Elizabeth Stewart, Partner and Head of Leadership Advisory at Odgers Berndtson, explains why addressing intergenerational divides enables leaders to unify organisations – an essential component for strong, sustainable growth.
An underlying concern for CEOs has been workforce fragility, both across and down through the organisation. In particular, they have been become more attentive towards engaging, leading and retaining Millennial and Gen Z employees.
The conundrum lies in the apparent generational differences in attitudes and expectations, which manifest in choices that shape their view of work, roles and progression. The intrigue is whether this is a true intergenerational divide, or with maturity these differences will converge with those of previous generations. Regardless, current intergenerational dynamics demand the attention of leaders if they are to unify their organisations.
Manifesting divides
According to LinkedIn research, in the past year, just 20% of Gen Z workers engaged in conversations with colleagues over the age of 50, while 40% of employees aged 55 and older intentionally steered clear of interacting with their youngest co-workers.
This leads to bottom-line consequences leaders must address. In companies that exhibited poor intergenerational inclusion, it was found that employees with managers more than 12 years their senior were nearly 1.5 times as likely to report low productivity compared to other colleagues.
Mindset is a key differentiator leading to these divisions between younger and older generations. While younger generations are more likely to ‘vote with their feet,’ older generations are more typically characterised by their willingness to ‘silently soldier on,’ even in unhappy work situations.
Other dimensions affect the alignment and unity needed to deliver great results – differing communication styles, values and preferred ways of working. Younger generations often prioritise flexibility, digital solutions and rapid career growth, while older generations often prefer face-to-face interactions, stability and traditional approaches. These differences create misunderstandings and limit opportunities for cross-generational collaboration, leading to disconnection within teams.
Addressing intergenerational divides
The true value of generational diversity can be unlocked by actively listening to the concerns and anxieties of employees from different age groups, fostering a culture of mutual understanding and respect and uniting the organisation around shared principles, outcomes and impact. Done correctly, leaders can unleash the energy and fresh perspectives of younger employees into positive contributions, while ensuring that experienced employees feel valued and supported.
Embedding initiatives of shadow executive leadership teams, reverse mentoring and particularly, intergenerational workshops, accelerates the release of organisational potential. Intergenerational workshops deliberately engage different age groups into a collaborative environment which enables open discussions, sharing of knowledge, co-designing of new thinking and collective problem solving.
These initiatives not only empower younger employees but also help leaders stay in tune with the evolving needs and expectations of a diverse workforce. Most importantly, they enable leaders to create ‘real’ reasons for younger and older generations to work together, at the same time as fostering intergenerational empathy and understanding.
Realising the power of intergenerational workshops
These cross-generational workshops aim to shift relationships from transactional to relational, modelling intentional, purposeful collaboration and problem-solving from the top and setting the stage for authentic change throughout the organisation. Rotating the facilitation of workshops on key topics between generations, encourages genuine care across levels, empowers bottom-up innovation and cultivates invested commitment to achieving new and joint objectives.
To implement this approach, leaders must align on the key drivers for change, assess their current stance towards generational diversity and challenge the status quo where needed. This requires honest self-reflection to understand how they are perceived by other generations and the willingness to adapt and grow. While leaders often lack time for reflection, it is essential for driving positive, effective change.
The leadership team should take time to evaluate their ‘intergenerational effectiveness’ and create an engagement plan. Once aligned, they should engage with diverse stakeholders in a well-facilitated dialogue to uncover key generational differences and address the root issues. Surveys can help pinpoint these divides and guide the discussions. Then, leaders can identify critical topics and conduct intergenerational workshops to bridge divides, fostering collaboration and building strength across generations.
Turning critical topics into collective ambitions
These critical topics can be used by leaders to create ‘followership’ around achieving meaningful objectives, whether they are say market, innovation or financial goals, or focused on cultural, ESG or DEI initiatives. By connecting these goals to employees’ personal values and concerns, leaders can inspire unity and collaboration across generations and release a turbo energy towards achieving ambitious outcomes. Deeper connection and alignment also instils greater confidence in a leader’s decision-making.
Actively advancing this inclusive approach will cultivate a resilient, cohesive culture that addresses challenges like high turnover, low productivity and disengagement. While this is a high commitment endeavour, the rewards of success – stronger collaboration and lasting organisational growth – make it a goal worth striving for.