Inter-generational differences between Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y are especially pronounced in the workplace. It’s not hard to see why. The sheer range of communications styles, skill sets, aspirations, and values of different employees sitting side-by-side, confined within the four walls of an office for eight hours, is enough to present any organization’s leadership with a difficult conundrum. How do you keep employees who are shaped by distinctly different generational experiences equally engaged?
Sure, all employee are unique in their own way, regardless of age. A workplace policy that motivates one employee won’t necessarily motivate another just because they both happen to be Baby Boomers. But there is merit to the argument that members of different generations tend to exhibit qualities that are representative of their respective generations. Consider the different expectations of baby boomers and the millennial generation. Millennials, also referred to as Generation Y, were born between 1982 and 2000. Their formative years were marked by major advances in digital technology so communicating using technology like email, instant messaging, texting and social media is probably second nature and even preferable for them. On the other hand, Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, may be less familiar navigating modern technology and consequently favor face-to-face communication whenever possible.
The point is, a blanket-style approach to keeping your employees engaged, satisfied and productive isn’t effective when dealing with a multi-generational workforce. You’ll never be able to completely cater to the demands and preferences of every person in the office, but identifying certain trends among each generation will help your organization strike a healthy balance. The best way to identify these trends and key drivers of engagement is to use web surveys to collect feedback directly from your employees.
A lot of research has been done regarding the workplace preferences of Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. Most of the differences revolve around compensation and benefits, frequency of management feedback, work/life balance and professional development.
Check out some of the latest statistics:
- 57% of Baby Boomers named benefits as an important determinant of job satisfaction while only 49% of Millennials felt as strongly (SHRM).
- Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1981, are most likely to ask for promotions and a flexible work locations, while Millennials are most likely to ask for mentors and training (SHRM).
- An overwhelming majority of Millennials stated that workplace friendships had a positive impact on their productivity and motivation while 45% of workers ages 55-65 reported no effect on their professional performance (LinkedIn).
- Nearly 50 percent of Millennials surveyed say they plan to depart from their employer after two years (Millennial Compass Report).
As you can see, recent studies have pinpointed some major rifts in what drives generational engagement. Here are some tips on designing an employee feedback program that can address them in an actionable way.
- Collect age information– In order to be able to measure the relationship between age and an employee’s drivers of engagement, you have to find out the age of your respondents. Use five-year age-range options in your survey to prevent you from collecting data that’s too general, while also ensuring that you don’t threaten respondents’ anonymity by making them state their exact age. If your organization is smaller, widen the age ranges or leave out other demographic questions that could further identify employees individually.
- Use a mix of questions types – Make sure your survey contains both Likert Scale questions and open-ended questions. The Likert Scale will help you determine the intensity of your respondents’ feelings, while open-ended questions provide insight into why respondents feel the way they do.
- Be Transparent– Let employees know why you’re conducting the survey and clue them in on your findings. It’s especially important to tell them when you’ve made changes based on their feedback—or if you can’t—explain why it’s not feasible at the current time. This builds trust among employees, while showing them that they’re valued.
- Devise Multiple Strategies – Once you’ve collected employee feedback and examined the data to see what drives engagement among different age groups, come up with a separate, actionable plan to improve engagement for each age group based on their differences.
- Continue to Collect Feedback – Now that you’ve begun to implement organizational changes based on your survey data, continue to conduct periodic pulse checks so you can monitor any positive or negative changes in engagement.
The office is a dynamic place that will continue to shift as Baby Boomers retire and Millennials rapidly ascend into management roles. An organizational policy that was wildly successful five years ago could be irrelevant or even detrimental to employee engagement today. The best way to ensure you’re creating an environment conducive to high engagement, low turnover and a healthy bottom line is to listen to what your employees have to say. For help on launching your employee engagement program, request a demo of Cvent Web Surveys.