Working with our colleagues on a daily basis, it can sometimes be easy to forget varying ages across teams. While we may enjoy a slice of cake on a birthday, how often do we truly consider someone’s age and what experience and benefits that can bring to a workplace?
This week celebrates Intergenerational Working Week - an initiative that was initially set up by Inclusive Employers during the pandemic to help bridge the gap between generations. However, the success and impact of the week means that we have seen this continue over subsequent years, with the aim being to help foster an inclusive attitude and remove any age gap issues in today’s society.
So what is an intergenerational workforce?
Simply put, an intergenerational workforce is a workplace comprised of people from several generations. With many people retiring later in life, and a growing number of people entering the workplace at a younger age through apprenticeships, this means that we can now have up to five different generations all working together.
This diversity of age can present challenges when it comes to understanding generational differences. That’s why it’s becoming crucial for us as a society to be more open and understanding of how people of varying ages think, what they are interested in, and what motivates them.
If we can achieve this, the benefits of an intergenerational workforce can be significant. Each generation brings a different skillset to the table, owing to their varying life experiences, which collectively can create a huge impact. Diversity of thought and opinion also helps foster a culture of open-mindedness. By speaking with people of different ages we can gain an understanding of a topic from various perspectives, generating a broader mix of ideas and supporting innovation.
At Savills we encourage reverse mentoring, whereby mentors equally benefit from their mentee, helping gain an understanding of the perceptions of the business from someone at a different stage of their career. This is becoming an increasingly popular way of working across many organisations and allows for mutual learnings often spanning generations. It is a process that brings to the fore the benefits of engaging with an intergenerational workforce and highlights the value it can bring.
Working across different age demographics isn’t anything new of course, and it is something we will likely always do. However in today’s fast-paced world, where the experiences of each generation can vary so significantly, we could argue that addressing it is more important than ever before. By creating greater understanding and respect between generations, not only will it cultivate increased productivity in the workplace, but will ultimately build a more cohesive way of life for us all.
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