Experience And Energy Make For A Killer Combo; But Are We Ready For Age Diversity?

Age is an ambiguous element. Because, it is not even a mere number, or is it just a mere number? When someone reveals his/her age, we don’t take it just at face value. We associate the persona with the number and see if the overall effect goes with the expectations and existing standards. Either way, managing a group of mixed age categories can be quite a challenge to even a psychologist.

Indians view age differently than the rest of the world. For them, age is something that’s associated with experience, wisdom and guidance.

The elders in the family, well most families, get a lot of respect as they move into advanced age. And then there are also those who are forced to practice nuclear family system who possibly cannot integrate aged people with different needs into their lives. So, just as the nuclear families get rooted, the number of old age homes (with modern amenities too!) also increase with the same speed.

But, in more ways than one, the aged are not at complete advantage outside the family set up. Business houses are always running a project or a product marathon, and fluctuating economy have left the aged way behind on the path to progress. They could have the experience, but hey, who needs it when the technology has been changing at a rapid speed? Integrating the aged can even make you lose the race. Why risk it, right?

Wrong.

The companies in the recent times have been realising the importance of mixing energy with experience to create an environment to reap maximum benefits. Though ‘seniority’ is a complicated word since it comes loaded with complex human nature, when managed well it can turn into a productive element too. In government services, seniority is often rewarded with promotions and perks, irrespective of what the productivity scales say. But the same cannot be said of corporate environment where seniority is needed only in small doses, and a young workforce contributes largely to the future of the company and open markets. Trend spotting and opportunity seizing is usually associated with younger generation than the older one.

Despite this having grown into a trend in the recent times, the focus is now shifting on multi-generational workforce in companies. This is essential since businesses have come to realise they also need conventional knowledge to stay off risks and only experience can be the guiding factor in such cases.

Diversity and inclusion have been steadily gaining a stronghold in corporate India in the recent years. Though diversity often had a direct connotation of being gender-centric, these days age is also a much discussed topic.

India is slowly but surely waking up to the challenge of managing a multi-generational workforce in its boardrooms and power corridors. The country will have to design its own strategy to work on this concept because of its unique challenges. Consider this. While rest of the world is graying given the fact that population is largely in senior level, India is getting younger. By the end of this decade, the average Indian will only be 29 years of age, compared to 37 in China and 45 in US, and 48 in Japan. Will this put India on overall advantage mode? Only time holds the answer to this question.

The country has undergone more changes in the last 20 years than any other country in the world. Right now, average Indian is throbbing with energy mixed with yearning for life experiences, standing at the threshold of his/her 25^th year!

When you consider the overall population of India, the percentage of young generation makes for very large numbers.

Combining this with factors of power, affluence and better prospects, companies have been struggling hard to retain talent in the dynamic work environment. Because, simply put, discrimination on any basis is illegal, immoral and completely wrong.

To retain a senior employee is much less-challenging than retaining a younger employee, the companies have learnt. Because, consistency is key here; and conventionally, only seniors can bring this to table than the younger ones who are often enthused to experiment with different things.

The one-size-fits-all approach does not work here if both age groups are juxtaposed against each other. It is a process that needs to be managed with utmost seriousness as the companies would treat change in leadership or through re-branding exercises.

Inclusion in terms of managing a multi-generational talent needs the top focus of the management too. The organisation’s diversity policy needs to clarify this to the employees across age groups. Committed teams need to be formulated and empowered for the purpose.

All these steps can be broken down into doable tasks that have to consistently create an environment for all generations to work towards a single goal to the best of their abilities for competitive advantage.

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