Managing teams in a new era of age diversity will be in the spotlight when leading HR professionals gather for a new industry event
When Ben Roberts, head of talent acquisition at retailer David Jones, was starting out in the workforce, the internet was transforming workplaces and he was the employee asking, “do we really have to use the fax machine”.
Now, he sees the latest generation of employees excited about what AI can do and asking, “what do you mean that you want to hold on to some of these legacy things that you like to do? There is this world over here.”
Like many people leaders, Roberts is navigating a new era of age diversity in the workplace with five generations of workers now often working side by side.
The topic is on the agenda at the upcoming HRFutureFest Australia, on October 29 in Melbourne, with Roberts moderating a panel discussion on Multigenerational Mindsets.
Register now for HRFutureFest Australia
“From a leadership perspective … I love having a multi-generational team because one, I get to learn from people, and that's predominantly younger people, coming into the workforce that remind me of how to think differently,” Roberts told HRD.
“To me it's about how do you get those cohorts together, how do you get the generations in your team to … unify around a goal which is your centre point but then use those kinds of generational differences to build a team that … cohesively works really well when you get it set up well.
“I was ... taught this by some of the best leaders that I had in my career; the best way to build a great team is to not have everybody the same; have this diverse team that brings different mindsets, different skills, different points of view to the table and I’ve been thankful being in teams where that's been the case and I've seen the success that can come from that.”
Harnessing the power of multigenerational teams
Roberts believes managing the differences in teams, including generational ones, comes down to workplace culture and ensuring respect and allowing diversity of thought.
"I don't necessarily believe there is this huge gulf of a difference between the new workforce coming in and the old,” he said.
“I think it's a bit about a perceived bias that people have - an existing workforce assume that this young workforce coming in has got this way about them and think this way and want to be treated this way,” he said.
“And then you've got this workforce coming in that sit there going ‘oh this workforce over here probably thinks about me this way and I think about them in that way’ and then when you actually get them together you realise that there probably isn't as much of a gulf.”
Roberts believes one of the challenges for talent acquisition is that the whole workforce wants a more personalised service.
“They want to feel like it's human even if you are using tools. They want it to be quick. They want it to fulfil an outcome for them as quickly as possible,” he said.
“And there is an expectation these days that you are going to use some sort of tools to quicken that process up. So we've really got to kind of face into how you do that efficiently, but then not isolate this group of people that probably aren't ready for all of that just yet.
“What drives me as a leader is how do we try and be more inclusive and how do we build more inclusive workforces, that's why I love TA (talent acquisition), so much is around what we can do there.”
Join HRFutureFest Australia
Leadership expert Holly Ransom, Damian Zahra from Bunnings, and 2023 Australian of the Year and body image advocate Taryn Brumfitt will all be speaking at HRFutureFest Australia.
The HRD HRFutureFest Australia 2025 will be a unique opportunity to build connections and learn alongside leaders and experts through Q&A panels, masterclasses, live demonstrations and discussions.
Participants will be able to build their own event program with a choice of more than 30 sessions across the day, covering themes including:
- Human + AI: Smarter HR decisions
- Work with Meaning: Align People, Culture & Impact
- Workplace Law 2026 and Beyond
- DEI in Action: Inclusive by Design
- Wellbeing at Work: Mind, Body & Beyond
- Leading + Learning in a Changing World
Industry-leading speakers will include Damian Zahra, Chief People Officer at Bunnings; Pritho Saxena, Director Human Resources Australia, China & South East Asia at Amazon; Tom Bosna, Head of Operations – Workplace Wellbeing at Medibank; Sarah Derry, Group Chief People Officer at The Star Entertainment Group; Shruti Ganeriwala, Chief HR Officer ANZ and APAC at Unilever; Katie Wyatt, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (Global) at BHP; and Joshua Cass, Head of People, Flight and Safety at Qantas.
