With Americans continuing to work past historical retirement age, the survey shows some possible compatibility issues with younger workers that employers need to be prepared to appropriately address. Three-quarters of experienced workers (ages 55 years and older) said they relate well to younger co-workers. However, only 56 percent of all employees surveyed said they relate well to older workers. In fact, a total of 77 percent said younger employees do not seek advice and guidance from employees over age 50. Furthermore, only 20 percent of workers believe their older co-workers energize them and bring new ideas to the table.
"Despite this disparity, the multi-generational workplace is mutually advantageous for employees and employers alike," said Genia Spencer, managing director of operations and human resources for Randstad USA. "Many of the advantages may not be readily apparent to the nation's employers who can benefit from the synergy of ideas and insight that younger and older workers jointly bring to the table."
While 90 percent of employed U.S. adults surveyed stated people over age 50 are "with-the-times," 70 percent actually think their company does not value older workers. Many older workers, on the other hand, think their companies are impartial to employees' ages. In fact, more than half of employed adults ages 55 and older agree that their company treats employees of all ages fairly (58 percent) and that their company values employees over age 50 (54 percent). That is a good thing, considering one-fifth (20 percent) of employed adults said they are older than their boss.
The following table outlines varying perspectives of how the oldest and youngest workers surveyed view each other in the workplace:
Oldest Workers' Viewpoint Youngest Workers' Viewpoint (age 55+) (ages 18-34) 75 percent said they relate well 54 percent said they relate to younger co-workers well to older workers 43 percent said they learn from 64 percent said they learn younger co-workers from their older co-workers 54 percent said their company 25 percent said their company values employees over age 50 values employees over age 50 42 percent said their younger co- 23 percent said their older workers energize them and bring co-workers energize them and new ideas to the table bring new ideas to the table 32 percent agreed that younger 22 percent agreed that employees seek advice and younger employees seek guidance from employees over advice and guidance from age 50 employees over age 50
Spencer offers the "ABCs" of how to bridge the generation gap among employees:
- Avoid any age-based assumptions about employees and recognize that all
of your colleagues will potentially bring different and insightful ideas
to the table.
- Be open-minded to learning new ways of doing things and be receptive to
time-tested ideas.
- Create an environment where all employees have a meaningful opportunity
to contribute. By fostering effective communication and collaboration
with all of your colleagues, you may be surprised how many good ideas
develop.
More than 1,400 U.S. employed adults were surveyed online by Harris Interactive for Randstad's survey on older workers. Throughout 2006, Randstad is commissioning Job Bites surveys on relevant and provocative workplace trends.
