PLAY NICE Strategies to Mitigate Potential Conflict

All of the eight sandbox strategies help workplace relationships.  There are two that are particularly relevant to the inclusion of a multi-generational workplace to foster collaboration.  They are Active Listening and Including Everyone.

• Actively Listen – More than three-quarters of Gen Z employees feel they’re being ignored by their managers. Young people want careers that are more fluid and allow room for that type of creativity while also being heard in more senior-level conversations.

• Include Everyone – Younger generations (Z’s specifically) are more focused on pay transparency, equitable benefits, healthy work culture and the flexibility to work at their own pace.

Recruiting and Retention

The great resignation has highlighted how these generations are likely to change employment frequently, and as an organization evolves, having younger, yet invested, and knowledgeable employees is critical to effective succession planning and growth.[i]

Talk About Promotions & Benefits

It’s up to the leader to have conversations about the benefits that younger workers are seeking.  At a time when turnover remains high, employers should try to help younger employees identify and invest in their best careers. Ninety-four percent of employees would stay at a job longer if it offered career development, including platforms for training, webinars, educational materials, and roadmaps for how to qualify for advancing from one position to another, higher one. This is something all employees would benefit from, but primarily younger ones at the beginning of their careers. Solid professional training can foster increased company value as the workforce continues to be updated and refreshed with the latest industry practices and technologies.

Multi-generational workers are quitting because they don’t know how to talk about pay equity or promotions.[ii]  Give them the ability and the space to have honest and authentic conversations to create a sense of belonging and trust.

• What would really help you in your life?
• What are you struggling with?
• Let’s map a way forward for your career with us.

Know who is “quietly quitting”

Well before an employee turns in a resignation, they have disengaged at work. A whopping 55 percent of employees born after 1989 are not engaged, according to Gallup research. This results in lost productivity and can even become contagious among other workers. [iii]

70 percent of younger generations use social media sites such as Glassdoor to review companies of interest.  A well-managed brand that shows examples of strong diversity, equity and inclusion are worth the effort to attract and recruit new talent.

I hope you’re finding this information helpful and thought-provoking. I’ll check back in a couple of weeks as we continue the series of Collaborating in a Multi-Generational World.

If your team could use some collaboration inspiration, I invite you to schedule a Complementary Discovery Call, and we can have a chat about how to get everyone working together peacefully!

• [i] https://www.benefitnews.com/news/this-is-what-gen-z-thinks-of-the-future-of-work
• [ii] https://www.benefitnews.com/news/gen-z-workers-are-quitting-because-they-dont-know-how-to-talk-about-promotions
• [iii] https://www.benefitspro.com/2022/09/06/quiet-quitting-is-it-more-than-just-a-better-work-life-balance-412-135613/?slreturn=20221025094528