Workforce Management Featured Article
Workforce Management Today: Overseeing Multi-generational Employees
Today’s workplace is more diverse than ever before. As Baby Boomers transition out of their roles and Gen Y enters, the age range of workers is expansive. Today’s workplace has employees that range from anywhere between 80-18 years old.
Not only do these employees have different demands, they also navigate work tasks differently and respond to management styles in different ways.
For those managing today’s workforce, these challenges present a unique opportunity to refine the ways they’ve traditionally managed the workplace. By understanding the strengths each generation brings and focusing on more individualized management of the workforce, an equal balance where staff all work together for the greater good of the business, is possible.
Here are some of the most important factors to consider when managing a multi-generational workforce:
Understanding Unique Work/Life Preferences
Younger employees are largely driven by experiences and value flexibility and greater work/life balance. They’re also not afraid of technology and work well with online trainings or picking up new technologies with little effort. Meanwhile, older generations may be more reluctant to use newer technologies and also value pay increases and putting in the work to earn it. Today’s workforce management plans should take both preferences into account when designing incentives, training and work schedules for their staff.
Encourage a Team Culture Across Age Groups
Management that encourages each generation to leverage their strengths and the unique benefits they bring to the workplace to come together and not work separated, won’t just have more productivity and a greater team environment, but will also offer the different age groups a chance to learn from each other’s skills and further strengthen their own careers.
Utilize Real-time Feedback for Improvements
Today’s workplace management solutions come equipped with tools that address the needs of employees - from better scheduling to real-time feedback. Utilizing this data makes managing employees in a more personalized way possible. One-on-one, targeted feedback that’s based on performance, learning styles and the action of each individual employee rather than an approach that assumes the whole company is the same, is a key ingredient for success with multigenerational employees.
When’s the last time you put workforce management tools to use?
Edited by Maurice Nagle