Many established organisations are already feeling the pain of losing their established and experienced team members to retirement. They are introducing apprenticeships to help fill the gap and starting leadership development programmes earlier than before, to succession plan and support the smaller GenerationX in filling the leadership gap that the boomers leave behind.
Forward-looking organisations are already focusing on better understanding their employees' attitudes and values, while introducing, assessments, data and technology to inform and gain insights into workers’ needs and expectations.
The data creates the opportunity to design and create workforce strategies and development programmes that focus on employee's needs, behaviours and motivators. Organisations are changing the focus from top down tell and direct, to evolving to increase individual's contribution at work, a sense of meaning in their work and careers, and a sense of belonging and purpose.
Where experience and skill was once considered to come with age, thus influencing responsibility and remuneration, in today's fast changing world, individuals reinvent themselves multiple times throughout their working lives. It is not uncommon for a mid-lifer to pivot and change career or a subject matter expert to arise in their early thirties. The talent market has been shook up and a trend towards younger leaders has emerged. It’s not uncommon to find a diverse team mixed with different generations, genders, cultures etc. Diversity in teams and organisations is now seen as the essential success factor in a VUCA world.
We see an alignment of views around what work is and how it is done between generations. Prior to the pandemic, there was a significant divide in mindset about flexible working and work-life balance. This divide is reducing. However, the lens through which different generations view work and life is still viewed through their core values and beliefs.
Lindsay Pollak explains it in her 2019 book The Remix—How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace:
“The longer I study generations in the workplace, the more similarities I find in what people want out of work. Those fundamentals—meaning, purpose, good leaders, professional growth—don’t change. What changes is how each generation expresses these needs and what expectations we have about our employers’ fulfilment of them.”
The pandemic has increased boomer's skills in using technology to communicate, buy, bank and stay connected. Their skill level is influencing not only consumer trends, but employee ability and expectations.
Understanding your people on an individual level, through data, insights and through one-to-one conversations, will enable you to adapt your approach and organisational design to create the environments where they can do their best work and thinking. Taking a value or behavioural approach to understanding your people will become paramount to leadership in the 2020’s. This is where LeaderX will thrive. They already value autonomy, relationships, experience and freedom. They are natural coaches, and love to use technology to enhance their work and life. They are the generation we all need to be the bridge between the generations and create values-based alignment through teamwork.
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