Satisfying the multi generational workforce is a massive challenge for the Facilities Management and workspace design industries
Zoe Humphries, Steelcase.
Take a lingering look round many large offices these days and you will see history in the making.
It may not be obvious at a glance but what we can see now is—for the first time —four different generations working side by side... and we may well be heading for a fifth.
As we are acutely aware, people are living and working longer—a fact underlined by the government’s recent decision to scrap the default retirement age.
The ageing of the workforce and the demands of different age groups is resulting in a massive challenge for the employers now and increasingly so in the future.
Steelcase specialises in workspace design and office interiors and operate worldwide. Our global reach has enabled us to conduct extensive research on trends in office environments and the effects on business and employees. Our ‘Generations at Work’ research
focused on the four working generations working side by side: Traditionalists (born before 1945), Boomers (born 1946-64), Generation X (1965-77) and Millennial (1978 -1999).
There is clear evidence from the research that the profound shift in age balance in the workforce has significant implications for our office environments in the future. In the past 50 years, life expectancy in the European Union has risen by about five years and could increase by another seven by 2060, according to the European Commission At present, workspaces are generally not designed to accommodate such a wide spectrum of age and ability. As older people remain in the workforce for longer, they will want to contribute to work in
more flexible ways to reflect their life stage and life
experiences. In short,
employers will be increasing their efforts to refine their workplaces to
attract, engage and retain staff. A survey of more than 23,000 people undertaken by us in offices worldwide also revealed that a high-performing workspace is valued greatly by workers. That in itself in not particularly surprising but what is evident is the challenge is presents to employers.
The elements of a successful, high performing office environment are changing faster than a teenager’s Facebook page. And it is the Millennials who are having most impact. This generation is changing the rules of engagement between employers and employees.
The Millennials stand-out work habits are:
• Comfortable shifting from focused individual work to collaborative tasks.
• Multi-tasking is second nature • Constantly checking with peers (extension of social networking)
• Three times more likely to work off- site or while travelling, compared to other office workers.
• Formal meeting spaces are less important to them
• Much less distracted by noise What this generation is bringing to the office environment is being adopted increasingly by their older colleagues. Younger knowledge workers’ attitudes and behaviours are being adopted by their older Gen X and Boomer colleagues,
creating a whole new set of requirements for any company that wants to compete for talent.
From mentoring spaces to integrating work and life tyles and leveraging social networks, a high-performance workplace will look much different from most workplaces today.
Thanks to the influence of the Millennials, work attitudes and behaviours are shifting—dramatically in some cases, subtly but no less assuredly in others. Workplace design and planning must likewise shift if the company wants to attract, engage, and retain talent in a knowledge economy
One of the biggest issues we see is that many of the high level decisions an organisation makes regarding work, workers and workplace strategy are made by the members of the senior management teams and in many cases by default members of the older generations who develop strategies that they relate to but not necessarily the younger generations. They then retire out of the business and leave a legacy that does not work for the younger generations. Clearly, the importance placed on a company’s size, brand image, and history is shifting to how well the company can support a worker’s preferred workstyle, how much a person can learn with a company, and how well it supports work/life integration. Workers expect the office to ooze technology, morph quickly to the needs of the moment, and foster easy, personal connections
Work and the workplace is changing at an increasing pace. People are a company’s greatest asset and how we rise to the challenge of meeting the demands of the multi-generational workforce will continue to be a formidable test of employers’ commitment and ambition.
www.steelcase.co.uk
22 feature :: office horizons Building & Facilities Management – September 2010
Office Horizons
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