Five social generations in the workplace - Be prepared to work with your grandchildren

I bet you remember what you were doing on September 11, 2001. I was visiting an important HP customer in downtown Sao Paulo - Brazil when we stopped the meeting and came together in a room with a TV. News channels were broadcasting live and some folks with desktops connected to the internet were trying to access Brazilian and international portals with no success. We quickly learned that many were trying to do the same and most servers were down. During the day we learned more about the attacks and we were all apprehensive with the potential consequences from that heartbreaking event.

When I share this story, it brings me back to that life changing day. I feel it happened yesterday. It’s hard to believe that 18 years have passed since this terrible episode occurred. Last week I met two young professionals and we ended up talking about server capacity. I still don’t know why but I recalled the difficulties to get online information during 9/11. This time, and maybe the first in time in my life, I talked about this tragedy with two people who had not experienced this incident – one was too young in 2001 (only 2 years old) and the other one was born in October 2001. Moments like this are interesting: they make you realize how old you are (ouch!), and it exposes the natural demographic process of moving to a different generation.

I am getting older, along with the overall population. According to the World Health Organization, men and women who are healthy at 60 will, on average, be physically capable of working until they are 74 and 77, respectively. This means the newest employees entering the workforce may not just be joining their parents, they might also be joining their grandparents! This translates into a social phenomenon not yet witnessed: five social generations working side-by-side (*). They include:

• Traditionalists, born prior to 1946
• Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964
• Gen X, born between 1964 and 1977
• Millennials, born between 1977 (**) and 1995
• Gen Z, born after 1995

(*) Social generations are cohorts of people born in the same date range and who share similar cultural experiences. In some cultures and countries, the familial generation may match the social generation, and new employees entering the workforce may join their great-grandparents!

(**) Some studies define Millennials from 1981 on.

In 2025, millennials will make up 75% of our early career stage workforce and Gen Z will share the other 25%. Conversely, many organizations are losing technical and community expertise as their senior members (many having worked in only one or two of companies), retire. Despite these workplace shifts, research suggests that few senior executives and HR leaders are taking the time to understand and engage in conversation to modernize their workplaces, while many are facing challenges to attract and retain Millennials and create the right culture of work for minorities, persons with disabilities and deskless workers. Most organizations are “hunting” for talent that fits their existing culture, rather than working to change their culture to fit the evolving labour market and demographics.

This problem cannot be addressed with just traditional methods, like increasing salaries and benefits. Newer generation want more: they aim to find a dynamic and collaborative workplace, with the latest technology and modern environment. They expect an organization with a culture that empowers employees to create and innovate, work with meaning and in most cases, drive social impact.

Change can be uncomfortable, especially when you are used to do things in a certain way. With the Industry Revolution, 6 generations prior to traditionalists (born prior to 1946), society adjusted dramatically to accommodate labour for the new industries, which included predominantly manual and operational jobs. Schools were modeled to prioritize math, science and language, and disciplines like music, dance and arts were deprioritized. This topic was beautifully elucidated by Sir Ken Robinson, in his book Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative.

As the industry market evolved, the service and technology market emerged, and we are now experiencing a new revolution, called Digital Transformation. Our entire society is experiencing mobility, apllications and technology in their daily lives. Today we live in the era of accessible information, social networking and artificial intelligence. Yet, still hard to believe, enterprise companies are still operating in the Industry Revolution model, struggling to adapt their businesses and work environments to present days needs. To change, companies need to revisit their core values, mission and culture, and realign resources to the new era – a very hard exercise, but one that is inevitable.

I have the privilege of working with enterprise companies in Canada, and I see firsthand how this problem is manifesting to frustrate business efforts. In order to orchestrate a culture change, several fundamentals need to be addressed, and it requires multidisciplinary work, across the organization, with full support from the CEO and board of directors. Workplace modernization is still treated in silos, either managed by IT, or HR, or Operations, with limited collaboration among the areas. Companies that are creating cross-group collaboration and empowering employees with technology are advancing in the new era.

Here are five important things to consider in this process:

1)     Embrace technology: Several non-traditional tech companies can be classified under the "technology" umbrella, from coffee makers to toothbrushes. Leverage the power of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and modern collaboration solutions to gain efficiency.

2)     Legislation/Regulations: Ensure security and compliance. Protect your company, employees, and your customer data. Learn about GDPR and Accessibility standards. 

3)     Change management/process: Do not expect to see changes by just acquiring new technologies. Latest and greatest solutions do not work if processes are not optimized. To experience modernization, you need to reinvent the way you work. Expensive mobility solutions won't be beneficial if the workplace policy doesn't adjust to accommodate remote working. 

4)     Employee Training:  Understand work styles and offer a set of technologies to promote collaboration, like Microsoft Teams. Keep an open dialogue and ensure to assist employees with multiple training platforms, both online and offline. Not all individuals prefer to work the same way. Offering options and flexibility will help to increase engagement and grow their contributions as a result.

5)     Culture: Ensure that your organization understands the value of creating modern workplace. Confirm commitment from all levels of the organization, starting with the CEO; foster a diverse and inclusive workforce, with a strong sense of belonging. Let leadership set the tone and put the philosophy into practice. The results will be nothing short of amazing.

As change is the new norm, we should all be prepared for upcoming trends; ones we see and ones we don't. It is interesting how our minds trick us when we analyze time and space. Events from the past look recent, but the future always looks far. I was wondering about my life for the next 18 years. The year will be 2037. I will likely recall my conversation with the two Gen Z professionals at Microsoft Ignite in 2019 in the same way I am experiencing the 9/11 event today. By that time, I will join another generation in the workplace (one more!), and I look forward to learning the challenges and opportunities that we will all face as a society as we work side-by-side with talents born after 2020 - the AI generation!

I’m intrigued and excited to see my descendants joining the workforce, I hope to have good health and energy to work with my grandchildren, or my great-grandchildren (why not?), yet to be born. What about you? Are you prepared for the modern workplace?

Ricardo Wagner is Brazilian, living and working in Canada. He is an Economist with an MBA in Business/Marketing. Ricardo has worked for Microsoft since 2006, and he is currently the Senior Product Marketing Manager responsible for helping organizations to build Modern Workplaces. Subject matter expert in Accessibility, he is co-leading the Disability initiative at Microsoft Canada. He is also an Ambassador for Microsoft Myskills4Afrka program, with volunteering assignments in Rwanda, Kenya, Angola and Mozambique. His philosophy is to live deeply and intensively, sharing compassion, inspiration and love along the way.

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