Having a diverse workforce does not only refer to the cultural backgrounds of employees, but also the ages of employees. Staff members that come from different generations have different outlooks, motivations, and skills. Having team members with varying ages can strengthen the company by incorporating numerous perspectives when facing challenges, but business executives will not be able to enjoy these benefits if they do not know how to approach and motivate people across multiple generations.

The Primary Generations Working Today

Baby Boomers (Born between 1946 – 1964)

Baby boomers make up an extremely large portion of today’s workforce. These individuals believe strongly in hard work, ambition, and status symbols. The general reasoning shared by this group is that if an individual works hard enough, he or she can achieve success and advance along a chosen career path.

While baby boomers do like to receive monetary incentives for their work, as this population begins to age, they have begun to place high value on incentives that provide flexible hours and paid leave. Baby boomers tend to appreciate policies and incentives that allow for more time with family, and away from the office.

Generation X (Born between 1965 – 1981)

As we look to younger generations, such as generation x, the employees tend to show more loyalty to their own interests than to the interest of institutions or businesses. Members of generation X tend to be much more independent, but also quite innovative, motivated, and resourceful. Instead of seeing work as an obligation or a responsibility, as many of the older generations do, this generation often approaches work as an opportunity for growth and excitement.

This generation is largely drawn to businesses that have embraced technology and more modern approaches. These younger workers tend to be more motivated by organisations that are more flexible and fun. Generation X’ers can be difficult to retain because they are constantly drawn to work opportunities that provide more variety and change. They are less interested in long-term commitments or labels.

Generation Y (Born between 1981-1995)

Generation Y, or millennials, are the fastest growing generation entering the workforce, and are thus extremely important to the future of businesses. These employees generally want to feel as if they are serving a meaningful purpose within the business as soon as they start working. They also prefer businesses that focus more on the results rather than the hours put into working.

Millennials tend to favour businesses that embrace technology, and allow employees to work flexible hours, perhaps even from home. They feel that technology should be embraced and used in order to produce great results from any location. The best way to motivate members of generation Y is to provide flexible work structures and to make them feel like appreciated members of the team.

In business, it is sometimes hard to work for the greater good instead of your own personal interests, which can make working in teams quite difficult. However, most businesses are not individual people, they are operated with the help of small and large groups. One of the biggest challenges faced by any executive or manager is figuring out how to get a team to work cohesively and effectively. Let’s take a look at some of the methods that top business leaders are benefiting from today.

Have a Strong Leader and Vision

In order to be able to achieve success, a team must first understand the common goal. Otherwise, members may begin to duplicate one another’s work, or may go in different directions entirely. To optimize efforts, there must be a strong leader directing the group, communicating clear instructions, and monitoring progress. This ensures that each member of the group clearly understands his or her responsibilities, fewer errors are occurring, and that the project is on track as projected.

Appreciate Different Strengths and Values

If every single person on your team is exactly the same, there is little reason to even have a team in the first place. One of the main benefits of having a group of people work toward a common goal is being able to have many different perspectives and solutions presented. It is important to not only develop a diverse team, but also take the time to determine each member’s strengths, weaknesses, and backgrounds. By doing so, the leader can then delegate assignments to the individuals that are best suited for the task.

Show Appreciation for Individual Members

It is not enough to simply praise the efforts of the team as a whole. When an individual member contributes something of value, this effort should be acknowledged and praised. By simply recognizing that an individual has gone above and beyond what was required with a word of gratitude, this will create a strong sense of unity and community within the team. When individuals feel appreciated by their co-workers and leaders, they will feel more committed and loyal to the organisation, and will often produce greater results.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

In the same way that each team member should understand his or her roles, they must also be able to communicate easily with co-workers and managers throughout the entire process. Even though work may have been delegated to individuals, those workers may become derailed or confused at some point. Having great communication practices in place can reduce or prevent this from happening.

When team members are constantly communicating with one another, they remain aware of the progress of one another and of the team as a whole. This information helps them modify their actions in order to better achieve timely results, or avoid possible costly errors.

It is no secret that employee engagement is critical to the success of any organisation. When employees are highly engaged, they feel enthusiastic about their work, and have a strong connection and commitment to the company. When employees feel proud and excited about the work they do, this leads to higher productivity, more innovative ideas, and increased employee retention. While it is clear that employee engagement is crucial for any successful business, not all leaders and managers know how to achieve it.

According to a recent report released by Aon Hewitt, the following are just a few methods that business leaders can use to drive worker engagement.

Recognition and Appreciation

Employees need to know that their hard work is not going unnoticed. Employee recognition does not have to involve a salary increase or other monetary incentives. Appreciation can come in the form of any positive feedback that shows the team member that the business acknowledges how important their contributions have been. Just a word of support from a manager can encourage an employee to continue beneficial behaviours.

Support Upward Mobility Within the Company

When employees feel that they have reached the highest position they can possibly reach within an organisation, there is no more motivation for them to work any harder, take initiative, or be engaged with the company. If business leaders make it clear to employees that there are opportunities for growth and advancement, those employees will be more likely to work hard to prove that they are worthy of these positions. When effective managers encourage team members to pursue more training, education, and opportunities within the business, both the individual and the company as a whole, benefit.

Communicate Goals and Objectives to Employees

Good communication is crucial for improved employee engagement. Employees will become much more invested and connected to their businesses if the managers and executives reach out and communicate the company vision clearly. When this communication occurs, the employees better understand why they are performing certain tasks and they will better comprehend the common goal that the team is trying to achieve. This creates a strong sense of community within the business structure as a whole. When the employees feel that they are part of this mission, they may be motivated to not only work harder, but also look for areas that could be improved.

Use Leadership Skills to Create a “Culture of Engagement”

Businesses with high levels or worker engagement tend to have practices in place that generate this behaviour. This means establishing policies that incorporate extensive engagement into the everyday routine. This might involve creating standard communication procedures, developing programs that make it easier for employees to voice opinions and get involved, and holding the business accountable for engagement levels. Today’s most effective business leaders understand that engagement is crucial, and are taking steps to guarantee that it is present.

While each successful business or organization may work within a different industry, have unique goals, and strive to reach a distinct target audience, they all have one factor in common: a highly effective leader. In order to achieve success, there must be an individual in control who can determine a clear mission, develop a strategy, and keep the entire team on track. Strong leadership skills are required to accomplish these tasks, and there are certain traits that most effective leaders share.

Passion

Leading requires a lot of time, energy, and effort. The only way an individual is going to be able to put in the work necessary is if they truly believe in what they are trying to accomplish. Having passion and enthusiasm not only provides drive and energy, but it can also be inspiring and contagious.

Supportive

The most effective leaders provide constructive and honest feedback to their teams. They provide support and build an environment of respect and trust. When employees know that they have someone who believes in their work, or know that they can reach out when they need help, this leads to higher levels of productivity, engagement and loyalty to the team.

Self-Awareness

Great leaders know that they are not perfect. Instead, they accept criticism, feedback, and understand their strengths and weaknesses. By recognising their challenges, it is possible to correct them and improve.

Realistic

Along with being honest about their own strengths and weaknesses, effective executives are also honest and realistic about the state of the organization. They do not sugar coat or hide problems. By being realistic about challenges, it is possible to begin looking for viable pro-active solutions.

Decisive

One of the main responsibilities of a leader is to make decisions. Therefore, they must first be able to pick the best options for the business, and commit to those choices. Effective leaders gladly take responsibility for all of their decisions and strategies.

Direction

Once the leader has made a decision, or developed a plan, they must be able to communicate these ideas clearly to the rest of the team. An effective leader knows how to delegate responsibilities to team members with the appropriate skill sets, and they know how to equip those individuals with well-defined instructions.

Forward-Thinking

Effective leaders do not simply live in the present; they are always looking for potential and future possibilities. This forward or strategic thinking enables the business to better foresee possible challenges, and also facilitate growth.

Innovative

In order to stay relevant and continue growing, effective leaders must constantly look for ways to improve and expand their organization. This can mean exploring new products, reaching new audiences, or solving new problems.

Adaptable

In any industry, it is crucial for leaders to accept, acknowledge, and respond to changes. These changes could be within the consumer markets or within the company itself. Effective leaders are flexible and willing to explore new perspectives to solve a problem.

Confident

Confidence is by far one of the most important traits demonstrated by highly effective leaders. Leaders must first believe in their own actions before they can inspire others to believe.