Organizations are increasingly realizing the value of age diversity within the workforce – but do your employees feel the same way?
According to a new UK-based report by
ADP, younger workers find it more difficult to cope with age diversity than their older colleagues with a significant portion indicating that older employees may be “out of touch” or resistant to change.
Researchers found the 16 per cent of those ages 16-34 felt their older management was out of touch with modern trends and a further 15 per cent said older workers were resistant to change.
However it seems this attitude isn’t shared be the older worker themselves.
An overwhelming 94 per cent of older workers said they thought younger generations were armed with the skills to be successful in their role.
Generally, the survey found that intergenerational conflict was primarily caused by three contentious issues:
- Younger and older workers having different views on how things should be done – 18 per cent
- Older employees staying in the workforce for longer and leaving less room for new talent – 18 per cent
- Different approached to organization values and corporate responsibility – 18 per cent
“It is concerning to see how much conflict the age gap can cause,” said ADP’s UK HRD. “Organisations must consider how they can mitigate these issues to enable them to engage with, and harness the full potential of each age group.
“While millennials bring new ways of working and a fresh set of skills to the workplace, older workers have rich and invaluable experience,” she added.
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