Having worked with businesses nationally and internationally for more than 40 years, I’ve seen organisations transformed by bringing together people with different skills, experiences and perspectives. I’ve also seen the opposite happen, where assumptions about age create barriers and conflict, that prevent teams from performing at their best.
When I started my career one of my responsibilities was to recruit over 100 apprentices a year for my company. This was very uplifting in terms of seeing experienced apprentice ‘masters’ working side by side with the apprentices, passing on their knowledge in a formal arrangement. Not only were skills passed on, life-skills were learned and there was significant respect between both parties. Age difference was a strength not a weakness.
Today’s workforce is more age-diverse than ever. It’s not uncommon to have employees just starting their careers working alongside colleagues with decades of experience. For growing SMEs, this diversity should be seen as a real strength. However, in my experience, businesses can become distracted by generational labels rather than focusing on creating a culture where people can learn from one another.
In this blog I’ll talk about intergenerational working – and how I think it can be leveraged for business success.
Successful intergenerational working
For me, effective intergenerational working is about building an environment where experience is valued, fresh thinking is encouraged, and everyone feels they have something to contribute. It’s absolutely not about treating generations differently.
The benefits of cross-mentoring
One of the simplest ways to achieve this is through cross-mentoring. Pairing experienced employees with newer colleagues creates real opportunities within the workplace, to share knowledge in both directions.
Think about this in your business. Senior team members can pass on commercial insight, leadership experience and industry expertise, while your younger employees can offer new perspectives on technology, digital communication and changing customer expectations.
Both sides benefit, and importantly, so does your business.
Making communication impactful
Communication is another area where, as a senior leader, you can make a significant difference. Different people have different preferences, regardless of age, but as an organisation, you shouldn’t rely too heavily on one communication style.
Combining face-to-face conversations, video meetings, email and collaborative messaging platforms for example, helps ensure everyone is informed, engaged and able to contribute.
The importance of flexible working
The same principle applies to flexible working. It’s likely across your organisation you will have employees at different stages of life – who will have different priorities, whether that’s raising young families, caring for elderly relatives or planning for retirement.
The most successful organisations I work with, focus less on where or when work happens, and more on the outcomes their employees deliver.
Trust, flexibility and accountability are far stronger drivers of performance than presenteeism. What I will say though is that remote working, whilst having benefits flies in the face of intergenerational working. Are we losing important mentoring, coaching, learning time by relying only on video and voice calls?
Tackling generational stereotypes
It’s also important that as a leader, you recognise your own assumptions. Stereotypes about younger employees lacking commitment or older colleagues being less comfortable with technology rarely reflect reality.
Good leadership is about understanding individuals, not making decisions based on age.
Building a culture for success
Ultimately, culture is shaped by the everyday behaviours, you and your leaders encourage. Businesses that create opportunities for employees to learn from one another, value different perspectives and challenge unconscious bias are far more likely to build engaged teams that adapt well to change.
Intergenerational working isn’t a standalone initiative or another HR programme. It’s an important consideration in how you build an inclusive, high-performing culture that enables people at every stage of their career to contribute their best.
The question is – are you creating a workplace where different generations simply work alongside one another, or one where they genuinely learn from each other and help your business grow?
