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Generations @ Work

4 generations in the same office = generation conflict?

How to answer the war of talents and generations conflict?

How do you want to work today? If you ask this question to people in today’s offices, you will get many different answers; because people in different ages have a different point of view about their work.

As workplace experts, Steelcase has identified the needs of the four generations so we can help them and their companies to work better together. This is mission critical, as we will soon run in a war of talents. Europe will loose 50 million workers for retirement and only 20 million come in new. And these generations are all sharing the same workplace at the same time.

These four generations are split as follow: Traditionals are born between 1928 and 1945, Boomers from 1946 to 1964, Generation X are born between 1965 and 1978, and Gen Y from 1979 to 2000. In order to learn more about the different needs of these generations, their perception of each other and the ways they work together, Steelcase carried out a survey across the 4 generations and 6 European countries, with IPSOS. The objective was to identify potential conflicts and create a multigenerational workplace that would answer their different needs and help them to work better together.

Additionally to the generations’ differences, some influential factors have been shaping the way people work and how they perceive each other.

The role of work in life and the attitude toward work has changed dramatically over the last decades. The expectations from companies have been evolving a lot as the complexity at work increased. The role of technology also changed so much during these last 30 years, it completely re-shaped the way of working and communicating in the office. The workplace has become more global. And finally, the role of sustainability has increased considerably and encourages companies to rethink about their organization and flexibility.

The workplace and the way companies will design and use their work environment will become crucial for companies as in the near future more workforces will leave than newcomers will replace them; and with leaving workforces, loads of valuable experience will be leaving too.

Our workspaces are currently not designed to accommodate such a wide spectrum of age and preferences. Space and workforce are often looked upon as factors of increasing costs that are always under pressure. In this situation, intelligent investment in workspace shows the way into the future. Instead of cutting costs of employment and office equipment, it will be increasingly important to optimise the individuals work performance. And to create a collaborative work environment that enhances communication - necessary for a smooth knowledge transfer in both directions - and at the same time offers every generation the workplace that ideally fits their requirements. Steelcase has identified design principles to design a great multigenerational workplace, and make sure companies keep improving their workplace to suit the evolving needs of the coming generations today and tomorrow.

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