Empowering Your Six Generation Workforce

We’re living longer, healthier lives, and as a result many in our workforce — whether by choice or by necessity — are extending their careers beyond the traditional retirement age. This means an individual’s working years can now span six or more decades. In fact, ?The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates?that almost one in four workers will be age 55 or older by 2031 and that age 65-plus workers represent the fastest growing segment of the workforce.

While many of us are used to working alongside colleagues of a generation to two above and below us, if working into our 70s becomes more commonplace, this means there could be 50 years between your business’ newest employees and those with the lengthiest experience.

From a leadership perspective, we have to address the seismic shift this represents to how we approach both talent management and workplace environment. How do you create a collaborative, cohesive environment that meets the needs of everyone from Gen Z TikTokers to Baby Boomers who enjoyed the once-novel car phone?

To start, leaders need to address wellness in the workplace. A recent report by BSI found that more than half of the business leaders they surveyed across nine global markets and seven sectors believe maintaining health and mental wellbeing should be a top priority for individual career development. This was quickly followed by skills upkeep (45%) to ensure workers are learning and evolving with new policies, tools, and advancements in technology.

In fact, LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report found that 90% of organizations are concerned about employee retention, and providing learning opportunities is their #1 retention strategy.

Especially in the context of the GenAI era, it’s important for leaders to understand that training staff goes beyond skilling your workers to the current needs of your business. Rather, leaders should be preparing their employees for the tools and skills needed to flourish in the future. This means retaining talent and experience while building on it.

However, for true success in the age-diverse workforce, collaboration will be key. In our current workforce there is vast historical knowledge, technical expertise, and critical skills that have been developed with each wave of technological evolution. When we overlook how far we’ve come, we miss the wealth of lessons learned through decades of development and innovation.

This is one of the many reasons I see mentorship as a critical component to positive and rewarding workplace culture. Creating strong bonds between colleagues of other generations not only benefits your business by bringing together diverse perspectives, skill sets, and experiences of multiple age groups, it also ensures historical knowledge continues to build within your business.

Please share any creative ways you’re empowering your multigenerational workforce... Comment below or message me directly.