What every generation in the workplace really wants

03/11/09

You may think employees across various generations in your workplace may want completely different things out of their jobs, but a new study has revealed that they are much more alike than we once thought.

What every generation in today's workplace really wants is some respect.

The AchieveGlobal Study on Multigenerational Workforces revealed that respect is the number one job attribute for every age group in the workplace and that theere are "considerably more" similarities among workforce generations than we know.

In analyzing the responses of more than 500 international survey participants from Generation Y (29 years old and younger) to Traditionalists (64 years old and older) researchers found out that we share more career desires than we differ.

"As workforces become leaner in our current economy, managers would do well to focus on developing employees' personal skills and fostering an environment of collaboration," says [AchieveGlobal CEO Sharon] Daniels. "Inherent in multigenerational workforces is a diversity of experiences and expertise. Now is the time to encourage employees to value each others distinct talents and uses similarities and difference to build opportunities in the future."

Participants identified the main benefits of working in a multigenerational workforce, including:

• A more interesting environment.
• A broad range of perspectives.
• Younger staff provides energy; older staff provides direction.

Drawbacks included:

• Communication breakdowns.
• Lack of flexibility.
• Moving at a slower pace.

Getting employees motivated doesn't have to involve fancy, expensive gifts. Showing employees respect and encouraging to respect each other is one of the most affordable ways to effectively improve productivity and boost employee morale.