The pandemic led to employees around the world working at home and five years later remote and hybrid working is now the norm. Multi generations in the workplace have never been so diverse to manage and the younger generations such as Gen Z are constantly disparaged about being ‘snowflakes’ and too ‘precious’ just because their needs and aspirations are different to the elder generations and let’s not forget the biggest game changer of all in the workplace, the introduction of AI.

This is a lot for business leaders to grapple with especially when you are running a business and consumed with daily activities but understanding and managing this changing landscape is essential for business growth and attracting and retaining talent. These colossal changes do not warrant minor edits to your policies and strategy but call for a complete re-write.

Remote, Hybrid and Flexible Working

Many business leaders are enforcing ‘return to the office’ (RTO) mandates but despite companies trying to allure them into the office with pay rises, free coffee and lunches, free charging for electric cars etc. employees won’t be bribed because they are determined to keep remote and hybrid working. A recent study from BambooHR’s 2024 Return to Work report shows that 90% of employees want remote and hybrid work for flexibility and a better work/life balance with 51% of remote workers saying it helps them with family duties and 74% of respondents enjoy not commuting daily.

Business leaders assume staff are not as productive as they are in the office. They also believe that staff are more social, and collaboration is improved in the office. However, business leaders need to understand that a ‘one size fits all’ model does not work and certainly with today’s diverse workforce with multi generations with different needs and wants, plus the fact that everyone has different personal situations.

Leaders have struggled over the past few years with the shift of power moving from employers to employees and are trying to reclaim it. But by enforcing RTO and tracking employee’s office attendance and monitoring them too closely you are creating a micro-managed ‘Big Brother’ culture driving down trust, respect and taking away any autonomy and flexibility.

The pandemic certainly accelerated remote and hybrid working but it was not the only catalyst responsible for it. Millennials and Gen Z have always wanted flexibility and work balance being bought up in the digital age and were seeking positions where they could work remotely and flexibly years before the pandemic.

Managing Multi Generations

Today there are a multitude of generations in the workplace from baby boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. As mentioned, the younger generation always seem to get bad press about being too ‘precious’, need hand holding, lazy, you name it they get called it. But what we must acknowledge is that this generation grew up with the digital age and in a different world to what we did so it’s really no surprise that they have different needs and aspirations. Instead of disparaging them maybe we should learn from them, even better learn from each other. Research from LiveCareer revealed that 87% agreed they could learn from each other while 78% thought it led to conflict.

Millennials and particularly Gen Z have grown up in a world where mental health and well-being is freely talked about, and they wouldn’t hesitate to talk about it at work. Whereas a Baby Boomer would probably feel very awkward talking to their manager about mental health.

Deloitte Digital reported that empathy was the second most important trait in a business leader while leaders placed it fifth. The Visier survey also revealed that 64% of Gen Z employees ranked good physical and mental health as a leading life ambition.

They prioritise spending time with family and friends and good health over career aspirations. They want to work for companies with good ethics and values they believe in. They have seen what the workaholic lifestyle does to people and burn out is not attractive. They are more self-aware and can talk about feelings, ethics and values, and what matters and that’s a good thing.

Incoming AI

Disruptive technologies such as AI and automation technology have exploded into the market in the last two years and we all use it every day in our personal lives from Siri to Alexa, the algorithms that tell us what to watch next on Netflix and what to read and tailor our news for us.

Most businesses now realise that if they haven’t got it already, they will need to incorporate AI soon into their business to improve customer experience and productivity by streamlining processes.

Employees fear AI taking their jobs in the workplace and it’s not surprising when the Institute of Public Policy Research recently announced that AI will threaten up to 8 million workers in the UK. However, if we harness the power of AI now and understand it then we can use it to relieve workers from admin and mundane jobs focusing them on more rewarding, interesting, and high value positions.

Business leaders need to step up and understand how they are planning to use AI in their business and make employees feel at ease working with the technology instead of against it.

The Re-Write

As you can see the changes are too immense and critical to be ignored and business leaders must re-design their workplace to incorporate everyone considering their individual personal circumstances, the generation they are from taking in their needs, wants and aspirations.

The archaic attitude of ‘this is how we have always done it’, ‘who do they think they are?’, ‘we are in charge not the employees’ needs to change. Admittedly, this will mainly be from business leaders of older generations and maybe also from larger established businesses rather than start-ups who tend to be more receptive, innovative and agile.

Business leaders will need to re-write the culture of their organisation ensuring it is transparent, meaning that you openly communicate your vision, mission, objectives, strategies and what you are working on, what works and what hasn’t. Empower employees by involving them and including them in decisions, provide them with the opportunity to voice their opinions, suggest new products and services encouraging innovation and creativity, but at the same time ensuring that they know it’s OK to make mistakes and that we learn from our failures.

Involve them in the introduction of AI asking them how their roles and everyday tasks could be improved and what they find dull about their job. Make it clear to them that they will not be replaced by AI, and you want to get to a place where they can work seamlessly with AI to improve their productivity and efficiencies and augment their roles. Then offer them training and development programmes to ensure they have up to date training and opportunities to develop their career if they want to.

Devise a remote and hybrid working strategy ensuring employees can work flexibly and remotely if desired and come into the office when required. Ensure that they have the option to come into the office when they want to or for a purpose such as a meeting, or brainstorm, the choice is theirs. You are giving them the autonomy to get on with their work and make the decisions on how best they do it.

Help create and cultivate social connections for all teams that are in office, remote or hybrid to increase effective collaboration and inclusion, and connect teams.

Trust, flexibility and respect are the buzz words here, by demonstrating this to your employees they will be aware that you trust and respect their autonomy to get on with their job and get the work done. By doing this you will be rewarded with enthused and motivated employees who value their job and who they work for and remain working for you.

Demonstrate that you care for your employees by being empathetic and understanding by holding regular ‘check in’ sessions to ensure that they are OK and if they have any issues they want to talk about.

All Good Things

All good things come to those who wait so be patient. This new way of managing the modern workplace takes time and we are all learning together, and it will continuously evolve, and you and your employees will adjust accordingly.

It’s not a power struggle it is about gaining mutual respect and trust and working as a team to achieve your objectives. The payback will be that employee engagement will increase and you will garner their respect and trust which is two-way, you must earn it to receive it. This takes effort and time, but the benefits will be that you attract and retain talent, improve your reputation as the company people want to work for.