Harness the Power of Age Diversity in the Workforce

Age diversity offers a wide span of knowledge for any business.  Age-diverse teams bring together people with complementary abilities, skills, information, and networks. Older team members can combine their experience with the perspectives from younger employees. This can be a combination of Baby Boomers working with Millennials and the newest Generation Z.

The generations are defined as people born during the following years:

• The Silent Generation (1928-1945)
• Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
• Gen X (1965-1980)
• Millennials (1981-1996)
• Gen Z (1997-2012)

There may be very few people from the Silent Generation in the workforce, but there are many Baby Boomers who want to continue working even if they are past retirement age. This is the generation that grew up with telephones and radios that had dials, typewriters, record players, and black-and-white television. They quickly adapted to the digital conveniences such as microwave ovens and learned how to work computers and cell phones. Many Baby Boomers, including Bill Gates and the late Paul Allen and Steve Jobs, were instrumental in the development of computer technology. 

Gen X and beyond are the digital generations that had exposure to computers and even smartphones at an early age. They are the social media generations.  This type of multigenerational workforce is an important component of most businesses, especially those involved with marketing and product development, healthcare, financial services, sports, and education.

Managing Age Diversity
Companies that hire an age-diverse workforce must bring people together. They must promote the free-exchange of ideas among people working on a team. This involves calling on the experience of older team members and recognizing the input from the younger generations.

Managers must also be able to quickly resolve any conflict between members of the collaborative team. They must encourage them to work towards a common goal through mutual understanding.

Achievements must be celebrated and acknowledge contributions from everyone within a group or team. This is a great way to boost employee morale and keep people working together in a nurturing environment. It produces job satisfaction, reduces turnover, and improves organization performance.

______________________________________________________________________________

If your company is facing recruitment challenges in 2022, use my CALENDAR to schedule a call about your hiring needs.