Age Diversity - Your Secret Weapon
When organisations talk about diversity, they often focus solely on gender and ethnicity. Yet one of the most powerful forms of diversity remains underutilised and misunderstood: age.
The reality is that productive workplaces require employees to learn from each other's experiences, perspectives and ideas, including across generations.
Yet many organisations treat their multigenerational workplace as something to manage rather than leverage. They see the differences between generations as problems to solve, rather than as complementary strengths to harness.
It is a fundamental misunderstanding that costs organisations dearly in terms of innovation, productivity and competitive advantage. Cross-generational collaboration is not just nice to have; it is the only way to go.
Does your multigenerational workplace work together to best effect or does everyone stick to their corners?
Here's 4 aspects to consider.
1. Multiple perspectives enable innovation
Age diversity fundamentally changes how teams approach problems and generate solutions.
When you bring together people who grew up in different decades, with different technologies, different social norms and different economic realities, you create a much richer pool of ideas.
A 25-year-old and a 55-year-old may approach the same challenge from completely different angles, drawing on different reference points and experiences. This is not a weakness; it is a strength.
I’ve said it before and will say it again. Differences within generations are far bigger than those between. Stereotypes do not help anyone. Going deeper by exploring intersectionality which brings a far richer set of possibilities. All I’m saying here is that age needs to be part of the broader mix.
Diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones in creative problem-solving. Age-diverse teams are better equipped to understand and serve diverse customer bases. When product development, marketing or service design involves multiple generations, you have a much better chance of avoiding the blind spot.
2. Better decisions, lower risks
Age diversity significantly enhances the quality of decision-making quality. Younger workers often have a longer-term stake in decisions because they will live with the consequences for more years. This can make them more sensitive to sustainability and long-term reputation management. Older workers bring historical perspective, having seen similar situations play out before and understanding which patterns recur and which are genuinely new.
This combination creates better risk assessment. Younger team members might spot emerging risks that older colleagues, drawing on past experience, might dismiss. Gen Z has grown up at a time where so much risk has been designed out of life. They are more used to risks being identified and managed, and potentially more astute in spotting what is left to do.
Age-diverse teams are also less prone to groupthink. When everyone in a meeting has similar life experiences and worldviews, it is much easier for consensus to form around the flawed idea.
Age diversity introduces productive tension into discussions, making it harder for poor decisions to go unchallenged. This does not mean meetings become battlegrounds but it does mean that assumptions are more likely to be questioned and alternatives more likely to be explored before commitments are made.
3. Engagement and retention
Creating an authentically intergenerational workplace improves retention across all age groups.
Gen Z workers benefit from feeling connected to experienced mentors who can guide their development. They are more likely to stay when they see clear progression paths and when senior colleagues invest time in their growth.
This addresses a critical recruiting and retaining challenge that many organisations face: the perception that there is no future in the organisation for young staff beyond the entry-level role.
Older workers, meanwhile, benefit from feeling valued for their expertise and from remaining engaged with emerging trends and technologies. Rather than feeling sidelined or becoming obsolete, they have opportunities to contribute meaningfully and stay intellectually stimulated.
This is particularly important given the increasing proportion of the workforce approaching traditional retirement age who have no financial option but to continue working. These workers need to feel engaged and developed, not merely tolerated until they can leave.
The mutual respect that develops in successful multigenerational teams also creates a more positive workplace culture generally. When different generations genuinely collaborate and learn from each other, it breaks down the stereotyping and dismissiveness that can poison workplace relationships.
Younger workers stop seeing older colleagues as out-of-touch obstacles; older workers stop seeing younger colleagues as entitled or lacking commitment. This cultural shift benefits everyone and makes the organisation more attractive to talent across all age groups.
4. Sophisticated communication
Age diversity challenges organisations to communicate more effectively.
Different generations may have different preferences for how information is shared and received. This is not about pandering to generational stereotypes but acknowledging that people who grew up in different communication environments may have different starting assumptions about what effective communication looks like.
Older workers may expect comprehensive email updates, formal meetings and written documentation. Younger workers may prefer instant messages, video calls and collaborative documents. Neither preference is wrong, but assuming everyone shares your preference creates communication breakdowns.
Age-diverse teams are forced to become more intentional and flexible about communication, often developing hybrid approaches that serve everyone better than any single method would. This has obvious benefits for connecting with an age-diverse customer base.
This communication flexibility extends beyond internal operations to external relationships. An age-diverse team can develop marketing materials, customer communications and stakeholder engagement strategies that resonate across age groups.
In short, it provides a sophistication in communication thinking that doesn’t happen unless multiple generational perspectives are involved in planning and execution.
Remember that
Groupthink and blind spots can be phenomenally expensive. Using the most of what you have safeguards against these risks.
Creating an authentically multigenerational workplace requires clear, shared values and expectations that bring people together. What percentage of your workforce feels truly committed to your organisation and what it stands for?
How can I help you?
1. Talks, workshops and seminars - I am an award-winning speaker. My talks include recruiting and retaining Gen Z, understanding Gen Z, overcoming the challenges of the multigenerational workplace plus those relevant to the topics below. Speaker showreel here.
2. My book The Snowflake Myth is out now - to receive a free chapter please click here.
3. One to one coaching programmes for senior leaders who are swamped by their jobs so they can thrive in life. Click here to discover where you are on your journey from Frantic to Fulfilled? Just 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a full personalised report with guidance on your next steps.
4. Team coaching programmes - working IN a team is not the same as working AS a team and yet they are often treated as if they are the same. I help teams move from the former to the latter, and generate huge shifts in productivity and outcomes.
