Management of generational diversity in companies

People are joining the current labor market, belonging to the so-called 'Generation Y' or 'Millennial Generation', who have values, expectations, motivations and beliefs different from their previous generations. Given that each generation has its own peculiarities, the challenge for companies is to achieve a good coexistence between them, as they have different ideas and expectations.

People coexist in companies who, due to the time they grew up, the education they received and even the treatment they had with their peers from previous generations have different beliefs, needs and personal motivations that are reflected in their relationship with companies for the who work. Particularly in recent years, and in a trend that will increase in the future, the so-called 'Generation Y' or 'Millennial Generation' is increasing its importance in companies, as they are in the process of integrating into the labor market.

Following Carolina Bellora, from Materia Biz, people can be grouped into four types: Traditionalists, who were the first workers in modern companies, expected survival and income from their jobs, and had very low levels of turnover, since they did practically all his career in the same company. After them came the 'Baby boomers', a name derived from the population explosion after the Second World War. They expected security and stability from their jobs, and were still used to obeying. The 'Generation X', on the other hand, lived in a time of constant uncertainty, in which capitalism exploded, after the end of the cold war and the economic opening. The accumulation of wealth and personal improvement are the main axes of his relationship with work. Finally,'Generation Y' saw their parents fired from their companies and experienced the uncertainty of the economic crisis in the late 90's. Therefore, they want to enjoy almost immediately, they do not believe in authoritarianism or work for life, they have a very high self-confidence, they seek challenges that keep them busy and challenge their imagination and creativity and they hope that there is a balance between their personal life and labor.

This variety among company employees is presented as a challenge for the areas in charge of managing people, who must ensure that the different generations within the companies, rather than compete, complement each other and generate synergies that affect performance of the business. For this reason, more than ever it is required to know individually the capabilities of the work team, seeking complementation between each of its members. Thus, for example, having innovative, creative and risky people may require people with high critical capacities who bring a cool head to decisions. At the same time, achieving relationships in which the most expert mentors the minors will allow them to integrate more comfortably into the company's operating model.

The key to this process of coexistence is to take advantage of the individual capacities of each team member, making each one aware of their mission, their position and what is expected of them as a contribution to the common goal, which is none other than increasing the benefits of the company they work for. In this way, rivalry will be avoided and collaboration and teamwork will be encouraged, without being affected by generational differences. The objective of companies, regardless of the generations that comprise it, is the same, to generate profits, but the contribution and commitment and motivation of each team member is different from each generation to another.

In short, generational diversity in the company can become a competitive advantage if it is managed properly, looking for complements between people and avoiding the confrontation of styles and the overlapping of tasks. Individualizing the tasks, functions, expectations, motivations, but recognizing the common objective is key for the company to take advantage of the variety of its members.