Research by Penna, the global HR services group, highlights how businesses may be ill-prepared for the future multigenerational workforce, as nearly half of managers (49 percent) said they tend to take exactly the same approach to management with all of their employees – regardless of age.
With the Future of Work: Jobs and Skills in 2030 [1]report by UKCES highlighting that the number of economically active people aged 65 and over is projected to increase by one third over the next decade, and four generations are due to be working together in one workplace, Penna’s research calls into question whether organisations and managers are prepared for such a seismic shift in demographic. The research found that for managers who are not currently adapting their style for different aged employees, almost half (46 percent) say they don’t need to as they are confident in their management skills, regardless of age differences within their team. Yet in contrast, more than one in three employees (39 percent) agreed it was important for managers to change their style, as they feel different employee ages will be more responsive as a result.
Despite managers not changing their style to differing age groups, they do still hold opinions as to what motivates and engages certain groups within the workplace and stereotypes still exist around common workplace behaviours – which aren’t always aligned with employee views. For example, more than a third (34 percent) of 55-65 year olds said they wanted their development potential to be recognised through receiving informal praise and recognition – whereas managers are most likely to describe 18-24 year olds as seeking regular feedback and appraisal.
Manager responses also showed that they are less likely to set challenges for employees as they get older, with almost a quarter (24 percent) saying they would do so for 18-24 year olds, which drops to just 17 percent for employees aged 55-65 and 15 percent for those 66 and above. Whereas employees aged 55-65 were the most likely (13 percent) to say they seek challenging work than any other age category, which calls into question whether managers are engaging with employees effectively.
Penny de Valk, Managing Director of Penna Talent Practice, said: “With four generations in the workplace, the age demographic of who we work with is changing dramatically and we need to be mindful not to hold on to stereotypes that may no longer apply to today’s workforce. For example flexible working shouldn’t be considered as just a priority for those with young children, as our research has found that flexible working is desired across all age groups.
“In order for the UK to remain competitive, we need to ensure that we attract and retain the best talent. This means that organisations and managers need to challenge whether the way they engage with employees is still fit for purpose, or consider whether they need to change tactics to get the most from a varied age range of talent. Equipping managers with the skills to do this, enabling them to have conversations with employees about what they want to achieve and how they want to be managed, will help to get the best from talent whilst helping UK plc maintain its competitive edge.”
[1] Future of Work: Jobs and Skills in 2030:
