Generational Diversity, overcoming the Challenges
There are so many benefits and a law that regulate ageism why it is still an issue in the workplaces? Here are some of the up-hill phalanges that you will meet when you try to win a greater generational diversity.
Inter-Generational Conflict
Having different ideas, coming from different generations has advantages as well as some possible problems that can create conflicts in your workplace.
Imagine that you have your older group that started the business with you, build it form screech with you and use the same solutions you all found and developed many years ago. Now you got some young employees coming up with new ways to do the same procedures your old guys are using. This situation has to potential conflicts. The old guys can see the young as inexperienced and arrogant while the young buys will feel that the old employees are attempting to take unfair advantage by their seniority. Any of this problem will make your diversity fail, and your business goes backward instead of a flourishing diversity and more benefits.
A young recently graduated manager can have a problem with older employees or the other way around. CBS News published this study Age discrimination is alive and well
Recruitment Difficulties
If your HR team recruits the new staff directly from the university, you will end up having them all young and no diversity at all. If your business is on the edge of technology, you will have younger applicants and younger employees in your company. If your industry is one of those that experience is needed for the employee to do his job, you will have older applicants. In those cases, it is hard to achieve age diversity in all your operation. You may have different ages in the different departments. For example: Developing products will have a young staff, Designing can have a good mix. Sales and logistics may have an older team as it is an experience factor that makes it succeed.
Some old people are tech-savvy, and you can find some young people that are capable of learning fast and cover the lake of experience by learning from the old employees. You will need to give some special attention to your job adds and recruiters to create a landing for those people. It may be excellent to have an old person that is flexible enough to work with much younger colleagues or this young person that can join an older team and catch-up.
Different Working Styles
Studies show that the difference between the generation in a workplace is more about style than about the work itself.
One example can be the way the young generation takes the working hour by preferring the flexible hour on the traditional 8 to 4 that will be favored by the older employees. Generational differences can be on things like the way of communicating or the type of job benefits or the office facilities.
There is a difference between what the generations ask to form the employers.
Generation X will ask more about money and job titles. Read this: Gen X Demands Pay Raises More Often Than Any Other Generation: Report
The Millennials will ask for things like training, Free drink or time off. Workplace Flexibility For Millennials: Appealing To A Valuable New Generation
You may need to let the X generation to work the traditional working hours while the Millennials work flexible working hours. The same with other workplace policies or office environment.
4. How to create Generational Diversity in your business
We will present you some ways that can help you achieve a higher rate of generational diversity with your workforce.
Review Your Hiring Practices
When the age profile of your workforce is skewing to a particular age group, you need to review your hiring practices.
Writing job descriptions is where to start. Wording can be critical for the job description. It can pull or push the people that are looking for a job in your business.
One frequent word is the experience in the industry, asking for 15 years in the industry will exclude a big part of the young applicants. 15 years working experience mean about 35 years old as the minimum age that you can accept. Ask for enough experience that makes sure that the new employee is capable of performing well in his job.
There is the legal aspect; your job should not break the laws. Writing the job descriptions need to ask for what is essential and avoid the age discrimination.
Open your search horizons, do not rely only on referrals from your present employees it will bring you more of the same. Looking for older employees can be done by targeting your job adds to the mature student from colleges.
Don’t Let Age Be a Barrier
You did it all correctly; now you have a good age diversified workforce, you have to retain those employees. Asure that there are plenty of opportunities that their age does not block the employees from enjoying them.
Do not overlook the young employees in favor of the older ones when you are promoting some of your good employees. Don’t let the young to feel that they have no chance to be promoted before they grow old. The same to do with the older employees, do not overlook the old one because they are going to retire soon.
The right role is that if the employee is good enough to be promoted, he is young enough or old enough.
Don’t Make Age-Based Assumptions
The fact that someone is already 50 does not necessarily make him out of date with technology. Some people over the 50s are technologically updated, sometimes much better than the younger employees. Being at the 50s does not mean that this person is computer ignorant. Remember that the computers are not that new and if someone is using computers for so many years and keep updating himself he may know more than the young once. Do not patronize the older employees and make sure your young recruits are updated on today’s technology.
The young employee can be well trained, and a fast learner does not assume that they do not know their job. Let the young to work, hear their ideas. They can see what you may be unable to see because they are not commented on habits and traditions like you and your old employees.
Being open-minded letting you people to work and express their ideas freely, it will pay you very well.
Watch Your Language
When you are talking to your staff at work, be careful with the terms you use. Kids can offend the young and do not re fair to the age of the older group. Using this language can get you in trouble, with the law.
Conclusion
We have learned how to deal with the generational diversity. You should not have problems to recruit the young and the old, but you need to look in the right places, write the right job adds. When you hire some new staff, make sure that they are qualified. Create the environment for each age to flourish. Train the young to improve the lack of experience and the old to be better with the technology. Respecting the ages between themselves should be under your responsibility.
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