Working in a Multigenerational Workplace

As part of our development offerings, Dwellworks conducts monthly leadership trainings led by our senior management team for associates in a Team Lead or Director role. The sessions cover a variety of leadership topics including coaching, motivation, organization, delegation, and overall team morale. Learn more about this month’s topic, “Working in a Multigenerational Workplace.” 

This month’s session focused on “Working in a Multigenerational Workplace.” Leaders were educated on the different generations that make up today’s global workplace. Takeaways included how to motivate each generation, work cultures that best suit each generation, and how to encourage all generations to work together. It was a lively discussion-filled session that allowed everyone to learn from each other. Our international leaders were able to share their experiences and we found that generational attributes across the world were consistent.

Here’s a brief summary of the specific generations and the typical work nuances and motivators of each:

• Traditionalists (1901-1946) respect authority in the workplace, are loyal to institutions, believe work is not equal to fun, and understand value and money. Motivation: acknowledge their experience is appreciated and respected.
• Baby Boomers (1946-1964) like opportunity and security, are willing to work long hours and put in ‘face time’ at the office, and believe hard work and sacrifice is linked to success. Motivation: provide clear objectives, steps toward defined goals, and desired results.
• Generation X (1964-1976) have fun at work, question authority, like a work-life balance and freedom to self-direct. Motivation: setting own priorities, regular and honest feedback, and mentoring. Make good change agents since they readily adapt to their environments.
• Millennials (1980-2000) are collaborative, sociable, multitask, have short attention spans, and expect jobs and careers will change many times. Motivators: work-life balance, having more of a ‘coach’ and less of a ‘boss’,  informal organizational structure and dress code, and providing opportunities for continuous training. Expect to share their ideas, have high visibility, and be assigned important projects.

Multigenerational training will help our leaders manage and motive their diverse teams, while also providing insight on how we can better work with our clients and suppliers. We plan to share this training with all associates in the near future. As the generational landscape changes, Dwellworks will be ready!

If you want to read more about Dwellworks Culture, click here!