If you want to survive in the market, you have to gain competitive advantages, for example through a diversity of employees. Age can also be seen as a form of diversity and should not be primarily associated with negative images. Demographic change may not yet be noticeable everywhere, but it will soon be the case that 5 generations will work under one roof. Companies must become even more attractive in order to recruit and retain employees. At the same time, older employees are playing an increasingly important role.
In order to recognize the possibilities, it is fundamentally important to understand age as positive and active. Old age is often associated with stagnation and slowness, but old age also stands above all for a wealth of experience of wisdom from a longer lifetime. Older employees compensate for many things, e.g. through higher accuracy and the quality of their work.
The great challenge will be to shape the cooperation of the 5 generations in such a way that the strengths of each individual generation are interplayed. Of course, employee diversity also holds a lot of room for friction. The potential for conflict lies above all in different views regarding the role of employees and supervisors, corporate development, the speed of career processes and the freedom for individuality and self-determined action. This is where managers in particular are called upon. Mixed-age teams require differentiated leadership. The manager must deal with the specific requirements and qualities of the different generations. Well-trained managers, a semi-structured conversation and the ability to give differentiated feedback and genuine appreciation are the most important tools.
At Daimler AG, generation management is consistently pursued. In a study, Daimler AG examined the demands of the specific age groups and possible conflict potentials in their interaction and developed approaches for the management of multigenerational workforces .
An example of how employees far beyond the retirement age can lead a company to success is the company Vita Needle. The average age of the employees of the needle and tube factory near Boston in the USA is 74 years old. They value their job for life, enjoy the community and the feeling of being needed.
Image source: Fotolia.com, Photographer: regine schöttl
