The Generational Impact on Employee Engagement Practices

I am just about finished with my research report on Brandon Hall Group’s 2018 Engagement Practices survey, and I am excited to say that it shows how practices are evolving due to the rapidly changing workforce environment.

I was particularly interested in determining whether the changing generational mix of the workforce had any impact on organizations’ engagement practices. Organizations always seem to be asking what they can do to engage the different generation levels.  As our surveys are completed by HR Professionals and business leaders, I asked them to estimate the generational composition of their workforce. Then I examined the data to see if there were any attitudinal and practice differences.

That data shows that nearly two-thirds of responding organizations have workforces comprised primarily of Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X employees (“Younger” age-mix). Over one-third have a workforce comprised of 26% or more Baby Boomers (“Older” age-mix).  There are some striking differences in attitudes when it comes to valuing activities for engagement among organizations with a younger age-mix compared to the older age-mix organizations.

The “younger” age-mix organizations are more likely to consider team building activities and recognition programs to be highly valuable for their engagement initiatives. The older age-mix organizations are more likely to consider career development, coaching, work/life balance supports, and wellness/well-being to be highly valuable.

Activities Considered Highly Valuable for Engagement Efforts

 

 

Younger Age-Mix

Older Age-Mix

Team building activities

54% 46%

Recognition programs

44%

29%

Career development

38%

56%

Coaching, mentoring

40%

51%

Work/life balance supports

44%

59%

Wellness/well-being

30%

40%

Source: 2018 Brandon Hall Group Engagement Practices Survey (n=302)

Now, there were quite a few additional engagement activities listed in the survey, but these are the ones which showed some preference differences.

So, what does this mean for your organization? Engagement practices are always a balancing act, especially when it pertains to managing the different generations. Before implementing an activity, find out what is important to your own employees, and be sure to address everyone’s needs.  Some activities can include a variety of features that would be appealing to the different groups. For instance, wellness and team-building activities can include employee recognition.

Daria Friedman, Principal Analyst, Talent Acquisition, Brandon Hall Group

 

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Mike Cooke

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Mike Cooke

Chief Executive Officer of Brandon Hall Group Mike Cooke Prior to joining Brandon Hall Group, Mike Cooke was the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AC Growth. Mike held leadership and executive positions for the majority of his career, at which he was responsible for steering sales and marketing teams to drive results and profitability. His background includes more than 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, management, and operations in the research, consulting, software and technology industries. Mike has extensive experience in sales, marketing and management having worked for several early high-growth emerging businesses and has implemented technology systems to support various critical sales, finance, marketing and client service functions. He is especially skilled in organizing the sales and service strategy to fully support a company’s growth strategy. The concept of growth was an absolute to Mike and a motivator in starting AC Growth, in order to help organizations achieve research driven results. Most recently, Mike was the VP and General Manager of Field Operations at Bersin & Associates, a global analyst and consulting services firm focused on all areas of enterprise learning, talent management and talent acquisition. Tasked with leading the company’s global expansion, Mike led all sales operations worldwide. During Mike’s tenure, the company has grown into a multi-national firm, conducting business in over 45 countries with over 4,500 multi-national organizations. Mike started his career at MicroVideo Learning Systems in 1992, eventually holding a senior management position and leading all corporate sales before founding Dynamic Minds. Mike was CEO and Co-Founder of Dynamic Minds, a custom developer of software programs, working with clients like Goldman Sachs, Prentice Hall, McGraw Hill and Merrill Lynch. Also, Mike worked for Oddcast, a leading provider of customer experience and marketing solutions, where he held a senior management position leading the company into new markets across various industries. Mike also serves on the Advisory Board for Carbon Solutions America, an independent sustainability consulting and carbon management firm that specializes in the design and implementation of greenhouse reduction and sustainability plans as well as managing the generation of carbon and renewal energy and energy efficiency credits. Mike attended University of Phoenix, studying Business Administration and Finance. He has also completed executive training at the Chicago Graduate School of Business in Chicago, IL.

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