Today’s business environment is historic. For the first time ever, there are three generations working together at the same time. In today’s workplace, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Milllenials all occupy one space. Each has its own wants and needs as well as its own strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, though, is that each generation has distinctly different tastes and work expectations. How Baby Boomers work best is often times night and day different than how a Millennial prefers to work. There’s no “one size fits all” solution. So how can you build an atmosphere that is as conducive to the 25-year company veteran as it is to the fresh-faced new hire straight out of college? Here are some of the things that we have done as a company.
As we have talked about in this blog, UNEX recently moved to a new office. It was a long time coming and we’re so excited to be in our new building. But beyond the additional space that came with our new headquarters came a chance to re-envision our office structure. Our new building is much more open concept and includes more break rooms and meeting rooms. This is tailored toward our millennial employees who, by and large, prefer collaborative work rather than solitary jobs.
More and more over the past 5 to 10 years, businesses have begun to turn their attention to workplace culture. In the past, many companies have tried to fit round pegs into square holes and employees either conformed or left. But today, we’re realizing that if you can build an office and a culture that addresses everybody’s needs, employees will be much happier, efficiency will increase and the company will be a more attractive destination to perspective employees.
MHEDA-TV just released a new video that discusses the three most important challenges facing our industry today and integrating the workforce is one of those challenges. Our MHEDA-NET group, the Pace Setters, gave a panel discussion about this very topic at the ProMat Conference in Chicago. It’s not an easy task to accomplish but the companies that “get it” are, not coincidentally, the most successful companies. How has your company integrated the three generations together? We’d love to hear from you. Tweet us @UNEX and let us know.
