‘According to the Randstad Workmonitor, globally, 86% of employees prefer to work in a multi-generational team…’
When we think of diversity in the companies we naturally think of race, ethnicity and gender and we often forget about age diversity. However, as older workers are retiring later and later and school leavers are not always taking the traditional route into higher education but moving straight into the workplace, businesses are becoming increasingly age-diverse.
So, what makes age-diverse companies successful?
Skill diversity
Every company needs a tech wizard. Businesses have websites, a social media presence and eCommerce stores that need to be built, managed and maintained. Speaking tech in today’s business environment is crucial.
However, though some older workers may not be able to code or know the ins and outs of social media in the same way as a millennial, they can offer empathy and exceptional communications skills that make them able to add real value in customer services or negotiating deals in a customer-driven manner that doesn’t give a prospective buyer the impression they are being coerced into buying.
Age diversity opens the mind
If your business has all of its employees from a similar age range and background you run the risk of everyone having the same perspective, whether that perspective is right or wrong. They will base these perspectives and interactions on the same cultural experiences as everyone else from their age group, giving you uniform thinking rather than innovation and creativity.
Having a variety of ages and backgrounds in your business brings with it a diversity of experiences and opinions that can help with problem-solving and brainstorming for new ideas.
When you need to employ new staff, bear in mind the risks of having a team that is all millennials or Gen Xers and broaden your horizons by employing an equally qualified older worker to help give you an interesting and productive group of employees.
Mutual Mentors
As babyboomers retire it is often the case that their hard-won skills are lost to their company, but that doesn’t need to happen.
When companies operate a two-way mentoring program, older workers can teach their younger colleagues the skills they have developed over their working life and the younger workers can share their knowledge and experience of digital tools and tech with their older peers.
This cross-pollination of skills can increase productivity and employee engagement as their jobs are now more interesting and they are more motivated and focused on the businesses goals.
Age diversity drives innovation and creativity
The mix of employees you recruit will have an impact on your businesses ability to be creative and innovative.
If you have recruited an ideas pool that encompasses fifty or sixty years of experience and ideas, and this complemented by the positive energy and an experimental mindset of your younger workers the creativity and innovation you could experience is limitless.
That combination of tried and tested ideas along with tech-driven innovation will give better ideas and solutions that will increase revenue.
As a result of an ageing workforce, age diversity is becoming a fact of life for businesses globally. By embracing the opportunities offered by recruiting a diverse workforce you will see an increase in employee engagement, productivity, motivation and innovation that will boost your bottom line in 2020.