financial

planning. Make sure your company’s benefits plan meets their

needs too.

7. Motivate them

any manager’s key job is to motivate their employees. older

workers have different motivational “hot buttons” than their

younger counterparts. opportunity for advancement is probably

less important than the recognition of a job well done, but see step

#1 above.

8. you don’t have to “be the boss”

the older workers grew up in a hierarchical society. they know you

are the boss. Most of them were bosses at some point too. Get on

with leading the department and don’t waste time posturing. it

won’t impress them anyway. they’ve seen it all before.



79. Be flexible

your older workers, depending on age group (see #2 above) may

want flexible hours or a shorter work week. for those of them that

need it, be willing to be flexible. you need their talent and technical

skill so do what you need to keep it available. do not, however,

assume that all older workers want to go home early. Some may

be motivated by working the same long, hard hours that they have

always done.

10. Use them as mentors

let them coach and encourage the younger workers. Most older

workers have a wealth of knowledge and experience that they would

love to pass on. Give them the opportunity to do so and your entire

organization will benefit.

the knowledge and talent that will be lost due to the retirement

of the older generations without appropriate transition among

generations could be financially costly to companies. the employees

coming into the labour force (Gen y) are powerful in numbers and

will be needed to make up for the shortage due to the retirement

of the traditional and the Baby Boomers. if employers don’t help

breakdown communication barriers now, they will risk finding

themselves short of talented workers when they are really needed.



8how to motivate different generations and to enCourage their sharing of knowledge?

Whether this multi-generational workplace feels happy and

productive or challenging and stressful is, in large part, up to their

immediate manager. How do you motivate someone much older or

much younger than you? How can you do to encourage employees

of different generations to share their knowledge?

Since the financial crisis of 2008 and people living longer and

therefore delaying retiring, it has become more common to see

someone younger managing someone older. this can lead to tension

on both sides. Why am i being bossed around by someone without

a lot of experience? on the other hand, maybe the younger person

feels insecure and wonders: how do i do this?

Jeanne c. Meister, a founding partner of future Workplace, a human

resources consultancy and the co-author of “the 2020 Workplace”

suggests some ways to encourage different generations to work

collaboratively:

do’s

• experiment with mixed-age teams and reverse mentoring

programs that enable older, experienced workers to interact

with and learn from younger hires.

• develop incentive plans that reflect where your employees are

in their lives.

• conduct regular Human resources surveys to get a pulse on your

employees’ demographics and needs.



9don’ts

• Bother with generation-based employee affinity groups – they

generally reinforce stereotypes.

• act like a top-down manager – forge partnerships with employees

of different ages and encourage them to share their opinions.

• assume you already know how to motivate employees who

are older or younger – ask them what they want out of their

professional lives.

there is an assumption about the older workers that they are less

adaptable and less able to grasp new ideas or technologies. the

older workers are often excluded from the training opportunities as

employer normally calculates the return on investment. the invested

training has to offset against the likely gains from the improved

skills over the time. the similar concern may surround the younger

workers who may be perceived as being early on in their career and

more likely to change jobs in the near future.

the benefits from in-house Mentoring Programmes are far reaching.

By working with Managers, the talent Management group will

identify and train Mentors in each business unit as well as develop

the system to keep track of measurable impact of such programme.

this programme would relate directly to job function and trainees

would be provided with one-on-one consultative style coaching

related directly to the job function. this approach would ensure

the high performance and high-level of engagement of the new

employee, especially throughout the on-Boarding phase. the target

group for these roles would be older workers, which will also add to

their job satisfaction and engagement with the company.



10how will this affeCt the future of reCruitment?

the recruitment industry has undergone massive change over the

last 20 years with the growth of the internet and social media and,

therefore, changing the way people stay connected to jobs. in light

of these developments, a numbers of firms are asking; how can we

better connect with a new generation? How do we retain staff as

loyalty becomes a thing of the past?

Many of the changes brought by technology haven’t really

changed the recruitment process but made it easier to access and

communicate with potential candidates. Social media is heavily used

by most financial services organisations although some do it better

than others. However, it is accepted that all firms need a credible

social media strategy to attract the best candidates. in future,

firms that are more creative with social media will give themselves

a competitive advantage to attract the best talent, as opposed to

a pile of inappropriate applicants, which will create more work.

as Gen X move into more senior management positions and Gen y

increase in numbers, the biggest change to business will be more

interim centric. the combination of the internet and the change in

employee values to a more independent control over their careers

could lead to spike in freelance workers.

therefore, Hr and recruitment teams will need to evolve into a

centre of knowledge of who can deliver when work needs to be

achieved and potentially a higher understating of the business

requirements. this could lead to unprecedented change on how

graduate programmes are structured. for example, graduates

could ‘register’ with a number of firms and develop their network

of interim job opportunities.

in the long term, as Gen y and Z become the biggest groups in

the work force firms will need to create and sell a culture that they

want to work in. What will be the ‘normal’? Will the term career be

replaced by experience? Will permanent contractors be a thing of

the past? How will recruiters help businesses stand out?



11Business need to accept the younger generation has no desire to

stay working for one company over an extended period of time.

therefore, the traditional concept of judging an individual’s skill by

how long they have stayed at one company will be a concept of the

past. Generation y and Z are likely to have several jobs at the same

time allowing them to develop and grow personally. this is obviously

problematic when considering recruitment and retention strategies,

especially for large firms that invest heavily into these programmes.

What is obvious and can’t be ignored is that expectations are

changing. a good example is bonus-related pay. daniel Pink

(“the Surprising science of Motivation”, 2010) has proven in

detailed research that “pay for performance” is ineffective in any

environment apart from manual labour. employees might want

cash rewards but giving it to them will be demotivating and

self-destructing. Will a bank be bold and innovative enough to

change how they reward top performers to align with the younger

generations’ expectations?

the businesses that will succeed are the ones that will accept and

understand what the younger generation want from their career

which are very different from the previous generations. Perhaps

asking new recruits “when are you planning to leave?” on their

first day will become permissible. Such dramatic change will take

a culture shift. firms that are confident enough to allow their

employees to take sabbaticals, for example, to experience personal

growth and actively encourage mobility will be able to attract and

retain the best talent.

the majority of management techniques currently adopt a ‘one size

fits all’ approach, which had been suitable for an industrial / labour-

driven place of work. We no longer live in such a world.

While no organisation can entirely predict the future of generational

change, the brave, innovative and bold who accept that the world

of work will continue to evolve will give itself the best opportunity

to maximise the potential of their current workforce, retain the top

performers and attract the most talent individuals.


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