Part 4 of ???
Imagine if a company all had one type and style of employee. Pretty silly, right? Sometimes I like to use extremes to prove a point. Would you enjoy working there? Would there be many or any innovative ideas, thoughts, or concepts? What would the customer base look like? When you have a diverse workforce, your chances for a diverse customer base increase. How else do you find out how to meet their needs? We need to seek out and respect diversity.
It would be great if it was as simple as solving the generational diversity challenge. There are many differences in the workplace, including personality, culture, gender, and socioeconomic, to name a few. I do a lot of speaking and workshops related to personality in the workplace. I believe it is one of the key factors that impacts building trust. Generational diversity is right on its heels.
Younger generations are in a much different place than we have ever experienced in the workplace. Businesses are almost to the point of begging for employees. There are clearly more jobs than employees and that is not going to get any easier with the silver tsunami that is taking place as the older generations retire.
So how do we build the bridge? Just like any construction, you have to research the project. As you consider each generation, dig into the key worldwide issues and events that they faced. For example, the oldest generation, the Builders, were faced with the Great Depression. I remember like it was yesterday when my parents saved the Christmas wrapping paper. Boomers, like myself, were part of the post-war expansion or boom, particularly in births. The Busters grew up with birth control and the beginning of much distrust with authority and leadership. You often hear the word entitled as being synonymous with Millennials. And Gen Z went through a pandemic and mass shootings are sadly part of everyday life.
…to be continued…