DeAnne Aguirre
Guest blog by DeAnne Aguirre, Senior Partner Booz & Co., change leadership expert, Standford Sloan Advisory Board, Center for Work/Life Policy Task Force and panelist for Next Generation Work Flexibility Event in San Diego on 11/3/09.
Business leaders today are managing a workforce that includes three distinct generations which means the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to talent management is no longer effective. Members of the huge baby boom generation in the United States and their cohorts elsewhere are now in their mid-40’s through mid-60s. Although the previous generation may have been preparing for retirement at such an age, boomers expect to work much longer thanks to increased life expectancies and decreased retirement savings. One result of the global recession is that boomers are delaying retirement by, on average, another four years.
The millennial generation, also known as Generation Y, is the next huge population swell entering the system. Generation Y, ages 15 through 30, is even bigger than the baby boom generation; in fact, by 2025 this generation will make up 60 to 75 percent of the global workforce and by 2014, Gen Y in the US will be the largest generation of the working age population. That’s only five years from now! Sandwiched between Generation Y and the boomers is Generation X, a much smaller group. Generation Xers (ages 31 through 44)—the corporate bench strength for leadership—are short in supply and increasingly frustrated because the shoes they were planning to step into remain filled by those lingering baby boomers.
The three generations coexist in the workforce today, and each has a distinct profile and preferences. However, all three cohorts have made clear their desire for greater flexibility during the various stages of their career; all eschew the “organization man” model of lifetime employment and rigid hierarchies in favor of work arrangements that accommodate their unique needs or interests.
Baby boomers, for example, seek new employment relationships that offer “modularized” work such as seasonal flex arrangements. These older workers want to shift the nature and intensity of their connection with their employer, while continuing to be part of high-impact teams that generate meaningful and valued results—within their companies and, if possible, in the world at large.
According to a study conducted by the Center for Work-Life Policy (CWLP) in January 2009, members of Generation Y are as attracted to flexible work arrangements and meaningful work as they are to pay increases. They look for opportunities to give back to their communities, and are drawn to companies that demonstrate corporate social responsibility and offer service-oriented sabbaticals and eco-friendly workplaces.
Talent Innovation Implications:
Generational and demographic shifts have transformed the global workforce, creating an unprecedented—and urgent—set of challenges for CEOs and talent managers. Employers need to create tailored value propositions that appeal to the complex needs and preferences of a diverse talent pool. These might include projects that deliberately engage the vast passion and potential of Gen Y or “off-ramp and on-ramp” career paths that allow highly qualified women to take time off for family obligations without sidelining their opportunities for promotion and greater responsibility. Companies also need to update incentive systems, benefits packages, succession planning, and career models to enable all their diverse talent streams to perform at their best.
Excerpt taken from: Global Talent Innovation Strategies for Breakthrough Performance, a booz&co. Perspective by DeAnne Aguirre, Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Laird Post.
