My magpie mind gets me into some strange places… so when an article in Real Business popped up on my computer I got to wondering. We know that we are now in a 5 generation workforce – this table for Roffey Park’s whitepaper Talent and the Generations is useful.
However the time frames shift a bit as Deloitte categorises Millennials as people born after 1982.
CIPD, as you would expect gives a more detailed view.
Here at Cullen Scholefield we have 4G’s working together in harmony – I will stress that we have no traditionals/silent! Next week being my birthday week I thought this should be stressed!!
The generational differences are well documented so for those of you who wish to exercise your curiosity please read these:
- Roffey Park’s whitepaper: Talent and the Generations
- Penna’s research summary: Challenging misconceptions about Gen Y employees
- Hay Group: 2030 Leadership
So why the link to Emojis?
If we are to attract, engage, motivate, develop and retain our people we, that is People Professionals will need to update and revise our approaches. That means being more creative in our approaches to:
- presenting the employer brand
- people resourcing
- communication and collaborative working
- management of a more diverse workforce
The key for me is getting to understand that we really do need to flex our style of working with people and that the “old” veteran or baby boomer approach just will not work with millennials.
It is essential that we now manage with a light touch! The other thing that we have found is that a generational mix means a lot of laughter and fun!