With four generations represented in the workplace as of 2014, organizations are feeling the gap between generations, and managers are challenged with motivating, guiding and engaging all employees in a way that can help each generation be effective in the workplace.
Encouraging communication between employees may be a good first step to closing this gap, as it provides the opportunity to identify each individual’s need while building relationships that contribute to the culture of the company. Dana Brownlee, president of corporate training firm, Professionalism Matters, suggests, “Go out of your way to learn from each other – older workers can lend their industry knowledge and younger workers can shed light on pop culture and technology trends.”
Consider the following ideas to ignite conversations and close these generational gaps:
Onboarding – When an employee is first hired, it’s important to discuss how they prefer to communicate, as this changes from person to person as well as generation to generation. This is also a good opportunity to find out how that employee prefers to be recognized – whether it’s verbally, a hand written note, privately or publicly. Establishing these preferences early on will help to avoid miscommunication later on.
Mentorship – A mentorship program can be a great way to encourage ongoing communication between employees from different generations. It provides structure around the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with one another on both a personal and professional level. It is also an important part of the ongoing growth and development of the company through succession planning. Building these intergenerational relationships may increase engagement while diminishing the existing generational gap.
Coworker Interviews – A less formal way of encouraging communication between generations is a “get-to-know-you” type of informational interview with a coworker, which can be completed in person, over the phone or through a video tool, such as Skype or Google+ Hangouts. The purpose of the interview is to break the ice between employees who may work in different departments, belong to different generations or just don’t have the opportunity to connect on a regular basis. A set of questions such as the ones provided in this template (see thumbnail below) may be a great jumping off point to uncover the unique aspects of an individual and will allow casual conversation to come more easily from that point on.
Download our Coworker Interview Template here.
Sources:
- There’s a Generation Gap in Your Workplace
- How to Bridge Generation Gaps
- Winning the Generation Game
- How to Communicate in the New Multigenerational Office