3 Tips to Foster Employee Engagement in Multi-Generational Workforces — From Boomers to Gen Zs

One of the most significant challenges that an HR practitioner or employer can experience when managing the workforce is the dynamic nature of multi-generational teams. Of course, having perspectives from all walks of life (and age ranges) in the workforce should certainly be considered to be a strength for employers — although there can be challenges to this. 

With up to four generations now forming the general global workforce from Baby Boomers all the way to Gen Z employees, it’s important for employers to understand the different wants and needs that each generation may or may not have. 

And with findings from Deloitte showing that employee engagement is critical to productivity, revenue growth, performance, employee retention, and overall business objectives, it’s absolutely crucial for employers to implement the right strategies to keep the entire workforce engaged — no matter their age or background. 

Here are a couple of tips to help you along your way.

1. Build a flexible and inclusive company culture

Each generation of employees come with their own set of pre-conceived notions or stereotypes. These can include statements that millennials often job hop, or that baby boomers can be more rigid or traditional in their ways of work. You’ll need to be consciously aware of any potential prejudicial stereotypes or bias in this regard.

Oftentimes, these generalised stereotypes are assigned unfairly and without actual evidence, and it’s important to understand that each individual employee should be treated as exactly that: an individual with individual requirements. In other words, it’s important to offer a flexible and inclusive culture that can cater to the demands of all employees, regardless of generation, age, or background. 

By being aware of certain stereotypes, it’s easier to cultivate a collaborative and inclusive environment. Potential changes to certain processes or workflows — or even organisation chart structures — can be useful to ensure that collaboration and cross-team functionality is prioritised. Offer employees from all backgrounds the chance to upskill or reskill, ensuring that no one is left behind; this will offer benefits tenfold to your business as a whole. 

2. Encourage collaboration and mentorships 

Mentorships (or other buddy-based systems) shouldn’t work in a unilateral way — with a mentor and a mentee. Instead, try to offer a programme that encourages employees of different backgrounds to have an open and mutually beneficial conversation, and similar to point 1, encourage collaboration and engagement between employees as a whole. 

With the advancement of the digital age, older workers may sometimes face challenges with adopting new technologies. On the flip side, younger professionals are inevitably more familiar with current-day technologies, having grown up in a digital environment. 

As such, a good idea can be a mentorship programme. This will allow for older employees to get some help with certain digital skills or tools, while also providing opportunities for younger professionals to learn from senior members of the team. Remember: it’s a two-way street, and one that can be hugely beneficial for your employees (and the business). 

3. Implement digital tools — the right way

Change can be difficult for anyone to accept, regardless of age. When introducing new technologies to your organisation, it’s crucial that this is done the right way. Whether you’re looking at something more complex like a workflow management tool, or simply things like cloud-based team servers, be sure to conduct the appropriate training and implementation in order to ensure that everyone is on board. 

Avoid falling into the trap of keeping things to “the usual” simply for the sake of it. Digital technologies are vital to the success of any business in Malaysia (and around the world) moving forward, so it’s essential to understand that the “usual” isn’t the only way forward. Adopting the right digital tools will allow you to reach business goals more effectively. 

Arguably, the most important digital tool that you must integrate into the everyday lives of your employees is a digital HR system, also known as an HRMS. A powerful HR solution can be the glue that holds the organisation together, offering features that centre around employee engagement, manual processes such as leave and expenses, and much, much more. 

Which brings us to…