Challenges of a multigenerational workplace

All along, workplaces have always had representations of the young, middle-aged and the elderly. There was no escape of having these three generations working all together and harmoniously - the youngsters, new-entrants as they are can well be described as greenhorns, the middle-aged who hold appointments necessitating superintendence and the elderly who have worked for nearly four decades and holding senior positions. Each of this generation is armed with its own peculiarities and which could prompt some contradictions, if not discord in the environment.

Workplaces of today are just the same what they were in the past, like any household or family, where grandparents, parents and children always existed. The difference however is one – there happen to be noticeable differences in the principles, standards, method of talking and work dispositions of each generation. And very soon, with superannuation getting delayed for various reasons, you could well have four generations required to function together. In the light of the foregoing, top management of companies ought to well-prepared to face the difficulties in integrating newer employees and at the same time ensuring that the respect attached to the rank and familiarity of older workers is not diluted. There is no denying the fact that as new generations enter a workplace, a period of adaptation is necessitated at both fringes. The new-entrants should revere and understand; and the older lot who are well-entrenched with their skills acknowledged should try to adjust and shed all rigidity. Organisations could possibly challenge their workers to triumph over generational dissimilarities, take inconveniences in stride and handle all difficult situations together and efficiently.

The issue however, is not all that easy too. How can corporate leadership render a multigenerational work environment more prolific, more efficacious and more congenial? There are three major challenges that are faced by the modern workplace, viz, communication flair, downbeat typecasts and cultural aspirations. Dealing with them calls for diligence as under:

· Communication flairs & preferences: The young prefer to make use of SMSs, What’s App and tweets, etc while the senior lot is more inclined to speaking on the telephone and emails to a large extent. The younger lot uses abbreviated and colloquial forms which take time for deciphering by the elderly lot. And that disrupts the communication lines. Formality is no more there and the absence of which is viewed as impudence and contempt by the elderly lot.  How do you address this vexed issue, particularly when there is no indication of any side relenting? Top management and employees should make intensive endeavours to communicate in ways appreciated by others. Perhaps joint training in teambuilding could facilitate removal of some impediments that have surfaced because of an upsurge in digital communications.

· Downbeat typecasts: The elderly generation sees the youngsters as a lethargic, favoured and excessively impatient lot. On the contrary, the younger generation sees in their elders a reluctance to learn, inability to grasp things and rigidity to shed the old mentality and outlook. To subjugate existing typecasts is indeed a difficult proposition. It actually calls for a conscious effort to differentiate own endowments and disallow prejudiced ideas in executing the same on your behalf. Employees at all levels will have to harmonise and coordinate their visualisation of success with work tenets that necessitate following to attain it. This implies a readiness to perform more than what is otherwise expected of you. How can the top management intervene to resolve this problem? It can always intrude and mediate whenever they foresee a difficult situation emerging on account of prevailing misapprehensions and generational conclusions. It should be stressed that the experience of the elderly lot matters, but that cannot be allowed to remain inviolable and to impede generation of new thinking and concepts. Youngsters should be encouraged to persist with their zeal and efforts tom experiment with newer things; some control over them would be necessitated as they may not fully comprehend associated hazards of their pursuits.

· Cultural aspirations: With the workplaces having been inflicted by changing technologies, there has been another concurrent fallout. A consequential shift in cultural aspirations has also been given birth. This development is undoubtedly a jolting experience for the elderly lot because they have been used to the ‘work more, well done’ philosophy. The younger generation feels that the time spent at the workplace is secondary; what matters more is the final outcome. Coming to work in time or leaving late is of no consequence. You can work from home and increase your overall productivity. The younger lot has perhaps been brought up in an environment where both their parents were working people and hence great emphasis is placed by them on balancing the obligations of work and domestics both. This difference in thinking is going to be hard to bridge.  Higher management of companies should display flexibility in permitting employees to work in their own styles and appreciate the contributions made by them to bring about improvement and productivity.

Every generation has its own positive aspects. It brings with them its own skillsets and cultural models. At the workplace, an amalgamation should take place wherein different generations, different individualities and different geniuses work for the attainment of a common objective. It is only then that an organisation will be able to make certain that they are bringing new outlooks to otherwise customary glitches.