Managing A Diverse Workplace
To compete and grow today, no matter what your industry, part of your strategy must be to continually build a smarter workforce. You need employees who are constantly improving their capabilities and knowledge. But there are four critical elements of any smart workforce strategy. How are you doing on each of these?
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DAVID DELONG
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1. Improved recruiting and retention of Millennials (or Gen-Ys)
Face it, most Millennials are not staying in jobs long enough to become productive long-term employees. Executives constantly complain to me about their inability to hire and retain these productive young employees. Almost every organization today is wrestling with this problem.
Building a Millennial-friendly culture needs to be a top priority for most companies. You have no choice! Sooner or later you will have to figure out how to work with and retain employees from this younger generation. Those organizations that make the transition fastest will have a distinct competitive advantage.
One example I’ve studied is a manufacturer in the Midwest where leaders have transformed their benefits and reward systems to meet the needs of its Gen-Y workforce, which has gone from 10% to 50% of the company in seven years.
What’s your plan for improving the performance of your youngest employees?
2. Engaging older workers to be more productive
Many firms have a growing number of Boomers piling up at the door, trying to decide when to retire. The uncertainty of when these experienced workers will actually leave creates several problems. Some you want to retire today because they are coasting and limiting opportunities for mid-career workers who are ready for a promotion. Too often these workers are disengaged and no longer performing at top levels.
You also may have veteran employees with knowledge that is critical to the future success of the business who you want to stay as long as possible. Exploring more flexible work options is just one way to retain their capabilities longer, and to extend the time they have to transfer knowledge to younger colleagues.
3. Improving knowledge transfer across generations
Enabling younger workers to learn faster from more experienced colleagues is another hallmark of a competitive workforce. One of the first steps to get traction on this is identifying where your greatest risks are for lost capabilities.
We use a simple and powerful tool called a Knowledge Silo Matrix to quickly identify where serious threats are, so organizations can start getting traction on practical solutions that speed up knowledge transfer.
4. Accelerating leadership development
The leadership pipeline in the industrialized world is dangerously thin. More veteran executives are retiring and leadership roles are increasingly demanding, so the supply of battle-tested replacements is much too small. Many organizations today are desperate to develop their young leaders faster. First, clarify the difference between current and future leadership skills the organization will need. It’s not just about replicating the talent you have.
Are you paying enough attention to succession planning for key roles? What are you doing to prepare the next generation of your leadership team?
Every organization that needs to improve the capabilities of its workforce to stay competitive must pay attention to these four areas. Ignoring any one of them will be very costly.