Is intergenerational conflict damaging your workforce?

Organisations are increasingly realising the value of age diversity within the workforce – but do your employees feel the same way?

According to a new UK-based report by ADP, younger workers find it more difficult to cope with age diversity than their older colleagues with a significant portion indicating that older employees may be “out of touch” or resistant to change.

Researchers found the 16% of those ages 16-34 felt their older management was out of touch with modern trends and a further 15% said older workers were resistant to change.

However it seems this attitude isn’t shared be the older worker themselves.

An overwhelming 94% of older workers said they thought younger generations were armed with the skills to be successful in their role.

Generally, the survey found that intergenerational conflict was primarily caused by three contentious issues:

• Younger and older workers having different views on how things should be done – 18%
• Older employees staying in the workforce for longer and leaving less room for new talent – 18%
• Different approached to organisation values and corporate responsibility – 18%

“It is concerning to see how much conflict the age gap can cause,” said ADP’s UK HRD. “Organisations must consider how they can mitigate these issues to enable them to engage with, and harness the full potential of each age group.

“While millennials bring new ways of working and a fresh set of skills to the workplace, older workers have rich and invaluable experience,” she added.