Managing Older Workforce

I recently listened a "HBR podcast" series on how to manage older people at work .These days, managers need to adapt to different kind of generations seen in workforce and act accordingly. It was mentioned that there are 5 generations in workplace today and methods that work with Gen X/Z may not work with millennials and vice versa. Expectations also change based on times and norms of that era. One of the trends being seen at workplace these days is younger managers with people under them who are much older and experienced and managing these “older” people requires additional care on the part of managers.

The podcast talked about three cases pertaining to older generations and how they perceived, areas of age, experience, modern technology tools, etc. and how their views are the source of frustration for their younger counterparts. Managing of the diverse workforce and changing workforce demographics are related to strategic human resources management. Managers should try to connect to older team members on an emotional level with one-to-one meetings since the older workers might respond better to that than using new technology like virtual meetings, online communications tools, etc. This can be the starting strategy while giving them time to adjust to newer tools.

By asking for input from older team members and listening to them gives the manager an understanding of their perspective and indicate to them that their opinions matter and that those ideas/opinions are being listened to. Managers should instill the idea that doing small activities add up to quantifiable contribution to the company. Often, especially with older team members, there is a sense of “don’t care” attitude because “it doesn’t matter". Younger team members with older managers, should also understand and adapt on how to work with older peers. Showing initiative and combining the EQ (emotional quotient) with DQ (digital quotient) would benefits both employees and organizations.