The Six Generation Workplace

How will international organisations tackle the prospect of a six-generation workplace? A recent Harvard Business Review report highlighted that for the first time in history, many workplaces span six generations: from the octogenarians of the Silent Generation who are still working and in many cases still holding onto key global leadership roles to the teenagers of the emerging Generation Alpha who are eagerly pursuing their first summer jobs and high school internships. In between are the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (often called the Millennials), and Generation Z.

This unprecedented workplace age span offers organizations a unique chance to reimagine and reposition themselves for sustainable intergenerational inclusion and impact. However, if executives are unwilling or unprepared to embrace this new six-generation (6G) reality, organizational chaos and decline may follow.

The report published on the 4 April 2024, recommends that organisations develop a 6G organisational strategy to sit within our organization’s strategy, dashboards, and scorecards. In other words, 6G strategic thinking can make your organization’s strategy come alive.

As America navigates the so-called “peak 65” demographic benchmark with over 4 million Americans projected to reach age 65 every year through the end of the decade —  that’s more than 11,000 people every day — effective succession planning is essential for organizational sustainability. Thinking in 6G requires organizations to undertake the hard work of figuring out how to become employers-of-choice for every generation.

While internal talent teams and external recruiters are starting to address this issue, the next steps of integrating generational management with organizational strategies and effective people policies are, in some cases, lagging behind.

Quarmans specializes in creating policies that align with all people-related matters and strengthen your organization’s strategy. Our combined expertise spans multiple industry sectors across many countries and cultures.

Harvard Business Review April 2024 Read the full article here.

This article was written by Angela Hobbs, Fractional Head of Sustainability & Diversity at Quarmans.   
and first appeared on the Quarmans website.