The end of and start of a new year is a great time to look at what is working in your current team set up and making changes needed to ensure a successful coming year. One process to think about is a reset with your team, taking into consideration the Generation Game.
Vistage North East members recently enjoyed a session with speaker Henry Rose Lee, on how to engage, motivate, and manage different generations at work. Vistage chair for the region, Andrew Marsh, discusses here the highlights:
“I want to open up this article by thanking Henry for her insightful presentation to two of my Vistage groups in the North East. The sessions were held at St James’ Park where members enjoyed lunch and could bring guests from their team to the meeting, which meant they were very well attended.
“The concept of generational workers is a really interesting one. We all know that people of different ages have different needs, differing ways of communicating and different things that make them tick or get excited. But how many of us truly think about that regularly in the workplace? I’d say not as many of us as should do!
“There are four key generational worker groups in the workplace today. Spanning from births in 1946 to 2009 (ages 14 to 77) they are Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials (Gen Y) and Generation Z. So if you think about it, how can those in their 60’s and 70’s possibly have the same drivers as say the youngest of the pack, Generation Z, aged 14 to 26?
“But more importantly, once we understand that, what do we do about it?
“The first thing is to celebrate that diversity of age (actually any diversity) brings benefits. Henry’s presentation included the organisational benefits of a multi-generational workforce, including multiple perspectives, knowledge transfer, relationship building, and different approaches to problem solving. Older generations, for example, are known to try hard to work something out. Younger generations however can have a propensity to stop trying something they don’t know and just ask someone else to do it. Speed is important. We discussed in groups that perhaps this is a reaction brought about with the digital age, the pandemic and other external factors each generation has experienced.
“Henry showed us the OECD Age-Inclusive approach, which includes benefits from multigenerational workforces such as increased productivity, stronger pipeline of talent, diversity of skills, increased resilience and more.
“Bearing that in mind, when you think of your own team as those in the room did, what do you see as benefits or challenges? It’s a great exercise to grab a pen and paper to work out your balance. Have you got it right, is the team as diverse as it can be? And most importantly are the right people doing the right jobs and involved in the right things to get the most out of the generational differences?
“Henry also introduced us all to a great concept, the broken window. Ask the team to find something in the business that needs fixing, or doing differently, and allow them to work out by who and how it should be fixed. If they don’t come up with a broken window, then give them one and watch how they interact, problem solve and thrive under the autonomy. This kind of collaborative leadership is something I spoke about in my last article and it is an excellent way to get the best out of every different aged person on the team.
“It is important though to not make sweeping decisions about each group. Henry took us through a true or false test which was illuminating on the presuppositions we have. She said: “There is evidence in research on things like the three top reasons why younger people leave a job for example, and despite the fact that most would say in 2023 that’s likely to be for purpose or better working conditions, the top reason is still for money.
“There are actually lots of false beliefs held about all the generations, so it is a truly responsible employer who does their research properly to build a good culture across their entire workforce.
“I am keen to work with organisations who need help with this, so delivering sessions with Vistage is a great place to reach many good employers at once!”
“Personally, I think the hardest thing we have to be prepared for is the next generation
those who have experienced a totally different upbringing, youth and education. Whose expectations for reward are expected to be beyond anything we have ever seen and whose digital capability will change the world at even faster pace. Guess we had all best buckle up!”
Henry Rose Lee is an Expert in Inter-Generational Diversity. She shares ways to adapt yourleadership and management style to get the best out of people, from fresh GenZ talent (16-26), career developing millennials (27-42), and energetic and experienced 40-65+ employees. More is available on www.intergenerationalexpert.com/ about
You can also contact Andrew on Andrew.marsh@vistagechair.co.uk to find out more if Vistage sounds like a peer group that could help you be a better business leader.