DHL’s employees stretch across five generations and, says, Lindsay Bridges, Global Head of HR for DHL Supply Chain, this is good for everyone.
In many countries it’s the time of year when businesses are opening their doors to a new generation of employees, starting out on their career ladders. As well as embracing the opportunity to bring fresh faces and thinking into the business, it’s a good time to reflect on whether your HR function is well designed to support a multigenerational workforce and integrate the new with the established talent.
Benefits of a multi-generational workforce
Bringing together people from different age groups is an opportunity to blend a range of skills, experiences, cultures, and viewpoints to enrich your workplace with depth, breadth, and diversity.
With nearly 600,000 employees, across five generations, diverse teams have been essential to DHL’s success in the logistics industry. Rather than thinking of a multigenerational workforce as a challenge to navigate, we believe it’s important to recognise the benefits it brings.
Recruiting and retaining employees from multiple generations broadens the way a business can operate. Without falling into the trap of stereotypes, there are positive differences that should be acknowledged and embraced; digitally native generations are typically experienced and comfortable with the use of technology and adaptable to innovation and mature employees often have a depth of knowledge and experience in traditional manual methods. When combined correctly, the two create an excellent blend and each group can benefit from the other’s knowledge and strengths.
It’s good practice for your workforce to reflect your customer base, reflecting the diversity of your customers and clients empowers an organisation with the right knowledge and skills to meet the needs of a broader range of customers and be better equipped to adapt to diverse demographics.
Finding common ground
It’s natural for employees of different generations to see themselves as having little in common, so I believe it’s our role to ensure that the employees themselves see the benefits of age diversity and recognise that there’s more that unites them than divides them.
At DHL we hold regular team activities to support our employees in learning more about one another’s perspectives. This includes asking our established managers to mentor new graduates, giving both the opportunity to learn about one another’s outlooks and perspectives and ensuring the life and operational experience of our mature managers is recognised and appreciated.
Nurturing these relationships has had positive outcomes beyond immediate workplace collaboration. The open dialogue created through these exercises has resulted in the younger generations sparking up and normalising conversations with older employees, around topics such as mental health which is hugely beneficial.
It’s also important for managers and HR teams to challenge their own assumptions, a common one being that older generations will be challenged by change. We’ve found that older employees enjoy seeing the nature of their job roles change with new digital technologies coming in and feel energised to learn new skills. Removing unconscious bias in recruiting and management is essential; limited thinking limits opportunities for people and the business.
Catering for different needs
While creating cohesion is important, it’s equally important to acknowledge that different generations will have different desires and expectations from their role and their relationship with the organisation.
Each life stage brings different lifestyle needs and responsibilities outside of work. Typically, under 30s value the social side of work and many of our young talent tell me that the opportunity to build friendships with colleagues is important to them. In contrast, older employees tend to have more personal demands outside of work which can be limiting when it comes to socialising outside of work hours. When expectations are managed thoughtfully, managers and HR departments can create an inclusive and supportive work environment that nurtures company culture without alienating anyone.
The power of flexibility
We can’t talk about multigenerational needs without thinking about flexibility. It’s become the defining topic of modern work-life. As with so many areas of people management, one size does not fit all. In the logistics industry, we have a huge operational workforce; drivers and warehouse operatives, for whom working from home isn’t an option but who may need flexibility in other forms. Traditional shift patterns of work typically sit well with older employees as they appreciate the routine and certainty of knowing the times that they are expected to work each week, while middle generations, for example, Mums and Dads with caring responsibilities, might need different shift patterns to allow them to pick up their children from school. The optimal balance varies from person to person, depending on individual circumstances and perceptions. While it can be difficult to achieve, managers need to think creatively to create a balance that caters to different generational needs, while still working for the business.
With a global labour shortage and an ageing population, a multigeneration workforce will soon be a standard workforce, but by adopting policies and practices that embrace the advantages and circumvent the pitfalls, more businesses can feel the benefits of having a rich and diverse workforce the way we have at DHL.
