Most current workplaces are made up of varying ratios of four generations: Boomers, Xers, Millenials, and the yet unnamed Gen Z. These groups bring different expectations of what they look for and need from the workplace. Boomers are looking to pushback retirement and show their experiential value. Xers are moving up as the replacement experts to retiring Boomers. Millennials are now the biggest (and still growing) proportion of the workforce letting Xers hold the title for only 4 years. Gen Z is just getting into the workforce and looking to learn everything they can.
Depending on the specific mix, these four groups can lead to a number of tensions that need to be dealt with. Workplace by itself cannot directly address the tensions but it can help operationally. There are a few things that are universally common across generations:
- Ability to show their manager their capabilities and promotability
- Technology to be productive
- Comfortable environment to work in (definitions of comfort will vary)
Any decent workplace will be designed to address these desires. But no workplace will ever meet all the above for all generations. A large part of the workplace is how the business chooses to support its employees regardless of location or generation.
However, there are ways to ensure that all employees in the workplace have the ability to adapt the environment to their needs. This is by shifting the workplace view from one of flexibility to balance. The workplace must be thought through in terms of how many different generations and workstyles would seek to leverage it. No two individuals ever have exactly the same ways of preferring to work.
Regardless, the key to any workplace is by bringing IT, CRE, HR, and business operations together to think about all of this as one big picture item.