Are you sleepwalking into a multi-generational workplace disaster?

We’re stuck in a vicious cycle…??

Negative and unhelpful generational and age-related stereotypes and narratives, promoted by sensationalised media and social clickbait are leading to assumptions and breakdowns in communication, which in turn create a barrier to good relationship building between co-workers.?

These challenged relationships combined with different preferences in ways of working are causing a widening gap in productivity which often perpetuates and tries to validate these negative stereotypes.??

Unfortunately, many organisations are ‘sleepwalking’ into this vicious cycle, focusing their diversity and inclusion efforts on other underrepresented (whilst also deserving) communities. The challenge here though is that ageism is the most common form of workplace discrimination and is only set to grow as the generational gap in the workplace increases.??

With five generations already working alongside each other, pension ages being extended and an ever-aging population this is the time for employers to be considered in their efforts to unite their workforce and create a more harmonious collaboration throughout the generations.??

Organisations are simply not ready for the multi-generational workforce, I’m not just saying that because employers are telling me that, I’m also saying it, importantly because employees are saying it. Deloitte’s The Postgenerational Workforce report confirmed that just 6% of surveyed employees felt their organisation was equipped to handle the increasingly multi-generational workforce.?

A virtuous circle in our opinion, starts with great, effective and inclusive communication. Why? Because communication is the bedrock of great relationships. And harmonious relationships lead to better empathy, more open-minded thinking, better compromises, increased innovation and better leveraging of different strengths and diversities of opinions and thoughts. All this leads to better productivity.??

So how do employers shift to this utopian state???

Like all great DEIB work is starts by understanding your workforce, getting close to the challenges and experiences of your employees, and how culture, behaviour and narratives are playing out in your workplace.??

Follow this with well-thought-through, effective and inclusive communication across the business to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities, giving your middle managers the tools to lead their teams, giving employees greater information and guidance on how to communicate better and build better relationships with?colleagues from other generations.??

Missed what we’ve been talking about? Don’t worry you can catch up here:??

• Unraveling ageism and workplace age discrimination
• Five ways to improve collaboration within a multigenerational workforce
• Navigating the multi-generational workforce within SMEs - video
• How to effectively communicate with a multigenerational workforce
• Bridging the generation gap: insights on climate change and sustainability
• Tuning in to the voices of the multi-generational workforce - insights and video

If you need some help getting the conversation going in your organisation please do talk to me, with three decades of communication experience, a passion for making workplaces fairer, healthier and happier, my personal experiences as an older worker and my own young people now entering the workplace, I genuinely couldn’t be more passionate about this topic.