Cross-generational employees integration
When contacting your colleagues, have you ever thought about the generation of your interlocutor? When trying to convey your ideas, did you consider whether it represents generation Z or a millennial? Thus, did you choose a different method of communication or use arguments? All these considerations can affect communication effectiveness at work, and the awareness of their existence and proper use will significantly improve its quality!
The uniqueness of today's labour market consists, among others, in the fact that it connects five employees of different generations, whose values, communication methods and style of work may, at first glance, differ significantly. What conflicts and misunderstandings may arise from this? How do we integrate different generations? How to reduce employee turnover resulting from this? You will find the answers to these questions and many more in our article.
What generations can we distinguish in the labour market?
To understand the scale of this phenomenon, let's start with a brief description of each of the five generations.
The "silent" generation was born between 1928 and 1945. It is the oldest generation, and therefore has a well-established opinion and grew up without technology that can be considered indispensable in today's world.
Baby boomers are a generation of people born after World War II but not later than 1964. Its representatives are characterized by a strong focus on goal and stabilization. They associate the computer more as a work tool than a form of entertainment.
Generation X are people born in the years 1964 - 1980, distinguished by high responsibility, both financially and for the tasks entrusted to them. They use modern communication tools easily but are aware of the value of face-to-face meetings.
The most significant representative of today's employees is the Millennial generation - people born in the times when the Internet revolutionized the world (1980 - 1996), which helped them quickly adapt to new forms of communication.
Generation Z are people born after 1996, when digitization has become indispensable to every employee's life. Access to new technologies is one of their most important values when choosing a career path.
What is the generation gap in the workplace?
Observing relationships in the workplace, it can be stated that it is much easier to establish contacts, perform tasks or set goals for people representing the same generation. They were brought up with similar values, and often the same trends or technologies shaped their way of thinking. It is easier for them to go back to their childhood and talk about the problems they faced back then or what things made them happy.
However, the preferences and experiences of one group of employees should not affect the relationships with other employees or the performance of tasks. The employer should create a space for cooperation characterized by values that encourage all its participants to cooperate and express their opinion. On the other hand, generational differences should be treated as an opportunity to broaden the perspectives from which we look at a given problem, thus bringing us closer to finding the best solution.
In such a case, a company employing people of different generations faces the challenge of allying with employees to maximize their potential.
Integrated employees are more willing to share knowledge. This is of great importance when those with more seniority and experience have information that facilitates the implementation of specific tasks, especially during the onboarding process and introducing new people to their responsibilities. It is also a moment when existing employees can demonstrate their knowledge and gain a fresh perspective of new people on routine practices.
There are certain values that, contrary to appearances, do not result from generation differences but from the stages of life in which a given employee is. For example, people who have just joined the organization and would like to integrate with as many colleagues as possible may have a different attitude towards corporate events or people who already know most of their colleagues and have various responsibilities outside of it.
Also, non-wage benefit programs offered by the employer should be appropriately tailored to employees so that no one feels excluded due to their inappropriate selection. It is also related to the organizational culture, which should reflect the values with which all employees identify themselves, which influences a higher level of their commitment, allowing at the same time to remember them in their daily work. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to the constantly changing trends in the work culture and to adapt the organizational culture accordingly. It helps to encourage new employees from all generations to the concept of working in the company, which at the same time has a direct impact on the increased retention of current staff.
What to do to integrate employees?
So a key question facing employers is how best to integrate employees?
The answer to this question is Integrigo - a platform that helps companies integrate their employees and, simultaneously, check what values are important to them. Thanks to this, it is possible to adjust the benefits accordingly.
The application for employee integration created by us helps to find out from employees what they want to create an organizational culture. Integrigo, will measure their level of commitment to issues that are important to your company, encourage them to cooperate and jointly build a friendly corporate culture for representatives of every generation through integrating tasks for employees.