The HR World’s Swift Guide to Attracting and Retaining a Multi-generational Workforce

Tips for attracting, retaining and managing diverse generations

The multi-generational workplace is a reality. Like it or not, every organisation must now consciously approach the talent pool in the knowledge that to truly get the best from the talent out there, they need to be ready to take any age of employee at any stage of their life in any part of the business.

Recap on the Generations

There are many ways of dissecting and analysing the workforce, but it should be remembered that these classifications are just that – useful ways of grouping together people who share similar characteristics due to the era in which they grew up. They should be recognised as stereotypes and should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt, but just as these labels can be negative in terms of lumping together groups of individual people they can also be useful for identifying the kind of jobs, organisational structures, rewards and benefits which can attract and retain workers at every age

Traditionalists (born 1928-1945)

Also known as the Silent Generation. Youngest members are now in their 70s but that’s no reason to give up work just yet. Improvements in health mean many are still be active and engaged and want to remain so. Moreover they’re not necessarily after senior positions – indeed some may shun the idea of responsibility, and instead enjoy occasional working in more low-key positions such as frontline retail etc. As the name might suggest, this generation expect ‘traditional’ values and rewards from the workplace. They also want an amount of respect for their experience and age.

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)

A very loyal workforce, they come with a very deep understanding of the job role and industry where they were working. These are collaborative workers even if they may find change difficult to adapt to. Like the preceding generation they need an amount of certainty – predictable and traditional rewards and management techniques – to ensure they feel safe and valued in the workplace.

Generation X (born 1965-1980)

Known for their independence, some view this generation as being known as ‘latchkey kids’ as many grew up in dual career households. Many people emphasise the independence of these workers and this can feed into their motivation and the need for prompt if sometimes short-term rewards. Generation X are tech savvy but they are not always reliant on it. They can take direction but also have a huge amount of resilience and personal motivation. If you’re able to offer targets without being over-prescriptive about how they are achieved, Generation X will be happy to oblige.

Millennials/Generation Y (born between 1981-1996)

Just scraping in before the internet and personal computers changed everything, Millennials have a great sense of fairness and values. If you want to attract this generation to the workplace a sense of purpose – and good purpose – will always go far. ED&I, ESG and CSR are all important for this generation in the workplace. Crucially company culture must be strong and positive for them. They want to be involved in the workplace and see the impact they can have on the world around them.

Generation Z (born between 1997-2012)

The first generation to grow up with the internet and technology playing a huge part in the world around them from the start. As digital natives this generation of workers need independence and the incentive to find better and more efficient ways of doing things. Gen Z love diversity in the workplace and love to be a part of a diverse workforce. They’re looking for a great work-life balance, meaningful work and a future focus.

Generation Alpha (born 2013-mid 2020s)

Yet to enter the workplace but likely to cause another shift in priorities and demands from the workplace. This generation grew up at the time of the pandemic which has had significant impact on their social skills and expectations as well as their dependence on technology for both entertainment and social interaction.

1: Communicate Everywhere about Everything

We live in a multi-channel world. Not only are there a whole host of different communication options – online, off-line, in person – but there are a proliferation of different channels online each with their own idiosyncrasies, opportunities and appropriateness. Not only does this present a complicated scenario but it is further complicated by the fact that different people prefer different types of online communication for different objectives.

Some generations will have particular apps that they regard as fine to be used for work purposes. Others may find the idea of having such apps on their phone completely unthinkable. Texting might work for some, and in some instances employers have created their own bespoke communication networks through the use of apps, videos, off-the-shelf work platforms or larger HR administration solutions.

All this can mean getting even simple messages out to the entire workforce isn’t that simple. Communications need to be phrased in a particular way to meet the demands of each communication channel. Ensuring each message is consistent and holds the same tone with recipients can also be a challenge – a message in one context can seem formal while another could appear to be too casual. Matching the message to the media has become a quite considerable challenge.

To be truly effective HR must learn to communicate everywhere. Not only is this true of internal communications, but if the business wants to find new talent, attract and onboard new people, it must be able to get its message out across diverse platforms.

A well placed TikTok post could result in a number of applications coming in, but these may be from a certain generation/type of candidate. Posts within professional publications or through particular job boards and recruitment companies can target other parts of the workforce. All this must be considered if HR intends to pull in talent from every generation.

2: Opportunities Always Knock

Always think about being flexible in how, where and when work is done. There are no end of possibilities. Sure, you might think you need 9-5ers in one part, supervisors, managers etc.etc. and you might think they have to be in a specific location at a specific time to do the work, but is that actually the case?

The more your can mix up the way work is done, the more opportunities you free up for different generations and different people to come and work for you. What truly needs to be done in the office? What can be done at home? Where can flexibility be factored into a job? How can jobs be split and re-split into different packages that are more appealing and more suitable for diverse parts of the workforce?

Different generations are incentivised in different ways, but there are few generations out there who would not be encouraged by the sight of a clear career ladder or the possibility of progression within the business. But not everyone has to progress the same way – as long as the business recognises potential and seeks to help people the aspirations of any worker from any generation can be met.

Remember, someone at the start of their career will have different requirements and expectations to someone further on in their career. But there’s nothing to stop them both from doing the same job if they get something out of it.

The newcomer may see the job as the start of their career and they’re likely to want to see the possibilities stretching into the future. Someone who is later in their career may feel it is time to take the foot of the accelerator – they can still do the same job, but they don’t need to feel it is going to lead to anything or is part of a grand scheme. It can just be a great thing to do.

To be truly effective in addressing the aspirations of multiple generations in the workplace, HR needs to be certain of the career paths which are open to individuals as well as understanding what they actually want.

This could also mean offering training opportunities to people – especially if the next step up might require a little more skills or knowledge than the individual already has. Such support should be given in order to help the right person get into the right job in the right way.

3: Flex Those Benefits

Different generations want different rewards.

On a very basic level lifestyle and personal preferences are always going to impact on what will incentivise and therefore retain certain personnel. Gym membership won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that doesn’t particularly depend on age either.

To address this it is a good idea to provide choice and flexibility in the rewards individuals can select throughout their working lives. Total reward packages can still provide equality in reward between employees while giving everyone the chance to choose what will really make a difference to their lives.

However, when putting together reward packages and making them available to people, it is worth bearing in mind the differences that are likely to be operating between each generation. For example, it is likely that childcare related rewards/benefits will be more pertinent to employees of a certain age.

As employees get older they may be more concerned with eldercare as their own parents demand more support and time from them and become more dependent. Rewards and benefits should recognise these kind of differences and influences as life progresses and requirements change. Also don’t forget there will be differences in reward preference between those with families and those without, and nothing within your provision should discriminate or suggest bias towards one set of circumstances over another.

Be sure that any wellbeing benefits you offer are sensitive to the multiple generations in your business. Financial, mental, physical and social wellbeing will mean different things to different generations and there is no point in offering the same thing to everyone if some people in the business find them irrelevant.

There is different physical support that can be offered at different stages in life, and clearly different generations are going to need different financial advice. Similarly the generations will have very different ideas of what social wellbeing might mean. Again, the employers job is to provide the choices and then take a step back.

4: Build effective teams

One of the greatest values of having a multigenerational workforce is that bringing together different generations can enabling the business to benefit from diverse viewpoints and ideas. Building multigenerational teams enables everyone in those teams to learn from or at least be influenced by everyone else, with the result that there is another level of consideration and thought for everyone.

Team building and leadership within a multi-generational workforce may require some additional soft skills from your management team. Listening skills are particularly important alongside sensitivity to what exactly each generation in the workforce requires. This is where the understanding of generations can be particularly useful – if you understand how people want to communicate or express themselves, what kind of ideas they might want to put forward and how they’d like to see those ideas developed you can make the most of everybody’s input.

However it should be recognised that doing this is no mean feat. Multi-generational teams are great for raising awareness of issues and giving a multiplicity of viewpoints around a particular idea or issue, but they can also be a source of frustration if people feel their views are not being listened to or given the importance they deserve.

Getting the best out of such teams also requires a deep appreciation of the skills and knowledge each individual holds. There needs to be a clear sense of respect for everyone within the team and such environments cannot be allowed to descend into a ‘free for all’. Managing such teams, and indeed managing the multi-generational workplace in general therefore needs very good people skills.

5: Train line managers

At the end of the day your business can create as many policies as it likes to try and govern the treatment and management of diverse generations in the workplace, but the experience for employees is only ever going to be as good as that created by their line manager.

It is all too easy for line managers to become focussed on performance and the need to be more efficient, more productive and not to consider other aspects of coming to work.

It is also easy for managers to be unaware of bias in the decisions they take and the way they treat their employees. Assumptions and unconscious bias can mean certain employees are sidelined or not given the full support they require in order to deliver their full potential. Managers may think they know what a particular individual needs or wants rather than truly understanding their position.

As described above, managing multi-generational teams is not always straight-forward and organisation may need to invest in the soft skills of their managers and leaders in order to ensure every generation is listened to and appreciated.

Training and development might also cover areas such as effective communication and even include the use of technologies with bring these teams together. An appreciation of how each generation – or each individual – wants to receive information is crucial but doing this effectively needs great co-ordination from the start.

Building a multi-generational workplace is therefore as much about building awareness of the management tools available as it is about building awareness of the different generations in the workplace and in the candidate pool.

6: Talk to your people

Communication cannot be a one way street. While you may pride yourself on being across many of the social media platforms to get your messages out you also need to ensure you’re ready to listen when messages come back the other way.

If you want to ensure you’re engaging with every generation in the workplace you need to be certain you’re ready to listen when they speak. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) may be useful for enabling staff to work together and foster a diverse, inclusive workplace. These organisations give employees the chance to have a direct impact on their workplace, to introduce and engage in activities which they create and directly input into.

ERGs tend to reflect a particularly characteristic of the workforce and so bring together workers who share a characteristic. They are therefore good both for uniting specific generations in the workplace, but they’re also good for encouraging people with similar experiences or priorities to come together whatever generation they may be from.

While ERGs are great for enabling their members to do things together, they also offer a great way for employers to tap into the sentiment and feelings of their workers. ERGs may be the source of specific initiatives or lead to specific provision that will make the difference for employees. They could lead to new initiatives within the business that help employees work together and even increase productivity.

7: Don’t stereotype

This article opened with a classification of generations in the workplace. At the same time it also warned against stereotyping in order to meet generational needs. The fact is inflexible provision is likely to alienate as many people as it will attract them. At the end of the day if your attraction and retention strategies are to be effective they need to key into the individuality of the people you want to work for you.

At The HR World’s webinar on the multi-generational workforce while the panel identified four or five different generations active in the workplace, the point was also made that it was not always useful to rely on such stereotypes to structure an approach to attraction and employment.

Generation classifications are useful from the point of view of understand the kind of issues that impact on your workforce’s likes and dislikes at work, but they should not dictate what you do. There needs to be space for added extras, flexibility and going to extra mile to get the people you want.

FAQs

Why is it important to understand the different generations in the workplace?

If you want to access the best available talent you need to approach every age of candidate in a non-biased way. Bringing together talent from multiple generations immediately opens your organisation to a wide range of skills and further advantages as those different skills, viewpoints and ideas blend and interact.

How can we effectively communicate across multiple generations?

Communicate however you can. Learn what each generation or each individual prefers in terms of how they want to hear information, when and in what format. Generational classifications are a useful guide, but remember everyone in an individual.

What types of benefits appeal to a multi-generational workforce?

Be as flexible as possible both in your benefits and in the career/work rewards you provide. For instance, younger employees may value career progression and work-life balance, while older employees might prioritise financial stability and healthcare benefits. Offering a flexible benefits package enables employees to choose what’s most valuable to them personally.

How do we create career advancement opportunities for employees at all life stages?

Career pathways should be flexible to accommodate various goals, such as rapid advancement for younger employees or lateral opportunities for experienced employees. Providing training, mentorship, and development options tailored to each generation’s needs encourages growth and retention.

How do we build effective, multi-generational teams?

Invest in your line managers and ensure the right skills are in the right place to create and manage multi-generational workforces smoothly. Engender respect for others within the workforce so employees recognise and respect each other. Soft skills, such as listening and adaptability, will always help manage diverse teams.

Conclusion

It can be difficult at times to recruit and retain a multigenerational workforce, but the rewards of doing so are significant. Diversity is always a positive for any employer, increasing innovation, market share, productivity and more. This workforce must, however, be underpinned by clear and effective workplace management. Line managers need to be skilled enough to deal with all ages in the workforce, HR must ensure policies are non-discriminatory and give all workers the reward, recognition and incentive they need. Opportunities should also be made to enable the age diverse workers to share ideas, work effectively together and are able to move their own workplace forward.

Want to hear the expert views on the multi-generational workplace? Listen to Talking People – The Generation Game: Assembling and Getting the most from a Multi-Generational Workforce episode 14 of The HR World’s podcast.