What different generations want at work and why employers need to pay attention
Australian companies are starting to resemble an extended family with many generations working under the one corporate roof.
For the first time, five generations are working side by side — learning from each other, sometimes confounding one another, and creating new challenges for people leaders and talent acquisition teams navigating the needs of this intergenerational workforce.
The differences between each cohort, and even within each group, are not about superficial preferences, but go to the core of employee engagement and satisfaction.
A recent insights report by from global consulting firm Korn Ferry, Building a Multi-Generational Workforce, noted that while pay, job security, the work itself and hybrid and remote options were important to all generations, there were “striking differences” between what each generation wanted from work.
Baby boomers valued social interaction, trustworthy managers and work life balance, while Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) are looking for career advancement, are the most focused on good salaries and want a short or no commute to work, according to the report.
Millennials want learning opportunities, flexible working hours and were the most focused on work that aligned with their values. Gen Z expect digital tools to make their job easier and want learning opportunities and work-life balance.
The report noted, there is little data on Gen Alpha's (2011 to today) work preferences but organisational values are expected to be important to them.
Don't focus on one generation
Esther Colwill, President Asia Pacific at Korn Ferry, (pictured above) said HR leaders and chief people officers need to consider generational differences when shaping policies, workplace culture and leadership styles.
“If they don't think about this range, it could be very easy to alienate one group or another, and therefore risk that they will miss a certain perspective in their workforce and that perspective then translates to customers, it translates to things like innovation, because diversity of all kinds contributes to innovation, so, I think that is the risk that they need to watch out for,” she told HRD.
Colwill said businesses need to wary of making generalisations about the different traits between generations and instead focus on a person’s willingness to learn and adapt.
“It's not fair to say that somebody that's older isn't interested and willing and able to learn new tech ways. You just need to put it in front of them because they may not have had it put in front of them before,” she said.
“And similarly, it’s not fair to say that young people, just because they know that (tech) are going to be immediately better and faster around the use case event.”
“It comes back to traits of people that are curious, that want to learn and that being one of the most important things whatever the generational age is and not allowing bias to screen that out.”
Source: Korn Ferry Building A Multigenerational Workforce: What Job Seekers Want
The upside of intergenerational workforces
Colwill said while there were challenges for HR in managing such a varied group of employees, there were also opportunities.
“Personally, I really enjoy the mix. I think there is a certain richness to a working environment that includes multiple generations, multiple people with different perspectives,” she said.
“That mixture creates an energy that is terrific.”
Colwill said the benefits for recruiting was a bigger talent pool and opportunities for flexible employment arrangements that work for both businesses and employees.
“Not everybody wants to be a permanent hire, working their hours each week and having your four weeks of leave,” she said.
“I think flexibility of types of ways to work, types of contracts, like a workforce ecosystem is going to benefit companies that really want to get the best talent.”
The Goldilocks zone for hiring
Issues around age inclusive hiring was highlighted in a recent report by Australia's Age Discrimination Commissioner, which found there was bias at both ends of the age spoectrum.
Research from the Australian Human Rights Commission and Australian HR Institute (AHRI) showed that only 56% of HR professionals were open to hiring workers aged 50 to 64 to a "large extent."
This drops to 28% for those 65 and older, while 18% said they would not hire at all from this age group.
While older workers are considered to be more loyal (74%) and reliable (62%), younger workers are seen as better at using technology (79%) and more physically capable (59%).
Employers also believe younger workers have more career ambition (60%) and possess higher energy levels (52%) than older professionals.
However, younger workers scored less when it came to loyalty, reliability, and being able to cope with stress, according to the report.
More than half of employers also considered younger workers' lack of experience as a barrier to recruiting them (57%). Other reasons include high salary expectations (43%) and a lack of qualifications (24%).
"What we're seeing is bias at both ends of the age range. Sadly, this undermines diversity of thought and productivity," said Robert Fitzgerald, Age Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission.
